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Spring Garden Preparation

Published May 13, 2012 | By Jane

Once the frosts are gone you want to get your soil ready for planting by digging in amendments. Vegetable gardens are heavy feeders so rich soil is important. If you’ve prepared your vegetable plots with lots of organic matter, you are ready to start planting vegetables. Stay away from manure for root vegetables as it causes them to fork. Some of the most tender vegetables like cucumbers and beans may be a risk for even the mildest frosts, but you can take the chance if you’d like. Most of the cool-weather crops like lettuce, broccoli and cabbage are likely to bolt (send up long flowering shoots and become bitter) as soon as it becomes hot so they can be planted the earliest . Peas also will be likely to succumb to mildew as soon as weather turns hot. If you live in a mild winter climate, these crops are ideally planted in the autumn to grow as winter crops. They will handle a light brush or two of frosty nights, but won’t do well if it really gets hot. But tomatoes, peppers of all varieties, eggplants and squashes should be ready to take off as soon as they are planted in spring warmth in any area. While you are preparing for spring, you might want to add a raised vegetable garden to make maintenance easier and discourage damage by pests and pets.

The hillsides are blazing with wildflowers in spring. Check out the wildflower page in this blog to help you with identification.) Mustard, Lupins (yes, those are what cause the fields of purple you notice along the sides of the road) and plants native to your own area herald the springtime warmth and lengthening daylight.

There will be a downside to the lovely weather in spring, however. The pests will be enjoying it, too. Beware of coatings of aphids on the soft new growth of vegetables, roses and other plants in your garden. If you catch them early, a good squirt with the garden hose should wash off enough pests to keep numbers down. But you will have to be vigilant and keep the washing up or the pests will proliferate and you will have to resort to insecticides. Please consider starting with the gentler materials like insecticidal soaps. These are better for our health and that of the environment even if they may not be quite as efficient as some of the stronger poisons.

Keep weeds pulled while they are small and before they set next year’s seeds or compete for soil nutrients. Hand-pick snails, slugs and caterpillars. Put up rabbit or deer fencing and under-wire garden areas with hardware cloth or chicken wire to protect from gophers or moles. Try to use poisons carefully and only when necessary. Although we may not like the behaviors of all those natural critters, they do have their place in the balance of nature. The better we can live in harmony with them, the more likely it is that all of us will be able to share this beauty in safety.

Spring time is a busy time in the garden. Preparation for things to come mixes with planting and maintenance. If you keep up with a little bit of everything, your garden is more likely to be successful this year. As always, preparation in spring will pay off later.

Posted in Articles on Gardening | Tagged Add new tag, garden bed, garden preparation, gardening, spring garden | Leave a comment

Design with Daisies

Published May 10, 2012 | By Jane

The family Compositae is filled with the many-rayed flowers we know as daisies. Daisies come in all sizes, colors and shapes and bloom at different times of the year. You can grow a daisy garden that looks like a wild garden, an English garden, or a formal garden. Some daisy-flowered plants grow in neat mounds and others will sprawl. Most of them do well as cut flowers and tend to flower abundantly. There are many ways to design with daisies.

You can cross the rainbow with daisy flowers. Reds and pinks can be found in Pyrethrums, Gebera Hybrids and the charming little English daisies (Bellis perennis). Oranges blaze in Tithonias and Cosmos or glow in the peaches of Dimorphotheca. Yellows shine in Coreopsis and giant sunflowers. Greens subtly shine through varieties of Rudbekias. You can even find a sky blue color in the flower of the Felicia. Mauves of all shades are offered by many asters and Swan River Daisies (Brachycome). Design with Daisies

Design with Daisies

Purples are offered by Echinacea purpurea and more asters. And whites glisten in Shasta daisies and the diminutive Chamomile. Rusts and chocolates color Chrysanthemums, many Black-eyed-Susans (also in the Rudbeckia family) and sunflower hybrids. There are many other daisies to choose from and some of the above families come in whole selections of additional colors.

You can have daisy gardens by color groupings. Mixing blues, purples and pinks gives a cool feel to a garden. The hot bright reds, oranges and yellows create a bold statement. Selecting soft pastel shades will create a gentle feel to a garden. And white contrasts wonderfully in a shade garden with lots of green.

