Ten Minute Gardening » Landscaping

Going, Going, Gone!

Bert — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:53:46 +0000

Euonymus... going, going, gone!

We have bee enjoying some unusually warm weather this past week. The daytime temps have reached in the high forties – low fifties (Fahrenheit). Normal highs for this time of year are below freezing. The mounds of snow that have been blanketing the lawns and gardens are disappearing quickly, leaving pools of water in our drainage challenged yard.

Obviously it is far too early to begin any sort of spring clean up, but this week, we could not resist the temptation to do some yard work. What we settled on was removing the Manitoba maple that has been growing wild and clogging up the drainage ditch that runs along the north side of the property. Within half an hour, using just a hand saw and an axe, the multi-stemmed tree was gone. The next day, the ditch was running freely for the first time. And also for the first time, the ditch did not overflow its banks, sparing our already water logged lawn.

With the snow melting, we have a clearer picture of the damage winter and “critters” have done to some of our shrubs. As usual, the quince and roses have been pruned by rabbits. Not a big deal. Unfortunately, the rabbits have also trimmed our new Japanese maple!! That is a big deal. On the plus side, they didn’t chew the main trunk (because it is wrapped in chicken wire), just some of the more tender branches. Careful pruning and trimming will get in back into shape. But not yet – it’s far too early for trimming.

In December, we had a blizzard blow through this area. The wind, snow and ice managed to snap the trunk of a euonymus standard growing in one of the gardens. Thank you Mother Nature!!! I detest euonymus and have wanted that ugly abomination out of our yard for years. No more arguments between my partner-in-grime and me about that as now it has to go. As soon as the ground thaws enough to get shovel down to root level, it’s bye-bye euonymus. With any luck, this will be the last spring I have to weed out the dozens and dozens of tiny seedlings it produced every year. Talk about silver linings!

Small Changes

Bert — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:19:14 +0000

Have you ever noticed how “things” can snowball? For instance, this week I purchased new towel bars for the bathroom. Changing them out was to be a simple way to update the bathroom. While taking the old towel bars off, the degree to which the paint on the walls had faded screamed at me. Hearing my rather loud “Oh no!”, my partner in grime came in to see what the problem was. His solution? “Let’s repaint the bathroom!” Since we have nothing but time these days, I said “why not?” Now at the end of day three of the simple update, we are finally ready to install the new towel bars.

That is just one example of what can happen when a simple tweaking can take on a life of its own and grow into something much larger than originally intended. So it is in the garden as well.

Last fall, during the season end clearance sales, we purchased the cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palatum dissectum Inabe Shidare) we had both been wanting for many years. Purchasing it was the easy part. Once we got it home, the discussions began on where to plant it. Let’s just say the only thing we did agree on was the maple would be planted in the back garden where we spend most of our time and could therefore fully enjoy it.

We began the process of trying to agree on its final home by moving the small tree (still in its pot) around the yard. Agreement didn’t happen. So imagine my surprise when I came home from work a few weeks later to find that the maple had been planted! As a result, this spring we will be moving a Dwarf Korean lilac (Syringa patula) standard, several Stella D’Oro plants, three hibiscus, some rocks and, some boulders. Plus we will need to widen and re-shape the bed! The yew can stay where it is.

All that work because of one little tree! I shudder to think of will come about when I add to the perennial bed.

Winter Garden Thoughts

Bert — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:47:42 +0000

Here we are in the middle of another Canadian winter. The ground is frozen. The snow is at least a foot deep, even deeper in some areas of the yard. The trees are bare, the gardens hidden. As I walk through the yard, I notice the rabbits have been feasting on several of the trees and shrubs. Including the cutleaf Japanese maple we purchased last October! And as always, the roses and japonica have also been pruned by the rabbits. This year though, they seem to have taken a shine to the curly willow growing beside the greenhouse. And that’s okay. Everything will grow back with only a little re-shaping required.

While in the fall, I do remove the spent annuals I do not deadhead perennials. I prefer to leave the seed heads for the birds that visit our yard. As spring grows nearer, we’ll put bird feeders out to help our winged visitors through the nesting season.

