Greenwood Nursery & Gardens

Weekly Plant Give-A-Way Contest Announced

2011-06-10T17:35:00.001-07:00

Greenwood Nursery Announces Weekly Contest for Plant Give-A-Way

Beginning the week of May 16th, Greenwood Nursery is holding a weekly plant give away for members of their Facebook Fan Page. Each Saturday one lucky member will receive a plant or garden product. Contest to be held weekly through June 25th.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – May 24, 2011 – Greenwood Nursery, McMinnville, TN announces their weekly plant and garden product give away. Beginning the week of May 16th through June 25th, they will draw a name from their Facebook Fan Page Membership. Drawing will be held on weekends and announced at that time. The winner will receive one of Greenwood Nursery's Proven Winner plants or one of their gardening products such as The Gardener's Hollow Leg fabric gardening sack, African market baskets, or wildflower seed kits.
For an opportunity to win in this contest, visit the Greenwood Nursery Facebook Fan Page and Join or Like their Fan Page. The winner must reside within the continental United States as prize will only be shipped within the contiguous U.S.
GreenwoodNursery.com is your one stop online garden center for trees, flowering shrubs, ground covers, flowering perennials, organic lawn care products and more. Rated a top 5 online nursery by About.com. Find your next plants at their online plant nursery.
# # #

Rated one of the top 5 online nurseries by about.com, Greenwood Nursery offers a wide selection of shade trees, flowering trees, flowering shrubs, evergreen shrubs, ground covers, perennials, and gardening supplies.
Related articles

Landscaping around Decks, Patios and Porches (gardeningwithcheryl.com)
Planting a Small Sized Garden (gardeningwithcheryl.com)

Planting a Small Sized Garden

2011-06-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

When you don’t have the budget or inclination to do the landscaping projects you really should do, downsize. Downsize with smaller landscapes and smaller plants. Small sized gardens can be used effectively to enhance bland foundations, corners, and entrances as well as add color, fragrance and interest to patios and other sitting areas.

Small gardens use small scale shrubs and perennials. Anchor shrubs should mature around 3 to 4 feet tall and are typically placed in the back 1/3 of the area. Planting one or two evergreen shrubs makes a good base. Colorful small shrubs and shrub-like perennials are other good choices.

Small garden anchor plants:

Boxwood Winter Gem
Boxwood Wintergreen
Nandina Firepower
Sungold Cypres
Sunjoy Gold Pillar Barberry
Bloomerang (reblooming lilac)
Barberry Royal Burgundy
Arctic Fire Dogwood
Clethra Sugartina Crystalina

Karley Rose, Prairie Dropseed, Karl Foerster and Adagio are some of the more striking ornamental grasses that are attractive as single specimens and can be used in lieu shrubs as anchor plants.

Plant perennials of varied heights keeping within 12 to 40 inches tall for added interest. Some of the friendliest and brightest varieties are:

Lo & Behold Blue Chip Buddleia
Lavender (Munstead, Hidcote & Kew Red)
Pineapple Sage
Walker’s Low Catmint
Echinacea Day Dream (yellow) & Hot Lava (orangey red)
Purple Dome Aster
Heucheras Plum Pudding & Mystic Angel
Gaillardias Arizona Sun & Burgundy
Monardas Fireball & Blue Stocking
Veronicas Red Fox & Sunny Border Blue
Little Spire Russian Sage
Hostas
Ferns

Small scale groundcovers are the last touch for small gardens.

Select from:

Creeping rosemary
Corsican Mint
Elfin Thyme
Red Creeping Thyme
Blue Star Creeper (Laurentia)
Big Blue Liriope
Highland Cream Thyme

Use spreading plants that have a spreading habit to fill in over several years such as:

Red Drift Rose and Apricot Drift Rose
Beauty Bush Dreamcatcher
Rudbeckia Autumn Colors
Moonshine Yarrow & Summer Pastels Yarrow
Shasta Daisy Crazy Daisy
Dianthus Firewitch

How to plan a small sized garden for your enjoyment:

Select at least one small scale shrub to anchor the garden
Choose 3 or more perennials in varied heights
Use one variety of groundcover for the front most part
For even more interest add a butterfly house, bird house or whirligig just off the center point
For more ideas on small sized gardens, visit Greenwood Nursery.

Related articles

Landscaping around Decks, Patios and Porches (gardeningwithcheryl.com)

Planting a Small Sized Garden

2011-06-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

When you don’t have the budget or inclination to do the landscaping projects you really should do, downsize. Downsize with smaller landscapes and smaller plants. Small sized gardens can be used effectively to enhance bland foundations, corners, and entrances as well as add color, fragrance and interest to patios and other sitting areas.

Small gardens use small scale shrubs and perennials. Anchor shrubs should mature around 3 to 4 feet tall and are typically placed in the back 1/3 of the area. Planting one or two evergreen shrubs makes a good base. Colorful small shrubs and shrub-like perennials are other good choices.

Small garden anchor plants:

Karley Rose, Prairie Dropseed, Karl Foerster and Adagio are some of the more striking ornamental grasses that are attractive as single specimens and can be used in lieu shrubs as anchor plants.

Plant perennials of varied heights keeping within 12 to 40 inches tall for added interest. Some of the friendliest and brightest varieties are:

Lo & Behold Blue Chip Buddleia
Lavender (Munstead, Hidcote & Kew Red)
Pineapple Sage
Walker’s Low Catmint
Echinacea Day Dream (yellow) & Hot Lava (orangey red)
Purple Dome Aster
Heucheras Plum Pudding & Mystic Angel
Gaillardias Arizona Sun & Burgundy
Monardas Fireball & Blue Stocking
Veronicas Red Fox & Sunny Border Blue
Little Spire Russian Sage
Hostas
Ferns

Small scale groundcovers are the last touch for small gardens.

Select from:

Use spreading plants that have a spreading habit to fill in over several years such as:

Red Drift Rose and Apricot Drift Rose
Beauty Bush Dreamcatcher
Rudbeckia Autumn Colors
Moonshine Yarrow & Summer Pastels Yarrow
Shasta Daisy Crazy Daisy
Dianthus Firewitch

How to plan a small sized garden for your enjoyment:

Select at least one small scale shrub to anchor the garden
Choose 3 or more perennials in varied heights
Use one variety of groundcover for the front most part
For even more interest add a butterfly house, bird house or whirligig just off the center point

For more ideas on small sized gardens, visit Greenwood Nursery.

Selecting Plants for Borders and Edging

2010-11-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Selecting Plants for Borders and Edging

Drift Roses

2010-10-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

New from the Knockout Rose Family, are the Drift Roses. Drift Roses are gorgeous compact growing groundcover-like roses with miniature roses that will bloom continually from early spring to frost. Like their Knockout Relatives, the Drift Roses are tough, disease resistant and cold hardy as far north as zone 5.

They are sure to become a favorite for any type border. Prune back to 4" in early spring (after the last hard frost) for best performance. Regular deadheading encourages re-blooming and helps maintain a tidy appearance.

Currently, we are booking our Drift Roses for shipping this spring. We will have the Red Drift Roses and Apricot Drift Roses available.

P. Allen Smith talks about Drift Roses in his recent newsletter. This is a good short article on these new landscape plants. I hope you take the time to read it. http://bit.ly/9UfjpB

New garden books in time for spring planting… and reading

2010-03-31T10:18:00.001-07:00

Like most garden lovers, Cheryl and I enjoy reading books on our favorite subject. However experienced you are, you can always learn something new (or re-learn something you had forgotten) and many of today’s books are a delight to look at with page upon page of lavish photographs.

Here are a few books that recently landed on our desks at the Nursery. They might be treasured additions to your own garden bookshelf.

“The Homeowner’s Complete Tree and Shrub Handbook”

Penelope O’Sullivan (Storey Publishing)

Trees and shrubs are the heart and soul of the home landscape. You can learn how to use them effectively with this comprehensive handbook, covering all the essentials of woody plant gardening.

In addition to basic design principals and plant selection and care, the handbook features an extensive encyclopedia of more than 350 tree and shrub profiles.

“Garden Bouquets and Beyond”

Suzy Bales (Rodale)

If you love to see an abundance of flowers growing in your garden but are somewhat hesitant about how to bring their color and fragrance successfully indoors, “Garden Bouquets and Beyond” could be the ideal book for you.

Combining her lifelong experience as a gardener with her skills as a floral designer, Suzy Bales puts together fresh flowers and foliage from her landscape for dozens of enchanting seasonal designs.

The book’s subtitle, “Creating Wreaths, Garlands and More in Every Garden Season” points out that getting creative with your flora is something you can enjoy all year round, for special occasions or just your own pleasure.

This is an all-encompassing guide, from when to cut and how to arrange to using flowers, leaves and vines in all types of decorations and arrangements. Lavishly illustrated with more than 150 photographs, Suzy’s book takes found objects, foliage of all colors and seasonal blooms to put together deceptively simple, beautiful arrangements.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening

Delilah Smittle and Sheri Ann Richardson (Alpha)

Most people in temperate zones think of gardening as a seasonal endeavor, but there is a way to stretch the planting season and harvest fresh produce year-round. The authors of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening” take you through every step of both covered outdoor and indoor gardening.

