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SUSAN’S GARDEN 11-25-2010---I’m taking advantage of the warm weather and the garden clean-up continues. I did prune my dappled willow ‘Hakuro Nashiki’ tree form back quite hard. It provides privacy for our screened in porch for the summer, so it will fill out very quickly come spring. The stems are a beautiful pinkish red color and can be used in winter arrangements and I usually wait until early spring to cut these back, but I put Christmas lights in this one and it needs stronger stems for support. I’ve also been pruning the old gray stems from my Japanese maples. Many snap off easily with just your fingers. I’m holding off cutting any evergreens because I’ll fill all my planters and window boxes with these as soon as the weather stays cold. If you want to trim your hydrangeas, you can cut off the heads of any variety now or leave them on since they do look pretty with snow on them. Varieties like ‘Annabelle’ which sends up multiple stems from the ground, or suckers, can be cut back to the ground or a foot or two above the ground. Any hydrangea that is shrub-like and comes up from a definite woody base can be trimmed by just cutting off the flower heads or take off a third of the top. This will make it denser. I haven’t had luck with the ‘Endless Summer’ varieties as I’ve mentioned in the past and neither have my neighbors so I’m assuming I live too far north, though the growers say they are supposed to be hardy and bloom from new wood. I’ve had mine in containers that I drag into the basement each winter, water sparingly, and they start forming flower buds even before I can bring them out in April.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 11-20-2010---My
garden was vandalized again last night. A filled wheelbarrow was knocked
over, plants were trampled and crushed, and even tiny, low little rock garden
plants were pulled up and tossed to the side. Annuals were pulled out of
my planters and the ivy growing in my window boxes was stripped of their leaves.
It was the deer, of course, and each morning brings with it new aggravating
discovery. It’s as if they’re angry about the swaths of deer netting and
plant stakes that keep them inches away from a tasty smorgasbord. And they
dug up my herniaria—it’s less than an inch high! They even pulled out
clumps of my hens and chicks. Is nothing sacred any more? And
there’s a buck that’s practically living on our deck. I expect to come out
any morning now and see him sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs holding a
clay pot of impatiens in one hoof and a stalk of kale in the other. A few
mornings ago, I caught two deer circling one of the enclosed gardens, trying to
find a way in. The fence is eight foot high but I know they can jump as
high as ten foot so I’m going to cover my heuchera collection with deer netting
just to be on the safe side.
Rose of sharon has to have the least attractive leaves in the fall—they’re
wrinkled, brown, and frankly, ugly. And there’s a lot of them, so I make
sure I clean those up now. It’s also a good time to pull up the seedlings
that sprout by the dozens under all those leaves, and you can trim off the brown
flower heads too. I cut my sambucus back really hard to about a foot. It
can get really large and I don’t have the room to let it go. The
hakonechloa leaves have shriveled, so I’m cutting those all down along with the
ligularia which unbelievably, is still putting out new leaves.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 11-13-2010---Every week, I spend some time in my rock gardens and remove the fallen leaves. They mat so quickly here and seem to catch on the stones and woody stems of plants like iberis or candytuft, sedums, and edelweiss, whose flowering stems, by the way, can be cut off now. You will also remove quite a few snails and snail eggs from the garden along with the leaves since they seem to love hiding out among them. I'm continuing to cut perennials back—nepeta, sidalcea, malva, oenthera, euphorbia and platycodon or balloon flowers. These come up late in spring so be sure to mark where they are so you don't accidentally plant something on top of them. I love the colors that ivy turns with the colder temperatures, so I leave my potted plants outside until they turn a color I like, and then I'll bring them in. The variegated forms have pink and burgandy in them and even some of the green varieties develop reddish tones. Other variegated plants like weigela and dogwood also develop amazing colors on their leaves. Euonymus is particularly beautiful at this time of year—‘Emerald Gaiety’, ‘Moonglow’, and ‘Emerald and Gold’ all are touched with deep pink. Most people are familiar with these euonymus, particularly ‘Emerald Gaiety’, which is the green and white variegated form, but this is a great plant for sun or shade, it prefers a moist soil, but I find it to be very drought resistant, and it can be pruned as a low-growing