My summer has been incredibly dry and hot with 3 of the last five days in the triple digits, but this container garden is still going strong with 3-4 waterings per week. This planter garden is packed with bright and refreshing colors, and 5 different types of drought hardy plants that fill in the container quickly, and make your thumb look greener than it may actually be.

My Recipe For A 24 Inch Planter:

• One gallon container of Silver Fountain Grass                                          Perennial
• One 4 inch ‘Cranberry Ice’ Dianthus                                                             Perennial
• One 4 inch ‘Desert Raspberry Swirl’ Dianthus                                           Perennial
• Three 4 inch Yellow Argyranthemums                                                          Annual
• Three ’starter’ Dusty Miller Plants                                                                 Perennial

Tips:

• Make sure to deadhead the Argyranthumum a few times per week to keep it producing constant blossoms.
• Trim the Dianthus stems down to the leaf level after the flowers die and close back up.  They will bloom again in waves, but not as quickly as Argyranthemum.
• Purchase small starter Dusty Miller plants for this container.  Dusty Miller grows quickly and is practically bullet proof, so a small sized plant will fill in a corner of the container perfectly within a month without getting too large, or overshadowing it’s neighbors.
• Plant this container in full sun or slight shade.  For the best results with this plant combination the more sunlight you give it, the better off you will be, and the more blooms you will have.

Try this planter garden combination this summer, it’s a tough and beautiful way to achieve blooms from late spring through early fall even in the hottest and sunniest locations!

Pardon my absence, I’ve been planning my very own garden themed wedding (of course), in an unbelievably fast 2 month window! It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me, beginning with a surprise engagement to my boyfriend, and steam rolling into a wedding day that’s only one more month away!

I’ve never been a believer in long engagements, at least for myself, so this past month has been a series of evenings filled with rapid fire decisions to make, and venues to tour. My evening freelance writing has fallen to the wayside a bit, and I’m looking forward to jumping back in with all of you.  Curious about how he popped the question, and where we went to celebrate our engagement day, keep reading this week for more of my story, and regular updates from my very sleep deprived mind.

All the best,

Amy the Green Gardenista

Photo Courtesey of: Just chaos

Well, the long weekend is almost over for those of us in the USA.  If you are like me you may find yourself in some serious bumper to bumper traffic as you leave the beach, and having a little garden reading can really lighten the travel stress.  Here’s what I’m going to be reading today on my way home!

Amy Leigh over at “Growing Plants Indoors” is talking carnivorous plants, and has a list of 10 Indoor Plants That Can Eat Bugs, and break you out of your indoor plant rut.

Fine Gardening has a great article on how to plant 10 Different Plants For Year Round Container garden appeal!

Fern over at Life on the Balcony has tips for the summer gardener, and how to start a late Summer Edible Container Garden.

Virginia over at Planet Green is giving us the dirt on city gardening with The City Girl’s Guide to Country Gardening Lesson #12: Sussing Out Your Soil.

And TipNut has 50 Soothing Home Remedies you can make yourself to treat and relieve your summer sunburn. Talk about timely information!

I’m off to hit the roads, so I wish the rest of you the best of luck in your travels as well!  I hope you had a restful Fourth of July Weekend.

This is the face of my Saturday mornings lately, and I’m loving it!  The Raspberry and Blackberry bushes I planted shortly after I moved in to my city townhouse have given me their first big yield, and on Saturday mornings one of the first things I like to do is collect the newly ripened berries for cooking. I keep my berry bushes on trellises in my front yard to give them the optimum amount of sunlight, and to keep them looking a little more organized and upright than they would if I let them flop around like they would prefer.

A few Saturday’s ago I used my home grown Raspberries and Blueberries in a Pancake recipe, to surprise my boyfriend with when he came to pick me up for a day trip getaway to Ladew Topiary Gardens.

The recipe I used involved:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar, optional
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter,
• And 2 cups of Blueberries and Raspberries mixed into the batter.

The pancakes came out deliciously, and I filled two big glass goblets with orange juice while I waited for him to arrive. Little did I know he had a surprise in store for me as well!  Once he arrived I began dropping the pancakes on the hot griddle, and he came up behind me while I was stirring the batter, and presented me with this, and a certain questions that I was very pleased to say “Yes!” to.