Daisies also mix well with other shaped flowers and add a sparkle of color to foliage gardens. Although many daisies bloom in the spring, if you chose carefully, you can have one variety or another in bloom practically year-round. Look for daisy-flowered plants available at your local nurseries and home stores. Look for varieties of Argyanthemum in single and double flowered pinks, whites and yellows. They will form a neat mound for several years. The bigger yellow-flowered Euryops can take our full sun and tough soil in most warm-climate locations, but it will grow 3 to 4 feet in size. Felicias offer a remarkable sky blue flower, though they tend to grow rather straggly after a few years.

Take a look around and chose some daisies for your garden. Create a whole garden of them. Use them to fill out bare areas, or plant them in patches. Bring the flowers inside for bouquets. You can design with daisies to bring color, playfulness and a feeling of eternal springtime to the garden.

Posted in Articles on Gardening, Articles on Landscape Design | Tagged Add new tag, daisy choices, daisy colors, daisy garden, daisy landscape, design daisies | Leave a comment

Ideas for Lawn Replacement

Published March 17, 2012 | By Jane

Replacing Your Lawn with Something More Exciting

As water becomes scarcer – and it will continue so long as our population continues to grow whether there is a rainfall shortage or not – it may finally be the time to reconsider the habit of one old landscape tradition: the lawn. If you think of the fact that until the turn of the last century, the lawn was virtually unknown in American gardens, you might realize how closed-minded we’ve become about our lawns. The lawn became a stylized competition with England in the beginning of the 1900’s and made perfect sense in areas like the East where rainfall was plentiful, homes built on large lots of land that needed covering, and populations small enough to make no harmful ecological footprints on the land. But things have changed across the country. And areas like ours have never been home to abundant green growth or heavy human populations – until now.

So, rather than battling nature, government and escalating water costs, here are some suggestions that might make your landscape into something that works better. By replacing much of your lawn, you can get an even more attractive, easy-to-care-for and money saving garden that happens to be better for the ecology.

You might want to turn your space into something more colorful by planting a water-wise garden. You can go all native or mix in some impressively showy plants from all across the country, the Mediterranean, South Africa, Australia and other areas. Gardens can be more interesting than flat lawns and can make better use of space, too. Design your garden to have paths that meander throughout so you can enjoy a fascinating walk and watch your flowers grow or the birds and butterflies enjoying your garden. Consider placing a hammock or seating area inside the garden as a private spot to read, meditate or just relax and watch nature.

Another great way to use that lawn space is to turn it into something productive. You can grow a vegetable garden that will feed your family with healthy, fresh food. Your home-grown vegetables don’t have to have pesticides or ever be recalled for contamination. And not only will food be more nutritious when fresh picked, but it will taste remarkably better. Plus you can create fun growing projects that seniors and children can all participate in producing. An edible garden will use more water and will require soil amendments. It will also not be all that low maintenance. But it will pay back double everything you put into it! …Not so true about a lawn.

You can also cover wider areas with other choices than lawn. There are colorful ground-cover plants that won’t need mowing and can even offer tinted foliage or cheerful flowers. Some ground-covers are considered to be ‘steppables’ which means they can take some light foot traffic. Or if you prefer, you can design a fun steppingstone pathway to meander around your planted area.

Another possibility to cover wider areas efficiently is to use non-living materials. You can find stones and gravel in many sizes, shapes and an amazing array of colors. Even decomposed granitite is being quarried in a rainbow of colors. Use these non-living materials to fill spaces, draw pictures and designs or outline shapes. You can get as artistic as you’d like and make a whole conversation piece out of filling in an area of your garden. And you’ll get something that looks great while demanding practically no maintenance or water, yet will keep down the dust on our windy days.

One more idea, if you really like grass, is to build yourself an ornamental grass garden. There is a wealth of different colors, sizes and textures in the grass family. You can find soft, mounding, low-growing clumps in blues, reds, oranges, grays, yellows and more in Festuca and Carix. Or you can go for the graceful wild oats or swaying Miscanthus family with members that offer colored design patterns in every leaf. Or create a focal point with a giant grass like the Pampas grass (preferably a sterile variety), the tall Arundo (some can be invasive) or the Vetiver. Mix in a lot of drought-tolerant grasses and you will have little upkeep and a garden filled with interesting shapes and forms that dance gracefully in the wind.

