Patches For Pollinators: Less Grass To Mow

2022

patches for pollinators

Patches For Pollinators

In this article, I’ll describe how new garden spaces and “Patches for Pollinators” have decreased mowing time, while providing nectar and pollen for pollinators and seeds for songbirds. Also included is information about several insects found in the gardens this summer.

A common theme running through The Farm In My Yard is my goal of replacing much of the lawn with layered gardens, including trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and annuals. Flowers and more natural surroundings attract bees and butterflies, toads and birds.

All the rest of the animal kingdom are showing up as well. Mice, moles, and voles…snakes and rabbits…foxes and deer. Lots of praying mantises, five-lined skinks, ladybugs, fireflies, and many insects I’ve never seen before. Occasionally, a cat sits patiently under the bird feeder until he’s shooed off. And some pests, too, such as…

…Japanese Beetles

Lettuce-leaf basil ‘Tuscany’, with Japanese beetles.

Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica), accidentally imported into the U.S., were first spotted in New Jersey in 1916. They’re present here (northern NC) in enormous numbers this year and demonstrate a particular fondness for my lettuce-leaf basil, marigolds, blueberries, and raspberries. But they will feed on hundreds of species, including linden, cherry, plum, birch, rose, grape, and hollyhock.

To prevent “skeletonized” foliage on farmers’-market-bound basil, I cover the plants with an old sheer curtain to exclude the beetles. Future plans include growing berries and other susceptible plants under insect screening, with allowances made for bumble bees to pollinate the flowers.

Although a few birds eat them, the damage these beetles do to the landscape and to my inventory far outweighs their benefit.

Japanese Beetle Life Cycle

With regular rainstorms, soil stays softer, allowing female beetles to repeatedly lay eggs deeper into the soil in July and August. There, the eggs and young grubs are not stressed by hot, dry soil. White C-shaped grubs feed voraciously on healthy roots (particularly those of lawn grasses), and, in autumn, descend deeper into the ground, protected from severe cold.

In spring, grubs rise closer to the surface to continue feeding. In late spring, well-fed larvae pupate in the ground, and adult beetles emerge in early summer. Moist soil—from rain or irrigation—contributes to this beetle’s success. Where the ground is soft and moist in summer and fall, you can count on large populations of Japanese beetles the following year.

Incidentally, chewed plant tissues emit certain scents which attract even more beetles. That’s why we find them congregating in large numbers in the tops of blueberry bushes or in rose flowers.

Applying Milky Spore powder, a bacterium, to the property (grass and gardens) in early autumn kills grubs feeding on roots. This remedy isn’t 100% effective because beetles fly in from quite a distance—miles, in fact. At the very least, there will be fewer grubs devouring roots in your landscape. If you can encourage the entire neighborhood to apply Milky Spore, everyone will benefit. Except Japanese beetles. Moles, by the way, feed on these grubs. Plenty of those around, as well.

Other than that, I’m not fertilizing the lawn, applying any chemicals, or reseeding. In the future, I might work on a limited amount of presentable lawn close to the house. But for now, since the lawn comprises about 75% weeds and undesirable grasses, I’m just cutting it. Besides, much of that ground will be turned over, amended, and planted with something other than grass.

Less Grass To Mow With Patches For Pollinators

New Gardens

When I bought the house in late 2021, the lawn covered about half the property, taking 5½-6 hours to cut with a walk-behind self-propelled mulching mower. Part of the lawn’s square footage has been taken up by the many plants installed last fall and winter. They’re the beginnings of new gardens, which will expand as I propagate perennials, seed the annuals, and plant drifts of new shrubs. Space taken up by low-maintenance gardens will decrease the time required to cut grass.

Foxglove.

Several white oaks (Quercus alba) tower over the property, providing a high canopy for proposed shady gardens underneath. About 200 tiny foxgloves just began germinating from seeds sown in a pot. Some will be sold at the market, and many will be planted in morning sun or under the trees’ dappled shade.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is toxic to most warm-blooded animals, including rabbits and deer. (It is a source of pharmaceuticals, but only under a doctor’s care.) The greatest risk to these plants is from dead twigs falling from the old oak trees.

Foxglove is a biennial, and, if happy, drops seeds at the end of its growth cycle for a self-sustaining colony of plants with stately flower spikes, from cream and pink, and rose to purple. It blooms in spring to early summer, then sheds seeds and dies. After those tiny seeds germinate in summer, young plants will remain dormant in winter. They’ll bloom the following spring, thus repeating the cycle. Insects and hummingbirds gain sustenance from the flowers.

From Crape Myrtle To Virginia Sweetspire

patches for pollinators, garden bed with flowers and edible greens

‘Red Russian’ kale, komatsuna, and tiny itea, foreground, plus kales, collards, cosmos, and crape myrtle, toward the back, after planting and mulching.

Growing plants from seed is one way to economically fill a large garden bed. I started a new garden last fall, close to the street, where I planted a pink crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) and 2 tiny Virginia sweetspires (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’) brought from Charlotte.

Early this year, I turned over the ground to a depth of 10″ between the shrubs and beyond, and added leaf mold and black topsoil from the woods. Also incorporated into the soil was a generous portion of chopped oak leaves stored in trash bags since the previous autumn.

All this loosening of the soil and the additional materials created a raised bed about 22′ long and 6-8′ wide. It’s an irregular shape with a curved outline. And, naturally, it will be enlarged over the years.

Purslane and ‘Red Russian’ kale.

This garden is where I’d planned to have a mass of large light pink cosmos. So, I grew ‘Cupcakes Blush’ from seed and planted about 40 of them in 2 groups. Between them, I added dozens of blue-gray ‘Lacinato’ kale, the similar but more purple ‘Dazzling Blue’ dinosaur kale, and the frilly ‘Red Russian’ kale. Behind the crape myrtle, I planted 10 collards, with rounded light grayish-green leaves. On the end, near the itea, I added a few clumps of komatsuna ‘Green Giant’, with broadly rounded dark green leaves. These plants complement each other in both color and form, and all the greens (kale, collards, komatsuna) are edible.

I picked up a purslane at a local roadside stand. It had solid deep pink flowers on a low, spreading plant. But the heat, apparently, turned the new flowers pink and white striped. So, I stuck that into the “pink garden”, and put a few cuttings near it, which are now growing.

Not In the Pink

I won’t grow ‘Cupcakes Blush’ cosmos again because it took too long to grow and fill out. It didn’t have the number of flowers hyped in the catalog, and fewer than half were light pink!

The fast-growing greens are winners in both vegetable and flower gardens. They’ll look even better when paired with blooming violas in fall and winter. The fact that they survived at all during this overheated summer is a marvel. Adding ‘Scarlet Frills’ mustard greens (edible) will echo the burgundy fall color of the iteas and crape myrtle.

Marigolds.

***Update***: Close to 2½-3 months of frost-free weather is just too long to put up with plants that aren’t delivering. So, all the “pink” cosmos were taken out in early August, and replaced with dwarf marigolds (photo, above), dwarf ‘Cosmic Orange’ cosmos, and coppery-leaved coleus. Much better. But the pink purslane will have to move. The crape myrtle bloomed very lightly this first season in the garden. 8/6/2022

Vegetable Gardens

This property includes a sizable fenced garden, partially shaded by the oaks on the east side of the house. As the sun’s arc shifts through the year, the garden receives more or less sun than it did the previous month.

Last autumn, I stuffed oak leaves into large trash bags, and stored them next to the foundation over the winter. In early February, I incorporated a few of those bags of leaves into the top 12″ of this garden’s soil, along with aged cow manure. After planting the greens, a thick layer of oak leaves was applied as a mulch, keeping soil moist, cooler, and weed-free. By late spring, the greatly improved soil was well-populated by earthworms, and the organic matter will continue to break down for months to come.

I’ll dig and amend more of this garden and add cool season greens, such as spinach, Swiss chard, green onions, and leeks. And peas, of course—the edible-podded ‘Sugar Snap’ and a variety of snow pea called ‘Oregon Giant’. It’ll receive more hours of sun after the trees defoliate. The brassicas (arugula, broccoli, miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard greens, pac choi, and others), or cruciferous crops, figure prominently in autumn and winter gardens and in the kitchen.

Hostas brought from Maryland a decade ago grow plump in the composted soil on the shadiest end of the garden. I’ll add more varieties of hostas here, safe from deer, until it’s time to pot them up for the market.

Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’

Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ planted 14-16″ apart, with peas behind them.

Brassicas (plants in the Brassicaceae family) appreciate moist, well-composted soil, generous portions of aged cow manure, and neutral pH. Here in USDA zone 7, many types of greens can grow in cold weather, even through the winter. I plant several kinds of brassicas every fall. During severely cold periods, a loose covering of clear plastic keeps the foliage in good condition.

Late last winter and in spring, I set out about 30 plants of miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ on the north end of the garden, farthest from the oaks. While the trees were leafless, the plants grew in full sun. Now, in summer, these brassicas enjoy a couple of hours of mid-day shade from the hot sun.

This is one of my all-time favorite vegetables. Maybe even the favorite. I eat this versatile broccoli a few times a week, sell some at the Elkin Farmers’ Market, and donate a bunch when the market hosts cooking demonstrations. Great sweet flavor, and super healthy!

(***Update***: These same plants produced small harvests into mid-November. Then, with cooler weather, leaves grew larger. Unusually cold fall weather—up to 20 degrees colder than average—has caused them to decline earlier than expected. However, after the oaks dropped their leaves, the broccoli grew more vigorously, almost until Christmas, 2022. That’s why ‘Happy Rich’ is my favorite vegetable—9 months of harvests!)

‘Happy Rich’ and Insects

Harlequin bugs on cabbage.

‘Happy Rich’ branches out after each cut, producing more stems, leaves, and small heads to harvest. Four species of caterpillars (from 3 species of moths and 1 butterfly) prove quite troublesome all season long, even beyond the first frosts. To prevent them from ruining the brassicas, I spray every 7-10 days with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). This isn’t a chemical, but a naturally occurring bacterium that kills larvae of moths and butterflies.

Bright orange and black harlequin bugs (photo, above) also feed on brassicas, spotting and distorting the heads and leaves. I squish them when I see them.

patches for pollinators, bumble bee on broccoli flowers

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ and a bumble bee in spring.

As the plants finish up their last harvests now and in spring, some of the stems will bloom. Beneficial insects, especially bumble bees, honey bees, sweat bees, and tiny braconid wasps, collect nectar and pollen from the flowers. Heading broccoli has yellow flowers, but ‘Happy Rich’ has pure white flowers on stems up to 5′ tall.

Tomatoes

After warm weather had settled into the area, I planted several tomatoes and peppers among the mini broccoli plants.

A small garden for cherry tomatoes.

Another section, north of the garden, gets sunlight longer into the season. There, I secured posts and strung deer netting between them (photo, above). It’s a narrow space, so deer won’t jump into it. This small area has a few cherry tomatoes, which can lean against the stronger existing fence, where edible-podded peas grew from late winter to early summer. You can see the pea vines growing through the fence.

Tobacco Hornworms

Tomato plant denuded by tobacco hornworm.

If one of your tomato plants seems a lot less leafy than it did yesterday, it might have a tobacco hornworm (slash markings) or a tomato hornworm (V-shaped markings). This very hungry caterpillar is the larval stage of a hawkmoth. A few weeks after a ‘German Johnson’ tomato went into the garden, it suddenly lost all its foliage. I’ve seen this before and knew to search for a 4″-long green caterpillar.

Several hornworms were found munching on the tomatoes this season. Most were carrying the pupae of a parasitic wasp and had stopped feeding. These pupae look like small grains of white rice. A female wasp lays eggs on or in the caterpillar. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae, which eat the inner tissues of the caterpillar, weakening or killing their host. Those should be left alone.

The few that hadn’t been parasitized lived out their lives on old tomato plants tossed behind the gardens. Birds or other animals might eat them.

Two dozen tomato plants that weren’t good enough to sell found homes in a few other areas around the property. Most are surrounded by posts and deer netting, although the deer did find—and destroy—90% of the big sunflowers meant for the winter songbirds… …

: Tobacco hornworm.

: Hornworm with wasp pupae.

Tomato Update:

(This section added 9/4/2022.)

Tomatoes generally are underproducing. Those getting just an hour more sun are yielding fairly well, but not abundantly. Gardeners in this region experienced devastating blights on tomatoes from frequent rainstorms and persistent humidity.

After planting cleaned up not-quite-dead tomato plants, I sprayed them with a solution of dissolved aspirin. Here’s another link. They recovered better than I had any hope of expecting. Although not receiving the recommended biweekly spraying, they’re still producing fruits.

Later in the season, tomatoes had sun scald due to the sparse foliage, so I shaded new fruits with mesh bags, old peat pots, or large cucumber leaves. Sun scald causes tomatoes to rot.

tomato shaded with peat pot to prevent sun scald

Tomato shaded by old peat pot.

Headings

Page 1: Patches For Pollinators (Japanese Beetles, Japanese Beetle Life Cycle), Less Grass To Mow With Patches For Pollinators (New Gardens, From Crape Myrtle To Virginia Sweetspire, Not In the Pink, Vegetable Gardens, Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, ‘Happy Rich’ and Insects, Tomatoes, Tobacco Hornworms, Tomato Update)

Page 2: Long Vines That Might Smother the Grass (Next To the Tree Stumps), Patches For Pollinators: Don’t Mow Here (Weeds To Watch, Early Patches For Pollinators, Late Spring and Summer Patches For Pollinators, Patches For Pollinators: Living Proof, The Saddleback Caterpillar), The Pretty Moths and Butterflies

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New Gardens For a New Property: What To Do First

Dec14

2021

Updated 8/26/2024

A New Home and New Gardens!

View from the front porch.

As you might know from reading The Farm In My Yard, I moved from Rockville, Maryland to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2013. I worked for a few years, while watching over my elderly mother. After she passed away in 2020, the search was on for a larger property in a smaller town. Must-haves included reasonably quiet surroundings, lots of nature, room to play in new gardens, and no HOA. This article includes information from a landscaper’s perspective that might help first-time property owners.

Success! In late October, I moved to a new home in northern North Carolina. A few obstacles didn’t stop my tireless realtor, Erika, from finding this (almost) perfect little house. There was Covid, for one, and the reluctance on the part of homeowners to list their homes for sale. Very few livable offerings in my price range came to the market. As soon as they did, they immediately went under contract.

As many buyers have done in this tight market, I made an offer on the property sight unseen. Well, truthfully, I did drive by the house before submitting an offer, and liked what I saw. Trees, woods, space, and sunlight—perfect for a gardener! The previous owners made some major improvements, saving me the trouble and the expense. But I had no idea what the interior looked like.

Inspections

When buying a house, have all the inspections done before closing, as recommended by your realtor or for your own peace of mind. Estimate the cost of necessary upgrades and repairs.

Particularly for older homes, check the roof and electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems. Look for water damage and mold, pests and wood rot, foundation issues, adequate insulation, storage space, and evidence of ongoing maintenance.

Negative findings could nullify a contract or provide a basis for negotiation between your realtor and the listing agent.

The Lay of the Land

Small towns, farms, and independent businesses dot the landscape in this part of Wilkes County. Several vineyards and state parks attract visitors to these lovely rolling hills, and rivers offer lots of sporting opportunities. Drive along any of the scenic roads, and new vistas open at every turn; the Blue Ridge Parkway is only half an hour away. Beautiful countryside!

The big oaks frame a sunrise.

My new home, a one-story house built in the 1940’s, sits on 1¼ acres of mostly level land. The view from the front porch looks over a field, a few houses, and downslope toward a small stream. Stunning sunrises greet me from that direction almost daily.

Most of the trees’ leaves have fallen from the massive limbs of the native white and willow oaks (Quercus alba and Q. phellos). A few of these trees tower over the eastern border of the property. In the summer, those toward the west will shade the house from hot afternoon sun.

The mighty oaks came first, judging by their size, and then the house. If I were to name the property, Quercus Magnus would seem fitting.

Preliminary Plans for New Gardens

There’s plenty of space for the berries and the vegetables to bask in the sun. Plenty of space to raise shade-loving perennials in the fenced enclosure north of the great oaks. And plenty of space for gardens that will support birds, bugs, bees, and butterflies.

Also, importantly, there’s room to grow plants to sell at the local farmers’ markets, as I did in Maryland for 25 years.

After Moving In

Deciding what to do first depends on the season, your climate, and the condition of the house and gardens. Priorities often reflect our occupations or interests, so artists might first set up a studio while contractors organize tools in the outbuildings. Growing families might rank bicycle storage, a big kitchen, and an extra bathroom at the top of the list.

And gardeners? Well, we look at soil quality, existing gardens, and sunlight. This gardener prefers a large, mostly blank slate. Others call it a lawn.

In April, I’d be concerned about starting seeds for the market, getting the summer vegetables and flowers planted, and cutting grass. But it’s December now. The yard needs tidying, houseplants need to find their homes, and, of course, we must bake Christmas cookies. Not to mention, those boxes won’t unpack themselves!

Moving into a house that doesn’t need major repairs eases the stress. To be sure, there are some improvements that can and will be made, but nothing that needs immediate attention. Wouldn’t mind a new kitchen with a dishwasher, Santa. (Chocolate chip or almond crescents?)

Trees and Shrubs

Poor Pruning Practices

Walking around the property will highlight issues that need attention. Check the trees and shrubs for dead or broken branches or call a licensed arborist for a professional assessment. There are some dead twigs way up in these oaks. A brisk wind shakes them loose, so the truck stays parked under the carport. Fortunately, that debris falls short of the house.

: Low branches that have been headed back.

: Some of the daily fallout.

I’ll hire an arborist to clean up the trees and remove branches that have been headed back. Heading back, or bluntly cutting off the end of a branch, causes many epicormic shoots to form. Those are new growing tips emerging from buds concentrated close to the cut. The shoots also can cover the length of the branch. Epicormic shoots have weak connections to the branch, and, over time, most will fail and fall from the plant (photos, above).

Similarly, topping trees is, in my opinion, not recommended. Yes, it reduces the height, temporarily, but topped trees in winter are hardly natural-looking and not attractive (photo, below). They, too, drop twigs over an extended period of time.

An expert arborist might be able to undo the damage from heading back or topping. However, removing the tree might be the most economical solution. Research appropriate tree species for your property and where to plant them. Keep in mind that plants almost always achieve dimensions larger than those indicated on the label. Your local agricultural extension office can help. Check with botanical gardens and sources such as your state’s native plant societies.

A topped tree.

The Root of the Problem

Trees planted close to the foundation can threaten its structural integrity. Consider having them removed.

The same ruthlessness applies to the wrong tree in any space. Keeping silver maples or weeping willows close to the house, septic system, or underground utilities begs for trouble. This is where an arborist or a well-informed landscaper can recommend more fitting species and a pleasing design for better curb appeal. Call 8-1-1 to have underground utility lines marked.

Constricted

Look for old stakes and wires still looped around trunks or branches. Wooden posts rot, but wire and synthetic rope from clotheslines, fences, and hammocks persist.

As trunks and branches grow in girth, they attempt to grow around the obstruction, usually cutting off the vascular system inside the bark. This results in the death of those parts of the tree that cannot receive water from the roots. Early fall color on isolated branches might indicate trouble, such as pests or physical constriction.

In the Maryland garden, a dogwood tree died for no apparent reason. After cutting it down and opening the bark in several places, I found plastic rope deeply embedded in the trunk a few feet from the ground. Although the damage appeared several years after I had moved there, it eventually killed a beautiful dogwood.

Flares and Girdling Roots

: Flare on an old oak tree.

: Girdling root on maple tree and no trunk flare.

Most trees flare out where the trunk descends into the ground. If this flare is missing, see if soil has been piled up against the trunk, and remove it.

Construction around unprotected trees can deposit soil that cuts off the oxygen supply to the roots, resulting in the plant’s decline. As little as an additional 1-2″ can damage trees. Also, parking vehicles over the root system compacts the soil, impeding air and water penetration. Keep in mind that tree roots extend well beyond the dripline, or the edge of the canopy.

Check for a girdling root crossing over the trunk at the soil line or below it. As it grows, the root will hinder growth of that section of the trunk, making the trunk look straight-sided where it enters the ground. Cut it out before the tree tries to grow around it. Maples and other surface-rooting trees are notorious for this.

There’s no flare at the base of this maple tree (photo, above) and at least one large girding root is constricting the flow of water and nutrients from the soil. I noticed large dead limbs in the canopy, so the tree might be removed.

English Ivy

English ivy growing up an oak tree.

Vining English ivy (Hedera helix) is growing up a white oak’s trunk, using rootlets to cling to the bark. All the vines will be removed for 4 main reasons.

First, English ivy is a woody vine, so its stems will grow in girth just as a tree branch does. As they wrap around the tree trunk or the limbs and thicken over the years, the ivy stems will constrict tree growth, killing limbs and possibly the tree.

Second, the evergreen ivy holds moisture and debris close to the bark, and could encourage insects and diseases.