(to be continued)

Photo Courtesy of: PC – My Shots@Photography

Being in the green business I get a lot of questions from friends and family about the pros and cons of lawn services over a Do-It-Yourself program. There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained in building your lawn up yourself, and for many people (myself included), puttering around in the yard is both an enjoyable hobby and a stress reliever. For those of you considering a lawn service for the next chapter in your life I would like to share with you my “insiders perspective” about what the strengths and weaknesses of the lawn care industry are, and give you some pointers on things to look for when choosing one for yourself. I will preface this post by saying that I am not employed by any lawn care service, and have no interest in recommending any one service by name. If you are considering a lawn service, I want to give you the right questions to ask to help you find a company that will save you time, money, and environmental impact, all while building a beautiful and healthy lawn.

Find the Right Price for a Lawn Service

The best thing to do when looking for a good price is to bring no fewer than three companies out to meet you. Mix a few smaller, local companies in with the big corporations like the Valley Crest’s, TruGreen’s, and Scotts. For homeowners, the “little guys” often provide not only the best price (without excessive overhead prices for the corporation) but they also tend to provide better customer service. Make list of the services that you are looking for, and stick to it when creating a plan with your prospective contractors. If all you want from a contractor is a bi-yearly Grub (Beetle larva) Control added to your lawn, then stick with that plan for the first year’s contract, and allow yourself time to see the results before you consider extra options. Don’t rule anyone out until you have several prices to compare, and shop around for what works best for you!

Here’s something else to consider: having a lawn service provider can actually be more economical, and better for the environment than a total do-it-yourself approach. Many people find that they can actually save money by paying someone else to buy and apply products to their yard a few times a year instead of buying and storing large bags of chemicals, and distribution tools. The average American homeowner actually loses money through the expired, or moisture damaged chemicals they may be storing in their sheds and garages. Much of the lawn enhancers we buy as homeowners get dumped into landfills with the rest of the spring cleaning before the full bag has been used, instead of being safely disposed of, or used in a timely manner.

Lawn care companies provide the correct application ratio’s of the products designed to target the problems of the lawn,  without the threat of over application, and run-off into the local water supply. Large companies also benefit from the latest research and development products, that allow them to test out greener and more efficient chemicals, and tools before they are available on the mass market.

It’s a Trade-Off: If you are considering a lawn service, take an inventory of what you own, and how often you buy a new type of lawn enhancer, or specific plant food (ie: Roses, or Rhododendron and Camellia). Once you come to a price, factor in any value you would place on expert advice to diagnose a problem, and direct “face-time” you may have with lawn technicians to trouble-shoot a specific area of your yard. Use all of these factors to determine what you are comfortable budgeting in for a lawn service, and then compare the bids from your contractors.

Customer Service:

Most lawn care companies, whether they are a huge corporation or a couple guys with a trailer, can provide a wide variety of services for you from mowing and pruning, to fertilizing, and pest control. As a customer, you can build your own services with whatever package, or service meets your needs. The most popular use homeowners have for a land care service is the fertilization package that includes visits for weed control.

What really makes a difference is the availability of a technician to talk with you about concerns you have in your yard. Not every company will have technicians available with a degree or specialized training in turf care, but any “face-time” with a technician can guarantee that your questions will be answered (either at that time, or in a follow up call), and can provide you with valuable knowledge about your yard, and it’s challenges and strengths, that you might have never known otherwise.

Questions to ask are: Who can I call if I have a question? Who will be working on my lawn, and can they be scheduled for times when I am home? Will the technician be available to answer the questions I have about my lawn? What training have technicians had in turf care, pest identification, and methods for pest control? How often will I be able to schedule appointments for the service I want? What eco-friendly services and products do you provide? Do you offer a la carte services without a regularly scheduled lawn program?

Comparison Shopping:

The national lawncare chains strength is in their ability to blitz your lawn quickly and efficiently with whatever needs to be done, at almost any time in a 9-5pm window. The weakness of these companies is that the technicians are not looking to spot any potential problems while they are at your house, and that their workmanship can sometimes be sloppy These technicians often receive a lot of pressure to complete a large number of lawns per day in a very short amount of time – this is how large companies pay for their overhead. Work completion mostly happens when a homeowner is away at work, providing little to no time for questions and answers, and no accountability. Depending on the company and the location, you as a homeowner can recieve exemplary service, but there is always a risk with this option that your lawn will be treated as “just another number,” and the workmanship may reflect that. The “little guy” as a small business is a localized operation, based more on their homeowner business than on any commercial business. These people, whether part-timers, or a full-time business, provide a solid customer service base as a means of holding on to their customer, and earning word-of-mouth recognition and recomendation. This provider is much more likely to have the time and desire to trouble-shoot issues in your yard, and to spend quality time answering your questions, they may however be harder to schedule, since they are working with less staff on their payroll.