You don’t have to give up on lawn altogether. Lawns can be very useful for play, sports and picnics. Keep a lawn where it earns its ‘keep’. But if you are going to have to fuss, feed and pour a lot of water into it – all for the honor of mowing and edging it – you might just as well get value back for all your effort. We don’t need to be constrained by out-dated styles. Not too many people feel wearing a bustle or a top hat is appropriate today. Perhaps we should look at our attitude toward lawns, too. It’s been a hundred years and we can choose better now. Or at least be a little choosier.

Posted in Articles on Gardening | Tagged Add new tag, alternate for grass, lawn replacement, waterwise garden | Leave a comment

Make the Garden into a Home Retreat

Published February 23, 2012 | By Jane

A home garden retreat

With all the political and financial changes in the country and the normal pressures of personal life, stress can take its toll. You can make your garden into a home retreat where you can regroup your strength and clarity no matter what is going on in your life.

You can buy a table-top fountain or a small floor sized fountain and even buy a small-growing water plant or two (or a handful of watercress from the grocery store) and enjoy water gardening on a small scale. Try hanging a colorful swinging canvas chair and a few hanging pots of ivy geraniums, annual Bacopa or Lobelia for color. And you can rig up a simple drip irrigation system on a timer if watering is hard to remember. A little portable barbecue creates a gourmet cooking area, while a tinkling set of wind chimes transforms your small space into a meditation nook. A small area can be cordoned off for a pet or a small child to play safely while you watch. If you want privacy and do not need sun to grow edibles, one large bush in a pot can screen you from neighbors and keep your space cool. Lush plants and hedges can also help reduce noise pollution. Use a heavy cement pot and a loop of rope to secure it from above to a post or rafter to keep it upright in heavy winds.

Even small spaces can be transformed into places where nature can soothe our souls in the frantic pace of our lives today. It’s easy to get caught up in getting things done from moment to moment. Make sure to build in some place in your life where you can take some time to remember what you’re doing this all for. It’s all about appreciating being alive. That’s what gardening is all about, whether on a large or small scale! You can make even a small garden into a healing and productive space. Yes, even a small garden can turn into a home retreat.

Posted in Articles on Landscape Design | Tagged Add new tag, garden retreat, home retreat, relaxing garden, small garden, stress reducer | Leave a comment

The Right Chaparral or Desert Tree for the Right Location

Published January 16, 2012 | By Jane

Pick the Right Chaparral or Desert Tree for the Right Location

Although the chaparral environment may seem harsh, there are still many trees to choose from that can grow well in your landscape. But the best way to assure success is to plant the right tree in the right place. Although it is tempting to buy a tree because you love the way it looks or because it is a tree that brings back fond memories, selecting trees for your garden by impulse is likely to lead you to regret. There are plenty of marvelous trees that can give you the effect you like best yet still will grow in properly in the placement you need. First you need to do a little investigating into what those trees that attract you most need to thrive.

The most important first step is to decide where you want a tree rather than decide what tree you want and try to figure out where to put it. It is the size, shape, soil and location that will define which tree you will want to buy. Visualize your tree in your landscape as if it were full grown. Many trees look fabulous as saplings but will grow to 90’ tall with an entirely different effect. Some even change the character of their leaves. For example, those cute blue, short-needled pine trees you see for sale at Christmastime are immature varieties of full sized pines. When the branches start to grow, they will suddenly put out the familiar long dark green needles and that cute little fuzzy bluish teddy bear baby tree will start to get gawky and rangy.

All too often people put pines, Camphor trees or other large growing trees right next to swimming pools because they are evergreen and look great when small. But these trees will grow very large and will likely cause serious damage to the swimming pool cement with their roots if they do not have sufficient space to grow. I saw one job where three little, immature pines were planted in a 15’ planter above a beautifully sculptured cement sheer drop into a swimming pool. Yes, they did create a lovely woodland effect. But in less than 5 years the roots will be pushing against the cement cliff wall chipping out chunks of that expensive sculptured concrete work to plummet into the pool below.