Third, as ivy scampers over the ground and up the trees, it provides safe haven for rodents. Birds of prey and other predators cannot see them. Here’s a red-shouldered hawk perched in a dogwood tree, looking for dinner.

Fourth, ivy competes with small native plants, crowding them out.

So, the ivy must go.

Headings

Page 1: A New Home and New Gardens! (Inspections), The Lay of the Land (Preliminary Plans for New Gardens), After Moving In, Trees and Shrubs (Poor Pruning Practices, The Root of the Problem, Constricted, Flares and Girdling Roots, English Ivy)

Page 2: The Lawn (Safety First, Less Grass to Mow, Grass Clippings, Spontaneous Combustion), Drainage (Hold the Water), New Gardens for Old Plants (Virginia Sweetspire), More New Gardens and Less Lawn (The Black Walnut, The Ravine and the Woodland, Passionflower and Phlox ‘Minnie Pearl’)

Page 3: Planting a Few Trees (The Rule of Thirds, Too Cold to Plant New Gardens?, Viola, Different Players—Same Script, All Those Leaves), A Welcome Surprise (A Firm Foundation, Heeling In, Iris, Chores Indoors), Christmas Already?, and Concluding

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Plant Trees To Transform Your Landscape, Part 2

Sep23

After reading Part 1 of “Plant Trees to Transform Your Landscape”, you’ve located the best spot where a tree will shade the house from brutal summer sun. Recommendations and practices presented here are based on climate and soil in the eastern part of the United States, where I live and garden, but the basic principles apply everywhere.

If your main objectives are shade, attracting wildlife, and less grass to mow, include masses of shrubs and perennials in the landscape plan as well. This article concentrates on planting trees, the dominant features in the landscape.

Native Plants vs. the Non-Natives

The choices offered in garden centers can be narrowed down to native species and non-native, or exotic, species. Within each of those groups are the original species and the cultivars (cultivated varieties). Developed by plant breeders, cultivars exhibit more ornamental or desirable—or just different—characteristics than the species.

‘Red Filigree Lace’, a delicate cultivar of Japanese maple.

Non-native plants originated in a different country or perhaps only a few hundred miles away. If the plant doesn’t occur naturally in your geographic region, it’s non-native, although some gardeners restrict use of the term to plants evolving in another country.

There are many beautiful plants, exotic to our shores, which we’ve enjoyed in our gardens. Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica), Stewartia pseudocamellia, and the dizzying assortment of Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are just too hard to pass up. You can compromise, if you wish, by including both natives and exotics.

To most garden center visitors, none of this matters. We buy plants that solve problems and look pretty in our yards. But, to explain the relevance of native species, I’d like to expand the subject.

The Benefits of Native Species

First, native plants require less pampering to get them established.

Species that evolved locally can tolerate fluctuations in weather patterns. Temperature extremes, rainfall, humidity, soil types, altitude, wind patterns, and local fauna shaped today’s ecosystems.

Second, gardeners concerned about local pollinators choose plants that foster bees, butterflies, and other animals that pollinate farm crops and wild vegetation.

Every third bite of food we consume is attributable to pollinators. But, you might make the case that since most crops are alien to this country, it shouldn’t matter whether we use native or non-native trees. But we need to consider what larval insects consume, and that’s foliage and other plant parts. Thousands of species—not just bees—pollinate our farms, orchards, fields, and forests.

Egg-laying female moths and butterflies, beetles, and other insects are very selective and seek the natives they evolved with to supply sustenance for the following generation.

Incidentally, honey bees are not native to this part of the world. They will, however, forage from plants grown here, many of which are related to the plants they evolved with.

Making a Case For Single Flowers

: Amaryllis with yellow pollen and white stigma.

: Double amaryllis with no anthers or stigma.

Flowers attract pollinators, which reap the harvest of nectar and pollen. But many double- and triple-petaled flowers have lost their nectaries, stigmas, and/or pollen-tipped stamens. Photos above clearly illustrate the loss of reproductive parts in a double amaryllis cultivar. If these hybridized doubles and triples have lost the ability to reproduce sexually, they can’t make seeds. They must instead be propagated asexually, or vegetatively, by cuttings, division, grafts, or tissue culture.

The anthers, supported by filaments, bear the pollen; the male portion of the flower, collectively, is called the stamen. Female parts comprise the stigma, supported by the style, and the ovary, with its ovules, deeper within the receptacle; the female portion is called the pistil.

Not all dense flower heads are pollinator wastelands, though. Species in the Asteraceae family, for example, have flowers that normally look full. This family includes all the composites, such as aster, coneflower, daisy, dandelion, rudbeckia, and sunflower. Their dense inflorescences are composed of small florets arranged in a head, called a capitulum. But the original species also have the necessary reproductive parts. The composites are one of the most successful groups of plants and are found on every continent except Antarctica.

At a local garden center last year, I watched bumble bees that were quick to land on thickly-petaled hybrid red coneflowers (Echinacea). They were equally hasty in their departure! The bees stayed on the red flowers for a fraction of a second, while they lingered on the less frilly flowers of other cultivars, mining several florets in each flower for their treasure.

Pollinators waste precious energy visiting barren double-flowered hybrids. True, not all doubles lack nectar and pollen. For the pollinators’ sake, though, select more species or varieties with simple flowers. Natural selection favors plants that set seed, of course, which is why most native plants have simpler flowers.

Photos below show examples of single-flowering cultivars. If you see a boss of stamens and pistils in the flowers, those plants can probably supply pollen and nectar to the pollinators. This is a fine point, granted, but one that is critically important to populations of pollinators, given the preponderance of double-flowering hybrids at garden centers.

: Bumble bee on perennial aster.

: Pollinator on fruit tree.

: Purple coneflower (Echinacea) with bumble bee.

Third, planting a multitude of native species helps secure the future of threatened or endangered insects and animals.

In many regions, songbird populations have declined by half due to human intervention. Some have disappeared entirely. Trees and shrubs that provide shelter, nesting sites, berries or seeds, and which host insects, can help bring back the birds. Abundant biodiversity is a valid protection against the domino collapse of interdependent species.

Civilization has claimed much of the insects’ natural environments, so each of us can play a small part in rebuilding habitats. Annual butterfly counts show drastic declines. Monarch butterflies, in particular, now have less territory available in Mexico, a major overwintering site, than in the past, when they migrated by the millions.

Maintaining brush piles for overwintering insects and animals will help repopulate your landscape early in the season. Hauling those materials off to the recycling center, however, is sure death for the insects tucked inside. Fewer insects = fewer birds and other animals.

Fourth, incorporating native plants into the landscape helps keep the entire food chain intact.

A green anole basking in morning sun.

Insects feeding on plants become food for frogs, lizards, birds, and mammals. They, in turn, become food for snakes, hawks, foxes, and other predators. In many ecosystems, insects native to the region are the foundation on which the entire food chain is based.

A rich diversity of plant material supports an enormous number of insect and animal species. Left undisturbed, populations find a balance among themselves. On the other hand, life in monoculture, such as a lawn, is sparse. Unfortunately, countless urban and suburban neighborhoods have become dead zones with all their natural vegetation bulldozed to the ground.

As we spray, mow, burn, or build in natural environments, species will continue their rapid decline. Certainly, we need places to live and work, but we can also “give back” by planting for wildlife instead of continually killing it off.

Check with your state’s native plant society, native plant finders, BeeCity USA, and the local agricultural extension service for information. In addition to these sources, find a knowledgeable salesperson at the garden center for practical advice and sources of plant material. Garden shows might feature vendors specializing in native plants as this branch of horticulture grows.

Native Species and Nativars

trees, red leaves in fall, native white oak

Red fall color in a native white oak tree.

Plant breeders have brought to the marketplace many cultivars of our native species. These nativars might have purple or red foliage instead of green, or double flowers instead of single. Perhaps they mature at a shorter height than the original species, making them a better fit for small properties.

Garden centers often stock varieties of native species, although those selling native plants might also stock the original species. By a comfortable margin, though, most of the trees and shrubs in U.S. garden centers are cultivars of non-native species. Many originated in Asia, a treasure trove of tempting horticultural novelties.

Red Leaves and Wildlife

native trees, dogwood, red leaves, flower buds

Red fall color and flower buds on native flowering dogwood.

Many trees develop red or burgundy fall foliage. Species native to the eastern U.S. with red fall foliage include sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red oaks (Quercus rubra, Q. coccinea), and white oak (Quercus alba).

Beautiful fall color lures camera-toting visitors each year to the mountains, to New England, and to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The U.S. National Park Service provides an interactive map which tracks the progression of fall color.

Red- or purple-leaved cultivars sporting this color all summer are in high demand at garden centers. But if the point of planting trees and shrubs is for wildlife, we want to be sure the plants we choose will attract them. Each plant species has a particular menu of chemical compounds in their tissues that either attract or repel insects and animals. Organisms evolved a tolerance for these compounds…or they didn’t!

Purple and red leaves often repel insects due to their high levels of anthocyanins, the red pigments in the foliage. So, that defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Not necessarily; these trees might have had green leaves that hosted insects before leaves turned red. Or insects simply tolerate the red pigments.

Oak trees support huge numbers of insects, birds, and mammals at various times during the year. This one genus, Quercus, hosts hundreds of species of moths and butterflies, although they often turn red in the fall.

Before planting a cultivar that stays red all season, though, find out if insects, such as mature caterpillars, will eat the leaves. This indicates that it could host insects for their entire life cycle. If all the larvae are tiny, however, when some larger individuals are expected, most might have crawled off to greener pastures.

If bees spend time working a flower and don’t fly off immediately after landing, that plant could be a good choice. Similarly, holes in the leaves indicate that the plant can host insects. Resources at the local university’s entomology department or botanical garden might have information that could help you choose plants that support wildlife.

The Untold Story

I’ve been packing the past couple of weeks, preparing to move to a rural location in northern North Carolina. I took a break from the work and sat on the deck, listening to the birds and insects.

One of those sounds was the hum of an approaching ruby-throated hummingbird, the only species summering in this area. Four feet away, and less than 4″ long, this tiny bird landed on a twig of the potted native dogwood tree, sitting right next to me. He then hovered near the flower buds (photo, above, with last year’s fall color), and I could see his tongue working the buds, one after another. These buds are tightly closed, yet he found something worth gathering, despite the presence of other flowers nearby.

Within a minute, another hummingbird arrived for the same reason, apparently. The two tiny birds fought for feeding rights, and the second one flew away after some impressive aerial maneuvering among the twigs. The first hummingbird continued searching for hidden sustenance held inside those buds. I’ve never seen this behavior.

My point is this: there’s much about the natural world that remains unobserved—a mystery to us—perhaps lending more credibility to the importance of using native plants in our gardens. (This section added 10/6/21.)

Deciduous Trees For the Eastern U.S.

Here’s a partial list of native and non-native trees that support wildlife. Large deciduous shrubs can substitute for trees in smaller spaces. Many other species might suit your purpose, so visit a few nurseries to see what’s available.

Most trees are sold in large plastic nursery pots, although you might also see freshly dug trees with their roots wrapped in burlap (“b&b”, or balled and burlapped).

American hop hornbeam (Ostrya)
basswood (Tilia)
birch (Betula)
black gum (Nyssa)
Carolina silverbell (Halesia)
chaste tree (Vitex)
cherry and plum (Prunus)
crabapple (Malus)
crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia)
dogwood (Cornus)
franklin tree (Franklinia)
fringe tree (Chionanthus)
hornbeam (Carpinus)
magnolia (Magnolia)
maple (Acer)
oak (Quercus)
poplar, cottonwood (Populus)
redbud (Cercis)
serviceberry (Amelanchier)
sourwood (Oxydendrum)
willow (Salix)
winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
witch hazel (Hamamelis)

Native red maple can have yellow, orange, or red fall color.

Most of the trees listed above have small- or medium-sized species or varieties. Compare suitability of native and non-native species within the genus. The familiar weeping willow, for example, is non-native and quite messy in the landscape. But smaller native willows behave better and host a large number of moths and butterflies.

Research disease resistance, flowers for pollinators, fruits for animals, sun or shade preferences, and soil types. Consider planting species that drop excessive amounts of fruit, acorns, or seedpods farther from the house and paved surfaces.

Also look into the tree’s habit of growth. A specimen with horizontal branches softens the strong vertical lines of a house. Pay close attention to utility poles and wires. Don’t plant trees near them that the utility company will butcher in future years.

Trees with invasive surface roots should be reserved for areas far from structures, pipes, and vegetable gardens. Find out from your town how close to the street or the property line you’re permitted to plant trees. Don’t forget to call 8-1-1 to locate underground utilities before digging.

Chionanthus, the fringe tree (photo, below), is a beautiful bloomer for gardens. This multi-stem plant has 2 species commonly available (C. virginicus, C. retusus), one native and the other from Asia. Male plants have larger flowers, but females set deep blue fruits for birds. The plants, however, are rarely sexed at the nursery.

Fringe tree.

The Hollies

Gardeners have used hollies in gardens for centuries. We can choose among deciduous and evergreen species.

The hollies (Ilex spp.) are another genus of primarily dioecious (Latin for “two houses”) plants that fruit on female plants. They ordinarily require a male plant, or pollenizer, to set fruit, although holly pollenizers (the males) themselves do not set fruit. Modern breeding techniques have yielded several cultivars that can make berries without pollination.

Ask your nursery salesperson for specifics regarding the need for pollenizers and how close they should be planted to female hollies. Choose the male hollies carefully; they must be closely related to the female holly and bloom at the same time. Incidentally, holly flowers are often nicely fragrant, and the bees love them! Just don’t shear them off after the buds have formed. Pruning should be minimal if you want flowers and fruits. And bees.

The Curious Case of Crape Myrtle

The Imperial moth.

Lagerstroemia indica is an extremely popular landscape tree or shrub in USDA zones 7-9. Crape myrtle, from China and Korea, was first introduced to the southeastern U.S. over 200 years ago. Adapting readily to our hot, humid summers and sometimes drought, it blooms for months despite the adversity.

What makes this non-native plant peculiar is a native moth’s preference for its leaves even when offered a multitude of its local favorites. Last year, I raised caterpillars of the huge Imperial moth. They went for the crape myrtle every time, ignoring all the others. Unless female moths instinctively target this species to host their young, the caterpillars will not likely eat these trees to the bone any time soon.

Several songbirds, including American goldfinches and juncos, feed on the seedpods.

Evergreens

You might prefer an evergreen specimen instead of a tree that drops its leaves in autumn. Look into arborvitae, chamaecyparis, hemlock, certain holly species, juniper, pine, rhododendron, spruce, and yew. Consider the shade evergreens will cast in winter, and whether sunlight might be blocked from entering windows or melting ice on the driveway.

Although not all evergreens are native to this part of the country, they make suitable nesting places and provide shelter in inclement weather. A dense border of evergreens can block fierce winter wind for a considerable distance downwind.

Soon after moving into the Maryland house in the 1980’s, I planted a chamaecyparis with deep green whorled foliage. Although it was supposed to get only 6′ tall according to the nursery, it grew to about 20′, when it was cut down by the people who bought the house from me. I left it in the front yard because birds raised a few families among its evergreen branches every year. And it looked gorgeous in the snow.

Chamaecyparis on the right, after 2010 blizzard. Sourwood on the left.

Good Looks

If you’re landscaping purely for aesthetics, plant a tree with characteristics that appeal to you. It’s your property, after all. Besides, all trees provide cover and nesting opportunities, even if they’re passed up by caterpillars.

Perhaps elsewhere you could grow perennials that offer food to wildlife. Planting a bed of milkweeds among the shrubs, for example, will help the monarch butterflies (photo, below).

While you might not consider insects important in your landscape, and, in fact, have invested considerable time and expense eradicating them, they are primary links in the food chain. A healthy landscape hosts a complex assortment of insects and animals. And with the rate at which natural habitats are losing out to development, it’s no wonder we see fewer ladybugs, butterflies, and songbirds in our neighborhoods.

Creating welcoming landscapes provides resting places for migrating birds. But they need natural corridors all along their path in order to find food and perching opportunities. We can help by planting at least part of our property with them in mind—every one of us! Provide food, water, and trees to rest in, and you might catch a glimpse of a bird you’ve never seen before.

I urge you to adopt a new attitude toward welcoming wildlife. You don’t need 10 acres to make a difference. A well-planted fraction of an acre will encourage many kinds of insects and animals to reside there. If you let them eat your plants and the sprayer hasn’t been used once this year, well done!

Monarch Butterfly Laying An Egg - Chesna / Pixabay

Monarch butterfly on milkweed.

Before Planting Trees

Let’s imagine a 2-story house and an appropriately proportional medium-sized tree. Your landscape plan calls for locating this tree off the southwest corner in the front of the house.

To prevent branches from rubbing against the siding in the future, you’ll want to plant the tree far enough from the house. Divide the mature spread of the tree by 2. Because plants tend to grow larger than the dimensions printed on the label, add a few feet to the measurement. So, a tree with a mature spread of 25-30′ should be planted 15′ or more from the corner.

While that little tree might look lonely out there, it will grow. Maybe that’s the extent of your garden project this fall. Or perhaps you’d like to develop a full garden on that side of the house with an underplanting of shrubs, perennials, and ground covers.

Walking a pathway through the garden to the side yard will feel like a walk through a park. This is a good solution where space is limited between your house and the neighbor’s. Consider your neighbor, though, and don’t plant too close to the property line. Perhaps the two of you could create an appealing garden that fills the space between both houses.

But first, it’s soil prep…please turn to page 2…

Headings:

Page 1: Are You Ready To Plant Trees?, Native Plants vs. the Non-Natives (The Benefits of Native Species, Native Species and Nativars, Red Leaves and Wildlife, The Untold Story), Deciduous Trees For the Eastern U.S. (The Hollies, The Curious Case of Crape Myrtle, Evergreens), Good Looks, and Before Planting Trees

Page 2: Soil Preparation For Trees (Slope, Outline the Bed, Heavy Clay, “How Deep?”, Adding Amendments, Organic Matter, and Time To Plant Trees (Trees In Pots, B&B Trees, Backfill, Edge, Mulch, And Water)

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Pages: 1 2

Plant Trees To Transform Your Landscape, Part 1

Aug7

2021

It’s Time To Plant Trees!

As summer’s sizzling temperatures begin to cool off, our thoughts turn to new gardening projects. Fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs. At that time, garden centers bring in fresh plant material, so you’ll have a wide variety to choose from.

After leaves drop from deciduous plants, roots no longer need to provide water to foliage, making fall the perfect time for landscaping. New roots, though, continue to grow well into autumn, while soil temperature remains above 40°F. By springtime, new leaves will draw water from a more extensive root system, so you won’t have to water as often as you would when planting trees in leaf.

Although you can plant trees and shrubs in full foliage, they will need frequent irrigation to get them established. The warmer the temperature, the more water the plant will require. Summer sun bearing down a dark nursery pot stresses the root system and can prevent root growth on the hottest side of the pot. It follows that during the summer months, roots would rather be in the cool earth than exposed to hot sun. Planting leafy trees just requires more attention from the gardener.

Most evergreens also can be planted in autumn. Their foliage at that time transpires less water to the atmosphere as temperatures cool down and day length shortens.

Room For Improvement

During my search for a new home, what always attracts my attention first is the presence of mature trees. The absence of trees means more grass to mow, for a while, anyway. Not my cup of tea.

Because the Covid-19 pandemic has kept us closer to home, we can’t help but notice areas that could use improvement. Is the sunroom or the shed a bit too toasty in the afternoon? Gazing at the computer screen hour after hour? Now that you’re working from home, looking upon a pretty garden outside the office or pulling a few weeds would provide a needed break. Perhaps you’ve discovered that connecting with nature relieves stress and gives you a feeling of calm and comfort.

Those are just a few reasons to plant trees and spruce up our gardens. Converting high maintenance lawns into gardens with colorful trees, shrubs, and flowers not only enhances aesthetics, but also increases the value of our homes. And with all this talk of carbon footprints and deforestation, perhaps you’re eager to participate in the solution.

Plant Trees To Transform Your Landscape, In Two Parts

Part 1 of “Plant Trees To Transform Your Landscape” addresses seasonal changes, drawing a landscape plan, reasons for planting trees and shrubs, slope, and practical considerations.

Part 2 of “Plant Trees To Transform Your Landscape” details soil preparation and the process of planting trees in the landscape. I also write about native plants vs. the non-natives, and how they affect populations of insects and animals.

The Sun’s Path

The sun’s path across the sky in North Carolina, summer and winter.

Start thinking about your landscape now, before summer’s discomfort fades from memory. Notice how the sun’s arc changes from month to month, and how, by mid- to late summer, it’s already lower in the sky. My little succulents lining the south-facing bay windows get more direct sunlight now than they did a month ago, when the sun was directly overhead.

You can block much of the heat and sunlight falling on the south (northern hemisphere) or west side of the house with a deciduous tree or a group of trees. If you want maximum sunlight coming indoors during the winter, however, avoid planting trees right outside south-facing windows. Instead, shift the trees toward the southwest or the west, which will give you more sun in winter and shade on a hot summer afternoon.

