Dramatic, colorful grasses perk up any landscape

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lavender brings fragrant history to your garden

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Ready to enjoy your own lavender? Try these…


Lavender Provence


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


Lavender Grosso


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


Lavender Hidcote Blue


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


Lavender Munstead


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


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

Bring “four season” color to your garden

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

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

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

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

Spring

Heuchera Peach Flambe


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

Magnolia Butterflies


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

Forsythia Show Off


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

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

Dianthus Firewitch


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

Summer

Crape Myrtle Dynamite


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

Monarda Fire Ball


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

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

Hydrangea Incrediball


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

Fall

Black Eyed Susan


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

Sedum Autumn Fire


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

Winter

Tiarella Crow Feather

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

Nandina Dwarf Firepower

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

Yes, you CAN have color all year!

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

Spring Flowering shrubs and perennials provide brilliant color and fragrance to fill your garden

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

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

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

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

Dwarf Philadelphus 'Snowbelle' Mockorange

I believe this is perhaps the most fragrant of all the Mock Oranges. For me, inhaling the sumptuously intoxicating orange sweetness given up by the pure white blossoms of Mock Orange Philadelphus Snowbelle is pure heaven. It has gracefully arching branches and sure to be fragrant white flowers clustered along the branches.
A newer spring flowering dwarf shrub that grows 3 to 4 feet tall.

Persian lilac - Syringa x persica

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

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

Monarda Blue Stocking

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

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

Buddleia Bi-Color

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

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

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

Planting is easy… when you know how

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Echinacea purpurea White Swan


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

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

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

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

These trees cut winter’s bitter cold winds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2010, I will…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Manure adds essential nitrogen to garden soil

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

Layering tall plants adds height to tight spaces

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

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

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

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

My questions include:

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

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

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

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

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

And now to those “naughty” plants…

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

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

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

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

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

English oaks: why so rare in America?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Native plants lessen invasive concerns

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

American chestnut trees: on their way back

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Black Walnut (Jugans nigra)

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

Oak Gobbler Sawtooth (Quercus acutissima)

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

Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)

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

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

Stinky ginkgoes offend delicate noses

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

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

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

Ah, well…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence x. lemoinei
  
  This is perhaps the most fragrant of the Mock Oranges. Cheryl and I love to inhale the sumptuously intoxicating orange sweetness given up by Mock Orange Philadelphus Innocence's, pure white blossoms. This variety grows to 5 – 8 feet at maturity in USDA zones 5 to 8.
  
• Old Fashion Lilac, Syringa vulgaris
  
  Old Fashion Lilac is perhaps the most popular of all lilacs due to its rich color ranging from purplish red to lilac and purple. Old Fashion Lilac has extremely fragrant with a broad, rounded habit. It is a moderate growing shrub with attractive dark green foliage. It is great for hedges, or screens, and can also be planted as a specimen plant, growing to maybe 20 feet in zones 3 to 7.
  
• Carolina Jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens
  
  A fragrant, early-blooming perennial, the yellow Carolina Jessamine is an attractive semi-evergreen vine that tends to remain bushy and compact when grown in bright sun. When shaded, Jessamine Carolina can climb up and over adjacent shrubs and trees to heights of more than 20 feet. Carolina Jessamine will rapidly cover arbors, tree trunks, trellises, etc. in a season or two. Zones 8 – 10.
  

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

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

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

Hydrangeas are failing to bloom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deer-resistant plants mean less landscape damage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dense evergreens make perfect living fence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never too early to plan fall planting

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

Nope.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moving back to some medium-height plants…

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

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

And now some taller plants…

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

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

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

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

White spots on leaves could be powdery mildew fungus

QUESTION: “I just planted some salvia in my garden and noticed some white spots on the leaves. Any suggestions?” – M.

ANSWER: The white spots could be from mineral deposits from watering, fertilizer residue or a fungus known as powdery mildew.

You will need to determine what is causing them before you can take any action. Fortunately, the first two wouldn’t require any action, but if they are caused by a fungus, you might want to apply a fungicide.

Powdery mildew is one of the most common landscape fungus problems. The first sign is often curled and twisted leaves before the white or grey powder is apparent. When the mildew appears, you might see the grey patches gradually enlarge and spread until they cover large areas on one or both sides of the leaf. If you are seeing that, then you have powdery mildew.

Severe infection can result in yellow or dry brown leaves and disfigured shoots. Although powdery mildew is not usually fatal, it can bring on early defoliation and unsightly plants.

Powdery mildew fungi are most likely to produce airborne spores and infect plants when temperatures are moderate and will not be present during hot summer days. When plants are overcrowded and shaded, creating a cool, humid environment, they are at greatest risk for powdery mildew infection.

Pick up any fallen infected leaves and pick off any severely damaged or dead leaves and destroy them, preferably by burning. If it’s any consolation, powdery mildew generally won’t adversely affect a plant’s overall health, so if it appears to be quite mild, or if you can live with unsightly plants, you could probably ignore it, other than destroying the infected leaves.

However, you can use a fungicide to treat the problem. For best results, begin to spray the plants as soon as the mildew is detected. Repeat the spraying as needed, which is usually during the cooler weather seasons. Not all fungicides are suitable for all plants, so be sure to check on the recommended usage before you spray. Read the package directions!