Be careful about where you plant trees with invasive roots like the American Elm, Cottonwood, Silver Maple or the Sycamore. These thirsty trees will happily invade any water pipes they can find and leave you with repair bills and constant pipe cleaning work to combat the invading roots.

Here in the chaparral we really need to think twice before planting the white birch tree, pine and the weeping willow. These trees naturally grow streamside and if they don’t get sufficient water, they will grow weakly with thin sap. This allows tree borers to easily drill into the tree and tunnel out the inside, killing the tree from the interior.

If you have open space where tree roots will not be a problem, you can grow the Sycamore, the California Pepper, the Black Walnut or the Honeylocust (Gledistia triacanthos). Plant the larger trees where they can spread wide and tall and provide the cooling shade we can use in hot summer months.

Most large trees are not native to the chaparral or desert. In these harsh conditions, trees have evolved to be smaller and more economical. Consider using one of the many smaller type trees like Desert Willows, Chaste Trees, Crepe Myrtles or Acacias where there is less space. The flowers of the smaller trees are better seen and can be quite decorative.

Other tips would be to use low branching trees to block unwanted views or to avoid dark fruiting trees over cement where falling berries or fruit can stain the concrete. Also, by planting deciduous trees on the south or west facing side of the house you can allow the shade from foliage to cool your home in summer, while bare branches allow warming sun in the winter.

You can find the perfect tree for your landscape. Just choose carefully. Call in a landscape designer, arborist or do your own research. A happy, healthy tree that is located in the right spot will add value to your property and offer years of beauty and enjoyment for you and your family. Consider designing seating to add beneath your chosen chaparral or desert tree. The shade will invite you to enjoy the outdoors despite warm temperatures. And seating can add another element of design to make your tree look even better in the right location.

Extra note: Another thing to consider are trees with extensive surface roots. Trees like the Mulberry, Poplar or Magnolia are notorious for spreading long, sinuous roots along the top of the ground to trip unsuspecting feet. If you want to use a tree that has this habit, try installing root guards around the young root ball when they are first planted to direct the new roots to penetrate down before they start to spread wide.

Added Resources:

How to select the right palm trees

How to protect fruit trees from squirrels, raccoons and birds

Posted in Articles on Gardening | Tagged Add new tag, chaparral trees, choose tree, desert trees, designing trees | 1 Comment

Toxic Plants that Can Harm Children and Pets

Published January 15, 2012 | By Jane

Our gardens create décor for our homes, sources for food, places for entertainment, rest and relaxation, sports and games and playground areas for children and pets. They can add a lot to our property values and the quality of our lives. But most importantly, they must be safe. We need to keep hazardous chemicals properly stored, sharp or dangerous materials out of harm’s way, and areas easy and safe to walk through. Less obvious, though, is the danger that can be posed by the very plants that make our gardens beautiful and useful. Since some plants can be poisonous to children and pets, it is important to be aware of these potentials and use them wisely. Here are some tips about toxic plants to children and pets.

Most plants cause only minor irritations or upsets, but others, especially if swallowed, can be more dangerous. Young children and pets – those young enough to eat whatever is in reach – are usually those most as risk. If you have any poisonous plants in your garden, try fencing them off temporarily and make sure you supervise young ones when they are in the area. Keep young pets penned when you aren’t around to watch them, too. If you are planting a new area, you may prefer to avoid any toxic plants that can harm children and pets.

This list is short. Most of our decorative plants are not easy to digest, so eating any garden plant that is not intended as an edible is best avoided. But here is a list of some of the more commonly used garden plants that could be a problem.