I’m not suggesting you’re an Idiot (honest!) but both a complete novice and a more experienced garden lover will find plenty of tips to keep the goodies coming all year long. Particularly useful are the in-depth sections on the best use of row covers, cloches, cold frames and greenhouses. It’s an easy-to-follow guide with straightforward information presented in bite-sized chunks.

Grow Your Own, Eat Your Own

Bob Flowerdew (Kyle)

If you’re looking for something a little more lavish than the Idiot’s Guide, look for this new book by Bob Flowerdew (Could there be a better name for a gardener?) one of the world’s most respected authorities on organic gardening.

The first part of the book begins in the garden, showing you how to achieve a more continuous crop as well as how to extend your harvest. But Flowerdew’s book goes beyond the garden and into the kitchen to show the best way to preserve and cook these crops by bottling, drying, jamming, smoking, freezing, juicing, soaking and candying. It includes a ton of luscious photos that will appeal to both the gardener and the home chef.

“Dead Head”

Rosemary Harris (Minotaur Books)

Subtitled “A Dirty Business Mystery”, this is a novel that has all the elements to appeal to gardeners who also love to curl up with a good mystery. Wise-cracking gardener and amateur detective Paula Holliday is back, following her two previous adventures in “Pushing Up Daisies” and “The Big Dirt Nap” in this quick-witted and fast-paced mystery.

Author Harris is a master gardener and a former television producer, and knows how to cultivate a mystery that appeals to gardeners and non-gardeners alike.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Groundcovers can replace lawns… and mowing

2010-03-10T08:56:00.001-08:00

Is there a groundcover that doesn’t need mowing, is kid-friendly but uninhabited by critters and insects? That’s a tall order as this reader finds out…

QUESTION: “We recently moved and purchased 5 acres but we only plan on a small garden for now. I really don't want to spend time mowing right now. Is there a short ground cover which the kids could play in?

”I am reading things about snakes, chiggers and ticks. I want my kids to be safe, yet I would like to keep the mowing to a minimum. Any suggestions?” – Linda

ANSWER: Most groundcovers will attract those unwanted elements, although they can be present even without the habitat that groundcover provides. Outside dogs and cats will help to keep the snakes at bay, but chiggers, ticks and other such critters are all around.

Any groundcover will take several years at best to fill in a large area such as you describe. There are chemicals that can be sprayed on the ground to help reduce the tick and flea population, but with children in and about the yard, you probably wouldn’t want to use it.

Here’s a compromise suggestion. Mark out a reasonably small area close to the house and seed or sod it to provide a “kid friendly” lawn. You could then put down some groundcover over much of the remaining area, so you only have to keep the kids’ play area mowed.

If you’re looking for a low-growing groundcover, you could try Wooly Thyme. It’s a fast spreading thyme with no scent or flavor, but it makes a very attractive soft carpet of hairy grayish foliage topped by bright pink flowers in summer. Wooly Thyme thrives in dry well-drained locations that receive full sun. It is a hardy evergreen that grows 2 - 5 inches high.

You could also look at Wooly’s cousin, Creeping Red Thyme, valued for its fragrant foliage and a profusion of beautiful red flowers all summer long.

Another possibility: Pennsylvania Sedge Grass, a good groundcover that could be a good choice if you have any damp shady areas under tree canopies.

But again, most groundcovers aren’t particularly suitable play areas for small children. In addition to harboring critters and insects, groundcovers can conceal rocks, stones and sharp twigs that can injure little bare feet and legs.

QUESTION: “When is the best time to plant weeping willows? I have approximately 80' span of yard that is extremely wet and hope the willows will assist in absorbing some or most of the moisture.

“How far apart should I plant the trees? I do not have any pipes or drains nearby to worry about the roots of the trees interfering with. Also, can you suggest any other trees that would do well in very moist soil? I have a fairly good sized yard 80' wide x 150' deep.” – Brenda Anderson

ANSWER: You should be able to begin planting around the latter part of March. It is important to remember that the willows won’t actually absorb the moisture in the ground. It is simply that they will tolerate the damp soil. If the ground is soggy wet, it may be trial and error to get them established. Should there be a period where the soil is drier, you might try scheduling to plant at that time.

I recommend the Weeping Willow Babylonica, the best and most beautiful of the green weeping willows, in my opinion. They grow to a mature height in the 30 to 50 foot range with a spread just as wide, so they need to be spaced about 30 to 50 feet apart, and are suitable for zones 4 – 9.

There aren’t many trees that grow happily in consistently wet ground. However, true weeping willows, bald cypress, red maple, river birch, green ash, swamp oak and willow oak are known to be tolerant of moist soil. But, as I mentioned, with soggy ground, it may take several tries to get them established.

Call 811 before you dig this Spring

2010-03-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

So you’ve decided to plant a couple of trees in your landscape this weekend. What’s the worst thing that could happen? An aching back? Blistered hands? Not even close!

How about swinging a pickaxe, hearing a clang and getting drenched with a geyser gushing from the water main you hit? Or maybe pulling back the lever on your rented Bobcat and realizing you’ve just ruptured a gas line or torn up a buried electrical cable?

It’s safe to say that any of those could pretty much ruin your weekend. You would also earn the wrath of your neighbors whose utilities were cut off until crews could repair your damage, and it’s likely you’d be responsible for the cost of repairs and possibly even open to legal consequences.

You might think that the hole you are digging for that new tree isn’t deep enough to cause a problem, but that can be a dangerous assumption. For one thing, some utilities might be closer to the surface than you imagine.

Additionally, you have to remember that tree roots can go deep and wide as the tree matures, and planting over or close to underground utilities is like burying a green time bomb that can dislodge and break lines many years in the future.

Fortunately, this is a problem that has a very simple (and free) solution.

All you have to do – BEFORE you dig – is call a single 3-digit phone number: 811. When you call 811 from anywhere in the country, your call will be routed to your local One Call Center. Local One Call Center operators will ask you for the location of your digging job and route your call to affected utility companies. Your utility companies will then send a professional locator to your location to mark your lines within a few days.

Utility companies have offered this service for many years, but with so many companies with so many phone numbers spread across the country, there was a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. Hence the start of a national one-call service and a unique phone number, 811.

Some homeowners believe the 811 service is solely for contractors but that is incorrect. Utility companies are just as happy to mark their lines for your DIY projects as for professional excavation jobs.

I should add that, even if you hire professional contractors to build that new deck or fence on your property, don’t assume they will call 811 before they begin work. I recommend that you ask the contractor if they have already done so, or you can simply call 811 yourself and tell your contractor that you’ve made the call.

Within a few days, you’ll see some little colored flags or lines of colored paint criss-crossing your land, indicating what lies beneath. Here’s what the colors indicate:

Red – Electric
Orange – Communications, Telephone/CATV
Blue – Potable Water
Green – Sewer/Drainage
Yellow – Gas/Petroleum Pipe Line
Purple – Reclaimed Water
White – Premark site of intended excavation

As you can see, white paint or flags are used to indicate where you or your contractors are planning to dig. It’s a very good idea to mark the dig location before the utility locator teams come out. But be sure you use only WHITE markers to avoid any confusion!

While the marker teams are looking down, you should take a few moments to look up. Overhead power and telephone lines are so much part of our lives that they almost become invisible to us.

But a tree planted under or close to an overhead power line can be a major problem. Before you plant a tree anywhere near overhead lines, double-check the possible mature height and canopy spread, and if necessary err on the side of caution and plant it a little further away.

Special thanks to Alecia White, representing The Common Ground Alliance, for reminding us that more than 256,000 underground utility lines are struck each year in the U.S. If you’d rather not be part of that statistic, simply call 811 so you’ll know what’s below before you dig.

Dramatic, colorful grasses perk up any landscape

2010-02-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

Ornamental grasses are an easy-care way to add interest and texture to any landscape. Here are some tips about two of our favorites.

QUESTION: “A couple of years ago, I bought about 25 Karley Rose grasses to plant along the edge of a path. The plants were (and are) vigorous and healthy. During the past spring and summer, we had a lot of rain and the Karley Rose grasses got SO big they flopped over into the path.

“If we should have another wet spring and summer this year, will pruning back the grasses prevent them from getting so tall and floppy?” – Clare Oliva

ANSWER: It’s important to understand that pruning during the late spring or summer would limit the plant’s growth. Normally, the Karley Rose stands up nicely on its own. Maybe the force of the rain pressed the grass blades closer to the ground.

If you see this beginning to happen in the spring, you might try staking them or if you do decide to prune the lower areas nearer the path, cut the blades at angles to blend. Otherwise you will end up at the end of the season with lovely grass mounds with flat ended blades. Yes, I have done that before and it’s not a pretty sight. The best strategy is to cut off the foliage to 6 inches from the top of the ground in early spring before it begins its seasonal growth cycle. It will then grow into its natural shape.