Here are two very useful sites with photos to help you identify powdery mildew and helpful instructions on how to treat the problem and create an environment that will discourage the fungus from returning. One article is posted by Cornell University’s Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and the other is from Ohio State University’s Extension Service.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbits_PM.htm

http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-3081


QUESTION: “I have a very steep slope in my back yard leading from a patio down to our lake front. There is a retaining wall at the top and a retaining wall at the bottom. I would guess that the incline is about 45 degrees in some areas. There are trees on one side leaving part of the slope in deep shade, part is dappled shade and a few areas get a
good bit of sun, but the bulk of the area is pretty shady.

“Since it is so steep, we have concerns about erosion control. It's steep enough to be difficult to get out there and weed or do any other normal garden "tending", so it has to be very self sufficient. Can you give any advice on types of plants to use?” – W.

ANSWER: Anything you try to plant will most likely take several years to fill in at best. Vinca, pachysandra, purple wintercreeper and liriope will grow well on sloped shaded areas. Ivy might grow well, too, but may be a bit too invasive for your landscape.

If there is a problem with erosion now, I would recommend putting down erosion netting first and then planting. You can plant right through the netting, just cut an X out where you want to insert each plant. Erosion netting decomposes over 5 or so years allowing the ground cover time to take hold and spread. In the meantime, it does a good job at keeping weeds at bay. I hope this gives you some ideas to build on.

Landscape tips for a faster home sale

If you are hoping to sell your house during these challenging economic times, remember the old saying: you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

When it comes to real estate, that’s always been true. But in a tough economy, there are more houses than usual on the market and fewer buyers. Those buyers that are out there are almost spoiled for choice: a large number of available homes, probably offered at fairly competitive prices.

To make matters worse, slow home sales mean that houses that might have been snapped up quite quickly a couple of years ago and languishing on the market much longer now. If you’ve decided to sell your home, take a look around your neighborhood. You will probably notice quite a number of For Sale signs in the front yards. These homes all share the same basic benefits as yours, such as the same school district, proximity to the same transportation or commuter drive times. They might even have been built by the same builder in a very similar style to yours.

Frankly, you’ve got a lot of competition.

Potential buyers will drive around neighborhoods that interest them. They will glance at a home with a yard sign for perhaps 3 to 5 seconds before moving on. Unless they see a reason to linger. In those few seconds, they have formed opinions as to whether the home meets their personal definition of ‘attractive.’

Is it neat and well-kept? Is the lawn lush and nicely trimmed? Are the shrubs neatly shaped and not obscuring the windows? Is the walkway clean and weed-free? Is the entryway welcoming? Could we live there without having to invest in landscape upgrades? Most of all, they are deciding if this home could provide them with pride of ownership. Would we feel proud to have friends and family visit us here?

And all this in about 3 to 5 seconds… before they pass by your home without ever looking inside and move on down the street!

But there IS good news. You can make your home stand out from the crowd and you don’t have to spend a fortune to do it.

First of all, go out and look at your home from the street, they way a prospective buyer would see it.

If shrubs have grown to the point where they are obscuring the front of the house, trim them back. If necessary, remove them altogether and replace them with fresh, attractive evergreen shrubs, such as Boxwood Winter Gem, colorful hydrangeas or the dense rounded Red Barberry.

Add some annuals to put splashes of bright color in front of the shrubs. Pick up a few bags of dark mulch and carefully layer it around the shrubs and annuals. The contrast will make the colors pop!

How about the lawn? Keep it mowed (no shorter than three inches) and watered (about once or twice a week) so it looks green and lush. Edging the lawn, where it meets the flower beds, is worthwhile as it projects the impression that this house has been well cared for, so the inside should be as neat as the exterior.

Look at the entryway and front porch. Place a couple of containers there and add some economical plants. Pick containers that match the scale of your porch, neither too small and insignificant nor too large and overpowering. Plant some perennials such as geraniums, daylilies and varieties of Achillea including Summer Berries and Moonshine. Add a few annuals for instant color.

Look down at the walkway. Keep it swept and clean. If weeds are growing up through the pavers pull them out or kill them by spraying with vinegar.

Of course, you’ll want to be sure that the area is free of toys, bicycles and any items that distract the eye.

If you feel that some of these tasks are beyond your capabilities, such as mulching and lawn edging, call in a local landscaping service. A one-time service would not be too expensive and would be seen as a real investment when your home sells.

Remember, all you can really do is “put the odds in your favor” by giving your home a slight edge in the eyes of prospective buyers.

Visit GreenwoodNursery.com for a great selection of landscape and garden plants. Plus check out our garden ideas for theme and specific plants to meet your planting needs.

Never too early to plan fall planting

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

Nope.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ajuga Black Scallop PW

A neat little fast-growing ground cover with deep, dark burgundy leaves and blue blossoms in spring, lingering into summer. I prefer this one to regular Ajuga bronze due to its larger leaves and deeper color.

Creeping Red Thyme

(Thymus praecox subsp. Arcticus) This is a fast-growing evergreen ground cover with wonderfully aromatic foliage. If you’d planted it last season, right now you could be enjoying a profusion of lovely red flowers. Easy to grow and good between pavers, too.

Moving back to some medium-height plants…

Heuchera Lime Ricky PPAF

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

Heuchera villosa Tiramisu PPAF

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

And now some taller plants…

Carolina Allspice

(Calycanthus floridus) A dense, deciduous shrub that can grow to 5 or 6 feet (or more) at maturity, Carolina Allspice has lustrous dark green foliage and very fragrant, brown to reddish-brown flowers.

Buddleia Bi-Color

Easy to grow and extremely fragrant, this variety sports two different colors on the same bloom stalk: rich lavender and butterscotch yellow. It will bloom all summer and attract swarms of colorful butterflies to your garden. Mature height: 5 to 6 feet.

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

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