Although deciduous trees drop leaves in autumn, bare branches and twigs will cast some shade. But with carefully placed trees—not directly south—shade will come from smaller twigs on the canopy’s periphery rather than from stout trunks and limbs.

Large evergreens block winter sun at a time when it is most welcome if they’re planted near south-, southeast-, or southwest-facing windows. Consider planting them farther out into the landscape and where they can reduce winter wind from the north or the west. Or use shorter evergreens that mature below windowsill height. Thick borders of twiggy deciduous plant material can decrease wind speed, but not as effectively as evergreens.

For the Record

It helps to keep a record of these seasonal changes. Visualize how tree placement will affect sunlight falling on your house or coming through the windows. Knowing a tree’s mature height and spread will help determine where to place it for maximum solar gain in winter and shade in summer.

Avoid planting trees too close to the house, where leaves, flowers, and fruits will litter the sidewalk and clog the gutters…not just in year 1, but also in year 31. Realistically, though, debris will get into uncovered gutters and leaves will swirl around paved areas, but planting trees far enough from the house will obviate the need for annoyingly frequent maintenance. In addition, limbs growing toward the house will require trimming, and the result often falls short of appealing.

These are merely guidelines that I’m suggesting, but, ultimately, it’s your property and your choice.

Let’s not forget the advantages of planting evergreens for winter protection. A dense planting of evergreen trees and shrubs can mitigate the brutal impact of winter’s fury. That can make living in and working around your home more comfortable, while lowering energy bills at the same time. Remember that winter shade on an icy driveway will delay rapid melting.

Try to recall the direction of prevailing winter winds, which usually varies from the direction of summer breezes. You can research local data from the National Weather Service.

Drawing Up the Plans

Tools Of the Trade

For accurate and detailed drawings, use an architect’s scale, a triangle (for straight edges and right angles), graph paper (for the base plan), tracing paper, a mechanical pencil, and an eraser. A plastic template with round holes of varying widths can be useful for extensive landscape projects.

The final design can be drawn on the more substantial vellum, if you wish, using colored pencils and markers. But, for those homeowners intent on planting a few trees and extending a garden, paper and pencil might more than suffice.

Community colleges and, sometimes, botanical gardens offer classes in landscape design. They might have sources for these tools, or you can find them at art supply companies.

Start the Sketch

Draw a sketch of your home’s footprint and property lines on graph paper. Use dimensions from a copy of the plat plan, if you received one when you bought the house. Pencil in existing vegetation, hardscape (structures and solid surfaces), prevailing wind directions, drainage patterns, slope, and a north arrow.

The 1/4″ scale, where 1/4″ on paper equals 1′ in the landscape, was satisfactory for almost all residential designs. For the largest projects, though, I used the 1/8″ scale. I measured the property, copied the plat plan, and drew, to scale and in permanent ink, all features that were to remain. This base plan depicted an aerial view of the property’s features, including locations of doors and windows in the home’s outline.

Then I drew preliminary plans, in pencil, on tracing paper taped (with removable drafting tape) to the base plan. You might go through several sheets of paper as different ideas take hold. That’s why it’s available in rolls!

Sketch ideas for how your family will use the property. You might include spaces for a sunny vegetable garden, shrubs and trees for butterflies and nesting birds, or a pond. In that case, pencil in the tallest plants either far from those areas or to the north, where they won’t cast shade for many years. Trees that grow less than 15′ or 25′ tall at maturity fit more comfortably in tightly clustered neighborhoods. Consider your neighbors, too, when including trees in the plan.

Now, of course, many landscape designers use software programs that cut short the labor involved in drawing plans by hand.

Also, keep in mind that the actual layout of the plants might necessitate shifting them somewhat from the locations drawn on paper. Before planting, place the potted trees and shrubs in their intended locations, and double-check the placement from all angles.

Elevating Your Skills

Drawing elevations, or vertical perspectives of the house as it sits in the landscape, supplies a more complete picture of your property. We plant trees, shrubs, and other plants around the house to anchor the structure to the land. Keep in mind that 10′ indoors looks much smaller outdoors, so expanding the beds will impart more appropriately scaled proportions.

An elevation of the front of the house will help you envision how the plantings will look from the street. Likewise, views from the back windows could be improved by adding a tree, or 3 trees, and masses of colorful shrubs and perennials near the fence. Remember to include hardscape and windows, doors, and the roof in your sketches. Then pencil in the existing plants from near to far, to scale, and see how they layer against each other. Additional drawings might depict tentative designs starting with no plants or having the biggest offenders removed.

This extra step could illustrate the need for some relief from all the short plants on one side of the property, or how the other side is too heavy with evergreens. If you add color to the elevation, you’ll see where you could repeat a cluster of flowering plants or where there’s too much yellow.

Maybe there are too many mounded forms, and the composition could benefit from a bold upright specimen or a fine texture, such as ornamental grass. Details in the elevation drawings help illustrate where contrast, color, height, repetition, or depth might be missing. Be sure to consider the color of the house and the trim when designing your landscape.

Simple Might Work Better

Perhaps the elevations reveal how busy or spotty the landscape appears, and how it could benefit from a simpler menu with fewer types of plants. The elements in the home’s landscape, when viewed from the street or from a distance, look more harmonious when the garden has only a few specimen varieties and masses of supporting plants.

This doesn’t rule out all those fascinating little plants tucked in here and there. But use those smaller plants along a path or by the patio to appreciate up close.

Symmetry vs. Balance

Planting symmetrical gardens on both sides of the front door might be your go-to style. Sure—that’s easy! But to give your landscape that something extra, try to achieve balance without symmetry. Balance requires using some of the same or similar plants on both sides, but not necessarily in the same quantities.

Symmetry is more difficult to maintain when one arborvitae grows faster than the other due to differences in sun exposure. Or one bed of reblooming daylilies grows better than the one that’s closer to the neighbor’s Norway maple. And most homes simply aren’t symmetrical.

Depth Perception

Imagine your front yard with taller plant material in a raised bed near a streetside corner. Maybe a spacious area could use a few large beds, which remove even more of the lawn. Dimensions of the property and existing features will determine the most appropriate placement of these islands. The plans I drew incorporated irregularly shaped beds, with broad, naturally curved edges instead of straight lines.

Adding a small tree or an uneven number of shrubs with drifts of perennials and ground covers introduces the concept of depth, partially hiding the front of the house from full view. Some open space—a void—near the center, showing the front entrance, creates a contrast. This sense of mystery—where not everything is revealed in one glimpse—adds a dimension that’s hard to describe. But you’ll know it when you see it…or don’t see it.

One tip about planting a tree: don’t plant it dead center in the yard or in a bed! Use the “Rule of Thirds” when locating the tree. Place it closer to the edge of the property, framing the view, or about one-third of the distance from the far end of a bed. A tree in the center abruptly bisects a view, which is uneasy on the eyes. Similarly, I prefer not to plant an upright evergreen between 2 windows.

If space is limited between your house and the neighbor’s, consider planting a generous bed—the full width—on your property. Then add a mulch, brick, or flagstone path from the front yard to the side yard, and plantings on both sides. Given ample room, place the tree on the outside of the path. This gives you that nice feeling of walking through a park.

Perhaps you and the neighbor can develop a landscape together for a more harmonious setting. When I lived in Maryland, a neighbor and I planted the entire area between our driveways, but the man who bought my neighbor’s house replaced all the plants on his side with sod. “Just in case”, I had planted a monarch birch on my side of the property line before he tore out blooming shrubs and perennials. Nevertheless, the see-through character of the finely-twigged birch tree lent that feeling of depth to our front yards.

Take This Photo, For Example

Taking advantage of the depth of the front yard gives opportunities for repeating plant material without having to rely on symmetry. Research shows that people attach greater value to properties with attractively orchestrated plantings comprising wider beds and curved edges.

Enlarging the foundation plantings by bringing in a specimen and groups of plant material is usually more appealing. Try adding large curved beds in your drawings rather than narrow beds lined up against the wall. Curves soften rigid straight edges.

In the photograph, above, this landscape would gain depth by adding a new curved bed in the corner between the near side of the sidewalk and the driveway. I’d plant a small tree, several small flowering shrubs or evergreens, and flowers in this bed. Lastly, repetition, using the same ground cover on both sides of the sidewalk, not necessarily lined up, completes the picture. (Well, I might rethink those ornamental grasses…and…)

When installing a new sidewalk near the house, place it farther from the house, if possible, to accommodate more creative plantings.

Options For Cooling

Diagonally off the northeast corner of my last house in Rockville, Maryland, I planted a sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum). This deciduous tree has spectacular red fall color. Although the tree is a slow grower, I selected it for its ornamental features: multi-stem trunk (usually sold with a single trunk), fine twigs, flowers after the peak spring season, pest-free foliage, and long-lasting fall color. With all those desirable features, I forgave its persistent seedpods.

During the growing season, the sourwood blocked morning sun, from the east-northeast, and helped cool the living room and the master bedroom upstairs. But, with winter’s sun rising in the east-southeast, the leafless tree did not affect light entering those rooms. In regions where the temperature climbs quickly early in the day, consider planting a tree to shade the morning sun.

Japanese snowbell.

On the west side of the property, monarch birches (Betula maximowicziana) provided afternoon shade. The fine texture of their leaves and branches cast a delicate shade, and those beautiful chalky white trunks contributed year-round interest. This species can be quite variable in trunk color, from white to gray to brown. I also planted the species Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica), a small umbrella-shaped tree, off the west side of the brick patio.

When we first moved into the house, there was no relief from intense summer sun. Planting trees made good sense for this house with little insulation, original single-pane windows, and an inefficient HVAC system.

Over the next three decades, I renovated the entire house, insulated the attic and under new siding, planted a woodland, and greatly reduced our energy bills. Replacement double-pane windows, with that heat-reflective coating, were expensive, but worth it.

Headings:

Page 1: It’s Time To Plant Trees! (Room For Improvement), The Sun’s Path (For the Record), Drawing Up the Plans (Tools Of the Trade, Start the Sketch, Elevating Your Skills, Simple Might Work Better, Symmetry vs. Balance, Depth Perception, Take This Photo, For Example), and Options For Cooling

Page 2: Beautiful Trees In the Garden (Lessons From Well-Designed Gardens), First, Call 8-1-1, Establish the Hardscape, Dealing With Slope, Why Should We Plant Trees and Shrubs? (Planting Trees and Shrubs Can:, Finding Help), Choosing Plant Material, and Next: Part 2

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Pages: 1 2

Daffodil Bulbs: Divide, and Multiply the Flowers

Mar3

How Do Your Daffodils Look This Year?

Daffodils in February at Cane Creek Park, Waxhaw NC.

For years, your daffodil bulbs bloomed to great satisfaction. From late winter to mid-spring, there was never a shortage of cut flowers to bring indoors. And plenty remained in the garden to admire from indoors or for neighbors to enjoy.

But this year, they were so disappointing! Masses of slim green leaves look healthy enough, but there were only a few flowers! Come to think of it, there weren’t many last year, either. They should be in their prime right now.

Clumps of daffodils with all leaves, very few flowers.

Why does this happen? You’ve been using the bulb fertilizer recommended by the garden center, and, heaven knows, they never went dry! They looked great a few years ago. Clearly, there’s a problem with the daffodils.

This is called daffodil “blindness”, or lack of flowers. A number of factors contribute to this condition.

“Should I Remove Them?”

Not yet. Just let them soak up the sun’s energy, undisturbed, for as long as the leaves remain green. Don’t cut, knot, braid, or mulch over the leaves. Keep them exposed to direct sunlight. Remove any seedpods, if you see them, to conserve energy and resources. All energy should be directed toward plumping up the bulbs.

In this article, you’ll find tips for restoring your daffodil gardens back to their spectacular spring show. I’m including information on conditions for growing daffodil bulbs successfully for many years into the future. But it’s too early to dig them up right now. Once the leaves have turned yellow or brown, we can begin to dig, divide, and re-set the bulbs.

Bulbs that have been forced in a pot should be planted into the garden after the foliage yellows. While the leaves are green and photosynthesizing, continue watering and provide sunlight. Lasagna pots, crowded with layers of bulbs, rarely bloom well, if at all, a second time. These bulbs might need a year or two in the garden gathering strength for more blooms in the future.

Hardiness

There are 13 divisions of Narcissus, grouped according to their flower structure. Thanks to the efforts of daffodil hybridizers, consumers can choose from among 32,000 registered daffodil varieties! Also, according to the American Daffodil Society, there are between 40 and 200 daffodil species.

In general, daffodils grow in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 11, although some prefer the cooler end, and others, the warmer zones. Before purchasing your bulbs, find out which zone you live in and which varieties will grow there.

‘Camelot’ and ‘Flower Record’, for example, are better suited to zones 3 to 7, struggling in a warm zone 7 season and failing south of it. The paperwhites Narcissus tazetta (N. papyraceus) ‘Avalanche’ and ‘Minnow’, on the other hand, do better in the warmer zones 5 or 6 to 9.

For Now, Fertilize the Daffodil Bulbs

Apply a complete bulb fertilizer to your daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs. It should have low levels of nitrogen (N), but more phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content. Use a low analysis product, such as 5-10-10 (N-P-K). 10-10-10 also is acceptable.

As plants photosynthesize, they make their own food and store it in the bulbs. This nourishes the embryo, which is dormant in summer, and prepares the plant for next year’s growth. The more carbohydrates stored in the bulbs, the more flowers for next spring, as long as other conditions are favorable.

Fertilizer applied as the bulbs begin to emerge from the ground could cause the robust foliage and heavy flower heads to flop over. I normally fertilize the bulbs later, around the time of peak bloom, if they need it. Non-flowering bulbs can benefit from a light fertilizing before dividing the clumps. Because the foliage will stay green for several more weeks, the bulbs will have time to utilize the fertilizer.

A soil test conducted by your local agricultural extension service will indicate whether any nutrients should be added.

Bone Meal

For years, many gardeners have relied on bone meal to fertilize their bulbs. Bone meal contains a small amount of nitrogen (3-4%), more phosphorus (12-14%), no potassium, and some micronutrients (Ca, Fe). Mixed products available for bulbs might include bone meal, but also have additional nutrients to make a complete formulation.

The problem with exclusively using bone meal is that it takes longer than other products to break down and become available to the roots. Furthermore, phosphorus, the primary ingredient, moves very slowly through the soil profile. For that reason, bone meal added to the root zone—before planting the bulbs—might be more useful than applying it to the surface of the ground. Avoid direct contact, though, between the bulbs and the fertilizer. Still, it’s not likely to provide nutrients until months or a full season later, after microbes have begun decomposing it.

Bone meal is a slaughterhouse by-product, after sterilizing and grinding cow bones. Some animals are attracted to the scent, so burying it might prevent it from being consumed.

Because daffodils and other bulbs aren’t very demanding, giving them anything should result in good growth. Soil pH should be somewhere between 6.0 and just below 7.0 for nutrient availability. If a soil test indicates adequate phosphorus, I wouldn’t use bone meal. An excess of P will interfere with the uptake of other nutrients.

Food or Fertilizer?

Notice the distinction between the terms “fertilizer” and “food”. Fertilizer is the product we apply to plants. There are many kinds of fertilizers, including soluble and granular types, and compost. They provide various amounts of nutrients to help plants function at an optimum level.

Food is a product of photosynthesis; plants make their own food inside the foliage. This substance is stored as carbohydrates in bulbs, stems, and roots, depending on the species.

Easy Does It!

Daffodils and other bulbs we plant in our gardens don’t need much in the way of nutrients, so never overfertilize. Perhaps you’ve seen clusters of yellow or white daffodils randomly appearing along roadsides or in the middle of a field. Heirloom varieties of Narcissus bulbs are sometimes the only surviving clues that an old homestead once stood nearby. Daffodil bulbs can live for decades!

***Update***: At the south edge of the woods at the new property, daffodils emerged under snow and after a tangle of growth had been cleared away (photos, above). Once the honeysuckle vines, brambles, and tree saplings had been removed, the daffodils grew thick and healthy, although there were few flowers. The soil there is rich with decomposed leaf litter. After the foliage begins to yellow, I’ll divide and transplant most of the bulbs. 3/20/2022

***Update***: Well, I never got around to dividing these bulbs. Starting in January 2023, abundant flowers grew on stronger plants (photo, above). And the flowers lasted 2 months! I don’t know the variety, but it’s an older one with fragrant double flowers. Because the flowers last such a long time, I’ll transplant several divisions to the garden on the far side of the driveway, visible from my office. 4/13/2023

“Then, why do those old abandoned daffodils look better than mine?”

Over time, year after year, fallen leaves and other organic debris have collected at the soil surface above the daffodil bulbs. Microorganisms decompose this material from spring through fall, while the soil is warmer. Nutrients from decomposition slowly filter down to the roots, and are absorbed as the roots emerge in late summer and autumn.

Those abandoned daffodil bulbs don’t need fertilizer from us, nor do they need a layer of mulch. Mother Nature is looking after them! Sometimes, less is more.

Growing our bulbs leaner could help. Pushing them to “grow better” is one reason for overabundance of foliage and lack of flowers. High nitrogen is particularly problematic. For spring-flowering bulbs in decent garden soil, the application rate recommended on the package of bulb fertilizer can be halved. Unless your garden soil is absolutely wretched, keep the fertilizer levels somewhat low.

If the garden soil is good enough to sustain annuals and perennials, it is more than adequate for daffodil bulbs. With occasional applications of fertilizer to garden plants through the growing season, the bulbs lying dormant in the soil below them will have plenty of nutrients when they begin to root out.

I fertilize lightly, sometimes, in autumn, as the bulbs root into cooling soil, and again when they’re in full leaf in spring. It just depends on how the garden has been managed. In many years, I don’t fertilize at all.

Bulbs planted in gardens under irrigation might be getting too much water, which can rot the bulbs. Daffodils don’t appreciate dry soil, but wet soil will kill the bulbs, and then nothing will sprout.

‘Mount Hood’ daffodils. As they age, they turn ivory white. Soil in the mulched garden was good, so I rarely fertilized them.

“Can I use compost?”

A moderate amount of compost top-dressed on the surface and watered into the soil makes a fine addition. Or scratch the compost into the surface of the ground. Covering the compost preserves the beneficial microbes, which will be destroyed by the sun. Because the bulbs are deeper, they won’t be damaged by light cultivation.

Nutrients in decomposing mulch also contribute to the health of the soil. Soil under slowly decaying shredded hardwood mulch is probably sufficient for daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs. Earthworms consume partially decayed material, enriching it in their own special way. They then distribute the castings (earthworm excrement) throughout the garden soil, and aerate it as well.

Shredded hardwood mulch breaks down faster than pine products, but don’t pile on large amounts. That could cause manganese toxicity and raise the pH too high. It’s a good idea to use shredded hardwood for a few years, and then switch to pine for a few years.

Headings

Page 1: How Do Your Daffodils Look This Year?, “Should I Remove Them?” (Hardiness), and For Now, Fertilize the Bulbs (Bone Meal, Food or Fertilizer?, Easy Does It, “Then, why do those old abandoned daffodils look better than mine?”, “Can I use compost?”)

Page 2: Sunlight For Daffodil Bulbs, Daffodil Bulbs Under the Trees, Soil and Drainage (Soil Preparation, Dig In!), Divide and Multiply Daffodil Bulbs (The Process, “And How Deep Is That?”), Time To Plant Daffodil Bulbs (Planting in Autumn, Planting in Early Summer), Summary

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Tornado in Matthews NC! Time for Smaller Trees?

Feb13

2020

Updated 11/4/2024

An old oak tree felled by the Matthews tornado.

Tornado!

I’ve been out of town for a few days, visiting family in New Jersey. On the return drive, the weather report on Charlotte’s WBT radio warned of impassable flooded streets and a tornado that had toppled old oaks and mature maples near my home, in Matthews, and in nearby towns. Over 3″ of rain fell last Thursday, swelling streams and rivers and saturating the ground. When the soil is that wet, it becomes more fluid; a brisk wind can push over 200-year-old trees.

Rot inside the trunk, a weak spot.

And that’s just what happened. Shallowly rooted evergreens and even perfectly healthy bare trees couldn’t stand up to the sustained high winds. Trees with rotten cores (photo, right) fell over at ground level or shattered some distance up the trunk. Healthy or somewhat compromised—it didn’t seem to matter. Tornadoes choose their victims indiscriminately.

On Friday, I drove around and saw those damaged trees, twisted and gnarled, some sheared of all their branches and leaves. On Pineville-Matthews Rd., the junipers, cypresses, and evergreen magnolias fell like dominoes, one against the next. For all the beauty Nature reveals to us, there’s always the flip side, too—devastation and death.

Police were out directing traffic. Stoplights were dark, and trees leaned on overhead wires. When this happens, remember to observe local laws. Here, we treat an intersection with a non-functioning stoplight as a 4-way stop. I was pleased to see cars on the main road come to a stop to allow vehicles lined up on the side streets their chance to proceed.

The main roads had been cleared of debris, but some of the side streets were still littered with limbs, piles of greenery, parts of roofs and fences, and road signs.