Remember though, they do have a slight natural weep on some of the lower outer blades. The plumes grow straight, but can also be weighted down when there is a lot of rainfall. I have noticed this happening with the Karley Roses in my garden after a weekend of rain showers. As they dry out, they will usually pop back up.

QUESTION: “I have a question about wild grasses. I enjoy and have started a collection of different grasses. This year I added to my collection a Karl Foerster grass from my local nursery.

In years past, I would cut down my other grass in early spring and I have great success with them each year. I am not sure what to do with this newer variety. Do I cut back the flowering stems and grass, or just the stems producing the flower of the Karl Foerster grass? – Wayne

ANSWER: There’s no need for any special treatment, Wayne. The Karl Foerster grass (sometimes called Karl Forester) should be cared for just like other ornamental grasses by cutting it back close to the ground in early spring before it begins to sprout.

The two plants mentioned in the readers’ questions are among the favorite ornamental grasses for Cheryl and me.

Karl Foerster Grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) is a cool season ornamental grass, named to honor the German botanist and plant breeder who, in the 1920s and 1930s, turned his hometown Bornim into a Mecca for gardening enthusiasts and later bravely resisted both the Nazis and the Soviet occupiers in East Germany.

Karl Foerster is a very strong grass in that it maintains its upright position without being too rigid in appearance. Flowers appear in and at first they are loose, feathery and pinkish in color, then, through the summer, they become very narrow, gradually turning a wheaten color that lasts through the fall. Recommended for zones 4 – 9.

Karley Rose Grass (Pennisetum orientale) is a warm season grass for zones 5 - 9. The green foliage is topped with long-blooming (June till frost) rose lavender plumes. I planted two Karley Rose Grass' on a berm we have in the garden, on either side of a green lace leaf Japanese maple. The texture and pink plumes really offset the green lace foliage of the maple.

Cool season grasses generally begin to grow earlier in the season and do well in cooler temperatures. When rainfall is scarce or temperatures are high, cool season grasses need more frequent watering. Warm season grasses handle hot weather and limited moisture quite well and can retain an attractive appearance without a lot of watering on your part.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Lavender brings fragrant history to your garden

2010-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Today we’ll take a look at a very old plant with a long and storied history, but one that deserves a fragrant place in your garden.

Lavender was definitely familiar to early Pilgrims arriving in America in the 1600s, and no doubt it helped to mask some of the less pleasant odors during their long sea voyages. But growing and using lavender goes back much further than that.

The word lavender has its origin in the Latin word “lavare” meaning to wash and has many connections with the concept of cleansing. The ancient Phoenicians used lavender in their bath water and as an air freshener. Greeks were said to anoint their feet with lavender oil, no doubt as an early odor eater!

Egyptians were big fans of lavender and evidence has been found in excavated tombs to show that they used it as part of the mummification process. Wealthy Egyptians would wear a compress on their heads, made of lavender that would create a pleasant perfume as it warmed with their body heat.

Lavender has also been used for many hundreds of years as a healing and calming herb. Roman texts describe its use in treating everything from insect bites to stomach and kidney ailments. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have drank lavender tea to treat migraine headaches and that popularized the rapid growth of lavender farms in England.

Growing lavender in the USA is not difficult and will reward you with the delightful sight and smell of this revered plant, even if you don’t plan to anoint your feet with its oil. However, note that lavender will NOT grow in highly humid areas such as south Florida. If you live in USDA zone 5 or further north, you probably won’t get a lush thick lavender hedge as you would in more temperate areas, but lavender is a hardy perennial and will bloom anew in the spring.

If you’d like to see a brief video that Cheryl made with tips for growing lavender, you can find it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery

Ready to enjoy your own lavender? Try these…

Lavender du Provence

A beautiful addition to any garden path, container, or border plant, it has a strong fragrance and is long blooming. The Provence Lavender is a Lavandin variety which refers to the hybrid lavenders commonly grown in France and cultivated for the oil and dry buds. A wonderful attraction for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds,.the du Provence Lavender has pale blue to purple blooms, growing to two foot with a two foot spread. Zones 6 to 9.

Lavender Grosso

The most fragrant of all the lavenders, Grosso Lavender is a hybrid variety commonly grown in France and used in scenting perfumes and making sachets. An abundance of long spikes of deep violet flowers standing well above the grey/green compact foliage makes the Grosso a remarkable addition to any garden. Additionally, the Grosso is the most cold-hardy of the French hybrid lavenders. Zones 6 to 9.

Lavender Hidcote Blue

If you’re looking for a lower-growing lavender variety, try this one. Hidcote Blue, a.k.a. lavender angustifolia, is a free flowering dwarf variety that produces deep purple flower spikes in late spring and summer. Lavender Hidcote Blue is great for a dwarf hedge, edging or for massing. As a famous English Lavender, the Hidcote’s blooms are distilled to provide one of the purest lavender scents. Zones 5 to 10.

Lavender Munstead

Munstead is a many-branched, somewhat woody, perennial that grows much like a small shrub. The narrow leaves of the Lavender Munstead are about 2 inches long and have a pleasing grey-green color. Munstead Lavender has small, heavily fragrant lavender flowers on long-stemmed, slender spikes. As a favorite English Lavender, the Munstead is a top choice for the edible buds. Zones 5 to 9.

Lavender grows best in rocky, dry, sunny places with an abundant amount of lime in the soil. The scent is strongest in dry, sunny locations. You can cut faded whole flower spikes when the first flowers begin to open, and then dry them for use in sachets in the home.

Cheryl and I love the calming aroma of lavender that surrounds us as we work in our garden. We think you will, too.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Bring “four season” color to your garden

2010-01-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

What element is the first to strike you when you look at a garden, yours or someone else’s? Quite probably the answer is “color.”

On the other hand, a landscape devoid of color seems dull and lifeless. For months on end, some gardens are little more than a sea of green, or in winter, brown sticks.

It doesn’t have to be that way. With some forethought, you can create a landscape where colors abound and transition from season to season, even winter.

Today, let’s take a look at plants (some of which might be new to you) that can surround you with colors from serene to eye-popping, whatever the calendar says.

Spring

Heuchera Peach Flambe

The peachiest way to enter into spring! You will brighten the neighborhood when its bright peachy yellow leaves unfurl in early spring to turn into redder shades of peach as the summer progresses. They display white flowers on 16 inch spikes and the leaves are almost burgundy by fall. Zones 4 – 9.

Magnolia Butterflies

An upright, pyramidal tree, reaching 30 feet at maturity, it produces beautiful yellow, fragrant flowers (3 to 4 inches) during early to mid spring. The bright yellow blooms on this magnolia give the appearance of yellow butterflies welcoming spring. Zones 5 – 9.

Forsythia Show Off

Forsythia Show Off is a standout with large, bright yellow flowers that adorn the plant from head to foot. Show Off has attractive dark green foliage, unlike any other Forsythia, that adds season-long interest. Zones 5 – 7.

Transitioning from spring into summer, you can’t go wrong with:

Dianthus Firewitch

A compact species, perfect for a rock garden but used in mass creates a stunning effect. The Firewitch is an intense, spicy-scented plant with a mat of hot-pink to magenta colored flowers with small white centers. The fragrance comes from the flowers that bloom from mid-spring through early summer. Zones 3 – 8.

Summer

Crape Myrtle Dynamite

Cheryl and I think Dynamite is the most amazing Crape Myrtle we’ve ever seen. The bright red blooms on the Dynamite are in giant clusters all over this tree. It displays smooth tan bark, dark green foliage and a beautiful fiery orange fall color. Zones 6 – 9.

Monarda Fire Ball

When it comes to summer color, this should be on your list! A mid-summer heavy bloomer with showy, aromatic, bright red-scarlet flowers, it is fast growing from 15 to 36 inches tall and packs a visual wallop in the garden planted in full sun or part shade.

Does well in average garden soil and attracts droves of butterflies and hummingbirds. Zones 4 – 9.

Hydrangea Incrediball

This really is an eye-popper! It produces huge 12 inch blossoms forming a massive ball. The Incrediball’s enormous blossoms vary in shades of green and cream fading to white and then to a paler green as blossoms mature. Once the Incrediball Hydrangea begins blooming in early summer, it continues into early fall. Zones 4 – 9.

Fall

Black Eyed Susan

Yes, not exactly a rarity but you can’t go wrong with Black Eyed Susans as they’re great for mass plantings and provide wonderful contrasting colors when paired with ornamental grasses, Shasta daisies, Russian sage or dianthus. They are deer and rabbit resistant yet attract butterflies. Their gold to orange petals provide striking color through mid fall. Zones 4 – 9.

Sedum Autumn Fire

Cheryl and I have several varieties of sedum in our garden and we just love them in the fall. Sedum Autumn Fire has tighter growth habit, thicker foliage, and more brightly colored, rosy, early fall flowers than other varieties. Zones 3 – 9.

Winter

Tiarella Crow Feather

This new Tiarella has bright green leaves and is deeply marked with a black “feather”. Tiarella Crow Feather displays the best winter color of all in a brocade of pinks, reds, purples, and blacks. Tiarella Crow Feather sports pink flower stalks and is a strong grower. Zones 4 – 9.