Seed catalogues are piling up and I’m forcing myself not to look at them too much lest I be tempted to over spend and over plant. Not that I have the room for overplanting anymore, Economics has made maintaining our hobby greenhouse rather difficult. In other words, heating it throughout late winter and early spring months has become “cost prohibitive”. Last year I attempted to grow seedlings in a lighted plant stand with mixed results. The lack of humidity was the biggest reason the plants did not fare well. Then there was the light. Or should I say lack of light. Despite the grow lights, the seedlings all became too spindly. Pinching and pruning didn’t help much. The other thing that didn’t work well in the plant stand was vines! I love flowering annual vines such as mina lobata, cardinal vine, canary vine. And no matter how hard I tried to keep them separated, I couldn’t. What a mess! I will try again this year to grow seedlings in the plant stand. In a pre-emptive move, I have purchased a roll of clear plastic to make a humidity cover for the stand. That has to help! I’ll let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, the houseplants are receiving my attention. They are being watered regularly, fertilized (at half strength), brown tips and leaves are kept to a minimum, and the plants that need some shaping are getting just that. They seem to be pretty grateful for the extra care as they are looking much healthier than when I brought them back into the house after a summer outside. The bougainvillea that hung outdoors all last summer in all its green glory finally decided to show some colour this month. The spider plant is producing dozens of babies. Not bad considering I purchased three little spider plants for $ .75 last fall during the season-end clearance sales. They were in 3” pots and all leaves. I potted them together in a 10” hanging basket and waited. My patience has been rewarded.

Harvesting Christmas Greenery

Bert — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:29:33 +0000

Harevested greenery in waiting

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to begin decorating. At our house the Christmas decorating begins outside around the middle of November. I like to use fresh evergreens and grapevines outdoors. Because I’m rather “thrifty” shall we say, I refuse to purchase evergreen boughs. Instead, I harvest my own.

I start by making note of which evergreens are looking well enough to harvest, and which can be pruned without affecting the appearance and future shape of the evergreen.

Using a variety of evergreens provides more depth, texture and interest to an arrangement than using one or two varieties.

Tools needed are: hand pruners, loppers and a pail of water.

Harvest with an eye to shaping the tree and/or shrub rather than cutting willy nilly.

A straight cut is made to remove the branch from the plant.

Next cut the stem you’ve just harvested at a sharp angle.

Place the stem of the harvested branch into the pail of water.

Continue harvesting until you have enough materials to make your wreath, swag or planters.

When you do have enough materials, change the water in the pail, and add Christmas tree preservative.

Re-cut each of the stems (angled cut) and put them in the fresh water.

Set the pail in a cool, shaded location (garage or unheated shed) until you are ready to begin creating your decorations.

Suggested evergreens:

Boxwood

Cedar

Euonymus (variegated for colour)

Juniper (be sure to get stems with berries on them!)

Spruce

Yew (berries don’t last long on cut stems)

Suggested deciduous:

Redtwig dogwood

Yellow dogwood

Curly willow

Grape vine

Tree branches with interesting shapes

NOTE: do not place these stems in water

Accents:

Evergreen cones

Rose hips

Teasel

*Hydrangea blooms

*Silver dollar seed casings

NOTE: do not place these in water

* Use only where arrangement will be protected from wind, rain and snow.

Over Wintering Potted Plants

Bert — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:37:02 +0000

A few of the new shrubs waiting to be heeled in

Though the 2009 gardening season is quickly winding down, there is still a lot of gardening to be enjoyed.

For instance, fall has become one of my favourite times of year not because of the colours and cooler temperatures, but because of the deals to be had at the local greenhouses and nurseries!

We have one local grower that is offering all, yes, all, four inch pots of perennials for $.99! Even those regularly priced at $5.99 and $6.99!! Makes resisting the urge to squeeze more plants into an already overflowing bed very difficult. And of you have decided to renovate your perennial gardens, you can do so without spending a fortune. Check out your local growers for awesome bargains in late fall.