Aftermath of the Tornado

After the tornado, something will benefit and grow after the wreckage has been removed. Shrubs and flowers shaded by the thickening canopy will be reinvigorated by brighter light. And, of course, more weeds will grace our gardens.

Sure, we’ll have to move the shade lovers to more appropriate locations, or plant a new tree. Residents whose homes border main thoroughfares will reestablish screening plants that provide a measure of privacy. The silver lining in this cloud could also mean more fruitful harvests from our blueberry bushes and vegetable gardens. But certainly, we’ll miss our trees.

Half the tree landed on this house in Matthews NC.

Roots or Consequences

Checking the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) website confirmed the presence of a few tornadoes in the Carolinas on February 6, 2020. Around 12:15 p.m., an EF1 tornado cut a swath 150 yards wide and 17½ miles long south of Charlotte, from Pineville to Matthews. It lasted 16 minutes, with winds that reached 95 miles per hour.

Warm moist air masses clashed with strong cooler fronts, setting this severe weather pattern into motion. Local media recorded some of the devastation.

There were no deaths in this area, although two casualties, unfortunately, were reported elsewhere in North Carolina. I spoke with a man in Matthews, who said his aunt and uncle were in the room right below where part of a tree trunk had crashed through the roof. They were not injured, thankfully, but the Fire Department declared the home unsafe to occupy (photo, above).

Pancakes

It’s incredible, when viewing the uprooted plants, that almost all the tree roots are in the top foot or 18″ of the soil. You’d think these 50′ or 80′ tall trees would have deep roots that anchor them to the ground, but most do not.

Compacted soil, bedrock, and natural growth patterns for the species keep the roots shallow. And there is more of the necessary oxygen, fertility, and microbial activity closer to the surface. So, tree roots spread out from the trunk in search of water and nutrients, extending beyond the drip line.

When the force of the wind is stronger than the ability of the tree’s roots to hold it in place against resistance, the tree will succumb. Plants might hold up at first, but, after a while, trees can begin to fall over.

: A toppled tree in Matthews, with a 10′ wide “pancake” of roots.

: Three 40′ tall pine trees in the Raintree area.

Time for a Tree Check-Up

A huge tree, at least 100 years old.

This might be a good time for a tree health check-up from a licensed arborist. Granted, there are no guarantees. But a trained specialist can see aspects of the tree’s growth that could indicate the likelihood of trouble in the future. Pruning trees properly when they’re young and as they grow, if they need pruning at all, will improve their branching structure for decades to come.

The arborist might find decay where a few trunks come together 30′ from the ground. This is where leaves and water might have been collecting for years, eventually rotting the bark. Decay then spreads deeper into the interior wood. Also, as trunks and large congested branches grow in girth, they compete with each other, compromising transport of water and nutrients, and, therefore, structure and strength. Many of the trees that came down in this tornado had rotten cores.

A topped tree, showing weak epicormic shoots.

Another weak point occurs where several stems grow as a result of topping or heading back the trunk or side branches. Those epicormic shoots (photo, above) have feeble connections to the wood and compete with each other. Most of them fall from the tree over time. Never top a tree! It’s a difficult decision to make, but you’re probably better off replacing large trees that have outlived their usefulness (too large, too close to the house, cracking the foundation) instead of topping them.

Girdling root on maple tree and no trunk flare.

Another clue to look for is a missing flare. That part of the trunk looks flat (vertical) where it descends into the ground. This usually indicates a girdling root or some other obstruction underground, and possibly a sparse root system on that side. Rocks and soil discarded against a tree trunk can cause problems later.

Mother Nature does not issue guarantees. Sturdy trees that give no indication that anything is wrong can blow over in high winds, regardless of the care it has been receiving.

Trees for Shade

In areas with hot summers, such as here in the Carolinas, we love our trees. We value our family’s lives and the integrity of our homes, of course, so it makes sense to evaluate the plants on our properties, especially those standing close to structures.

Certainly, a mature tree canopy helps reduce energy bills and adds aesthetic value. But ignoring unhealthy trees or pruning them improperly can be very costly in the long run.

Alternatives to Towering Trees

Magnolia Flowers Plant Petals - ottawagraphics / Pixabay

Small to medium-sized cultivars of magnolia are suitable for most home landscapes.

Although you might be inclined to replace a dead tree with the same species, now is the perfect time to reconsider that choice. Visit a reputable garden center and ask the tree expert for recommendations. ‘Bradford’ pear? Silver maple? Weeping willow? No thanks!

There are many other options that will fit better in your landscape. Find species with strong branch attachments, and those that won’t litter the ground and fill the gutters with twigs or fruits every time a breeze blows through the neighborhood.

Landscape Considerations

Always look at the scale of the site, how your home fits into the local surroundings. A 3-story Victorian could look lovely framed by a natural stand of stately scarlet oaks. If they’re growing 15′ from the sunroom, you could enjoy the shade for 10 years or even 50. But a microburst or a tornado could send tons of wood hurtling toward Logan’s antique Firebird…or your home.

It’s safer to locate the tallest trees much farther from the house. Then you won’t have to deal with the oak trees’ acorns in the driveway every year.

Ask about native trees and shrubs, although there are so many beautiful exotic species I must have. Each species has many cultivars to choose from. If one tree doesn’t seem substantial enough, plant three or five of them in a raised bed, properly spaced. Perhaps large shrubs will work better for your situation or in tight spaces.

Add drifts of small shrubs, perennials, groundcovers, a patch of colorful annuals, and spring flowering bulbs for a complete garden. Mulch to suppress weeds, conserve moisture, and prevent erosion.

A Short List of Small to Medium-Sized Trees

Check with local garden centers, agricultural extension offices, botanical gardens, and native plant societies for suggestions. Here are several of the species (native and non-native) that grow in this part of North Carolina:

American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Birch (Betula ‘Whitespire Senior’ and others)
Carolina silverbell (Halesia)
Chaste tree (Vitex)
Chinese pistache (Pistache chinensis)
Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
Dwarf evergreen magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’)
Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Flowering dogwood (Cornus spp.)
Fringe tree (Chionanthus spp.)
Full-moon maple (Acer japonicum)
Golden chain tree (Laburnum)
Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)
Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica)
Lilac (Syringa)
Magnolia (Magnolia spp.)
Paperbark maple (Acer griseum)
Parrotia (Parrotia persica)
Peanut butter tree (Clerodendrum trichotomum, can be invasive)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier)
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia)
Witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.)
Smaller varieties of oak, birch, maple, tupelo, plum, crabapple, cherry, conifers.

Do Your Research

Research cold/heat hardiness (USDA plant hardiness zones), disease resistance, forms and colors that enhance your property’s appearance, and seeds or fruits that feed wildlife. Include some natives in your garden to support diversity of local insect and animal species.

: One of the small cherry trees.

: Japanese snowbell, Styrax cultivar.

: Fall color of crape myrtle.

Severe weather events can cause considerable damage to our homes. Each year, they claim human lives. The cost for cleaning up and repairing the damage is quite high, but, of course, some of the losses we can’t recover.

The United States leads the world in the number of tornadoes, averaging more than 1,000 annually. North Carolina averages 22 per year. The states with the highest number of tornadoes, in descending order, are Texas (135/year), Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Although a tornado will alter the look of our landscape, this is an opportunity to view it with a fresh perspective. Looking into the future, planting smaller trees and shrubs appropriate for the site might prevent the heartache of real loss.

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Impatiens ‘Imara’: Welcome Back!

Aug4

Good news for shade gardeners:

A new impatiens variety called ‘Imara’, at a local nursery, 2020.

‘Imara’ Impatiens

After trials that tested five thousand seedling impatiens plants, Syngenta Flowers has come up with a new variety called ‘Imara’™ XDR (Extra Disease Resistance). Joost Kos, Syngenta’s head of Research and Development, and Ton Groot, Senior Flower Breeder, spent 9 years developing this strain. In 2011, they found one plant that demonstrated very high resistance to impatiens downy mildew. And this plant was the basis for the breeding program that came up with ‘Imara’.

This disease, caused by the pathogen Plasmopara obducens, rendered our beloved Impatiens walleriana into a leafless pile of withering stems. And this wasn’t just a local affliction. It happened across broad swaths of the country and around the world.

In 2011, I grew the variegated ‘Seashells’ impatiens, with soft creamy margins on the leaf edges. Over several weeks, the once-beautiful salmon flowering plants continued to decline. No matter what I did, I couldn’t save them from the fate that was the destiny for almost all impatiens. Soon, greenhouses stopped offering this species for sale.

Impatiens walleriana is a compact seed-grown annual, named in honor of British missionary Horace Waller (1833-1896). The species originated in eastern Africa. ‘Imara’ comes from the Swahili word for “strength and resilience”. Popular in the landscape, impatiens carpeted shady plantings around the world in residential gardens to massive displays in commercial settings and botanical gardens. The plant has been sorely missed. Wholesale growers and retailers felt the pinch when they lost their #1 shade annual.

New Guinea impatiens (I. hawkeri) is a bolder, larger grower and just wasn’t an adequate substitute for our little favorite. And this species costs more because most nursery plants have been vegetatively propagated.

More Impatiens Breeding

In the past few years, newer inter-specific hybrids made it to garden centers. ‘Bounce’ (Selecta Seeds) and ‘Divine’ (Pan American Seeds) were available, but we were hoping to see our old friends again. These two varieties still resembled New Guinea impatiens, with their larger leaves and taller habit.

Pan American Seeds has another new cultivar called ‘Beacon’. This variety shows “high resistance” to IDM, according to The International Seed Federation. But only side-by-side testing between ‘Imara’ and ‘Beacon’ will determine which one performs better in any particular setting.

A Welcome Comeback

In June of 2018 and this year, seeds of ‘Imara’ became available in limited markets. Believe me, the breeder and their licensed propagators are working feverishly to bring enough seed to market. Talk with the growers at your favorite garden center to see if they might stock it. And request this plant by variety name.

Impatiens (always with an “s”, singular or plural) is eaten by deer and rabbits, so take precaution. Sprinkle some blood meal among the plants, or spray with repellents. Regardless, many gardeners will be using ‘Imara’ in their summer garden beds and in planters next year.

‘Imara’ is currently available in these colors: red, rose, pink, white, orange, orange with a white star, salmon shades, violet, and a mixture. New colors certainly will follow. So, make plans now to invite your old friends back to the shady garden. This is a comeback that all gardeners will welcome!

‘Imara’ is now available in pink.

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Annuals That Tolerate Heat, and Garden Tips

Jul3

2019

Annuals That Can Take the Heat

Happy 4th Of July!

Well, it looks as though the heat is on, as we celebrate our nation’s 243rd birthday. And summer just got started! Enjoy your Independence Day barbecues with family and friends, but don’t neglect the garden annuals and other potted plants. They’re going to need more frequent watering at these temperatures.

Here are some things we can do to mitigate problems that come with extreme heat, followed by a list of heat tolerant annuals.

Mulch the Beds

Mulching the gardens will keep annuals and shrub borders looking fresh all summer. Mulch serves several purposes:

it retains moisture in the soil
the soil stays cooler without the sun beating down on it
it helps prevent weeds from germinating
mulch helps prevent soil erosion
it prevents mud and dormant disease spores from splashing onto the plants
long term, it breaks down and adds organic matter to the soil
and it looks good

If bags of mulch have been hanging around for a while, gases can build up that might damage tender young annuals. So, open the bags and let the gases escape. I recall mulching newly planted alyssum many years ago, and by the next morning, they looked as if they’d been fried!

Sometimes, termites are found in old bags of hardwood mulch. Once the contents are spread around the gardens, though, the termites probably will die from exposure or due to separation from the colony.

Types of Mulch

Pine straw under a tree.

There are many kinds of mulch available from garden centers. I’ve always liked the look of dark brown shredded hardwood mulch. On a slope, it holds better than pine bark nuggets because the fibers interlock. Large quantities of shredded hardwood used repeatedly, however, can cause manganese toxicity and it can drive up the soil’s pH. Limit the depth to only 1″ in flower gardens or 2″ around shrubs and trees.

It’s a good idea to switch to a pine bark product for a few years to avoid these imbalances. Rhododendrons, azaleas, blueberries, hollies, and other acid-loving plants prefer pine products. But, if you want to use shredded hardwood around these plants, don’t pile it on and use an acidifying fertilizer.

Grass clippings break down quickly when used as a mulch by itself or under another mulch product. They contain some nitrogen, gently released as it decomposes. Use a very thin layer around your plants because it can heat up significantly as decomposition begins. But grass clippings can carry residue from weed killers and other chemicals used on the lawn, so maybe the best thing to do is to leave them on the lawn itself.

Pine bark nuggets can last a few years, but, if you’re a tidy gardener, you’ll have to blow away or pick out fallen leaves. It’s graded according to particle size, from pine fines, to small and large nuggets. Pine straw is new to me, since moving to North Carolina, but I still prefer shredded hardwood.

Mulch should not be piled high in the garden. Two inches suffices for most applications, although pine straw is applied more thickly. Keep it away from the stems and trunks of the plants.

Tree leaves that fall in autumn make a protective layer for garden plants, although many will blow around in high wind. This is more acceptable in rural areas or where the gardens aren’t open to public view. Most homeowner associations will find this free source of natural mulch objectionable. You could use a mulching mower to chop the leaves into smaller pieces, rake them into gardens, and cover with an inch of a more attractive mulch. Earthworms and decomposition will make them disappear.

Gravel In the Garden

I’ve never used gravel as a mulch around plants, except for potted lavender or succulent dish gardens. It settles into the mud, and “gravel travels” on an incline.

In certain circumstances, such as in the desert southwest and in dry rock gardens, gravel is a good choice. Around dry stream beds and in paths, gravel and rocks add natural elements, but should be laid over landscape fabric to prevent settling into the soil. If using gravel on the surface of a walkway, look for the kind with angular rather than rounded edges; it is less likely to sink underfoot.

Landscape Fabric

I am not a fan of using landscape fabric under mulched plants. This barrier interrupts the natural decomposition that occurs where the mulch meets the soil. Without the fabric, earthworms ingest the partially decomposed material next to the soil surface, and deposit fertile castings (excrement) into lower levels of soil, improving it in the process. This is how it works in nature, accompanied by thriving populations of various microbes.

Leaves, fallen trees, and dead insects and animals contribute to a healthy environment on the forest floor as they decompose. Microbes, earthworms, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles help distribute nutrients through the soil profile.

As the mulch breaks down over the fabric, weed seeds blowing into the beds will readily germinate in this rich medium. So, most gardeners using landscape fabric will be disappointed when they see those dandelions, plantains, and weedy maple trees taking root there. Mulch, with or without landscape fabric, doesn’t entirely prevent weeds, but it will greatly reduce their numbers.

Water the Garden Beds

Marigolds planted by volunteers in Arbourgate Meadows, Charlotte NC.

Make sure the flower beds and the shrubs, especially new ones, get a deep soak now and then if rain is scarce. Unless your area receives a prolonged period of rain, passing showers will moisten only the mulch. In most soils, 1″ to 2″ of water per week ensures that deeply growing roots will get their share.

Watering a little bit every day or two will not produce deeply rooted plants. Unfortunately, shallow roots are susceptible to stress from not only dry soil but also from hot soil.

It’s always best to water early in the morning, so the foliage is dry going into the night. This lessens the likelihood of diseases infecting annuals and other plants. Some of the water applied during the heat of mid-day will be wasted because of rapid evaporation. But if you’ve forgotten, and the plants are wilting, water as soon as possible, regardless of the time of day!

For busy families, watering with soaker hoses or tubes and emitters saves time. By placing the water directly on the soil, or under the mulch, very little is lost to evaporation. These systems can be attached to a computerized control center at the faucet. Just be doubly careful, though, when digging nearby, that the spade doesn’t land on the soaker hose. But if it does, there are repair kits for that.

The kids might enjoy a sprinkler or Slip ‘n’ Slide on a hot Fourth of July, especially the ones under 35. For a softer landing on the slippery strip, water the lawn underneath it first.

About the Hose

A garden hose kept in the sun will significantly heat the water inside it. Spray it out over the grass until it’s cool enough to apply to the gardens. Water under the canopy and beyond the drip line of the plants. Watering heavily as needed will cool the soil…for a while, anyway.

Water and Potting Soil

Caladium, variegated English ivy, and ‘Prizm’ impatiens, before impatiens downy mildew came along. The new ‘Imara’ impatiens is downy mildew resistant.

The trend in gardening over the years leans toward growing annuals in pots for key areas around the yard. Gardeners also are decreasing the square footage devoted to annual garden beds.

Container gardening requires vigilance, because soil in pots generally dries faster than garden soil. Hanging baskets filled with thirsty annuals and small blooming pots on the picnic table probably will need daily watering in areas with intense summer heat. For this reason, I prefer using larger pots when possible, such as 12″ to 18″ hanging baskets.

Strawberry jars introduce verticality and a unique appearance. Look for smaller varieties of plants to fill these containers.

Adding a thin layer of mulch to potted plants has the same advantages as mulching the garden. I use 1/2″ of pine fines, and sometimes shredded hardwood.

Amendments For Annuals

Potting soil with a high percentage of coarse drainage material, such as pine fines or perlite, tends to dry quickly. The soil doesn’t hold water, due to the large air pore space between the particles. Supplementing the potting soil with compost, peat moss, fine coir, or even some clean loamy topsoil from the garden adds more particle surface area where water can cling. You don’t want to create a heavy soil, though, that doesn’t drain well enough.

Planting mix, above, with high levels of pine fines, is best used to improve garden soil. Potting soil tends to have more finely textured materials.

When I lived in Maryland, Leaf-gro was readily available to amend potting soil and garden beds. I used tons of it! It was pure, rich compost, and was the end product of all that yard debris (weeds, grass, leaves) sent to the recycling center.

An additional benefit of using garden loam is the introduction of root-friendly microbes and micro nutrients, although you might have to pull a weed now and then. I can see you shaking your finger and warning of soil pathogens and worms…yes, true. If you’re concerned, you can buy bagged products that have been pasteurized. Ask to see the contents, though. The last bag of “sandy loam” I purchased contained mostly finely ground pine bark and sawdust.

Water-holding crystals are another option for potted plants and garden beds. Read directions carefully. Don’t add dry crystals to a pot; they need to be pre-moistened. I never found them to be that effective, but these new potting soils with all those pine fines might be improved with them.

Amending After the Fact

Supplementing bagged potting soil is becoming common practice for my pots these days. For the potted tomatoes that were drying too fast, I scratched about a gallon of clay loam from the vegetable garden into the top layer of soil in each 20″ pot. With each watering, the fine particles will sift down through the pot, filling some of the pore spaces.

It seems to have worked. The tomatoes aren’t beginning to wilt by mid afternoon after watering in the morning. And, on some days, I can even skip a watering. Much better.

Fertilizing Annuals

Heat-tolerant plants growing in pots will run out of fertilizer within just 2 to 4 weeks, depending on soil quality. Frequent watering and rainstorms leach nitrogen, in particular, through the soil. And, once nitrogen levels drop too low, older leaves will turn yellow, the plant might become pale overall, and growth will slow down. Nitrogen is the macronutrient that is needed in greater quantities than any of the other nutrients.

Each plant species is different. Some need more phosphorus or iron or magnesium. Check the label for a comprehensive list of ingredients.

Many annuals are particular about soil pH; some need acidic soil, while others tolerate a higher pH. At either end of the scale, certain nutrients become unavailable to plants. Most plants, however, grow well enough over a fairly broad range. But, if you notice yellowing, consider taking a soil test and having the chemistry analyzed.

Garden centers stock many kinds of fertilizers. They’re available as soluble crystals, dry granules, liquid concentrates, and as slow-release (or timed-release) prills.

Fast growing annuals need regular applications of nutrients. Rather than a feast-or-famine regimen, put the plants on a schedule so they never show the effects of “hidden hunger”. This and other good horticultural practices will keep your plants in prime condition until the end of the season.

Slow-Release Fertilizer

At high temperatures, slow-release fertilizer is consumed faster than the label might indicate. So, a 6-month product might be depleted after 4 months at 85°. Instead of simply placing the prills on the hot soil surface in a pot, dig a few small holes between plants, add the prills, and cover them with about an inch of soil. This will keep them cooler and prevent rapid release of the fertilizer.

In gardens, slow-release fertilizer can be placed under the mulch, scattered over the root zone. A small amount is released as water percolates through the medium.

Pot Colors

As these plants grow, they will shade part of the pots’ surfaces as summer temperatures rise.

Roots growing on the sunny side of dark pots, in hot summers, can heat to the point of death. So, most plants prefer light colored pots that reflect energy from the sun. If you really want to use the new rust-brown pots by the front door, add plants that trail over the side of the pot, shading enough of it to make a difference.

Another option is to use an insert, a plastic pot that sits inside the pretty pot, with space for hot air to escape. Maybe your beautiful teal pots can be tucked under the tree near the pool and planted with shade loving annuals.