Nandina Dwarf Firepower

A bright compact evergreen with lime green leaves and superior fire red color in the fall and winter. Plant Nandina Dwarf Firepower as a single specimen in smaller gardens and courtyards, where its color provides a focal point or accent. It is an ideal plant for spas in small urban backyard gardens and may also be planted in pots. Zones 6 – 10.

Yes, you CAN have color all year!

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Brilliant color and heady fragrance can fill your garden

2010-01-11T09:14:00.001-08:00

In the dreary depths of winter, garden lovers console themselves with visions of gorgeous plants that will soon fill their landscapes with glorious color and heady fragrance.

If you are in need of a little moral support to lift your spirits out of the winter blahs, I can point you in the direction of a few plants that might not immediately spring to mind, but could be just what you need to treat your eyes and nose a few short months from now.

Regular readers know that, in spring and summer, Cheryl and I like to start our day by taking our first cup of coffee out to a garden bench where we quietly take in the colors and aromas of the plants as they begin to wake up and stretch towards the morning sun. Somehow, it is a time that is both calming and stimulating, and it sets us up for the hustle and bustle of the day ahead in the nursery.

So let’s start with a shrub that certainly could be the poster child for fragrance-and-color plants.

Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence x lemoinei

I believe this is perhaps the most fragrant of all the Mock Oranges. For me, inhaling the sumptuously intoxicating orange sweetness given up by the pure white blossoms of Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence is pure heaven. It has gracefully arching branches and large, 4-petaled white flowers clustered at branch tips.

The Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence variety is distinguished by its cream and chartreuse streaked foliage with occasional all-gold leaves that extend interest throughout the summer. It grows 6 - 8 feet in height, in full sun. Recommended for USDA zones 5 through 8.

Persian lilac,Syringa x persica
This is a graceful, arching shrub reaching to a height of 4 - 8 feet and half again as wide. The flowers of the Persian Lilac are delicate blend of pale violet and lavender and are very fragrant. The 2 - 3 inch long blooms appear in late spring and bloom abundantly into early summer, attracting bees, butterflies and birds.

The rounded and low mature form makes the Persian lilac a perfect plant to be used in a foundation planting or as a border plant. The blooms can be cut and taken indoors for a lovely scent and floral display. Zones 3 to 7.

Monarda Blue Stocking

Although the name makes one assume the flower color is sky blue, in fact it really has uniquely shaped flowers that are a striking violet/purple and appear in July on erect stems of very fragrant foliage. This perennial grows to about 2 – 3 feet tall and a width of 1 to 3 feet. Monarda Blue Stocking is very attractive, and acts as a magnet to bees and hummingbirds.

They thrive in full sun or partial shade and evenly moist soil. As a bonus, they are quite deer resistant. A good choice for a border plant and nice for cut flower arrangements with its aromatic leaves. Zones 4 – 8.

Buddleia Bi-Color x weyeriana
You probably know that Buddleia is known as the “butterfly bush” but this one is rather special. It is the first butterfly bush to sport two different colors on the same bloomstalk; rich lavender combined with butterscotch yellow. Buddleia Bi-Color is easy to grow, extremely fragrant and will attract tons of butterflies to your perennial border or patio garden area. Buddleia Bi-Color blooms all summer long with most blooms measuring 5 - 6 inches and some growing out to a full 10 inches at the end of the growing season with a jubilant fragrance almost overwhelming to their color show.

The Buddleia Bi-Color reaches 5 - 6 feet in height and by cutting back each winter more branching and more blooms will appear each and every subsequent season. Buddleia Bi-Color grows easily in any sunny, well drained area, while demonstrating fantastic drought tolerance and indifference to extreme heat and humidity. Zones 5 – 9.

Eye-popping color and invigorating fragrance. What more could you ask! Hopefully, I’ve stimulated your senses and lifted your spirits with the suggestions. Take heart, garden lovers. Winter will soon be behind us!

Planting is easy… when you know how

2010-01-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

What do these activities have in common: Riding a bicycle. Playing a guitar. Roasting a turkey. The answer: They are all activities that are easy to do once you know how, but are very intimidating when you’re a beginner.

The same is true when it comes to planting trees and shrubs. To an experienced gardener, it’s second nature. He or she probably doesn’t actively think about the various steps involved; it just… well, it just happens.

For a novice, however, it’s a different story, and perhaps it’s one that has happened to you. You would love to have a lush, beautiful landscape so you go online and see photos of plants that would be perfect for you. Perhaps you even visit a garden center and look at the rows of plants, each with a name tag and a price sticker.

But then your nerve fails you. “I don’t have a green thumb,” you say to yourself. “I have no idea how to plant that thing properly. I’ll probably kill it and waste my money.”

Of course, most plants do come with some kind of written planting instructions, but even they can seem a bit daunting. Cheryl and I have received hundreds of e-mails over the years from readers asking for guidance on successful planting, or wondering where they went wrong when a plant didn’t make it. We always try to respond with some helpful hints and sometimes include those questions and answers in this column.

But the easiest way to learn any procedure is to watch someone else doing it the right way. You can see exactly how it should be done and suddenly the task doesn’t seem so daunting after all. Now, I know that might not be true when it comes to brain surgery, but it definitely is when it comes to planting trees and shrubs.

After all those years of answering questions about planting, we decided that it was time for some “show and tell”. As a result, we put together a video showing Cheryl planting a shrub and explaining each step as she does it.

We decided to use a typical plant that you would buy in a disposable container, and then show how to prepare the soil and get the plant mulched, watered and situated for the best results.

We posted the video – where else? – on YouTube so you can find it easily and watch it as often as you wish. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery

When you watch the video you’ll see that it really is not difficult, but following a few simple steps can mean the difference between healthy, thriving plants and dry, dead twigs. We plan to make some more “how to” videos which we will also post on YouTube and we’d love to hear from you about any topics you would like us to address. You can drop us a line at steve@landsteward.org

So what would be a good plant on which to practice your new-found skills? Try this one…

Echinacea purpurea White Swan

Its pure white silky flowers could give this Echinacea pride of place in your garden and it is not difficult to transplant from its pot. Cheryl and I have several of the Echinacea White Swans in the garden that contrast with the purple Echinacea that are planted around our raised garden berms.

We have seen White Swans planted as border plants sporting 3 to 4 inch glowing white flower petals surrounding their dark brown/bronze cone centers. Not only do the flowers act as a butterfly magnet, the pronounced seed heads provide a food source for small birds as they mature. It is long-lasting as a cut-flower that begins blooming in early summer and continues until frost.

So if you need to build a little confidence before you plant this spring, take a look at our YouTube video. Go on! You can do it!

These trees cut winter’s bitter cold winds

2009-12-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

Winter is the perfect time to plan for spring planting and for the many years ahead. The bare branches allow you to see the “skeleton” of your landscape and where you need to flesh it out with new plants or perform a little surgery with pruning shears or shovel.

Get outside and do a little landscape maintenance, picking up fallen tree limbs for instance, and at the same time you can look for any damage to arbors, trellises or fencing that you might not have noticed when they were hidden by abundant foliage.

During winter, specific problems can become apparent, as this chilly reader discovered:

QUESTION: “Today the temperature is 7 degrees and winds were 50 mph. We have a new home in rural northwest OH and I'm looking for ideas for trees and shrubs that can withstand that wind. Thanks for any help you can provide.” – Carolyn

ANSWER: You might want to look at creating a windbreak, which generally consists of two to three layers of trees planted to literally break the wind away from the house and other structures.

Generally, there is a row of evergreen trees (firs, junipers, pines, spruces) and up to two rows of deciduous trees and shrubs. For the deciduous trees, consider fast growers such as green ash, tulip poplar, sycamore and elms.

Here is a link from the NRCS which used to be referred to as the Conservation District Office. http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/TECHNICAL/ECS/forest/wind/windbreaks.html
This describes the benefits and how to go about planting a windbreak on your property. As it is a long address, you can click on a direct link when you find this column at my Web site www.landsteward.org

The fast growing hybrid willow and hybrid poplar trees are great and will gain a lot of height quickly. However, they should not be considered as long term trees where there are constantly heavy winds. Their lifespan is generally limited to about 10 to 18 years in such areas.

By the way, Carolyn’s question and the response (by my wife Cheryl) first appeared in our free weekly e-mailed newsletter. If you’d like to join the mailing list, drop me a line at steve@landsteward.org

QUESTION “I have a problem: a postage-stamp sized garden plot behind my apartment with crappy, gooey clay soil and about 3-4 hours of morning sunlight, half filtered by large growth deciduous trees.

“I have a good start on a decent garden with some hostas, sedums and lamb's ear. Columbines, spiderwort, lilies-of-the-valley and vincas give me a little color, but are there any other shade-loving plants that actually bloom?

“How about some variegated foliage plants to add interest? (Coleus seems quite unhappy here). Since I rent, I won't be building any raised beds. Last year, I added some peat moss, sand and soil conditioner to the ground. We'll see if that helped. There's no room to compost. Any other enrichments that you recommend?” – Bridget

ANSWER: As for soil enrichments, I would recommend a product called Soft Soil. It breaks down the ionization of the soil to keep it from running together. You might also use pine bark mulch. It will add organic matter into your soil and break it up a bit. You may want to till it into the soil to start then use more as a dressing around your plants.