Trees and shrubs are also dirt cheap these days. Matter of fact, yesterday I succumbed to the lure of a great deal on several shrubs that have long been on my wish list. What is a great deal? Less than wholesale! And they were purchased from a grower not a reseller, so I know I’m getting quality plants, not the beaten up ones that they couldn’t sell during the height of the season.

Will I (we) get all these plants into the ground before freeze-up? No, especially now that my other half has decided to get in on the landscape design. So what will happen to the plants over winter? We’ll heel them in and hold them over until next spring. That will give “himself” and me time to hash out a compromise over the winter.

For new gardeners that have never attempted to heel-in plants, here’s how we do it:

Dig a trench in a protected area of your yard as wide and deep as the plants’ pots. If you have several different sized pots, put all the same sized together. Yes, you may end up digging a few trenches, but just think of the work out you’ll be getting!

Set the plant, pot and all in the trench leaving a few inches between the pots.

Backfill around the pots with soil to the top of the pot.(Do not bury the stem of the plant.)

Cover the entire trench including the tops of the pots with at least two inches of mulch.

Water them in and keep them watered until they are covered with a blanket of snow. Top up the mulch as it settles.

Next spring as them temperature begins to warm up, slowly remove the mulch.

Water regularly once the snow is gone until you are ready to plant them in beds.

Curb Appeal

Bert — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:16:32 +0000

Recent studies indicate that a homeowner who has a nicely landscaped property can expect to sell their homes for 12% – 15% more than a similar property that is not landscaped well. That means even a modest home valued at $100,000 could possibly see a sale price $12,000—$15,000 higher than their neighbour’s!

The news gets even better. It doesn’t have to cost anywhere near that to landscape your property! The catch, if you can call it that, is to do the work yourself and, keep your landscaping well maintained, yourself.

Many people think landscaping is beyond their capabilities, but they would be surprised how much they can accomplish with a small budget and the willingness to get their hands dirty. If you are already groaning at the mere thought of landscaping, let the increased sales value of your home be your inspiration.

The key is, keep it simple! Do a bit of research at your local garden centre so you invest in the right plants – ones that grow well in the type of soil type (clay, loam, sandy etc.) on your property and, ones that are appropriate for the amount of sunlight available. Purchase the largest plants your budget will allow. Nothing looks odder, or says “quick fix” more than tiny shrubs planted around a large house.

Start at the front of your home and think curb appeal. Add simple entrance gardens or foundation plantings. A few containers placed on the porch or at the end of the walkways give a welcoming feel.

Remove dead, dying or overgrown shrubs, trees and plants.

Trim the shrubs and trees to give them shape and remove dead branches and stems.

Keep the plants watered and the beds weeded.

Sweep the sidewalks and porch daily. You never know when someone will drive by just to take a look, so you need to grab their attention by presenting a well maintained property.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your property looking its best, is mow the lawn regularly and at the right height – two and a half to three inches will make your lawn look lush.

Once the front of the house is landscaped, move around to the back. Tidy up the backyard. Remove any materials you’ve been “storing” for a while. Pick up the kids toys and clean up after your pets. Repair pet damage in the lawn by covering the area with topsoil and planting grass seed. If the deck or patio needs cleaning a pressure washer and plain water does wonders.

Place more container gardens on the patio or deck or add a border of annuals around the deck or patio. Keep the gardens in the back yard weeded. Edging the beds will give them a polished look.

Curb appeal is what grabs buyers attention first and gets them to come through the door. By sprucing up your landscape and keeping it maintained, you’ll have a solid edge over other sellers.

Is A Change As Good As A Rest?

Bert — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:42:15 +0000

The Shade Garden awaiting repairs and changes

Like it or not, I’ve been given the challenge of renovating our shade garden. Some changes were inevitable. I knew that. But little did I realize just how many changes were in store!

Our tiny village has finally installed a municipal sewage system and every house and business is being hooked into it. This past week, it was our turn.