This isn’t a concern in most parts of the country, but in southern states, the plants will appreciate this detail. Choose heat tolerant annuals that are less likely to be damaged by these conditions.

Winter Pots

Conversely, in chilly winter climates, dark pots absorb the sun’s warmth, delaying freezing of the soil. Find out if your pots will tolerate frost, and make sure they drain freely. “Frost resistant” does not mean “frost proof”.

When I potted large planters for customers’ winter gardens, I included sheets of styrofoam in the shoulders and on the sides of the pot, which absorbed the soil expansion as it froze. Pots with straight or sloping sides, with no curved shoulders, allow freezing soil to heave upward, usually avoiding breakage. In Maryland winters, expensive concrete pots were most likely to survive the cold.

Evaporative Cooling

Efflorescence on clay pots.

Most terra cotta pottery is porous, allowing air and water to pass through the sides of the pot. Some clay pots, though, are fired at higher temperatures, making them non-porous.

A clay pot with moist soil stays relatively cool, as moisture wicks through the pot. As water evaporates, the surface of the pot feels cooler. The same principle applies to perspiration evaporating from your skin. So, decorative clay pots in the summer are another alternative. But, they dry out faster because of the moisture loss through the pot.

The pots in the photograph have a white mineral coating called efflorescence. When fertilizer salts in solution migrate through the clay, they crystallize as the water evaporates. It can be removed or enjoyed.

Nursery-Grown Landscape Plants

Because containerized nursery plants are watered daily in warm weather, growers use a mix comprising mostly fast-draining pine fines, sand, and perlite, with some organic matter (peat moss, ground coir, compost) for water retention.

During hot summer weather, it is important to get transplants established as quickly as possible. New roots reluctantly grow into the native soil, but can be encouraged to do so by scoring the root ball or by teasing out some of the roots on the sides. This causes slight injury to the roots, and stimulates the plant to quickly form new side roots from the pericycle, a layer of cells inside the root.

Also, amending garden soil with organic matter, such as nutrient-rich compost, and pine fines for better drainage creates a welcoming habitat for new roots. Heavy clay soil is not very accommodating and hinders rapid rooting. You want to give your plants soil that drains well and entices roots to grow deeply. If you’ve ever tried to dig in dry, compacted clay soil, you know why plants are slow to establish. Good soil preparation makes a huge difference!

Why New Plants Sometimes Fail

A newly planted ‘Soft Touch’ holly, azalea, or autumn fern needs to have water replenished in the root ball every day in hot breezy weather. Until new roots expand into the soil, plants are entirely dependent on you for their daily dose. Make sure the water isn’t too hot.

I often consulted with homeowners when their new plants failed. When the shrubs were unearthed, their roots often were quite dry.

One landscape I visited here in Charlotte had very large evergreens newly planted in front of the house. All were dead or dying during a prolonged drought. After a little digging, I saw that 95% of the root system on each plant was bone dry because there was no organic matter mixed into the heavy clay soil. And only one irrigation emitter was placed on the side of the root ball. Each plant this size would have required a few emitters.

To make matters worse, the soil had been backfilled in large clods, and not broken up at all. Any water that flowed from the emitter drained right into the crevices, bypassing the root system. Those large air-filled gaps dried exposed roots even more. Any moisture in the root ball was quickly wicked away by the clay. This costly disaster illustrates the need for thorough soil preparation: breaking up heavy soils, incorporating amendments (drainage materials, organic matter) for improved tilth, and firming the soil around the root ball.

The problem is this…

…and it’s a point that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Water is sucked into the tiny spaces between clay particles by capillarity. And what’s abundant in soils throughout much of the country? Clay! So, when the shrub’s potting soil that is mostly pine fines (with large air pore spaces) sits next to native soil that’s composed of mostly clay (with tiny air pore spaces) what happens to the water? That’s right! It’s pulled from the shrub’s potting soil into the surrounding clay.

Clay always wins! This is one explanation for nursery plants that fail, even though the surrounding soil in the bed feels damp.

The remedy for a shrub with a high percentage of pine fines and perlite in the pot is to work some of the native clay into the root ball. Poke some holes a few inches deep (try using a dibble) on the surface of the root ball and fill with a few handfuls of clay or loamy clay; water it in.

This improves the water-holding capacity of the soil inside the root ball. Granted, this is a fine point. But the principle was effective for the potted tomatoes, mentioned in “Amending After the Fact”, above.

When Can I Plant?

Shrubs and trees establish in the landscape faster in autumn, when soil temperatures are still warm enough to promote root growth. Even in chilly soil, in the 40’s F, roots can grow. Air temperatures are more moderate then, and rain falls more predictably. The next best time is early to mid spring, as the soil begins to warm and before the trees leaf out.

But plants can settle into the landscape during the summer, too, as long as soil preparation was adequate and water is provided when needed. That ‘Jelena’ witch hazel would much rather be in the ground than sitting in a black pot at the nursery on this Independence Day.

Summer annuals root quickly, but give them enough water to prevent wilt. They’ll probably need water every day until their roots grow more extensively through the soil. And give them enough to moisten the entire root ball and the surrounding soil. It takes only one sunny 90° day to dry that new plant to a crisp!

Reservoirs and Saucers

Most hanging baskets and large plastic pots have a reservoir or an attached saucer at the bottom. It holds an inch or two of water that the plant’s soil will gradually absorb by capillarity.

It isn’t necessary to drain it off in the summer, if the plant is full of foliage. Any water the soil can’t absorb within 30 minutes, however, should be poured off.

For young plants and for succulents or plants that like dry soil, the reservoir or the saucer should be drained. Pour the excess water onto other plants instead of wasting the nutrients. Even worse is to let dissolved fertilizer wash down the street to the storm drain, eventually polluting the local creek.

Another option is to remove the saucer and allow water to drain freely into the flower beds or the shrub border.

Planting Wire Baskets

When I plant a wire basket, I line the inside of the coco liner with a “repurposed” sheet of plastic, such as an empty mulch bag. The plastic prevents evaporation through the coco liner, and slows decomposition of the coco liner.

Be sure to punch holes through the plastic in several places to allow drainage. But leave the bottom inch or so intact, forming a reservoir to hold water a bit longer, until it’s absorbed by the plants.

(For decades, as owner of Wellspring Garden, I never bought trash bags. I saved all the empty bags from potting soil, amendments, and mulch for that purpose. Using less plastic is the way to go!)

So, It’s Your Turn To Host the Party

A trip to the garden center reveals plenty of options to dress up the landscape for the holiday:

full grown, colorful blooming baskets for the deck or the porch
a potted combination “drop-in” worthy of that gorgeous ceramic container near the front door
some large annuals, in 6″ or 8″ pots, for the garden, looking as if they’d been growing there for months
a potted herb garden that guests can pinch to customize their salads (basil, chives, and others), and some mint ‘Julep’ or ‘Kentucky Colonel’ for iced tea, or other beverages.

Finally, string some lights for evening ambiance, and add red, white, and blue accents to celebrate Old Glory. Don’t forget to bring greenery into the powder room, in a pretty pot, adorned with a small flag.

Headings

Page 1: Happy 4th of July!, Mulch the Beds (Types of Mulch, Gravel In the Garden, Landscape Fabric), Water the Garden Beds (About the Hose), Water and Potting Soil (Amendments For Annuals, Amending After the Fact, Fertilizing Annuals, Slow-Release Fertilizer), Pot Colors (Winter Pots, Evaporative Cooling), Nursery-Grown Landscape Plants (Why New Plants Sometimes Fail, When Can I Plant?), Reservoirs and Saucers (Planting Wire Hanging Baskets), and So, It’s Your Turn To Host the Party

Page 2: Heat-Tolerant Annuals

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The Garden Patch, McFarlan’s, Strawberry Hill

Jun18

2019

The Garden Patch, McFarlan Bakery, and Strawberry Hill U.S.A.

The Garden Patch, Columbus NC

Last weekend, I took a drive toward western North Carolina, and stopped in at a nursery I often saw when traveling out that way. The Garden Patch is located on West Mills Street, in Columbus, not far from Route 74. I was given a friendly greeting by Jeanine Gauen, the owner, and then proceeded to the hardy plants section.

After seeing the cute little holly with tiny leaves, I asked permission to take some photographs for The Farm In My Yard. Jeanine gave me a business card, and then we started chatting.

She moved to North Carolina 11 years ago, from Chicago. It’s no wonder the population is shifting southward. The climate is so much more comfortable! Maybe it’s the longer growing season. Winter greens that grow with little or no protection is high on the list of must-haves.

Yes, it does get hot in the summer, and that’s why the mountains and the foothills are popular. It’s cooler than the lower elevations, but the winters are still quite mild. You just have to pick the right elevation. And, to me, there’s the unmistakable appeal of smaller towns.

Luna, the long, lovely dog, came out to say hello. So, of course, Jeanine and I exchanged naughty dog stories for a few minutes, before I was gently reminded that the store had closed for the day…..Horrors!!…. Bold me, I asked if I could just get a few pictures before leaving. “Thank you!”

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Kaori Hime—Party Princess’

Osmanthus het. Party Princess, at The Garden Patch

Osmanthus ‘Party Princess’.

‘Party Princess’ is a false holly, and it grows in USDA hardiness zones 7-9. This patented variety can be kept at 2-3′, but it has big fragrance.

Plant this evergreen in sun or part sun, grouped around the lamp post or in the garden near the mailbox. It also works well as a border or a short hedge. In hot climates, it does best with light shade during the harsh afternoon hours.

Enjoy the fragrance when it’s in flower, late summer to fall, near the patio in the back yard. With some selective pruning, this tiny-leaved shrub is well-behaved in the garden. It appears to be a low maintenance plant, and not bothered by deer. Very cute. Another must-have!

Here are more discoveries at The Garden Patch:

: Callicarpa dichotoma Wine Spritzer.

: Cryptomeria japonica Chapel View

: A fragrant Gardenia.

: Sunny Knockout Rose.

: Pineapple Lily, Eucomis comosa Sparkling Burgundy

: Ice Plant, Delosperma nubigenum Golden Wonder.

Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Wine Spritzer’

This deciduous Callicarpa, a new beautyberry called ‘Wine Spritzer’, grows in zones 6 to 9. It stays a bit smaller than its green-leaved cousins, to 4-5′ tall. The more direct sunlight this plant receives, the brighter the variegation. However, in hot climates, the foliage can suffer sun scald in full sun, so consider planting it in morning to early afternoon sun. It does not fruit as heavily as the green varieties.

If it’s like the green types, this shrub does best with an annual hard pruning in late winter to early spring. I used to prune the ones in Maryland to within 1′ of the ground or lower. Since it flowers on new wood, pruning like this didn’t diminish the crop of purple berries. And growth is more controlled this way. In fact, the later I cut them back (May, at the latest), the shorter the shrubs ultimately grew. New shoots regrew quickly, although this variegated variety might respond more slowly.

Cryptomeria japonica ‘Chapel View’

Cryptomeria ‘Chapel View’ is a beautiful evergreen with dense blue-green foliage. This Japanese Cedar grows in zones 6-9. It has minimal, if any, winter bronzing. This one is not as large as some, growing up to about 10′ tall and 6′ wide. If needed, the plant can be pruned to shape.

‘Chapel View’ is a good variety for an informal screening hedge, as a specimen in a large rock garden, or on the corner of the house. Plant it in slightly acidic soil, and mulch it.

Hydrangea ‘Little Honey’.

Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Little Honey’

‘Little Honey’ Oakleaf Hydrangea shines in the lightly shaded garden with its bold gold leaves and white summer flowers. This variety grows only 4′ tall, and is hardy in zones 5-9. A sport of ‘Pee Wee’, it is derived from the native species.

Shade doesn’t have to be a drab, dark green forgotten space. Mass a few of these eye-catching shrubs, and add yellow variegated hostas, and Hakonechloa (golden Japanese forest grass) to “echo” the hydrangea’s color. Plant a cluster of autumn ferns (Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliant’) for contrasting texture and copper-colored new fronds. Sweet!

Another way to enjoy ‘Little Honey’ is to plant a drift of Liriope ‘Royal Purple’ in front of the shrubs. Rich royal purple flowers are attractive with the chartreuse background. You might have to spray for deer, though.

‘Little Honey’ will burn in hot sun, but without some direct sunlight, the color will be closer to green. It tends to deepen in color over the growing season. Morning sun is appreciated. If more light is needed, consider limbing-up lower tree branches or creating openings in the canopy, but avoid hot afternoon sun. Prepare the soil well for this shrub because it needs good drainage. This hydrangea puts on another show in autumn with its red fall color.

A running water fountain brings additional elements to the shade garden—mesmerizing sound and birds! Don’t forget to add a bench, from which to enjoy it all.

Delosperma nubigenum ‘Wheels of Wonder—Golden Wonder’

‘Golden Wonder’ is an ice plant, native to South Africa. It grows in zones 5 or 6-9, and needs very well-drained soil. It will tolerate dry conditions. Bright flowers develop in late spring and early summer. This plant stays short, so it’s good candidate as a ground cover in hot spots.

Sedum telephium ‘Desert Black’

Sedum ‘Desert Black’.

Here’s another succulent bred by Terra Nova Nursery. ‘Desert Black’ has chubby purplish leaves on short upright stems. More sun = deeper color.

It grows to only about 7-8″ tall. Deep pink flowers rise in clusters a few inches above the leaves in late summer to early fall. It’s hardy in zones 4-9, and likes full sun and dryish soil that drains very well.

Great for rock gardens or perennial gardens not under irrigation. These sedums, when in flower, are visited by every passing butterfly and other pollinators.

The Garden Patch

The plants were in great condition at The Garden Patch. Look for some of these varieties for those problem spots in your landscape, and have a chat with the employees. But remember that hours are limited on Saturdays.

Address: The Garden Patch, 39 West Mills St., Columbus, North Carolina

thegardenpatchnursery.com

828-894-2200

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McFarlan Bakery, Hendersonville NC

Mother looks forward to the little treats I bring home from these trips, so I would never want to disappoint her…

I often drive through downtown Hendersonville, and stop for lunch, brochures at the Visitor’s Center, or butter rum lifesavers at Mast General Store. This is a great place to spend an afternoon, especially when the thermometer heads for the high 90’s in Charlotte. It’s almost always 5-10°F cooler here.

On this day, I bought a few donuts and cream cheese-filled pastries. Yum! This bakery has been delighting its customers since 1930. Here are some possibilities for the next trip:

McFarlan Bakery

Michael W. Cole, owner

Address: 309 N. Main St., Hendersonville, North Carolina

mcfarlanbakery.com

828-693-4256

“Ursula” The Bear

There have been several bear sightings in downtown Hendersonville.

: Ursula the Bear.

: Details…

Fabulous detail! This bear was sponsored by NCSDAR and was painted by Starlotte Englebert. It will be auctioned on October 19, 2019, to benefit Crossnore School and Children’s Home. For more information: DowntownHendersonville.org.

* * * * * * * *

Strawberry Hill U.S.A., Chesnee, South Carolina

Part of the fun of these day trips is discovering new routes to travel instead of using the old familiar ways. A very pleasant drive home along Route 11 East, in South Carolina, took me past the Cooley Brothers Peach Stand. Take exit 5 off I-26 South for the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, or Route 11. The stand is located 5 or 6 miles west of Chesnee.

It was well worth the stop. I bought a bagful of delicious local peaches, a large cantaloupe that ripened perfectly, sesame sticks, and several beefsteak tomatoes at a price no one could beat! They also stock jellies and jams, baked goods, and t-shirts.

Another building across the street was busy with customers, so I had to take a look. Several people were sitting outside, enjoying their ice cream. Perfect, since I mustered some restraint and had not yet touched the pastries. I ordered a hot fudge sundae, and for less than $4.00, this mountain of chocolate chip mint and whipped cream and hot fudge…well, it was almost too much!

There are places of historical interest not far from here, so next time…

Strawberry Hill U.S.A.

3097 Hwy. 11 W, Chesnee, South Carolina

strawberryhillusa.com

The Shed 864-461-7225

The Cafe and Ice Cream Parlor 864-461-4000

Road Trip

Take advantage of the lower gasoline prices, pack a few essentials, and enjoy a summer road trip. Even now, I’m wondering what the next destination will be. Often, I don’t have a specific goal in mind…until an interesting place finds me. Have fun!

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Quick Tip for Today’s Garden: Start Here!

Mar24

Some Quick Tips In Today’s Garden

As the weather warms, it’s time to turn our attention to a few garden chores. I’m going to attempt to keep each Quick Tip short, and direct you to the links where you’ll find a lot more details.

Early crocuses.

Quick Tip #1: Spring-Flowering Bulbs

It’s no secret—I love spring-flowering bulbs! My last home in Maryland had thousands of them. Jolly daffodils, fragrant hyacinths, early snowdrops, crocuses in every color, big clumps of wood hyacinths, electric blue scilla and tiny pink ones… Grape hyacinths in white, pink, and shades of blue… Species tulips, Ipheion, Chionodoxa, the reliable spreading Puschkinia, and stately Allium. There were fritillarias, Eranthis (photo below), Erythronium, Dutch and rock garden iris, and the invasively spreading Ornithogalum. Even a snake’s head iris or two.

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis).

Bulbs bloomed before the winter snows had melted away, all the way through spring. Five months of flowers! Before one finished its bloom cycle, others began theirs. But spring-flowering bulbs weren’t the only stars of the garden. There were Helleborus and Siberian Iris, lilies and azaleas, and Fothergilla, Viburnum and Tiarella among the many other shrubs, trees, and perennials. And violas, of course!

“Okay, so what should I do with them now?”

Fertilize Them

By early spring, daffodil foliage is fully developed here in the Carolinas, and the early varieties are beginning to fade. Fertilize when the bulbs are near or at peak bloom. The reason I prefer not to fertilize them as soon as the foliage emerges is because the nutrients could cause exuberant growth. The soft growth in these leaves and flowers is more likely to cause them to flop over.

Use a complete product formulated specifically for bulbs rather than just bone meal. Foliage will continue to photosynthesize for weeks, sending energy to the bulbs, “restocking the larder”. Carbohydrates stored in the bulbs sustain the plants through their summer dormancy and ensure that the bulbs will flower again next year.

Lightly fertilize the bulb beds again in late summer to autumn, when new roots emerge from the bulbs. Water well if the soil is dry from drought. If you’ve tended annuals above the bulbs and fertilized them now and then, you can skip the bulbs’ fall fertilization.

Wait For Them To Yellow Naturally

In an effort to tidy up the yard, many gardeners braid the green leaves or remove them entirely after the blooms fade. But the bulbs rely on spring sunshine reaching the leaves to make enough food for themselves. That’s how the bulbs grow larger and develop flower buds for next year’s display.

Wait until the foliage is yellow or brown before cutting it at soil level. Don’t braid or knot the leaves, which interferes with photosynthesis.

Remove Old Flowers

Daffodil ‘Tête-à-Tête’ with faded flower and developing seedpod.

Snip off old flowers before they have a chance to ripen seeds. This is especially important for the large flowers, such as daffodil, hyacinth, and tulip.

All energy should be directed into plumping up the bulbs for next year instead of into seed production. Small bulbs are often encouraged to spread by seed, so it is not critical to deadhead them.

Divide Them

Did your daffodils bloom heavily this spring? Or did you see a lot of leaves and only a few blooms? If the plantings seem to be declining, wait until the foliage has turned yellow or brown. Then carefully dig up the clumps, label the colors or the cultivar names, if known, divide, and transplant them. The most common reasons for fewer flowers are:

Not enough direct sun. As our landscapes mature, the shrubs’ branches begin to overgrow the bulbs. Shading the bulbs’ foliage weakens them to the point that they die out.
Not planted deep enough. Shallowly planted bulbs divide up, forming many small bulblets, which are too small to flower.
Wet soil that kills the bulbs. Plant new ones this fall in well-prepared beds, making sure water drains freely. Incorporate a large amount of pine fines, coarse sand, and/or horticultural grit, which elevates the bed. Gypsum helps improve drainage if used annually for a few or several years.
Poor soil or soil that is severely compacted cannot sustain life. There’s no shortcut when it comes to soil preparation. But if there’s not much you can do about soil quality, plant grape hyacinths, galanthus, puschkinia, and crocuses. These are planted closer to the surface. With some bulb fertilizer and a cover of mulch (1″ or 2″ of shredded hardwood), they’ll have a good chance of surviving.

Quick Tip #2: Liriope, Mounding Or Spreading?

Liriope (pronounced “lir eye’ uh pee”) is a workhorse of a ground cover. One of my favorite plants to use in large drifts under trees or through a shrub border is a variety called ‘Royal Purple’. It blooms in mid- to late summer, depending on location.

I don’t know why this cultivar is not well-known in landscape circles, but the common “blue lilyturf” is the one usually seen. The flower of ‘Royal Purple’, as the name suggests, is a rich deep purple and far prettier in the garden. Try it in front of or near large chartreuse or gold hostas for a stunning combination.

Liriope muscari ‘Royal Purple’.