As far as what to plant in the wet shady areas, look at variegated hostas, ferns and astilbes.

When it comes to trees: Dogwoods like semi-shade. Low growing trees such as redbud, Japanese maples, flowering cherries. You could add ornamental grasses in different heights for background and even for specimen planting.

You say you are renting your home. I’m guessing this is a long-term rental based on your planting plans. However, consider some plants in large pots for a container garden that can go with you if you move. Beautiful gardens can be framed and accented with plants used in attractive pots.

Similarly, portable fountains, glass gazing balls, concrete formed items will add interest and texture to your garden and can be loaded on to a moving truck in the future.

Easy-to-keep New Year’s Resolutions for gardeners

2009-12-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

It seems that New Year’s Resolutions are designed to make us do LESS of what we enjoy and more of what we HATE. Drive less, walk more. Eat less chocolate, eat more broccoli. It’s no surprise that most people find it hard to keep to those resolutions, even with the best will in the world.

But for gardeners, making New Year’s Resolutions and sticking to them need not be so hard. After all, you already like your garden, and you enjoy taking care of your landscape, to a greater or lesser degree, right?

If resolutions can feel enjoyable, rather than chores, you are more likely to keep them. I had a friend who used to say, “Avoid disappointment, aim low.” He said it as a joke but when it comes to keeping resolutions, it’s not such a bad philosophy.

So my advice is this: Make resolutions that are (a) within your capabilities to achieve and (b) will be fairly enjoyable to achieve.

Here are some resolutions that will benefit both you and your garden. But remember, to avoid disappointment, aim low! Choose two or three from the list that fit your landscape’s needs and that you can achieve successfully.

In 2010, I will…

Take a soil sample. A soil sample can be analyzed at a laboratory and the results will tell you how healthy your soil is (or isn’t) and what you can do to improve it. You can find a simple explanation of the “how to” at http://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/howtosam.htm and I found a helpful video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YuA20kZ1EA

Invest in a soaker hose. A sprinkler is great for lawns, but the best way to irrigate shrubs and vegetable gardens is a soaker hose. A sprinkler can cause leaf spots on the foliage whereas a soaker hose puts the water where it needs to go: to the plants’ roots.

Protect plants from frost. To enjoy your shrubs in the spring and summer, you need to keep them safe during hard winter frosts. Cover your most delicate plants with sheets in the form of a tent, so the fabric doesn’t touch the plant, or invest in custom covers such as Frost Protek.

Mulch around trees. Applying mulch to a depth of about two inches has several benefits. It will prevent damage to the trunk caused by power mowers getting too close. Additionally, the mulch allows much-needed water to soak down to the tree’s roots. Do not mound the mulch up against the trunk as that can cause crown rot.

Plant a mini herb garden. The easiest way is to buy two or three containers, place them where they’ll be easily accessible from your kitchen and plant your favorite herbs. Mint, sage, rosemary, thyme and basil are ideal container herbs. As mint can be aggressive, plant it in its own container to prevent it overpowering the other herbs. You’ll be snipping fresh herbs to add to your cooking all summer long… so much better than dried herbs and a lot cheaper than buying one or two sprigs from the supermarket.

Plant some berry bushes. Berry bushes are fairly easy to grow but you will need to commit to maintaining them for best results. If you have never grown berry bushes, start with blueberries. They are among the easiest berry plants for novices to grow and suffer from few problems. You can even grow blueberry plants in containers. Once you get the hang of it, move on to blackberries and raspberries.

Start composting. Composting is a practical way of recycling organic matter and providing great nutrients for your garden. It really isn’t difficult but it helps to get the right carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. There’s an easy to follow guide at http://www.howtocompost.org and you can click on a link to that or any site mentioned here when you find this column at my Web site www.landsteward.org

Buy a bench. Don’t let the only time you spend in the garden to be work time. A bench is the ideal place to sit quietly and enjoy the sights, sounds and aromas of your garden. Plant buddleia nearby to attract beautiful butterflies. Surround the bench with aromatic plants like lavender and your container herbs to provide the pleasing fragrances of nature.

Most of all, resolve to enjoy your landscape throughout the year!

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Manure adds essential nitrogen to garden soil

2009-12-17T10:29:00.001-08:00

Is all-natural farm manure right for your garden? Could be. But manure is one of those rare things that is better when it is NOT so fresh, as I remind the reader who e-mailed me this question:

QUESTION: My husband owns a landscape materials business and has had a hard time getting “supersoil”. We have access to a large amount of horse manure and were wondering if you can make your own supersoil with manure? It sure would help him out if there is a way! Thanks! Kate

ANSWER: It’s difficult to think of a more “natural” substance than manure! Manure is certainly a great resource for gardeners and landscapers, but you do need to know a few basics to get the best results. Here is a link that will give you more information on using manure around your plants: http://www.ruralheritage.com/back_forty/manure.htm

Manure's carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is a key factor in making nitrogen available to plants, because it drives microbial decomposition. As Alina Rice, the author of that Web article points out, before putting manure on your soil, make sure it is well decomposed. Let the microbes fight it out while the manure sits in a steaming pile. Well decomposed manure has a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of between 15-to-1 and 20-to-1, depending on what the animal has been eating.

A word of warning from Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture: “Homeowners should not use any manure from dogs, cats, or other meat-eating animals, since there is risk of parasites or disease organisms that can be transmitted to humans.”

Again, if you are thinking of using manure in your garden, I advise you to read the online Rural Heritage article. You can click on a direct link when you find this column at my Web site, www.landsteward.org

Here is question I responded to at the end of last winter. With frost once again threatening much of the country, I thought it might be the right time to include it in this week’s column.

QUESTION: “I am hoping that you can help me out. I have never had any plants hit by frost but this year it got a lot of my plants. I was wondering, will my tomato plants survive the frost or should I pull them up and replant? It also got my potato vines. Will this hurt my potatoes? My tomato plants are still standing (some of them anyway) but they have a lot of browned leaves. Please let me know if you have any ideas on helping me out. Thanks for your time.” – Candy Dove

ANSWER: Generally, as long as the vegetable sets have had a bit of a chance to root in, they usually come out of frost nips. However, extended cold periods can cause freeze damage and kill the plants. As long as air has movement, frost damage isn’t as likely.

Also, if you know that there is going to be frost the next morning, you can either water the plants heavily including the soil at the base of the plants (the water acts like an insulator) or cover them with an old sheet or something similar, forming a sort of tent and making sure that the fabric doesn’t touch the plants. Damage from frost doesn’t happen until the following morning. Do NOT spray water on plants the morning after a frost in an attempt to wash the frost off.

Once the frost has passed, clip off any browning leaves or branches of plants. Sometimes this can take a few days to show up. Most vegetable plants, though tender, are really quite tough when it comes to frosts.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

Layering tall plants adds height to tight spaces

2009-12-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

In recent Plant Man columns, we’ve looked at plants that you might want to avoid because they can become invasive and take over your landscape to the detriment of other plants.

But are there plants that can actually kill? Perhaps alter the course of history? Unlikely as that might seem, a recent book takes a fascinating, if gruesome, look at what the author calls wicked plants. I’ll give a brief review of that book later in this column.

But, thank goodness, most plants are far from evil! Even in a relatively small space, carefully selected plants can increase privacy without giving you a sense of claustrophobia. The trick is layering and including columnar-growing trees that fit the scale of your landscape, as I explain to this reader:

QUESTION: “When I bought my house, it had what I believe are oak trees in one corner of the smallish back yard (total yard size is 0.3 acres, less than half that in the back yard). They have grown very tall, yet thin. I don’t really like them. I’m looking to do the other corner of my yard with a faster growing tree that I can cluster in the corner – like Crape Myrtles (I heard the Dynamite are great). My fence is the standard 4 feet, natural wood.

What types of trees will be a good fit for the corner? And how far apart should I plant them? I’m looking for a pretty thick coverage.
I heard layering is a good practice. What are some nice medium sized trees or shrubs to combine with the bigger trees?
What can I do to improve the existing oak trees? Can I prune to make them thicker, broader?
I also have a river birch in my front yard that we planted about two years ago. It doesn’t seem to be growing very fast. Anything I can do to help it out?” – Thomas G. Burgess

ANSWER: The oak trees you are describing sound old and scrubby. If that is the case, then there really isn’t anything you can do to thicken them up. Since you have a small area to work with, you should consider trees that are more columnar (narrow) growing such as emerald green arborvitaes and other smaller sized shrubs and trees.

The Dynamite crape myrtle is also a smaller growing tree and would work within that sizing. However, if it would receive any shading from the fence, house or oak trees, it will not bloom properly. Crape myrtles need full sun for consistent blooming.