Bottom Line: The large companies are run on a business model that favors the amount of revenue that can be earned from a stable commercial contract over the more unstable homeowner market, and may not provide you with the best possible customer service or price, but their scheduling availability and job completion rate will be excellent. The small business model of the local lawncare company depends on your repeated use of them to remain afloat, and they will work hard to keep your business. The small business will provide excellent overall customer service, and your best bet for a lower overall cost, but they may be harder to schedule.

Lawn Options:

Aside from asking about the calandar scheduling of fertilizers, mowing, and weed and pest control, ask what environmentally friendly options are available to meet your needs. I highly recommend asking about a provider’s “Integrated Pest Management Program” (IPM). The best lawn and garden is built on healthy plant stock, and a balance of pests, and pollinators for optimum plant health and reproduction. A well balanced population of carnivorous insects, with pollinators, and “feeder insects,” will provide an environment where insects monitor and control each other’s numbers, so you don’t have to. The theory behind IPM is to work more naturally with the insect populations, and to protect your plants from undesirable bug infestations in ways that won’t wipe out, or deter all local insects in general. IPM is not the end to pesticide as we know it, it simply provides more options that can provide you with “greener” solutions for protecting your yard and the investment you have made in it. IPM programs can provide you with products like insecticidal soaps and oils that will control the unwanted pests by killing them, or simply deterring them from their desired location, and often recommends spot treating your problem areas instead of a major “broadcasting” of a pesticide in areas that are not effected. Keep in mind that the complete blanket coverage of pesticides to your lawn and garden can be one of the causes of a “boom” in one type of insect population later, as a product loses potency in between applications, and an insect breeds in the absence of a natural predator.

Bottom Line: Ask providers if they provide an IPM program with their service plan, and ask questions about the options available, so that you can make an educated decisions about your yard’s long-term health. Find solutions that work well for you, and your goals for your yard.

This Caladium and Hibiscus garden is great for several reasons, the number one being that this Caladium is sun loving and can thrive in areas that used to burn out a Caladium’s big, bright leaves. Additionally, this combination is the perfect thing for soggy corner areas that seem to promote mold and rot in other plants.

Recipe For This Container Garden:

• 1 Yellow Hibiscus Tree
• 3 Red Flash Caladium
• 3 Rainbow Confetti Lantana

Where To Plant:

• Plant this container in a bright location in full sun or partial shade.
• Arrange this grouping in a corner, an area with poor drainage, or moisture issues, since these plants love wet feet and can tolerate humid and moist conditions.
• Use these plants in a container in your favorite water feature; Caladium and Hibiscus love ponds and boggy areas.

Easy Care:

• Hibiscus, Lantana and Caladium are all incredibly low maintenance plants.  They need regular watering, and seasonal fertilizer (or a decent potting soil), in order to thrive.
• Pinch off the spent flowers from the Hibiscus on a weekly basis to keep the tropical blooms coming all summer.
• Bring the Hibiscus and the Caladium indoors in the winter if you have cold weather.

Now is the perfect time to build your own cold frame greenhouse for the cold weather months, so you can grow your own veggies and salad green thoughout most of the year.  You don’t need a lot of know how, or space to create your own greenhouse in, and you can create a simple cold frame from treated lumber, or plywood from you local home improvement store.  Plans for a winter cold frame house to grow salad greens and veggies can be as simple as this plan below. 

 Dimensions For a Simple DIY Cold Frame:

Create a frame 4 feet long, by 2 ½ feet deep, and gradually increase the height of the sides of the frame from1 foot tall in the front, to 1 ½ feet tall near the rear wall.  Hinge a window, or framed piece of glass over the top of the cold frame box to trap in heat, and seal out frost.  For added benefit in cold winter weather, cut thin Styrofoam pieces of insulation into wall liners to help trap the warmth of the sunlight.

Tips For Cold Frame Success:

• Prop the window open when temperatures outdoors are 70 degrees or higher.
• Face your cold frame toward the south for the best winter light.
• For the best moisture control, plant your box in an area of good drainage to prevent rot.
• Set the frame 2-3 inches below the soil line in the yard to help trap in the sunlight’s heat around the roots of your plants. Then once the sun set in the colder months, the radian heat from the soil will keep your veggies warmer through the night.

Canadian Geese are a nuisance across much of North America, where flocks of several hundred at a time may take up residence in public space and create major waste problems.  While the Canada Goose is a welcome native species in North America, they have been naturalizing in parts of Europe where they are not native. In the United States where they have been protected for decades, their numbers have boomed enormously, and can cause problems for businesses that rely on large areas of open turf as part of their business model.  From golf courses, to retirement communities, Canada Geese can cause major problems if their numbers are not modified, and controlled, and the pound of poop per day that they produce can be a public health hazard.