Down came the board fence and gate. We were told the contractor would be here on Friday so I had planned to remove plants growing along the path of the sewer mains on Thursday evening. Upon returning home from work on Wednesday I discovered the contractor in the process of digging up our side yard. So of course I had to go straight to work removing the plants I wanted to save. When that task was completed, I headed indoors for the longed for cup of tea I hadn’t had yet. No sooner did I get the pot of tea made, when a knock on the door brought the news that more plants had to come out. Back to the digging!

To make a long story short, two thirds of the plants were removed, the grass torn up, and a pile of soil spanning the width of the shady side yard sits waiting to be levelled. Some plants are gone for good. Some damaged to the point where a lot of TLC is required to help them recover.

On the plus side, the weeds are gone, some of the perennials have been divided giving me more plants, the bed has been widened and more soil has been added to it.

Yesterday morning, the mosquitoes and I re-planted the shade garden without much thought as to placement of the plants. I did consider height, width and foliage colours before plopping the plants in the ground, but so great was my desire to avoid becoming a banquet for every mosquito in the village, form and texture became unimportant. Talk about off the cuff landscape design!

It will be interesting to see which plants will survive the rough treatment they experienced and how the garden looks once things have settled. No doubt this fall will see a great deal of tweaking in the shade garden. Probably next spring will bring even more tweaking,

The front yard is also a mess, but not nearly as bad as the shade garden in the side yard. Some lavender plants were damaged, the back sides of the variegated willow standards were shorn off and the small lawn has been made smaller thanks to more mounds of dirt that trace the path of the sewer pipes to the road. The front garden should be fairly easy to restore, and the willows, being willows will come back quickly.

On that note, I’m off to join the mosquitoes and continue the garden repairs.

Another Plant Moving Story

Bert — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:56:55 +0000

The Shade Garden 2007

This small village of ours is about to enter the twentieth (yes, twentieth!) century! So long septic systems and hello sewer system! After years of planning, and construction, the municipal sewage system will is nearing completion. Now that homeowners have recovered from the shock of the rather hefty bill we each now owe the Municipality, we get to hand over more cash for the privilege of hooking up to the system and disabling our septic systems. I say privilege, but truth be know, property owners are not being given a choice. Hook up or be hooked up! I’m not complaining, not in the least. I for one am happy to be saying farewell to septic systems and drainage ditches that are ripe with the smell of raw waste. But (you had to know there would be a “but”), what distresses me more than the cost is that fact that my shade garden is about to be severely damaged! Ouch!

This weekend has been spent clearing the area for the sewer hook up. Unfortunately, that area is right through the middle of the shade garden and across the front garden. Damages to the front garden I can live with. It was brutalized last year when we had a new roof installed. Knowing the sewers were coming in, we didn’t bother fixing it. As for the front walkway that has to be removed to accommodate the sewer hook up, well, I think I should send a thank you note to the Municipality. That path has been an eyesore for years, and this is just the impetus we needed to reposition it and plant grass seed and shrubs where the walkway is now.

But the shade garden! That is breaking my heart! Today we removed the solid board fence and gate that protected the shade plants from the late afternoon sun and provided much needed privacy to the back garden. We also cut back to ground level the silver leaf dogwood that stood beside the gate. Being a dogwood, it will begin growing again shortly, and by this time next year, you’ll never even know it was levelled.

Next weekend, I must begin digging up all the plants that are in the way of the sewer lines being installed later this month. Ferns, hostas, Solomon’s seal, Jack-in-the pulpit, astible, aquelgia, violets, tradescantia and more, will all be uprooted and put into pots until the fall. That is the easy part. The difficult part will be finding a place with enough shade to protect them throughout our hot, sunny summer. And where they will not be in the direct line of fire from the feral felines and free-roaming Fido’s our village is (in)famous for.

When moving a garden, either temporarily or to a new property, there are things that can be done to insure success:

Dig a large soil ball so there are enough roots to support the plant while it’s in its pot

Select a pot size that is just big enough to acommodate the root ball. Too small a pot and the roots will wind around the pot. Too big and the plant will send out far too many new roots.