Layering is an attractive way to build privacy from the outside. Layering can be achieved by the strategic placing of taller growing plants such as emerald greens at the back ( they can be spaced approximately 5 to 6 feet apart), coming forward with contrasting colored shrubs such as barberry Sunjoy Gold Pillar, weigela Wine and Roses, Beauty Bush Dream Catcher, or taller growing ornamental grasses. Using colorful perennials on the most inside areas add one last punch of color.

Birches aren’t all that fast growing especially in clay soil. It may take it several years, but it will grow.

And now to those “naughty” plants…

If it was a tabloid-style TV show, it might be called “When Good Plants Go Bad.” However, the new book by Amy Stewart is titled “Wicked Plants” and is a compendium of plants that can kill, injure, torment and cause all kinds of trouble to humans, animals and other plants.

On one level, “Wicked Plants” is simply an entertaining read with plenty of botanical trivia and gruesome stories of plants behaving badly, as you might guess from the book’s sub-title: “The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities.”

But there is more than just grisly fun to be found here. On a more practical level, “Wicked Plants” can be a warning about what NOT to plant, or at least what will happen if you do.

As author Amy Stewart says, “These are plants you do not want to meet in a dark alley.”

English oaks: why so rare in America?

2009-11-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

It’s a beautiful tree but not the best choice for landscapes in many parts of the USA. However, there are good alternatives to the English oak.

QUESTION: “We have about 5, very beautiful, English oaks where I work. They
look like they're related to the White Oaks, and appear to be doing very
well here in Philly...why aren't English Oaks more numerous?” – Scott

ANSWER: English oaks are beautiful trees that, despite their name, are not strictly English as they are also native to much of Europe and also northern Africa and western Asia.

The foliage of an English oak is similar to that of the more familiar White oak but lacks the eye-catching reddish leaf color in fall. You can sometimes spot English oaks in urban landscapes, reaching a height of around 50 feet with a 50 foot spread.

Botanists have been using the English oak as genetic stock to generate hybrids with other members of the White Oak group as they can be very useful landscape shade trees.

Although it is not an American native, English oak adapts to the sometimes challenging conditions of the eastern and midwestern United States. It is at its best in zones 5 and 6 and doesn’t thrive in the hot dry summers of the South. It seems to do okay in moderately dry, poor quality soil, but prefers moist, well-drained, moderately rich soils of variable pH.

Problems? The main potential problem is powdery mildew, something it shares with its cousin White Swamp oak. Powdery mildew can form on its foliage around mid-summer, but is considered a ‘cosmetic’ disease that does not adversely affect the overall health of the tree.

I believe that English oaks are not too numerous due to the simple law of supply and demand. Nurseries grow and sell what people are buying in the greatest quantities. Low demand means fewer English oaks are being grown at the nursery level.

There are a number of hardy and attractive oaks that are fast-growing and fairly easy to care for. I’ll devote a column quite soon to some of these varieties such as Water Oak, Sawtooth Oak, Cherrybark Oak and the ever-popular Trailing Periwinkle need? Is it easy maintenance? If planted on a slope, would I need to plant them high and let them trail down or low and high and let them fill in? I am in Huntsville, AL. How will they do in whatever zone that might be?” – Alex Haynes

ANSWER: The Huntsville, AL area borders zones 7 and 8. Vinca will grow in that region and is recommended for USDA zones 3 through 8. You’ll be pleased to know that, as with most groundcovers, Vinca minor (Trailing Periwinkle) requires minimal maintenance.

After fall planting, average watering will run every 3 to 5 days for the first 6 or so weeks depending on local rainfall, soil type and the planting location. Since you are planting on a hillside or slope, it will vary even more. You will need to check the soil and adjust the water schedule accordingly.

For a slope, I recommend setting up a sprinkler attachment to a hose for a soft spray to moisten the soil. Otherwise, most quick waterings and rainfall typically runs off without soaking into the soil.

Until the plants securely root in, you may need to place a light layer of straw over the area during periods of heavy rainfall to prevent the plants from being washed downhill.
Vinca grows and roots wherever the new growth touches the soil. Spacing can vary from 6 inches to 18 inches apart over the entire area. The closer the plants are spaced, the quicker the area will fill in.

Vinca minor is an excellent evergreen ground cover for full sun, shaded and semi-shaded areas. It has dark green oval-shaped foliage and conspicuous blue flowers in early spring.

Native plants lessen invasive concerns

2009-11-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Selecting plants that are right for your landscape takes more than sticking a pin in a catalog or clicking a picture on the Internet. It’s important to consider what impact that plant could have on the rest of your landscape.

In a recent Plant man column, I addressed the frustration many people feel when they find that their prized plants have been chewed to the ground by deer. I also referred readers to a Web site that listed plants that are “deer resistant.” Although deer will eat almost any plant when they are hungry enough, they find some plants somewhat unpalatable and some plants downright unpleasant.

A few days later, I received an e-mail from reader Ethan Kaiser, referring to one of the plants mentioned in the column. Ethan wrote, “Japanese barberries and their cultivars are actually exotic invasive species in the U.S. and are known to take over woodland areas and forest edges, especially in Wisconsin and the Midwest as a whole. They outcompete many native plants that the deer would munch on instead of landscaped plants.”

Ethan makes a good point. Japanese barberries are indeed deer-resistant but, left to their own devices, can become invasive. In fact, Japanese barberries are prohibited in the state of Massachusetts. As you may know, this column is published in newspapers in 30+ states, and can be read world-wide on the Internet. As such, unless we are answering a specific question regarding a particular geographic location, some of the information has to be somewhat generalized.

As visitors to our Web site www.landsteward.org know, Cheryl and I are strong advocates of selecting native plants when ever possible, but we do understand that in quite a few cases, it isn’t practical or feasible.

We strongly encourage everyone to do a few minutes homework and check out the pros and cons of any tree, shrub or groundcover before introducing it into your landscape. So what can you do?

For a start, what works well in New Mexico might be a dud in New Hampshire. Is this plant recommended for planting in your USDA zone? If you’re not sure of your zone, go to http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/
You can also find a comprehensive state-by-state list of plants that are found where you live at http://plants.usda.gov/ but note that these lists do include plants that are considered to be invasive.
At that same Web site, you can click on a link to a list of noxious and invasive plants that you can sort by state, common name or scientific name. If you want to steer clear of possibly invasive plants, this is a good reference.
Adamant about using native U.S. plants in your landscape? Take a look at a collection of articles and links on a Web site hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency titled “Landscaping with Native Plants” located at http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/
Aptly titled “Native Gardening and Invasive Plants Guide,” http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/invasives.asp provides easy to follow information on using native plants while avoiding invasive plants. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a guide written for the home gardener rather than the horticulturist!
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is a good resource for a lot of current information on invasive plants.
Go to http://www.fws.gov/invasives/ where you can click on a lot of links, including one titled “What You Can Do.” A note at that site points out: “In addition to the many invasive species from outside the U.S., there are many species from within the U.S. that are invasive in other parts of the country.” What is just fine somewhere else might be considered invasive in your location.

Again, before you plant, I strongly recommend taking the time to find which plants will thrive where you live and meet your requirements, both esthetic and environmental. It’s an investment that will pay dividends for you and the landscape.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org

American chestnut trees: on their way back

2009-11-12T10:25:00.001-08:00

If you had given up hope of ever again gazing up at the vast leafy canopy of an American chestnut tree, take heart! The majestic tree was almost completely wiped out several decades ago by a disease and it seemed that the American chestnut had gone the way of the passenger pigeon and the dodo.

However, plant scientists are working diligently to bring back the American chestnut in a stronger, disease-resistant form.

The magnificent tree had been a familiar sight on the American landscape. Its timber was used for building homes and barns. The chestnuts provided food for livestock and wildlife. Its canopy provided shade for both humans and animals.

But all that was about to come to a rapid end. Asian chestnut trees were imported into the United States and those trees carried with them a fungus that quickly transferred to the American chestnuts. Over centuries, the Asian trees had learned to resist the fungus but their American cousins had no such immunity.

In 1904, botanists at the Bronx Zoo in New York were the first to notice that the chestnut trees there were infected with a fatal fungus. The disease swept quickly across the continent and by the early 1950s the American chestnut had all but disappeared. As many as four billion trees were wiped out.

Botanists have undertaken a long-term project to revive the American chestnut. They have planted 1,200 chestnut tree saplings in national forests in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, and are watching over them as closely as a mother hen with her chicks.

In a November, 2009, story reported by USA TODAY, Ron Sederoff, professor of forestry at North Carolina State University said that the American chestnut was one of the most important trees in the ecology of the Apalachian Mountains. “There were communities that depended on it. There was wildlife that depended on it,” he said. “When the blight came through, all of those things were lost.”

According to the USA TODAY story, those 1,200 saplings survived their first year under the care of the Foundation, the U.S. Forestry Service and the University of Tennessee.

But the scientists have taken steps to help their new trees survive the deadly fungus. Although the saplings are 94 percent American chestnut, they have been crossbred with Chinese chestnut trees that are resistant to the blight.

This is by no means a quick fix. It will be at least 15 to 20 years before botanists can determine if the trees are able to fend off the blight and continue to grow well enough to compete with other trees.