One method of natural goose control aside from goose fencing, and  population control, is to use larger birds to limit the number of mated pairs hanging around a property and creating more geese.  Mute Swans are European, and Asian native birds that can be used to effectively control the nesting population of Canadian Geese.  They are large, ornamental, and aggressive with other bird species once they have reached sexual maturity  at 5-7 years of age.  When they reach sexual maturity, if they are in a mated pair, care must be given around them once the mating season arrives since their aggression is not only limited to other animals.  If you use a mated Mute Swan pair to control the population of nesting geese it is wise to let the human population know that the birds are unpredictable in their territory in early spring, once they begin to nest, and that they may chase after humans.

While there are other methods of goose control that can be used in tandem, or alone, Mute Swans are a reliable way to control a pond’s Canada Goose population around the clock.  They may not eliminate every single pair of Canadian Geese, but they will keep the numbers of geese very small or completely nonexistent.  Captive pairs for ornamental and private ownership can be purchase by reputable breeders, and should arrive in perfect health, with a veterinary certificate, and be pinioned, so they are incapable of leaving your property.  It is important to speak to a breeder about the values of getting a pair of male and female, or whether getting two females or two males will work best for you.  As with all domestic animals, Mute Swans must be cared for and looked after year round, and their population should be controlled on your property to prevent their offspring from breeding in the wild and interrupting the balance of the native eco-system.  Always inquire with a breeder whether there is the possibility of having the animals sterilized before they are shipped to you, to prevent any clutches of eggs.  Mute’s can live for upward of 50 years, and with yearly clutches ranging from 5-12 eggs per year, eliminating the viable eggs from a mated pair will be a long term commitment if they are not neutered.

Due to the invasive nature of Mute Swans in the wild, particularly around the Great Lakes, and the Chesapeake Bay, it is imperative that any goose control program involving Mute Swans be tempered with an equal program to control the population of the domestic Mute Swan as well.  Whether it is in sterilizing the birds you already own, or committing to eliminate any eggs that they produce, laws across the states are tightening restrictions on the owners of private swan collections, as a step to protect the eco-system.  Mute Swans while beautiful and interactive, have been responsible for damage to the environment in both the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes, and they have gone so far as to prevent the native birds from nesting in their traditional habitats, and destroying the eggs of native birds found in “their” territory.

As with all methods of animal control it is important to check any rules and restrictions for your area about the purchase and upkeep of Mute Swans before you purchase them, and to check with your local Department of Fish and Wildlife, or Parks and Recreation periodically for updates.  There are positive and negative aspects to most methods or goose control, and Mute Swans are no exception to that. Make sure that either you as an individual, or as a company have a long term strategy for the care and control of Mute Swans and their offspring before you use them to modify the goose population.

Mute’s can be valued members of private communities, and corporate sites, taking on the status of a mascot, and pet all in one.  For those of you who decide you are able to keep a Mute Swan or pair of Swans, I can attest to their value in adding beauty and grace to your property and ponds.  Their personalities are wonderful, and they can be trained with daily interaction to treat people with respect, and good will.  I have used Mute Swans as part of a goose control strategy for 7 years, and value their place in my arsenal of tricks to keep my local population in manageable numbers.  I have committed to careful handling of my birds, and to controlling the swan population in my area, and I hope that you will do the same if you choose to use these beautiful birds as well.

Ronnie Citron-Fink of Care 2.com and I got together last week to do a ‘Q and A’ roundup of common questions regarding pond care and maintenance.  I’ve come up with some great tips and advice for her readers in “Pond Secrets: Create Vibrant, Healthy Ponds With The Green Gardenista,” tackling issues like algae, pond design, fish choices, and eco-friendly pond liners.

Looking for some tips and encouragement?  Read our interview, and follow Ronnie’s own pond and garden adventures as she “goes green” in her own neighborhood!

This peach themed container design works in partial sun and shade, to fully sunny locations, and features a mix of perennial and annual flowers, and shrubs.  In cool climates, only the Roses in this container will last from year to year, but in warm climates the Coleus can be perennial as well. Want to recreate this look?

The Ingredients:

• 1  Peach ‘Daybreaker’ Floribunda Rose
• 3 Different Varieties of Coleus
• 3 Peach Superbells

I chose to contrast the peach of the Roses and Superbells with the bright reds and purples of Coleus, and I think it looks lush and bright, just in time for summer!

Tips:

• To encourage the Coleus to bush out quickly, pinch off the tops and eliminate any early flowering. The foliage will fill in and thicken rapidly.
• Prune the roses weekly to maximize the amount of blooms, and keep the bush in bloom constantly.