OUTDOOR PLANTS

Aconitum (Monkshood)

Aloe (some are irritants)

Alocasia (Elephant ears)

Alstroemaeria (can cause dermatitis)

Amarylis belladona (Naked Lady)

Anemone (Windflower)

Asclepias (Milkweed)

Cestrum nocturnum (Night Jessamine)

Convallaria (Lilly of the Valley)

Duranta (berries)

Euphorbia (white milky sap)

Gelseminm (Carolina Jessamine)

Heliotrope (Cherry Pie plant)

Ligustrum (Privet)

Nerium oleander

Potato (green skin + raw shoots)

Rhododendron and Azalea (leaves)

Rhubarb (leaves)

Ricinus (Castor bean)

Robinia (Locust trees)

Solanum jasminoides (Potato vine)

Schinas (CA pepper tree- dermatitis)

Taxus (Yews)

INDOOR PLANTS

Amaryllis (bulbs)

Caladium (juice can cause swelling of mucous membranes)

Christmas Poinsettia (Euphorbia)

Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia)

Diffenbachia (Dumb Cane)

Ivy (can cause dermatitis)

Olea (unprocessed olives are inedible)

Solanum pseudpseudocapsicum (Christmas Cherry)

These are just a few commonly used plants that can be toxic to man and beast. Beware of all the decorative plants in the Solanum and Euphorbia families both indoors and out. Interestingly enough, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos and eggplants are also in the Solanum family and they, of course, are not poisonous at all!

Avoiding sharp or poisonous plants is one solution to keeping children and pets safe, but we need to keep an eye on behaviors of those unfamiliar with the dangers of our environment. Children love to test things orally, cats seek grass or other natural greens, and some canines chew out of curiosity or boredom. Finding healthy substitutes and keeping children and pets occupied with interesting and challenging things to do will keep children, animals and plants alike, safe and happy. Remember that the younger the child, the shorter the attention span. Safe and happy a minute ago could be boredom and dangerous exploration now. It’s hard to be on top of everything, but at least you can be aware of which plants require extra caution in your home and yard and avoid toxic plants that can harm children and pets

Posted in Articles on Gardening | Tagged Add new tag, children and pets, dangerous flowers, dangerous plants, garden dangers, indoor poisonous plants, poison flowers, poisonous plants, toxic flowers, toxic plants | 2 Comments

Hire the Right Landscape Help

Published January 14, 2012 | By Jane

If you have a new landscape to do or an old one to renovate, it’s time to get to work . If you’re going to hire help, make sure you hire the right person. Please be aware that you rarely get more than you pay for, but you can certainly get less. Do some serious research before hiring help. Make sure the lowest bid isn’t giving you the lowest quality that will lead, eventually, to the highest expense. Grill the “salesman” because a good “salesman” (and you are not getting “free consultations” – you are getting free “sales calls”) will be focused on impressing you. Ask questions. Listen carefully. No one’s going to tell you he or she needs to cut corners in order to come in with a competitive bid though it may cost you dearly in the future. If you want something personal, you need to find someone who is capable of listening to your needs (and doesn’t just tell you what to do).

Most (but not all) landscapers have minimal horticultural knowledge and depend on a limited group of plants. It’s cost efficient for them to use plants that are easily attainable with large mark-up margins (grown in bulk). They want to impress you with a nice hardscape and a pretty planting right away. In some situations, this might be perfect. But keep in mind that factoring in the colors, shapes or favorite plants you personally want may be impractical when bidding against other landscapers. Considering individual needs such as avoiding poisonous plants, planting for allergies, pest or fire resistance requires specialized knowledge. Few landscapers or nursery people have a design or artistic background. Fewer are imaginative. And fewer still, can take the time to design with safety in mind or to be concerned with the disasters these same pretty plants may become to your home or yard in the future when they reach mature size.

Make sure the person you select has what you need. Do your homework. If you know you want more than just the basics but you’re not sure exactly what you do need, call in a consultant, designer or landscape architect. This person is being paid to focus on your needs, not any other part of the job. He/she has nothing to gain by giving advice that isn’t to your advantage. And be careful not to negate what you have learned from an expert if someone later promises to fulfil all your wishes for the price you want. If the expert quoted high, there is usually a reason for it. I have seen too many jobs where regrets far exceeded the initial savings.

Be aware that most landscapers are not experts in all areas, even if they believe themselves to be so. It is confusing out there. It’s easy for someone else to claim to know what is right for you, but you’re the one who will own the results. I repeat. You rarely get more than you pay for, but you can certainly get less. Just like everything else in life, taking the time to do something right at the beginning will usually be the most economically sound choice. The average small landscape starts at about $25,000 — depending on what part of the country you are in and can cost hundreds of thousands depending on size and taste. Isn’t it worth a fraction more to make sure it’s done right?