So let’s wish Good Luck to those little saplings and to the scientists who are nurturing them. Hopefully, the American chestnut tree will again be reaching 100 feet into the sky. With today’s focus on climate issues, the American chestnut would be a very welcome addition to the landscape as it stores carbon dioxide on a massive scale and, as such, will be an ideal – and all-natural – tool to fight climate change.

Meanwhile, if you can’t wait 20 years but would like to grace your landscape with some spectacular trees, consider these:

Black Walnut (Jugans nigra)

A majestic tree with a moderate growth rate, the Black Walnut Tree is prized for its wood veneer at maturity used in fine cabinets, gunstocks, and furniture. The Black Walnut Tree makes a wonderful shade tree, and when planted for a wood plantation, is a long-term investment. Zones 4 to 8.

Oak Gobbler Sawtooth (Quercus acutissima)

Gobbler is the same as the Sawtooth Oak but produces a smaller acorn that is desirable as a food source for wild turkeys. Oak Gobbler Sawtooth is the first choice tree to plant for wild turkey and wild game enthusiasts. Oak Gobbler Sawtooth will begin to provide acorns in 4 - 6 yrs. Zones 5 to 9.

Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)

Probably the most widely used native oak for landscaping, Pin Oak is one of the faster growing oaks, 12 to 15' over a 5 to 7 year period, reaching 75 feet at maturity and can also be used in a wetland environment. Zones 4 to 9.

Stinky ginkgoes offend delicate noses

2009-11-04T04:51:00.001-08:00

What rhymes with ginkgo? For people in many American cities, the word is STINKO.

The ginkgo tree has a long history, dating back to the Permian era which lasted from 290 to 248 million years ago. As you might guess from that statistic, the ginkgo is recognized for its remarkable hardiness, able to overcome extraordinary adversity. Legend has it that ginkgo trees survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

That hardiness is an asset prized both by private landowners and civic planners. What could be better than a row of trees with attractive foliage that are also exceptionally hardy?

Ah, well…

There is one major drawback, at least in the eyes (and noses) of many people. The ginkgo is one of those trees that is gender specific: they are either male or female. Mature female ginkgoes produce ovules which when fertilized by pollen from the male tree grow into bunches of seeds that look like fuzzy green cherries.

Now here’s the problem, at least from a human point of view. The fleshy coating around the seeds contains butyric acid, the same stuff that gives that distinctive smell to rancid butter. In addition to the rancid butter smell, many people complain that the odor reminds them of vomit, rotten eggs or even doggy-doo.

Not everybody finds the odor offensive. Depending on your olfactory sensibility, you might feel that the smell is really awful or not too bad or just one of those “nature smells.”

But the seasonal smell isn’t the only potential problem. The slimy seed pods can make sidewalks slippery and some municipalities are concerned about the possibility of lawsuits resulting from injuries caused by slipping and falling on pods dropped from city-owned ginkgoes.

As a result, many cities are deciding to plant only male ginkgo trees and/or removing and destroying existing female ginkgoes. Cities as widespread as Lexington, KY, Bloomington, MN and Easton, PA have taken action to limit or remove ginkgoes.

To me, it seems a great pity to destroy trees because some people find the odor offensive for a few weeks each year. At the same time I can appreciate the problem faced by a city that wants to avoid injury to citizens and the subsequent lawsuits.

Should you plant ginkgo trees on your property? That depends! If you don’t mind the odor or if the trees are a fair distance from your house, the smell issue (and probably the slippery sidewalk issue) shouldn’t be a major problem. Alternatively, you can plant only male ginkgo trees. Ginkgoes are very hardy, long-lived and attractive so there definitely are benefits.

But what if you really want trees and shrubs that are pleasantly fragrant? What could you look for? Here are some you can consider:

Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence x. lemoinei

This is perhaps the most fragrant of the Mock Oranges. Cheryl and I love to inhale the sumptuously intoxicating orange sweetness given up by Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence's, pure white blossoms. This variety grows to 5 – 8 feet at maturity in USDA zones 5 to 8.
Old Fashion Lilac, Syringa vulgaris

Old Fashion Lilac is perhaps the most popular of all lilacs due to its rich color ranging from purplish red to lilac and purple. Old Fashion Lilac has extremely fragrant with a broad, rounded habit. It is a moderate growing shrub with attractive dark green foliage. It is great for hedges, or screens, and can also be planted as a specimen plant, growing to maybe 20 feet in zones 3 to 7.
Carolina Jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens

A fragrant, early-blooming perennial, the yellow Carolina Jessamine is an attractive semi-evergreen vine that tends to remain bushy and compact when grown in bright sun. When shaded, Jessamine Carolina can climb up and over adjacent shrubs and trees to heights of more than 20 feet. Carolina Jessamine will rapidly cover arbors, tree trunks, trellises, etc. in a season or two. Zones 8 – 10.

And of course there’s honeysuckle and fragrant, low-growing plants such as lavender and rosemary that produce delightful aromas.

So go for ginkoes if you can shrug off the stinko, or select more fragrant plants that bring a smile to your nose.

Hydrangeas are failing to bloom

2009-10-28T13:09:00.001-07:00

QUESTION: “I have two hydrangea plants that grow every year in a sunny location, with large bright green leaves. The plants never make flowers, however, even though the woman who gave them to me years ago took the small plants from her garden where she had many flowering specimens.

“At the end of the summer, I have those long spikes which I carefully protect through the frosty winter, but by spring they are dried up and appear dead. As the new leaves start to grow, I lose hope and cut the pale spikes down. Most of the time, the deer eat the tops anyway. Any hope? Should I transplant them?” – Faith Gitlow

ANSWER: Hydrangeas can be tricky. According to the experts at www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com (my favorite hydrangea care site) there are three main reasons why hydrangeas fail to bloom:

A late spring freeze arrives and ruins the developing bloom buds.
Improper pruning.
Planted in wrong zone. If you have had the bad luck to plant a hydrangea that has not bloomed after the first year you planted it, you may finally have to concede that this particular variety is not cold hardy in your area.

If you go to their Web site you can find more information about all kinds of hydrangea problems.

QUESTION: “I have a problem with my blossoming Kwanzan cherry tree. The leaves are turning brown and falling off. Is it dying? I live in the California sierra foothills (elev. 1500ft.). It can get very hot during the summer months. The tree is planted in the middle of my lawn on an island of top soil with 2" of wood mulch on top. The island is about a foot and a half high and less as it spreads out.

“I water about every other day for 20 minutes at 4am. There are plants and flowers around it but not any closer than 2 ft. It also has new growth coming in. I just don't get it! Do you have any ideas?” – Dan Buchholz

ANSWER: Over the past four years or so, flowering cherry (and other varieties including birches) trees have been going dormant earlier and earlier each year where we live here in Tennessee which is zone 7. For the most part, it is attributed to the lack of rainfall (actual drought some of the years).

Around early to mid August, they begin to lose their leaves. Their coloring doesn’t fade to a lovely fall color, just brown. As long as there are no other issues with the tree, I would say it is the same problem. Cheryl and I have been receiving many emails this summer concerning trees doing this.

QUESTION: “For the past three seasons my pin oak trees have lost their leaves in August. The leaves turn translucent first before falling from the tree. I have used an insect treatment that you add to water and pour at the base of the tree for the past three years and it doesn’t seem to help. In the spring and during the summer the trees are full of leaves but in August they turn white and fall off the tree. The trees are 30 to 40 feet tall (I have two of them on the west side of my home).” – Susie Brown

ANSWER: Here is a link to the University of California at Davis Extension site with an article on diagnosing oak tree diseases.
http://ceventura.ucdavis.edu/newsletterfiles/Landscape_Notes11016.pdf
This article will give you a detailed listing to work with, but the most common reasons for early leaf loss with oaks is lack of water or cool wet spring/summer weather which typically causes fungus.

If you can’t figure it out with the article, contact your local agricultural extension agent for their opinion and how to proceed. To find the Extension Service nearest to you, visit this Web site: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/ or go to my Web site www.landsteward.org find this column and click on a direct link. Good luck!

Deer-resistant plants mean less landscape damage

2009-10-21T13:07:00.001-07:00

I think we’d all agree that deer are hungry critters. However much you enjoy wildlife, you can be disheartened, or even outraged, to find your prized shrubs chewed down to the stumps with tell-tale hoof prints in the surrounding soil.

In the previous Plant Man column, I described ways to determine if deer are the real culprits, and I took a look at some deer repellent products, both commercial and home-made. If you missed that column, you can find it at my Web site www.landsteward.org

Today, we’ll take a look at some deer resistant plants. As far as I know, there are no “deer-repellent” plants; the kind that would send deer scurrying away in panic. No such luck. So your best bet, if deer are a potential problem, is to select plants that hold the least possible attraction to deer. Unfortunately, in times of scarcity, deer will eat almost anything green, but you can put the odds in your favor so they will ignore your landscape in search of greener – and tastier – pastures.

Do a little homework and you’ll quickly discover which plants attract deer and which plants they find less desirable. A good place to start is http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistence/ a Web site hosted by Rutgers University.