The Spreading Liriope Spicata

There are two species of liriope often seen at garden centers. One is Liriope spicata, an aggressive spreader, and the one that gives lilyturf a bad reputation. It will creep into narrow cracks in the sidewalk, it will invade the territory originally claimed by Heuchera and other perennials, and it will take over the lawn.

Sure, there are some applications where this species has value, such as in inaccessible areas, in ditches, or on banks. It also will cover large areas under trees. Liriope is related to hosta and daylily in the Asparagaceae family, and all can effectively prevent soil erosion. They have extensive root systems that knit the soil together. But, if you want liriope that doesn’t spread, choose the mounding varieties of liriope.

The Mounding Liriope Muscari

The other species, Liriope muscari, grows in clumps and does not run all over the place. L. muscari is the species to which ‘Royal Purple’ belongs. Another popular variety, with cream- or yellow-variegated leaves, brightens up a shady area and has rich purple flowers. There’s a white flowering variety called ‘Monroe’s White’, for shade, and a pink one, and some with lavender or fan-shaped flowers.

The clumps will expand over time, but they’re well-behaved in garden beds. Most cultivars grow in sun or in shade. In regions with hot summers, though, morning sun or dappled shade is less stressful than full or afternoon sun.

Notice the mnemonic?

Quick tip: “spreading spicata” and “mounding muscari” refer to those species’ growth habits. When shopping for this plant, look for the species that will suit the purpose for which it was intended. The invasive tendency of Liriope spicata has turned many people off to any kind of liriope.

Cutting Back

Old tattered foliage of liriope.

Narrow leaves begin to emerge in late winter to mid-spring. Last year’s foliage can look a little ragged by springtime, especially in colder areas of the country. The tips of the leaves often become frayed, and much of the foliage might have turned brown over winter. And the local deer population can cause damage. Place some dried blood among the clumps to discourage them, or spray with a deer repellent, especially as they come into bloom.

New foliage emerging in center of clump.

Before applying a fresh layer of mulch to dress up the beds for the season, cut back the old liriope foliage. This will remove the old foliage, considered unsightly by some gardeners. Raise the lawnmower’s deck, if necessary, and mow down the liriope to remove old brown foliage.

But this must be done before new leaves begin to shoot up from the center of the clump. Delaying this until after new growth has emerged will chop off the ends of tender leaves, leaving brown tips on new green growth. And don’t try this on recently planted liriope, which can be yanked out of the ground.

An alternative is to cut each clump by hand if there aren’t that many plants. Sharp scissors will do the trick. You can either collect the trimmings and compost them, or let them lie on the ground, to be covered by fresh mulch. Remove diseased foliage to the trash. A string trimmer might work, if it cuts and doesn’t shred the leaves.

And Fertilize

When there are so many chores that need attention in spring, I usually bury old leaves under a fresh 1″ layer of shredded hardwood mulch. The buried leaves will break down in the soil. Be sure to leave the crown of the plant uncovered.

Before applying mulch, broadcast granular fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, to the liriope, but prevent it from landing in the crown of the plant. Compost is an excellent fertilizer.

Liriope Diseases

Liriope can sometimes be infected with anthracnose, a disease that causes reddish-brown spots or dieback on leaves when they should be dark green. Remove clippings from the garden when cutting back the foliage of infected plants. Keep the foliage dry and increase air circulation by not crowding plants. Thinning the tree branches in the canopy above the liriope planting will allow more light to reach the plants.

Crown rot shows up as yellowing or browning at the base of the leaves, eventually consuming the entire plant. These plants should be removed and discarded. Avoid watering late in the day, which keeps leaves wet during the night when diseases take hold. Try not to include them in the irrigation pattern.

Plant liriope in well-drained soil, and, once established, water them in the morning once a week during times of drought, but don’t keep them wet. Annual applications of gypsum will help condition the soil and improve drainage.

Spacing

Liriope planted about 2′ apart

A common mistake is planting this ground cover too sparsely. These clumping liriopes (photo) are planted over 2′ on center. Liriope will not expand to fill the spaces between these plants any time soon. Instead, weeds will take this opportunity to colonize the bed.

Planted 12″ to 14″ apart, liriope will cover the ground, shading it and cutting down on much of the potential weeding.

In soil that is well-amended with compost and pine fines, liriope will expand more vigorously and have better-looking foliage in winter. In poor soils, it probably won’t die, but it will struggle.

Quick Tip #3: Garden Bed Edging

: Old concrete edging, bordering raised bed.

: Iberis (candytuft) spilling over the concealed edging, with reblooming iris behind it.

There are many contrivances designed to mark the edge of a bed. Whatever your personal preference is, go for it—white scalloped concrete or wire segments, bricks on a diagonal tilt, wooden ties, or heavy black plastic spiked to the ground.

I used a garden spade, with a sharp straight blade, to simply cut a steep angle 3″ into the ground. This suffices to stop most lawn grasses from spreading into the bed for a few months.

Diagonal brick edging looks quaint in Williamsburg. But if I used bricks, I preferred to “plant” them end-to-end almost flush with the ground. This forms a convenient mowing strip between the bed and the lawn, over which the mower’s wheels could follow the outline of the bed. And it’s less conspicuous.

In the back yard, in the informal Maryland gardens, gray or brown rocks lined the beds. If they were unearthed from and couldn’t be used on landscape work sites, I took them home. The edging was softened by plants that crept over and between them. There was no grass in the back yard, so these rocks functioned to define the mulch pathways and raised borders.

Is the Edging Too Conspicuous?

Brightly colored materials edging garden beds, such as colorful rocks or painted concrete segments, are conspicuous by their presence. The edging materials can end up getting all the attention instead of your exquisitely designed plant combinations. See if the boundaries can be maintained with the spade or with more muted shades of planted bricks or stones.

Headings

Page 1: Quick Tip #1: Spring-Flowering Bulbs (Fertilize Them, Wait For Them To Yellow Naturally, Remove Old Flowers, Divide Them), Quick Tip #2: Liriope: Mounding Or Spreading? (The Spreading Liriope Spicata, The Mounding Liriope Muscari, Cutting Back, And Fertilize, Liriope Diseases, Spacing), and Quick Tip #3: Garden Bed Edging (Is the Edging Too Conspicuous?)

Page 2: Quick Tip #4: Cutting Back Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Other Perennials That Could Benefit), Quick Tip #5: How To Divide Hosta (Hosta Flowers, Fertilizer, Divide and Multiply: Preparation, and Dig, Divide, and Replace), and Quick Tip #6: Pruning Early-Flowering Shrubs (Renewal Pruning, A Personal Perspective on Pruning)

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Spring Is Coming: The Earliest Signs

Feb13

2019

Signs of Spring

cherry tree, late winter to spring blooms

An early blooming cherry tree in the neighborhood. Rain darkened the bark, providing contrast with flowers.

Early Spring Bloomers

: One of the small cherry trees.

: Rows of lenticels in the bark.

The birds are singing their spring songs (I love waking up to that), and the delicate sweet fragrance from early blooming trees floats on the breeze. Spring-flowering bulbs of all sorts are pushing up emerald green spears, and some of the daffodils are coming into full bloom.

A few varieties of cherry trees, with their characteristic horizontal banding of lenticels on the bark, are blooming now, in late winter. Lenticels are pores that allow gas exchange between the plant and the atmosphere. Autumn cherry trees (Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’) in neighborhoods I sometimes drive through have been flowering non-stop for months. They don’t have the short, showy burst of a ‘Yoshino’ cherry, but any flowers on a winter day are a welcome sight.

magnolia's big pink blooms, early spring

Saucer Magnolia.

Neighborhood saucer magnolias (Magnolia x soulangeana) just started blooming with their pinkish-purple cup-shaped flowers. This can be a tricky species; an untimely frost can turn all the open flowers brown in a flash. Look for a later-blooming cultivar to plant in spring, plant it in a protected location, or take your chances! You can now find a wider range of flower colors (yellows and purples) thanks to modern breeding.

Star magnolia.

The related star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is another late winter or early spring flowering tree. Its blooms are white or pink, depending on cultivar, shown against silvery gray bark.

Magnolias prefer full sun and moist, well-drained soil. They dislike root disturbance, so situate them where you won’t be digging around the root system.

Their smaller size recommends them to areas of the property where large trees would be out of place. When designing your landscape, always consider the mature height and spread of a tree’s canopy.

The ‘Yoshino’ Cherry For Spring Flowers

‘Yoshino’ is a hybrid between Prunus speciosa and P. pendula, and was first introduced to Europe and North America in 1902. It grows in USDA Zones 5-8, to a height of about 35′ or 40′. Plant taxonomists proposed that the true scientific name should be Prunus x yedoensis ‘Somei-yoshino’. (The lower-case “x” after the genus Prunus signifies that this variety is an inter-specific hybrid; “yedo”=Tokyo.)

There was some doubt, now resolved, whether this variety was distinguishable from the Jeju flowering cherry. ‘Yoshino’ is genetically different from the King cherry, now named Cerasus x nudiflora. The Jeju cherry is an endangered species, with only a few hundred specimens remaining on Jeju Island.

If you’re planning a trip to the U.S. capital, try to schedule it when the ‘Yoshino’ and other varieties of cherry trees are in full bloom around the city, and particularly at the Tidal Basin (photo, below). Just gorgeous! Much has been written about Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki’s generous gift of thousands of cherry trees back in 1912, meant to celebrate the growing friendship between Japan and the United States. See if you can find a live cam of the Tidal Basin’s cherry trees as they begin to bloom.

cherry trees, Tidal Basin, early spring bloom

The Washington Monument and cherry trees around the Tidal Basin.

One year, my daughter, Brynn, marched with her high school band in Washington D.C.’s National Cherry Blossom Festival parade. The festival is an annual commemoration of Japan’s gift and a celebration of spring. Check with the National Park Service for the progress of the trees’ buds (posted about March 6), because the two events—the festival and the trees’ peak bloom—often don’t coincide.

In the Landscape

I planted a ‘Yoshino’ cherry in a customer’s garden, behind a pergola that the owner had built at the end of a large pond installed in the family’s back yard. Their concern that it would grow too slowly for them to enjoy the flowers and the full stature of the tree was dispelled after only a handful of years. This is a fast grower, with smooth maroon bark and attractive horizontal branching. Pink flower buds open to clouds of white to pale pink blooms. For many gardeners, ‘Yoshino’ cherry trees are synonymous with spring.

It’s no wonder cherry trees are held in such reverence in Japan and in gardens around the world. They are perfect complements to a pergola, a pond, or an old barn, and often feature prominently in Asian-style naturalistic garden design. Although the ‘Yoshino’ cherry is not the longest living ornamental tree, there are some gnarly 100-year-old specimens in Washington, D.C.

I used to cut budded branches from a tree in our back yard, and force them in a vase indoors. Use stems with buds that have visibly swelled in anticipation of spring.

Another show takes place when all the petals fall to the ground, like pink snow. It’s a lovely sight, and the flowers blow away or disintegrate after a few days. They will stick to the soles of your shoes, so consider that fact if you want one near the house or a frequently used sidewalk.

Headings

Page 1: Early Spring Bloomers, and The ‘Yoshino’ Cherry For Spring Flowers (In the Landscape)

Page 2: Finally, Amaryllis! (“Can I Plant Amaryllis Outdoors?”), Primrose For Spring, Forcing Hyacinth Bulbs (And After They Bloom?), Daffodils, Columbine, The Vegetable Garden (Herbs), Viola, A Rare and Perfect Day, and Ah, Spring!

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This Is Why Fall Color Happens

Nov14

Updated 9/6/2024

One of the most phenomenal transformations in nature occurs in autumn when leaves take on fall color.

Deciduous tree canopies change from shades of green to the reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and purples associated with this time of year. A drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, or even a glimpse out the window to the Japanese maple in the courtyard, elicits feelings of delight and wonder.

Equal to the spectacle unfolding in front of us, as we watch colors brighten from day to day, is the curiosity for an explanation. Why does fall color happen?

Plant Pigments and Fall Color

Looking up in Lincolnton NC.

It all starts with plant pigments, which give leaves their color.

Sandwiched between a leaf’s upper epidermis and the lower epidermis is a layer of cells called the mesophyll. The mesophyll is composed of the upright cells of the palisade layer, near the surface of a leaf, and the more loosely arranged spongy mesophyll. Both kinds of cells within the mesophyll contain chloroplasts, with chlorophylls “a” and “b”. Also present within the leaf is a network of vascular tubes—phloem and xylem—which carry water and nutrients between the leaves and the roots.

These chlorophylls absorb wavelengths from different parts of the spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs violet-blue and orange-red wavelengths, and chlorophyll b absorbs blue light. All plants have “a” but not all plants have “b”. In lower light levels, “b” more efficiently absorbs energy from available light and transfers that energy to “a”.

In autumn, as chlorophyll degrades into transparent compounds, the carotenoids become the dominant colors. Those pigments were there all along, but the green chlorophyll masked them. We don’t see the oranges and the yellows until the greens begin to die down.

Spring foliage on maple tree in the woods.

Chlorophyll

Oak leaves, at Mabry Mill, Meadows of Dan, VA (2020).

The green pigment is the familiar chlorophyll. We see it every day as plants grow and produce foliage. Chlorophyll, contained within a cell’s chloroplast, is responsible for manufacturing sugars during photosynthesis. Carbohydrates, made from oxygen and hydrogen in water, and carbon from carbon dioxide, permit growth and development of the plant. Chlorophyll is continually depleted and replenished throughout the season.

We see green leaves because most of the green wavelengths in light are not absorbed but are reflected instead. Chlorophyll pigments absorb primarily red and blue wavelengths.

Changes occur in late summer as days shorten and temperatures drop. Cells at the base of the leaf’s petiole, where it attaches to the stem, begin to cut off the vascular system. Water and nutrients no longer move freely between the leaves and the stems. Production of new chlorophyll stops, revealing the yellows and oranges. Sometimes the leaf veins are the last parts to change color and remain green as the rest of the leaf turns color (photo, above).

Carotenes and Xanthophylls

yellow fall color, maple in charlotte nc

A maple tree in Charlotte NC.

Carotenoids are composed of xanthophylls and carotenes. These are the yellow, orange, and brown shades seen in plants and animals—daffodils, corn, buttercups, bananas…and canaries, egg yolks, shrimp, fish, and flamingos. These pigments absorb wavelengths from the blue and some of the green parts of the light spectrum, which chlorophyll can’t absorb efficiently.

Xanthophylls and carotenes protect foliage from oxidative stress (cell damage) during photosynthesis. When the tree is exposed to strong sun, carotenoids absorb excess energy from excited chlorophyll molecules and release it as heat. In autumn, carotenes protect leaves as the nutrients are withdrawn from the leaves to the stems. The tree will re-use these nutrients when new foliage emerges in spring.

Beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin are more carotenoids, present in leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables. These pigments are good for plants and for us, too—in squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, colorful ripe peppers, carrots, oranges, apricots, and grapefruit.

Between 15 and 30% of tree species have yellow or orange fall color. Trees that turn these colors include hickory, ash, redbud, yellow poplar, birch, aspen, black cherry, sycamore, maple, fringe tree, cottonwood, sassafras, Parrotia, pomegranate, alder, ginkgo, witch hazel, and Katsura.

Lincolnton NC.

Red twig dogwood ‘Arctic Fire’ and yellow-twig dogwood ‘Flaviramea’ stems turn color in cold weather and good sun. Cut back the plants in late winter, almost to the ground, to encourage a multitude of young twigs that will take on color later that fall.

Brown is often the color of cell walls and can appear in the absence of other pigments. Sometimes, leaves turn brown without turning color as a result of an early freeze. A Japanese maple that normally turns red in autumn, for example, can turn brown when the temperature suddenly plummets. Also, a tree that has been cut down in late summer or fall will turn brown instead of displaying its usual fall color. More on that later, under marcescence.

Anthocyanins

Fall color of crape myrtle, Cane Creek Park, Waxhaw NC.

What about the red colors? Unlike the yellows and oranges, the red pigments, called anthocyanins, are produced in the sap when sugars break down in bright light.

This happens after some of the chlorophyll has degraded in autumn and as phosphate levels decrease. Phosphates break down sugars manufactured by chlorophyll in the summer in order to carry out cell activities. However, in the fall, phosphates and other nutrients move from the leaves to the stems.

You might notice that in some years, the red colors are more vibrant than in other years. Rich red colors are visible when anthocyanins are produced in greater quantities. Bright sunny days, adequate soil moisture, and cool but not freezing temperatures foster the blazing displays we look forward to each year.

Edible berries with high levels of healthy anthocyanins.

Nutritionists encourage us to “eat all the colors” of vegetables, greens, and fruits. Anthocyanins, among the most powerful antioxidants, are found in many fruits and vegetables, including apples, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes, plums, red cabbage, and red lettuce.

Carotenoids can combine with anthocyanins to form deep orange, scarlet red, and bronze fall colors.

In temperate regions, about 10% of the trees turn red or burgundy. But the percentage can be as high as 70% in areas such as New England. Some plants with predominantly anthocyanin pigments include maple, oak, sweet gum, tupelo, sourwood, dogwood, cherry, and persimmon. Purple-leaved cultivars of smokebush and redbud turn deep red in autumn.

Variety Selection in Your Landscape

burgundy fall color, Japanese maple with lantern

Certain varieties of Japanese maple display great color in summer and again in autumn.

When choosing shrubs and trees for your landscape, be sure to ask the nursery about fall color. There could be several cultivars within a species, each with a different color in autumn.

Japanese maple.

Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), for example, comes in many varieties. Red-leaved cultivars of this tree seem to be the preferred choices among customers. Foliage that remains mostly red all summer will gradually deepen to a rich reddish burgundy. And then it suddenly looks as though the plant is on fire, turning bright red. On the other hand, green-leaved cultivars can be multi-colored in the fall, or rich orange, or sunny yellow. It just depends on the cultivar.

If you’re looking for a specimen tree, and fall color is a factor, visit garden centers and public gardens in autumn when the trees show fall color. Research the full botanical names (Genus, specific epithet, and ‘Cultivar’) of the varieties you like.

This is not a guarantee, however, that young potted trees will have the same fall color as established trees. Plants in nursery pots can behave differently than plants in the garden, so take that into consideration.

Fall Color Might Depend on Weather

parrotia persica, reddish fall color in snow

Parrotia persica in the snow.

Seasonal weather conditions also affect a tree’s fall color. In the Maryland garden, a Parrotia persica grew in an island bed. The leaves of this witch hazel relative often turned a bright yellow color. In other years it was amber-gold, and, more rarely, salmon-red.

Prolonged mild fall weather also affects the display. That Parrotia (photo, above) occasionally held its leaves until December. Many oak species keep their orange, russet, rich red, or brown leaves through early winter before shedding them.

Red fall color is particularly dependent upon weather conditions. In 2018, trees that normally turned brilliant red were rather dull here in Charlotte. The heavy rains, high winds, and overcast weather did not promote the production of anthocyanins.

Hormones and Abscission

Abscisic acid (ABA), produced in terminal buds, slows growth and signals the plant to produce bud scales that protect the buds over winter. ABA is also produced in the root system and is translocated to the leaves during drought in the growing season, signaling the leaves’ stomates to close. This reduces transpiration, conserving water content in the plant.

Hormones produced in leaves and in the tips of twigs influence development of the abscission layer. This layer is a few cells thick, characterized by short cells with thin walls, and sits between the base of the leaf stem (petiole) and the twig. During the growing season, higher levels of auxin regulate the influence of ethylene, two hormones, resulting in the leaves’ ability to remain attached. Auxin levels fall in autumn, however, exposing cells in the abscission layer to the effects of ethylene, which promotes leaf detachment.

Cells between the petiole and the twig are differentiated, disintegrating on the leaf end and depositing lignin and suberin on the twig side. This layer of cells is weakened, causing the leaves to fall off by their own weight or with help from wind and rain. Enzymes, such as pectinases, help the process by breaking down cell walls.

Remaining on the twig is a leaf scar, with remnants of vascular strands. Over several days, lignin (tough woody tissue) and suberin (corky bark tissue) will seal the fresh leaf scar, protecting it from infection and desiccation.

Marcescence

Beech tree.

Oaks (Quercus spp.) sometimes remain in brown leaf until early spring. Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) can be spotted in the winter forest by their tan leaves dangling from the branches. Leaf retention through winter is called marcescence. The reason for this trait is open to speculation.

Nutrient Release

One theory claims that, by holding onto its leaves until new foliage is about to sprout, those newly fallen leaves will stay near the tree’s root system instead of blowing away in the winter winds. Since they have yet to begin decomposition, the nutrients locked inside the leaves will be released at a time when they can benefit the tree—when growth resumes in spring.

Browsing Animals

Another theory indicates that browsing animals are less likely to feed on marcescent twigs. In studies where deer were presented with both marcescent twigs and leafless twigs, they chose the leafless twigs.

Weather Abatement

Maybe the dead leaves help slow down fierce winds, protecting the buds from drying out. Even better is the accumulation of snow, as in the photograph (above) of a beech tree, decreasing exposure even more.