Use a good quality, sterilized potting mix. Do not use garden soil which may contain insects and/or diseases. The plants may not have the strength to fend them off after being uprooted.

Fertilize with a water soluble transplant fertilizer (10-52-10). This fertilizer targets the root systems of plants, making them stronger so they recover more quickly from their move.

Cut back the foliage by at least one third so the plant will be able to sustain itself more easily.

Keep the newly potted plants watered! They will be in shock after being dug up, which stresses the plants. Don’t add to the problem by forgetting to water them.

Try to hold over the potted plants in the same light conditions as they were originally growing in.

Protect the plants from the drying effects of the wind

Moving Along

Bert — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:08:09 +0000

Two weeks after the big move and the ginko biloba is beginning to leaf out and showing every sign of liking its new homw!

We have been spending a goodly part of this spring re-arranging the furniture so to speak. Some of our plants have outgrown their living spaces, some have decided they don’t like their neighbours any more while others just need a change of scenery.

The rose garden is in the process being dismantled and re-located to another area where, hopefully, the roses will be much happier. So far, the roses that have made the move seem to like their new home. Before the rest of the roses join them, we have to add on to the garden. That’s this weekend’s task. By next weekend, all of the roses should be moved. That’s the plan.

Our most nerve wracking move was relocating our treasured ginko biloba from the water feature to the old rose bed. Keep in mind, we would not have attempted to move the ginko if it was a larger specimen. Since it is only about 5’ – 6’ tall with a 2” – 3” trunk, we felt it was do-able. We timed the transplant for when the tree was just beginning to bud. We did not want to move it in full leaf. When a tree is in full leaf, too much of its energy has to be spent maintaining its leaves. We wanted the ginko to put its energy into producing new roots.

We began by digging out a rather large and deep planting hole in its new home. No amendments were made to the soil since the (former rose) bed has been supplemented with a top dressing of compost and manure yearly. Otherwise, we would have added composted manure to the soil used to backfill the planting hole.

Next began the delicate task of removing the ginko from its old home. Using the dripline of the ginko as a guide, we dug a trench around the tree. Then we dug down and under the tree deep enough to get a good sized root ball. The goal was to get as many feeder roots as possible. We knew we’d lose some of the taproot. By digging deeply the loss was minimal.

When the ginko was freed, we gently lifted it out. Picking it up at the base of the trunk just above the soil ball, we carried it to its new home. Then we sited it best side forward and added soil to the hole as required to raise the soil ball so the base of the ginko was at the same depth as in its previous location. After backfilling the hole, we made a “well” around the dripline, and began slowly watering in the tree filling the well in the process. The well helps confine the water to the rootball area and will be levelled out once the tree is established.

There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute!

Bert — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:09:56 +0000

Suckers waiting to be trimmed off a main branch

More correctly, suckers “sprout” every minute.

You may think your tree is filling out quite nicely, but on closer examination, most of the new branches are shooting straight towards the sun. Those are suckers, also referred to as water sprouts. You may even find suckers appearing on the lawn, some several feet away from the main trunk. And they are not good.

Suckers grow rapidly and are rather weak compared to the rest of the branches. You will find them on limbs, around the base of the tree or on the main trunk. Because of their tendency to grow quickly, they rob the rest of the tree of valuable nutrients, weakening the entire tree in the process. Water sprouts that are left to on the tree, put a great deal of weight and pressure on the limb it sprouted from. That weakens the entire limb, inviting cracked bark or breakage. The cracked bark is an open invitation to insects and disease, and a broken limb is a safety hazard. Therefore suckers and water sprouts must be removed while they are still small.

To remove suckers, simply cut them off with sharp pruners or a pruning saw at the base of the sucker. Try a cut as close to the main branch as possible without cutting into that branch. Keep the cut as straight and as small as possible. The larger the cut, the more inner bark is exposed. The more inner bark exposed, the easier it is for diseases and insects to attack your tree.

Removing suckers can actually stimulate the production of even more suckers or water sprouts. Then it becomes a something you will need to do two or three times a year. An application of pruning paste helps curb the appearance of new suckers.