That Web site consists of a long chart of alphabetically-listed plant names, color-coded to indicate which are rarely damaged, seldom severely damaged, occasionally severely damaged or frequently severely damaged.

Using the Rutgers chart, you can determine if a plant on your wish list might be better replaced with a less deer-yummy one. Although it’s a long list, I can think of other plants that you could select when deer are a potential problem. Here are some to consider:

Boxwood Wintergreen (Buxus microphylla)
I’ve found that deer don’t particularly care for the taste or aroma of boxwoods under normal circumstances. This popular low growing evergreen shrub is commonly seen as a low hedge or border defining the edges of formal and informal gardens. The Wintergreen Boxwood offers dark green lustrous leaves and creates a striking hedge with year round color, holding its green color all winter long. Suitable for USDA zones 5 – 9.

Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Goldsturm)
Black Eyed Susans are true perennials, returning larger each year. They are great for mass plantings and provide wonderful contrasting colors when paired with ornamental grasses, Shasta daisies, Russian sage or dianthus. Black Eyed Susan should be deadheaded regularly for continued blooms. They are a native North American wildflower as well as being deer and rabbit resistant yet attracting butterflies. Zones 4 – 9.

Barberry Rose Glow (Berberis thunbergii)
This is an eye catching form of Japanese Barberry, emerging with early foliage that is a rosy glowing pink color that turns a crimson burgundy as it matures. Full sun produces the best foliage, looking good as foundation, border or mass planting. Barberry Rose Glow needs a well drained area and can tolerate some drought in zones 4 through 7.

American Holly (Ilex opaca)
You probably wouldn’t relish eating holly and, as a rule, neither do deer. Left untrimmed, American Holly can reach a height of 30 feet or more with a spread of 18 to 30 feet. Bear in mind you will need at least one of each sex to produce berries that will attract birds and butterflies but not deer. Hardy in zones 5 to 9.

Bamboo Sunset Glow (Fargesia rufa)
A favorite of the Giant Panda but not that attractive to deer. This is a clumping (non-running) variety. Growing to 8 feet in height, the orange-red sheaths and deep green leaves will provide a nice hedge or screen at maturity when planted in groups. USDA zones 6 – 9.

Sage, Thyme and Chives
Deer don’t particularly care for these herbs but humans do, so they’re not a bad choice as attractive groundcover and as a great, fresh addition to many home-cooked dishes.

Again, no plant is 100% deer-resistant. But when you select plants that are less attractive to deer and employ some of the deterrents we discussed in the previous column, you should find that deer will generally look elsewhere for their salad buffet.

Dense evergreens make perfect living fence

2009-07-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

Fences make good neighbors, according to the old saying. This can be particularly true for homeowners living on relatively small lots in urban or suburban neighborhoods or in so-called “cluster home” developments.

“Living fences” of fairly dense shrubs and evergreen trees can disguise existing wood or chain-link fences or even replace them altogether. Cheryl and I planted a stand of Thuja Cedar Green Giants several years ago and they are growing by leaps and bounds, robust and healthy, creating a natural perimeter between our lawn and an expanse of wilder woodland.

Cedar Green Giants can be pruned annually to keep them at a manageable height, but left to their own devices, Cedar Green Giants can reach heights of 30 to 50 feet, growing three to five feet a year. Another benefit is that Cedar Green Giants are without serious pest or disease problems, giving them an advantage over Hemlocks and the disease-prone Leyland Cypress. Plant Cedar Green Giants three to five feet apart and you’ll soon have a natural screen for added privacy and as a sound barrier if traffic noise is an issue.

Another fine choice would be the arborvitae “Emerald Green” with its dense foliage and pyramidal shape. Arborvitae Emerald Green has a very bright green color and appears to have a tinge of gold to it if the sun hits it just right. Arborvitae Emerald Green grows to a height of 10 - 15 feet, with a spread of 3 - 4 feet. Emerald Green displays its bright lustrous green color all year and does not discolor in winter, adding a feeling of life to what might be an otherwise barren landscape. Its very compact and tight growth pattern make it an excellent choice for a screen when spaced 2 - 3 feet apart in the row.

Here’s a reader looking for some guidance with her arborvitae.

QUESTION: “We have a row of emerald green arborvitae across the back of our yard. We use it as a screen between our yard and the neighbors’ yard behind us.

“Starting last year six evergreens in a row started to get all brown, mostly on our side, which faces SE. We have a maple tree shading them some that has really started to grow in the last few years.

“We don't know if it's the shade or nutrients or what, but if they can't grow there, do you have a suggestion as to what would thrive there, and not look so out of place because of being something different in the row?” – Elaine

ANSWER: There are a number of reasons why this could happen to your arborvitae. Here are some of the most common:

Dogs urinating on the plants
Spider mites
Not mulching enough
Wind burn
Over fertilizing
Not hardening off before winter

As for the last two potential reasons, bear in mind that you should fertilize only one time during the year (with something such as Hollytone) and spring would be the best time to do it.

Do not water regularly after fall frost. Watering should begin to gradually taper off in late summer (such as late August to September depending on your location) so that the plant can harden off for winter. Arborvitae are not drought tolerant so when tapering off, simply stretch the number of days between watering. Should there be no regular rainfall during that period, supplemental watering will be necessary, just less frequently.

From the photographs you e-mailed to me, most of your plants look fine, just the ones on the inside look somewhat stressed. Take a look at the possible list of causes, above, and taking into account your local weather conditions, you should be able to narrow it down.

If you identify and rectify the problem, there should be no need to replace your arborvitae.

Never too early to plan fall planting

2009-07-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Fall planting? But it’s only just summer! It’s way too early to be thinking about fall planting, isn’t it?

Nope.

This is an excellent time to be thinking ahead to the cooler days of fall and what you can plant to enhance your landscape. What makes “right now” so special?

Right now your landscape is probably at its high point. The foliage on shrubs and trees is full and lush. Many of your late spring and early summer plants are in bloom. Take a look around your landscape. Walk around and see it as if with fresh eyes. This is the best time of year to see where the gaps are. Later in the year, and of course in winter, this is less obvious as deciduous trees have shed their leaves and even evergreens are more dormant.

What do I mean by “gaps” in your landscape? I don’t mean to suggest you should necessarily fill every square foot of soil with plants. But when you look at your landscape, as if for the first time, you’ll see areas that don’t look complete, somehow.

Perhaps there’s an awkward space between plants that looks empty, like a smile with a missing tooth. Maybe a dead plant had been removed and never replaced. Or perhaps an older plant has outgrown its usefulness, dwarfing smaller plants around it and preventing sunlight and rainwater from reaching them.

Not only that, but at this time of year you can look at your landscape and see some of your favorite plants at their best and decide if it would be a good idea to invest in one or two more. At our nursery, it is not unusual for Cheryl and me to hear from customers who bought shrubs from us one or two seasons ago and want to buy more of the same, once they’ve seen how well those plants enhance their particular garden plan.

As a general rule, it makes sense to place low-growing plants at the front of the beds with medium sized plants behind them and the taller shrubs in back. Now is the time to look at your beds and determine if there are some plants that are “out of whack” in your landscape. Instead of waiting until fall or next spring, decide now if any plants need to be retired and replaced, and which ones you’d like to see more of next summer.

Need some idea starters? Here are some plants you can research right now and probably pre-order for fall planting. Let’s start with the low-growers…

Ajuga Black Scallop PW http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/87441
A neat little fast-growing ground cover with deep, dark burgundy leaves and blue blossoms in spring, lingering into summer. I prefer this one to regular Ajuga bronze due to its larger leaves and deeper color.

Creeping Red Thyme http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/13373
(Thymus praecox subsp. Arcticus) This is a fast-growing evergreen ground cover with wonderfully aromatic foliage. If you’d planted it last season, right now you could be enjoying a profusion of lovely red flowers. Easy to grow and good between pavers, too.

Moving back to some medium-height plants…

Heuchera Lime Ricky PPAF http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/87490
This would be superb choice to plant behind the Ajuga Black Scallop (or adjacent to any dark foliage plant such as Black Elephant Ears or Black Mondo grass) because the scalloped leaves are a glowing chartreuse in spring turning lemon-lime in summer, emphasizing the contrast with black Ajuga foliage. Mature height: around 2 feet.

Heuchera villosa Tiramisu PPAF
Imagine these splashes of brick red color spattered around your garden, lightening to chartreuse in summer with a light silver overlay.

And now some taller plants…

Carolina Allspice http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/11681
(Calycanthus floridus) A dense, deciduous shrub that can grow to 5 or 6 feet (or more) at maturity, Carolina Allspice has lustrous dark green foliage and very fragrant, brown to reddish-brown flowers.

Buddleia Bi-Color http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/47058
Easy to grow and extremely fragrant, this variety sports two different colors on the same bloom stalk: rich lavender and butterscotch yellow. It will bloom all summer and attract swarms of colorful butterflies to your garden. Mature height: 5 to 6 feet.

Survey your landscape, plan for improvements and pre-order plants now for fall planting. Let me know if you need some more suggestions.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org