Another possibility is the protective shade cast by marcescent twigs on thin-barked trees, such as beech (photo, below). Large differences in temperatures, between night and day, can damage tissues on the south or southwest side of the trunk. Frost cracks and sun scald can be minimized when the trunk is partially shaded by brown leaves during the warm hours of the day.

If cracks occur, callus tissue will seal them, and healthy bark will compartmentalize the wound. There’s no need to paint it with “wound sealer” products. And never fill the cracks or hollows with concrete or dump rocks and debris at the base of a tree!

When a severe early frost suddenly kills a tree’s foliage, the abscission layer would not have had enough time to mature. Consequently, leaves can cling until those cellular changes occur. Young oak trees might exhibit this feature, but it often disappears with maturity. Sometimes only parts of the tree have leaves that cling.

You might have noticed that trees felled in the summer often hold onto their brown leaves.

Beech tree in winter, Charlotte NC.

Why Do Leaves Fall Off?

For a plant to keep its leaves all year long, resources would have to be consumed at a time when they are less efficiently gathered. When light levels are less than optimal, and cold temperatures suppress metabolic processes, it’s easier for the plant to reabsorb nutrients and drop leaves. Water loss, insect predation, foraging animals, and damage from ice, snow, and high winds are some reasons why it just isn’t worth staying in leaf through the winter. The cost is too great.

Pine tree with aging needles.

Conifers, on the other hand, have adapted to those conditions, and are able to photosynthesize all year. But they do slow down in cold weather. And the sticky sap in some species (pines, spruce, fir, and others) effectively fends off animals and most insects.

Evergreens drop some of their foliage each year; needles don’t cling forever. Some homeowners are alarmed when they see a large percentage of brown needles fall to the ground. That’s normal, as long as the tips of the stems remain green. A pine needle carpet is an effective mulch.

Protective Red Fall Color

Scientists have long speculated on the merits of anthocyanins—the red, blue, and purple pigments. Those adhering to the Photoprotection Theory claim that anthocyanins protect leaves from harmful effects of light. This pigment also helps the tree absorb nutrients more efficiently in cooler conditions, before leaf drop.

‘Miz America’ mustard greens and other brassicas.

Coevolution Theory claims that insects avoid feeding on leaves high in anthocyanins. The red fall foliage color signals them to stay away, but red berries signal birds to come and feast. (***Update***: Growing many flats of colorful fall greens illustrates this point. Among brassicas [mustard, kale, broccoli, cabbage], the deep reddish burgundy ‘Miz America’, one of the mustard greens, is entirely free of damage from caterpillars that ravage green varieties in this group. 10/7/2022)

Dogwood trees, hollies, barberry, and pyracantha have red berries that attract birds. After consuming them, the animals help distribute the seeds. Poison ivy has whitish berries that birds eat, but its foliage is fiery red, signaling birds to come around.

fall color in red berries of winterberry

Fall color in berries of a dwarf winterberry, Ilex verticillata, at Freedom Park, Charlotte NC.

Red colors in some species of maple trees are produced by a different metabolic process than through chlorophyll breakdown. These anthocyanins aid in preventing competition with the tree’s own offspring by stunting the growth of saplings trying to grow nearby. This is one type of allelopathy.

**But Only Part of the Tree is Turning Color**

You might have noticed that a portion of a tree is prematurely turning color while the rest of the tree is still green. I’m not referring to an even coloring at the ends of branches, but rather to the one branch that is conspicuously different in color from the rest of the canopy. That branch is stressed…

on the side of the tree where the roots are exposed to hot sun and poor, dry soil, such as on a south-facing slope (northern hemisphere).
from root compaction.
due to root disturbance, from working in the soil under the tree, severing roots.
because it’s heavily shaded and not contributing to photosynthesis.
from the tree being coppiced, or cut back to the ground. As several stems regrow, the dominant ones interfere with the others. Weaker stems will show early color and die.
due to girdling roots. Maple trees are notorious for this. Look for and sever a root that crosses over the base of the trunk. The trunk will try to grow over the root, but could end up being constricted. Look up from that point, and you might see branches that are developing early fall color. One indication of a girdling root is the absence of an even flare all around the base of the tree. One side of the trunk will look flat where it enters the ground.
from clotheslines, hammock ropes, or other items tied around the trunk or branches, eventually girdling the stem.
where lightning or physical damage stripped bark off the side of a trunk, killing parts of the tree above the damage which no longer receive water and nutrients.
from insects and diseases causing disruption in the flow of water and nutrients, affecting parts or all of the tree canopy. This can happen at the base of a leaf, a twig or branch, in the trunk, or in the roots.

Fall Color and Species Distribution

Red fall color in a maple tree, Lincolnton NC.

Some parts of the world are known for their fall color. Southern Canada, parts of the northern U.S., Scandinavia, northern and western regions of Europe north of the Alps, the Russian Caucasus region, Japan, parts of China, the Korean peninsula, Argentina, Chile, southern Brazil, and New Zealand’s South Island are some.

Certainly, there are pockets in millions of places around the world with absolutely dazzling fall displays! One option is to create your own by including in your landscape a few specimens with spectacular fall color.

In this country, changes in color begin as early as September in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains, far north Minnesota, and upper New England (far north New York state, Vermont, New Hampshire, and southwest Maine). Southern states, part of the Atlantic coast, and the California interior between mountain ranges begin their autumn displays in November. Check out this map, where you can see how fall color progresses throughout the country.

Speaking of Cold

North America is home to a diverse habitat of 800 species of trees, including 70 oaks. Northern Europe has fewer—51 species, 3 or which are oaks. These numbers do not include cultivars of the species. One thing scientists can agree on: they can’t agree on the number of tree species inhabiting the planet. Some say the number is 10,000, and others estimate over 100,000 species.

During the Ice Ages, North American tree species in southern regions and along the north-south mountain ranges were spared extinction caused by glaciers. As glaciers expanded from the north, trees were able to find refuge farther south of their original range. This took place over thousands of years. The last Ice Age occurred from 18,000 years ago to approximately 12,000 years ago.

However, in Europe, glaciers covered a larger area of land. The Alps acted as a massive barrier to species trying to retreat toward southern latitudes. Those trees were cornered, and then covered up by mile-thick sheets of ice, causing mass extinctions. This explains the disparity in the number of tree species between North America and Europe.

At the height of the last Ice Age, about 18,000 years ago, glacial ice covered one third of the planet’s land surface. Today, about 10% of the land is covered by ice.

Fall color is nature’s last hurrah of the season.

I hope you’ll consider planting trees and shrubs that have brilliant autumn color. If you’re not planning to do any landscaping, you can still enjoy the colors of autumn by visiting parks and public gardens, or by taking a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood. Maybe it’s time for a road trip. Don’t forget the camera!

Love it.

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Dealing With Deer: A Multi-Pronged Approach

Aug23

Dealing With Deer: A Multi-Pronged Approach

Today’s garden projects include adding netting and tall stakes around the tomato plants that the deer have nibbled. There are lots of fruits on the ‘Big Beef’ tomato, and I don’t want to lose any of them as these animals tug on the vines.

Your perception that there are more and more deer roaming our neighborhoods is valid. Several accounts I’ve read over the years claim that there are far more white-tailed deer now than there were in colonial days.

The Costs Add Up

Damage to our landscapes, to farm produce, and to our vehicles is staggering. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 1.3 million vehicular collisions with deer cause more than 150 human deaths and tens of thousands of injuries per year. The damage amounts to over $3500 per vehicle. Add the suffering from Lyme disease and other diseases caused by infected deer ticks, and the toll climbs.

Deer are most active at dawn and dusk, so be especially vigilant then. Mating season occurs in the fall, and there’s only one thing on their minds at that time of the year. This is when accidents are more likely to happen, so, in the absence of oncoming traffic, use your high beams to warn the deer and to light up the edges of the road.

About a decade ago, I was driving slowly through known deer territory (Brookeville Rd. in Brookeville, Maryland) when one of them came flying off the bank and over the hood of my pick-up truck. I missed him by an inch. Or he missed me. Two other times, in Thurmont, Maryland, and in Charlotte, North Carolina, my truck did make contact, but there was no damage. They walked away apparently unharmed, but I’m not sure the deer didn’t suffer at least a little.

Keep Your Distance

Deer are powerful animals; do not attempt to approach them to scare them away or to “make friends”. They’re becoming bolder and more comfortable in our suburban neighborhoods, even in mid-day. Years ago, in my almost-enclosed back yard, I startled 2 large animals, who reacted by thundering randomly through the yard, looking for an exit. They were unseen, blending in with the background, and perfectly still, until suddenly…they weren’t.

I was able to back up and reach the kitchen door just in time. This incident was a vivid reminder that they can kill you!

Yeah, adorable…

Changing Diets

Don’t get me wrong. I love animals. But the damage to our landscapes and vegetable gardens is enormously frustrating! The time, effort, and money invested in our gardens are wasted if we can’t realize the benefits.

Astilbe.

Numerous websites have lists of plants that describe those species severely, sometimes, or rarely damaged by deer. These are guidelines only. Deer that eat Astilbe, Asarum, and Brunnera in one part of the country might not touch it in another state—not yet. When they’re desperate for food, they’ll try almost anything.

Deer might be more likely to feed on plant species they evolved with, in other words, native species. When deer pressure builds (a large population in a limited area or during drought), they will sample the exotics, or imported species. If they don’t die or get sick, they’ve found another item they will teach their offspring is safe to keep on the menu.

In fact, some studies indicate that deer prefer imported flowers, trees and shrubs, which compose a greater percentage of our landscapes. Even though they had passed up the Asarum europaeum (European ginger) in the Rockville, Maryland, garden for 25 years, they decided in year 26 and afterward that it was perfectly yummy!

Deer are now accustomed to browsing in residential communities, where there’s an abundance of well-maintained plant material. We fertilize and water on a regular basis, making them that much more tender and palatable to animals.

The formerly common native wildflowers have almost entirely been consumed by deer and are not regenerating. The rapid increase in deer populations, from lack of predators, is changing the character of both our native and cultivated landscapes.

Decades of Observation

After watching deer for many years, I can confidently assert that taking a “multi-pronged approach” is the most effective way to keep deer at a distance. Sure, one product will work pretty well for a short while. But the key to long-term success is to use several different repellents or barriers at a time. Mix it up a little!

Dozens of products can be found in garden centers, hardware stores, online, and at home and garden shows. There are sprays that smell like rotten eggs, mint, and rosemary. Others taste bad. You can buy capsules containing dried coyote urine, giving the impression that there are predators around. And then there are the barriers that prevent access to the plants.

Although it is often said that deer do not climb steps, a Maryland neighbor discovered that they do. After finding a large potted hibiscus on Julie’s deck, they regularly climbed the 5 or 6 steps to get to it.

Headings

Page 1: The Costs Add Up, Keep Your Distance, Changing Diets, Decades of Observation

Page 2: Deer Repellents (Sprays and Tablets, Repellex, More Spray Repellents, Devices, Granules, Barriers, Deer Netting, Gravel and Santolina, Got Milk?, Eggs, And A Few More)

Page 3: Plants That Deer Love (Hosta = Deer Bait), Plants Deer “Might Not Eat”, and What To Do

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Improving the Landscape Is Like Painting a Picture

Jul12

A Landscape Primer

Now that you and your family have enjoyed a few months of outdoor activities, you’ve noticed a few changes you’d like to make. Summer is a good time to start thinking about improving the landscape, but many gardeners wait until the cooler days of early autumn before starting the work. The weather at that time is more favorable for establishing most plants than it is during the hot—and often dry—conditions of summer.

This is not to say that you can’t successfully plant at other times of the year. With careful maintenance, plants will survive a summer installation.

Before the first time a shovel goes into the ground, get the underground utilities and cables marked. Call your municipal authorities (8-1-1, in the U.S.) to have it done.

Lake Geneva Lakeshore Path - islandworks / Pixabay

A fine example of framing the house.

Check All That Apply

Is the patio too small for family gatherings?
Are you tired of spending your weekends pruning shrubs?
Are you putting your house on the market within a few years?
Does retirement allow more time for vegetable gardening?
Is it time for the greenhouse you’ve always wanted?
Where will I put the cold frame the kids gave me last Christmas?
Now that the trees are mature, is it time to get rid of the struggling lawn (and the mower)?
Are the children showing an interest in butterfly gardening or a goldfish pond? Are you?

Walk around the property, clipboard in hand, and note all the issues that need improvement. Go ahead; dream a little! Start to visualize how you could use different areas of the property.

A Little Research

Visit public gardens and parks at different times of the year, taking notes and pictures. Notice how the interplay among trees, shrubs, ground covers, flowering plants, and structures creates a harmonious picture. Don’t ignore how you got from point A to point B; pathways are practical and are among the most important features of the landscape.

Books, magazines, online sites, and classes offered by Master Gardeners’ programs and community colleges are excellent sources of information. Record the names of plants you can’t live without as well as those that do nothing for you. And get all the information, so you can avoid asking, after the planting, “What did I ever see in you?”

Cupressus arizonica ‘Blue Ice’.

Take a look at the trees, shrubs, and flowering plants offered by your local garden centers, and ask about winter hardiness and susceptibility to disease and insects. Find out what they do in every season of the year, what kind of maintenance they require, and how they can contribute to improving the landscape.

If low maintenance is important, look for dwarf varieties of plants that don’t need to be sheared every other month. Copy the full name of the plant: the botanical name (Genus and specific epithet), the ‘Cultivar’, and the common name. Then research them. “Japonica”, “Holly” and “White Splendor” refer to dozens of plants!

In the spring, and sometimes in the fall, landscape contractors set up full-size exhibits at home and garden shows. See which displays appeal to you the most. Personnel are available to answer questions and to set up consultations, but first find out how they will be compensated.

Compile a list of likes and dislikes (colors, materials, styles), which will guide the designer (or you!) in planning a garden that will give you the greatest pleasure. Decide what’s realistic financially and in terms of time and effort required to maintain your project.

Using Native Plants When Improving the Landscape

Plants that are native to your area adapt more readily to local environmental conditions. Seasonal temperatures, precipitation, and soil composition are a few factors that contribute to a species’ evolution. So, if the sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) evolved in the Carolinas, then the one planted in a North Carolina garden is likely to survive without being pampered.

Plant breeders have introduced “new and improved” versions that you might find more appealing than the original species. Cultivars of trees, shrubs, and perennials native to a region are available in a wide variety of plant heights or foliage and flower colors. Look for these “nativars” at your local garden centers.

cardinals bathe, watching while Coronavirus keeps us home.

Cardinals come for a daily dip.

If you want to attract more butterflies to your garden, find out which plants will feed the larval stage of a particular insect. Many species of butterflies have declined significantly in numbers, and it’s up to us gardeners to make an attempt at reversing that trend. Remember that insects, birds, and other animals evolved alongside a unique set of plant species, and that they’re all interdependent for long-term survival. If holes in the leaves bug you, perhaps confining those unsprayed plants to the back yard is a good compromise.

My mother and I enjoy watching the northern cardinals and other birds visiting the bird feeders. To make them feel at home in your garden, incorporate shrubbery that provides nesting opportunities and shelter. And don’t forget the bird bath! There’s nothing like a beautiful cardinal to enliven a winter landscape.

Speaking of shelter, consider constructing a simple brush pile to protect overwintering insects and other small animals. All that garden debris hauled off to the recycling center includes many insects in their pupal stage. Keeping cocoons and chrysalises on your property will ensure greater numbers of butterflies and other insects that might feed the next brood of bluebirds or wrens.

Leave It To the Professionals

Perhaps the scope of this kind of work is beyond your comfort zone and you’d rather employ a landscaper to install it. If you hire a contractor, try to accommodate him or her by confining the family pets, removing children’s toys, and providing easy access for the workers.

Improving the landscape and transforming it from blah to beautiful requires a fair amount of disruption. Expect dust, mud, noise, and possible delays.

Identify existing plants that are special to you and ask the contractor early in the process if they can be worked into the plan. Some might be too large and unlikely to survive the transplant. Dig up dormant bulbs, if you can find them, and replant later in areas suggested by the designer.

If you’re an experienced gardener or an avid beginner, you might wish to participate in some aspects of the project. Maybe you’d prefer to have the contractor deal with permits, inspections, hardscape (utilities, paths, structures), and large specimens, while you plant the annuals, vegetables, and bulbs. All details should be spelled out in the contract. Open communication prevents most misunderstandings.

You might prefer to have the first phase installed this year, with additions made over the next few years. Ask the contractor which parts should go in first.

Headings

Page 1: A Landscape Primer, Check All That Apply, A Little Research (Using Native Plants When Improving the Landscape), Leave It To the Professionals

Page 2: Design Considerations For Improving the Landscape (The Right Size, Getting the Picture, But I’m Repeating Myself, One Garden in Derwood, Add Some Rocks), Improving Curb Appeal (Under the Parrotia Tree (Surprise!), Raise It Up, Only the Beginning

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How To Grow the Best Blueberry Plants

Jul7

Planting a Blueberry Patch?

July is National Blueberry Month, but it’s a rare day when I don’t consume blueberries. For many years, breakfast 5 or 6 days per week consisted of plain Cheerios, a handful of English walnuts, a handful of fresh strawberries, and a handful of fresh blueberries. Throw in half a nectarine or peach in season, or part of a banana, and I’m “doin’ the body good”. More fruit and nut than anything else.

Today is Day One

Until today. This morning, when I was researching nutritional information on the luscious little berry, I read the caution about eating blueberries and dairy, especially high-fat dairy, at the same time. The super-healthy antioxidants found in blueberries (strawberries, too) lose their desired effect when dairy and berries are eaten together.

Eating a lot more blueberries will increase the level of antioxidant activity, even in the presence of dairy. Apparently, this goes for strawberries as well. But this can get expensive, especially when berries are out of season.

So, all of you smoothie drinkers out there who use yogurt as a base might consider saving the blueberries until a few hours later. Or skip the yogurt. And today, the blueberry partnership comes to an end in my kitchen. At breakfast, anyway.

Blueberry Nutrients

A few berries in the bowl won’t hurt, and they certainly have other healthful reasons for including them. A ½-cup serving contains:

40 calories
1 g. protein
<1 g. fat
11 g. carbohydrate
7 g. sugars (blueberries have a low glycemic index of 53)
2 g. fiber
high amounts of vitamins A, C, K (blood clotting, bone health, heart health), and the mineral, manganese

But it’s the antioxidant benefit I’m after more than anything else. Blueberries contain huge numbers of antioxidants, including the flavonols, quercetin (linked to lower blood pressure and reduced heart disease) and myricetin (cancer, diabetes).

Anthocyanins include malvidin and delphinidin, found predominantly in the blueberry skins.

What Antioxidants Do

Blueberries have the highest antioxidant levels among commonly found fruits and vegetables—when they’re not eaten with dairy products. Anthocyanins are one group of antioxidants, the pigments that give red, blue, and purple fruits and vegetables their colors.

Antioxidants are health-promoting flavonoids belonging to a huge group of polyphenols. They circulate through our vascular system and help protect us from the damaging effects of free radicals. Those free radicals are produced as normal products of metabolism. They also help prevent free radical cell damage due to exposure to alcohol, cigarette smoke, and other pollutants.

A free radical, lacking an electron or two in the molecule’s outer orbit, is unstable as it tries to steal an electron from a nearby molecule, replicating the instability. This can lead to the development of cancerous cells if it happens in DNA. Antioxidants neutralize the unstable molecules.

More Benefits

In addition to helping prevent oxidative DNA damage, potentially leading to cancer, and slowing down the aging process by 2½ years, antioxidants in blueberries are also linked to lower LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol that can lead to heart disease. But there are many other factors that contribute to this illness. One of those factors is inflammation, and blueberries—you guessed it—are also anti-inflammatory.

Many studies point to the positive effects blueberries have on blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, urinary tract infections, brain function, and muscle damage after strenuous workouts. Antioxidants help our bodies produce more nitric oxide and can relax blood vessels, helping to lower blood pressure.

This little fruit also slows the progression of age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. There are plenty of reasons to include blueberries and other colorful plant pigments in the diet.

One clue to their growing popularity is the fact that per capita blueberry consumption tripled between 2000 and 2015, to just over 3 pounds per person per year. When I move to a place with more land, planting a blueberry patch is high on the list of garden projects.

Prepare for Planting Your Blueberry

Sun

First, locate your blueberries where they’ll receive at least 6 or 7 hours of direct sunlight. In areas with hot summers, dappled shade in mid-afternoon helps prevent stress. Consider the tree canopy and how soon it might begin to cast too much shade on your blueberry garden.

For all permanent plantings, I like to give plants an excellent base to root into. The section in Soil Prep 101 for Your Vegetable Garden headed “Prepare for Soil Prep” offers details on getting started, with a few exceptions for blueberries. Blueberries, in particular, require very acidic soil.

A soil test is recommended to get an accurate reading of the soil’s fertility, pH, and tilth. Proper planting and management will reward you with perhaps 20-30 years of blueberry harvests.

Drainage

Planting mix composed primarily of pine fines.

Very dry soil is difficult to dig, so watering the area a few hours or the day before starting the process will make it easier. I usually use a sturdy garden fork for the initial dig.

Loosen the soil 15-20″ deep, and 3 or 4 times the width of the root ball. Add a cubic foot or more, depending on how bad the soil is, of partially composted pine bark chips, also called soil conditioner or pine fines (photo, above) to facilitate drainage. Don’t layer the pine fines; instead, incorporate them into the full depth of excavated soil.

If you have sandy loam to begin with, you might not need as much soil conditioner. Here in the piedmont of North Carolina, however, we have heavy, sticky clay. Clay soil holds moisture and fertility, but it requires amendments to improve the drainage.

Coarse sand (not play sand, which is too fine) is another material that can improve drainage, but it should be used in conjunction with organic matter.

Loosening the soil and adding amendments and plants raises the finished level of the bed. Take this into consideration as you sculpt the land. Blueberries need good drainage, and you want to make sure you didn’t create a berm where the water has nowhere to drain. Hire a professional gardener, if you prefer, to till and prepare the soil according to how you want it done.

If you’re planting the shrubs in a row or in a group, the plants will thank you if you dig the entire bed instead of just the area around each plant. Remember to place the tallest-growing varieties on the north side of the garden (northern hemisphere). Concentrate the peat moss and compost near the plants, but add some peat and pine fines between them as well.

Gypsum

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) can be added annually for several years to soils that are especially intractable. It works by “flocculating”, or gathering, tiny particles of clay soil into larger particles, opening up minute channels through the soil profile. The larger air pore space allows water, air, and roots to more easily penetrate the soil.

Unlike lime (no lime for blueberries!), gypsum doesn’t raise the pH of the soil. Pelleted gypsum can be incorporated into the soil at the beginning of the process and applied as a top dressing in subsequent years. Water will carry it lower into the soil.

Soil PH

Because blueberries are sensitive to high salt content, do not add mushroom compost or composted manure to the garden. Manure also can raise the pH of the soil.

Our soils in the eastern U.S. tend to be acidic, but not acidic enough for blueberries. Blueberry plants need a pH below 5.5, even as low as 4.3. Peat moss is very acidic, and blueberries love it. In addition to the pine fines, add at least one cubic foot of pre-moistened peat moss per plant. Again, thoroughly incorporate the peat with the top 12″ to 15″ of soil, breaking up the clods as much as possible.

Pockets of dry peat moss buried in soil will remain dry for a long period of time because it resists absorbing water. Clay readily absorbs water; you need to thoroughly mix the clay particles into the peat moss. Pre-moistened peat moss is easier to work with.

A moderate amount of aged compost can be incorporated into the top 6-8″ of soil. The amended soil should be at least 3 times the width of the root ball. Sure, that sounds like work, and the plants probably would survive with a lesser effort, but greater effort equals greater rewards!

Rake the area smooth.

Time to Plant Your Blueberry

Before removing the blueberry plant from its pot, water it. This will help the root ball slide out of the pot. Don’t pull the plant by the stem; this could damage the delicate root system. Avoid heavily damaging the roots of blueberries because they lack root hairs. Keep the label for each plant with the plant.

Let gravity help you. Tilt the pot almost upside-down and see if the plant comes out without too much coaxing. Be ready to catch it before it lands on the ground; stems are brittle and easily broken. If the roots still won’t let go of the pot, cut away the plastic pot with a utility knife or sharp pruners. Or use an old bread knife along the inside of the pot, separating the pot from the outside of the root ball.

Know how large the plants will grow when they reach maturity in order to gauge how far apart they should be planted. Plants often grow larger than the size indicated on labels. And to maintain the health of the foliage, spacing them farther apart assures good air circulation.

Grab Your Shovel

Hollow out a hole in the prepared garden. The depth should be almost the height of the root ball. Allowing ½” to 1″ of the root ball to protrude above the finished grade is advised.

Never cover the original root ball with new soil; doing so would suffocate the roots and damage the stem. Blueberries prosper when planted in a raised bed, ensuring good drainage and high oxygen content at the crown of the plant.

Use a cultivator to loosen some of the roots on the outside of the root ball, or score it several times with a knife, slicing shallowly from top to bottom. This light damage will stimulate the root system to quickly send out new roots.

You want to encourage the plant to grow roots away from the plant and into the amended soil instead of circling around the original root ball. Whenever you add anything into the landscape, do not dig a bowl with a smooth surface. Use a shovel to create jagged edges, which will direct growing roots into new territory.

Now plant the blueberry, backfilling with amended soil. Guide the loosened roots out into the prepared ground. Using medium pressure, firm the soil. Loosely packed soil will settle, possibly dragging the plant too deep into the ground.

First Pruning

With young plants, remove very thin twigs, crossing or damaged stems, and cut back long stems to remove most flowers. Mature plants at the nursery, grown in large pots—okay, experts still recommend pruning them, but I’ve had no problems letting them set some fruit the first year when the plants are well cared for.

Label the Blueberry Plant

For new plants, bury the label on the north side of the stem. This way, you’ll know where to find the label if you need to know the cultivar’s name. Plastic labels that are shaded will last a long time. It’s not a bad idea to take pictures or to record this information in a journal. Keep track of the plants’ names in case one or two should perish, because…

…blueberries are particular about their pollinizers—the plants that provide the pollen. So, you’ll want to know the names of plants that need to be replaced. All blueberries bear fruit, but you don’t want to create a gap in bloom cycles by guessing which varieties to buy. Ensuring an uninterrupted succession of flowers and mature pollen throughout the bloom season yields an abundant harvest of beautiful berries.

Mulch

Once all the blueberries have been planted and the soil raked smooth, apply the mulch. I prefer to use pine products, such as 4″ of pine straw or 2″ to 3″ of pine bark nuggets for blueberries. An inch of pine fines also works. Don’t apply mulch against the stems.

Avoid walking over the newly prepared garden to prevent compressing the soil.

Pine straw.

Mulch helps cool the soil and hold in moisture. It also helps prevent most weeds from growing, which compete with blueberries for moisture and nutrients. More mulch will be needed as it decomposes, but pine bark chunks can last a few years.

Shredded hardwood mulch is attractive and readily available. And it holds well on a slope, except during heavy rains. A thin layer, an inch or so, is acceptable. But too much hardwood will raise the pH of the soil. As long as you can maintain the pH that blueberries require, using a thin layer of shredded hardwood is okay. But pine straw and pine nuggets are preferred.

If the soil pH is too high, switch from shredded hardwood to pine bark nuggets. In fact, specialists recommend alternating between pine products and hardwood every several years. Changing the pH with mulch is a very slow process. So, you’ll need soil acidifier, which is available at garden centers, to lower the pH if it drifted too high.

Water

Blueberry ‘Patriot’, in a pot for several years.

If you can’t plant the blueberries right away, they might require water every day.

Water the new garden well. For the next 2 weeks, or until the plants root in, the only water available to them is the moisture held by the original root ball. Naturally, if ample rain falls while they’re rooting in, you might not need to water. Dry clay soil in the bed will steal moisture from the plant’s root ball.

If the plant was being watered daily at the nursery, it might require daily watering after planting. Large leafy plants dry fast in warm, breezy conditions. New growth on the tips of the stems visibly wilts if the roots have been damaged or if the soil is dry. Having no root hairs subjects blueberries to early wilting if moisture levels drop too low. Water immediately, or those tender new leaves will turn brown.

Direct water from the hose over the original root ball. Feel the water first, to make sure it’s not hot. Give each plant at least 3 gallons of water, more for larger specimens. Water the soil a few inches beyond the root system to encourage new roots to grow toward the moisture. Monitor soil moisture levels for the first growing season.

Tap water has a high pH, so regularly irrigated soil will require acidifying.

How Are They Looking?

Do they wilt every day although you water every day or two? Water deeply so that the entire root system is moistened. Shallow watering might satisfy roots near the surface, while those deep in the soil remain dry. As new roots grow into the soil, water more widely around the plants. The original root ball often resists absorbing moisture if it has gone too dry. That’s why we recommend pre-moistening peat moss and watering the potted plant before planting.

Overwatering also can cause wilt. Don’t overdo it. Too much water in clay soil prevents air from reaching the roots. Essentially, they drown. An overwatered plant is less likely to recover. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of good drainage… and that means amending clay soil.

Excessive root injury sustained when planting will cause the plants to wilt. You might need to lightly shade them for a few days to ease the stress. After a week or two, prune off branches that didn’t recover, or leave them for a while longer to see if dormant buds sprout from live wood.

Check to see if the root ball has settled too deeply into the soil. Raise it up if that’s the case. The crown of the plant should be flush with the surrounding soil level, or, preferably, raised a little above it. And make sure all air pockets around the roots have been filled with soil.

If your new blueberries are looking good and starting to grow, congratulations! Blue star!

Settled In

Once the plants begin to root in, after a couple of weeks, you can decrease the frequency of watering. It’s tempting to assume that the recent gentle rain is enough for the next few days. But it might have been only ¼”, which dampens the mulch but not the soil.

If in doubt, dig several inches into the soil near the edge of the original root ball to see whether the soil is running dry or is sopping wet. You don’t want either of those conditions.

One inch of water throughout the garden will moisten the top 4-6″ of soil. Every week during the growing season, the entire garden should receive 1½” of water, and more than that in sandy soil. After the plants have become established, water less often, if you need to at all, but water deeply when you do.

Family Likeness

Early season flowers and leaves on our potted ‘Patriot’ blueberry.

Looking at the flowers in late winter to late spring, you might have noticed the similarity between blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) flowers and the flowers of Pieris japonica, and those of the sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboreum. Their flowers resemble little bells.

All of them belong to the family Ericaceae, which includes heaths, heathers, azaleas, and rhododendrons, although these shrubs’ flowers bear less similarity to those of blueberries. Cranberry, bilberry, and huckleberry also belong to the Vaccinium genus.

Gardeners cultivate 50 or 60 species of blueberries around the world. Several species native to the United States and Canada formed the basis for almost all of the many blueberry varieties available today.

New dwarf cultivars of blueberries feel right at home in foundation plantings. Edible landscaping highlights both the ornamental and the edible aspects of growing blueberries.

Headings

Page 1: Planting a Blueberry Patch?, Today Is Day One, What Antioxidants Do (Blueberry Nutrients, More Benefits), Prepare for Planting Your Blueberry (Sun, Drainage, Gypsum, Soil PH), Time To Plant Your Blueberry (Grab Your Shovel, First Pruning, Label the Blueberry Plant, Mulch, Water, How Are They Looking?, Settled In), Family Likeness

Page 2: The 5 Major Groups of Blueberries (Lowbush Blueberry, Northern Highbush Blueberry, Southern Highbush Blueberry, Rabbiteye Blueberry, Half-High Blueberry), Blueberry Maintenance (Water, Mulch, Fertilizer, Pruning, Blueberry Pollination, Disease, Picking), Woodchucks and Friends, Plant Protection, Cage Your Blueberries

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How to Prepare the Soil: An Introduction

Apr23

Along with the early daffodils comes really beautiful weather. It’s been sunny, the birds are singing…not too hot, not too cold. It’s time to prepare the soil. But first, we need to understand it.

Prepare the Soil

Herbs, vegetables, and flowers are going to be living—hopefully, thriving—in your garden for several months. For trees and shrubs, providing a good home will see them through the next decade, or the next century! It pays to give them the best conditions you can provide, and it all starts below the surface of the ground.

Axiom of the day: soil preparation is 90% of your effort.

If that sounds like work to you, you are correct! But you’re reading this presumably because past results have fallen short of expectations, and you want to improve your gardening skills. I’ve played in the “dirt” professionally for 50 years and can honestly assert: successful gardening depends on the health of the soil.

And here’s the good news. Thorough soil preparation will have benefits for many years to come. You won’t have to prepare the soil to this extent again.

The Soil Is Alive

Microbes

Seedlings in prepared soil.

Soil is more complex than meets the eye. There is a dynamic interplay among minerals, organic matter, air, and moisture. Earthworms, insects, nematodes, and tiny microbes also contribute. Healthy soil is teeming with life! These organisms play an important role in how soil functions. Without them, organic matter would not break down into those vital nutrients needed by all plants.

Vast mycelial mats of beneficial fungi, or mycorrhizae, live in close association with roots. Millions—or perhaps a billion—species of these beneficial microbes inhabit soils around the globe, many of which live within or around a particular species’ roots. Researchers estimate that there could be a trillion species of microbes living in air, soil, water, and living organisms.

Soil-borne mycorrhizae have enzymes that can unlock, or chelate, micronutrients tightly bound to soil particles, making them available to plants. These organisms can gather water and provide it to plants even though the plants’ roots don’t have direct access to moisture. And these microbes act as barriers to certain soil pathogens.

Bacillus, Streptomyces, and Pseudomonas are common bacterial microbes. Fungal mycorrhizae, such as Trichoderma, Hebeloma, and Glomus help roots absorb water and phosphorus. Other microbes, such as viruses and archaea, also inhabit the rhizosphere, the area surrounding the roots. Gardeners are familiar with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Rhizobium) that increase yields in legumes.

Scientists have only recently begun deciphering the enormous number of microbes and what they do for or to plants. Only a few plant families, including Brassicaeae, do not have associations with fungal mycorrhizae. Blueberries and other plants in the Ericaceae family (azalea, rhododendron) have very limited associations with mycorrhizae.

Microbes benefit from the symbiotic relationship with roots by getting carbohydrates in return. The numbers of microbes inhabiting just a tablespoonful of soil are staggering. Believe it or not, that’s greater than the number of people living on the planet! Of course, not all of these microbes are beneficial; many cause diseases in plants and animals.

Tilth

Nutrient-rich earthworm castings.

Consider yourself lucky if your soil has good tilth, or friability, to begin with. Perhaps all you’ll need to do to prepare it is to add compost, aged manure, or some fertilizer periodically.

Soil stays more biologically active over a long period of time if it is not disturbed by frequent tilling. Beneficial fungi and nematodes are especially sensitive to major disturbances. Simply scratching products into the soil surface and watering them in preserves existing microbial populations in the soil.

There are several soil types distributed throughout the United States. They’re determined primarily by the kind of bedrock beneath the surface, the kinds of vegetation growing there, climate, and management practices employed through the centuries. Minerals from rock, eroded by water and wind, will be deposited downstream or downwind.

Soil Composition

Soil is composed of:

mineral matter (rocks, sand, silt, clay)
organic matter (carbon-containing [once-living] compounds such as compost, aged manure, dead roots, dead organisms). Never use fresh manure; the ammonia content can harm plants, and it might harbor pathogens.
living organisms (such as earthworms, nematodes, microbes, insects)
air
water

Tilth and fertility are determined by relative proportions of these materials. All kinds of soils benefit from the addition of compost and other organic materials. I confess to going a little overboard on these amendments when I prepare the soil. But the plants look great!

You might be fortunate to start with soil that has good tilth. It already has physical characteristics which promote plant growth. Or experience indicates that the roots will need some encouragement to grow beyond the original root ball.

Soil that is a rocky clay, for example, dries to the consistency of brick, and will need lots of amendments to improve drainage and to encourage roots to grow vigorously. On the other hand, sandy soils need materials that will improve water and nutrient retention. Instead of repeatedly failing with plants that can’t adapt to your soil, try starting out with those that can. Working the garden over the years will condition the soil sufficiently so you’ll be able to grow more species.

Biennial foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).

Simply digging a hole in the ground, adding a cupful of compost, and plopping the plant in place won’t do the trick in heavy clay or rocky soils. Depth of topsoil, drainage patterns, ratio of clay to organic matter, air pore space (the space between particles), and, of course, fertility and pH, all enter into the equation.

The rich, black ground in our West Virginia garden needed no amendments at all; the foxgloves grew 7 feet tall! Still, I added organic matter every time new plants went into the ground.

From Awful to Awesome

First, the Awful Bit

Our first house in Maryland sat on the crest of a hill. Sunrises and sunsets were spectacular, but the soil was just awful. It was all clay and shale. Any organic matter that did exist blew away or washed down the slope. That “dirt” refused to yield even to the most enthusiastic shovel.

I created a vegetable garden farther down the slope, next to the greenhouse, that gave us fabulous crops of tomatoes and peppers. Digging in autumn leaves, vegetable scraps from the kitchen, and discarded material from my horticultural business greatly improved the soil. It didn’t take long for decomposition to begin and for the earthworms to show up.

Almost Awesome

A few years later, we moved farther south to a community that had been carved out of an old oak and hickory forest. Although the soil quality was better here than at the previous property, I continued to prepare the soil with every new project for the next 3 decades.

Before planting rhododendrons (like the one in the photo, below) in the afternoon shade, I added peat moss and pine fines to the soil. These materials were not merely thrown on top of the ground. Instead, generous quantities of amendments were incorporated (not layered) into the top 12″ to 18″ of existing soil. Then, I mixed nutrient-rich LeafGro (locally sourced compost) into the top 8″ of loosened soil.

This effort created a well-balanced mixture, composed of existing clay and loam, and the added peat moss, composted pine bark, and compost. After that, the soil remained undisturbed except for top dressings of fertilizer, compost, or mulch.

Rhododendron catawbiense.

I left the ditch behind the shrub border undisturbed, allowing rainwater to travel down the slope. Water that did not drain away would have meant death for the shallowly rooted rhododendrons.

Blueberries must have very acidic conditions, in a range from about 4.3 to 5.3 pH. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and hollies like their pH a bit higher than that, but still on the acidic side. Peat moss and pine fines incorporated into the soil helped provide the acidity and aeration.

This calibrachoa has chlorosis from high pH.

Petunia, calibrachoa, pansy, and viola also benefit from a lower (acidic) pH. Plants growing in soil with closer to neutral pH will have sickly yellowish leaves with green veins (photo, above).

A Shady Oasis

Gradually, most of the back yard grew into a private woodland. Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica), paperbark maple (Acer griseum), Pieris, Abelia, Viburnum, Kolkwitzia, and a group of monarch birches (Betula maximowicziana) were the main players. And the rhododendrons and existing vegetation, of course.

Mulched pathways meandered under the cool canopy, and all sorts of shrubs and perennials luxuriated in that rich soil. There was a small pond, a greenhouse, and no grass to mow in the back yard. Awesome. (***Update***: As it often happens, subsequent owners of the house altered the property to suit their needs and removed almost all of those plants.)

Monitor Soil Health Over Time

Preparing the soil for vegetables is not difficult, and the results will last for years. Most varieties prosper in improved soil 10 to 14 inches deep. Lettuce and radishes need only 5 or 6 inches.

Using the space efficiently and intensively calls for carefully managing the soil. Vegetables grow quickly, fruit heavily, and, therefore, require frequent additions of nutrients.

Thoroughly preparing the existing soil will pay dividends, spelling the difference between getting a few vegetables from the garden (“Why bother?”) and having a truly abundant harvest (“Take some veggies, please!”). And, if you properly prepare the soil at the start, you’ll never have to repeat the effort to that degree.

Keep in mind, though, that, as organic matter breaks down and is absorbed by plants and other living things, you’ll need to add more compost. For top performance, plants need balanced fertilizers that are appropriate for specific uses, such as for vegetables, flowers, spring flowering bulbs, or the shrub border. That’s in addition to the compost or aged manure you originally used to prepare the soil. Lack of nutrients and compacted soils are among the top reasons for low crop yields.

Soil Testing

Contact your local Master Gardeners program, or the agricultural extension office, for information on soil testing. The results will indicate which amendments to add, and whether the pH is appropriate for the plants you want to grow. The report also includes a breakdown of the soil components: clay, silt, sand, and organic matter. Normally, I add more organic matter than soil tests recommended.

Soil pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. Neutral is 7.0, with acidic values below that and alkaline values above 7.0. A simple soil test will indicate pH and nutrient levels. Soil pH affects the availability of nutrients to plant roots, with most vegetables preferring pH levels between 6.0 and 7.3.

Years ago, a landscape client wanted to prepare the soil for a vegetable garden on the property she and her young family had just bought. She expressed concern for “bad things” in the ground, so I suggested that she ask for a lead test in addition to the basic tests. The cost of the basic test is very reasonable, but extra requests will raise the fee. No matter; it’s worth the cost.

The report showed a surprisingly high lead content in the soil, unusual for a newer home. So, you don’t want vegetables growing there! She submitted tests from different areas, and felt confident that the original spot was unique. Something probably had been dumped there before the house was built. Later, the family was going to have the contaminated soil professionally removed.

Lead Paint

In 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of lead paint in residential properties. If you live near an industrial region, a busy highway, or where lead paint might be a concern, I strongly advise testing for lead before you prepare the soil. Local zoning authorities should have records on past property use. For more information, contact the National Lead Information Center at 800 424-5323.

Lead poses a serious health risk, especially to young children. There is no level of lead that is considered “safe enough”. And most of us grow our own vegetables for the health benefits, after all.

For now, gather your tools and your help, and pace yourselves. This is not something to be accomplished in the hour before your daughter’s softball game. So, you might as well turn it into a party—arrange for pizza delivery at the end of the day! You certainly will have deserved it.

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