groundcover—just trim off any shoots that are growing upright, as an evergreen vine—I have one that engulfed a tall stump that I was using as a pedestal, and has long since rotted, but now the plant is the only thing Holding the sundial up—it literally is a living pedestal. Another is growing up the trunk of a tree and a stone wall. This tough little shrub can also be trimmed in a tight form just like you would boxwood. It does need protection from deer, rabbits and mice, but I find a piece of doubled-up deer netting pinned down with u-pins work nicely for the groundcover and shrub forms and deer-repellent will work for the vining plants. Next week is going to warm up again, so there is at least ten more days to shop for plants. Most perennials have been cut back so the pruning has already been done for you. All you need to do is dig a hole and drop the plant in. It was a great year for growing and our plants have strong healthy root systems. We still have some very nice kousa dogwoods that will bloom this spring as well as ‘Hakuro Nashiki’ willows for wonderful foliage color in green, white and pink. We also have big tree hydrangea for easy low-maintenance gardening and flowers late summer into fall.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 10-29-2010--- A good and easy rule of thumb for pruning shrubs is prune summer blooming plants like rose of Sharon now. It’s too late to prune spring bloomers like lilac, viburnums, or rhododendrons. If you prune these now, you'll cut off next springs flowers. Don't cut buddleia or butterfly bush, caryopteris, or Russian sage until spring. I'm removing any tattered leaves and stems from the heuchera and then covering them with deer netting or peony hoops—the deer are trampling through the beds trying to find plants I haven't sprayed with Liquid Fence and they are ravenous. I lower the peony heads to about six inches above the plants and it really works in protecting them throughout the winter. I'll also use it over my yuccas, carex, euonymus, and miniature pine—all that become suddenly irresistible once autumn arrives.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 10-21-2010--- I've begun cutting down many of the shrubs that have finished flowering. This will eliminate leaf cleanup. Potentilla benefits from a hard pruning, as does spirea. Only one rugosa rose is still blooming, so I’ve cut all the others back to about eight inches. My miniature New England roses have all been cut back also—the deer have been nibbling them anyway and I’m hoping its one less temptation for them. The lily stalks are still green but I’m tired of looking at them and have cut those back also. The eryngium was cut back and has a nice bun of new foliage. I’ve also cut back any phlox that has finished flowering, but look for unopened buds before you do. The lower varieties of sedums have long brown stems that had been flowers. If you can pull these out without pulling any of the leaves, remove them this way. Otherwise use your pruners to cut them back to the base. If any ornamental grasses have collapsed, cut them down. Don't bother trying to prop them up—they'll never look natural.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 09-24-2010Some of my annuals are looking a little tired, so I’ve trimmed them back to healthy leaves. Some plants like helicrysum, and sweet potato vine may take over a pot or basket, but just an occasional trimming will keep it in check. Trailing alyssum, petunias, and scavaeola gets ratty at the ends, so I cut these up high enough so you don’t see any non-flowering stems. I plan on cleaning the leaves from my junipers just once this year. After using a hand rake, my hands and the leaf blower to remove leaves, I’m spreading pieces of deer netting over them. I use wire plant staples to hold it down. Once or twice a week I’ll lift one side and throw the leaves onto the lawn where I can pick them up with my mower. Two cautionary gardening tips that should be taken note of. I always tell customers not to hesitate to trim junipers to
SUSAN’S GARDEN 09 18-2010---Mondays spectacular storm brought pea-sized hail to my garden, shredding leaves, particularly the hosta, and bringing down a whole new load of leaves to blanket my garden. On a happier note though, there’s still so much in flower. The sedums, echinacea, anemone, roses, campanula, asters, and geraniums are still going strong and the toad lilies are blooming beautifully. My everblooming daylilies didn’t do very well as far as re-blooming with the lack of rainfall this year, but other plants have thrived. Rubeckia triloba has been in flower for months, and is still covered with flowers. Kalimeris hasn’t responded as well to pruning as it usually does and hasn’t started blooming again but I think the rain will help it along. The heavy rain did flatten a few of the grasses—Japanese variegated miscanthus and the panicums—and since tying them up will only make them look worse, I’ll probably just cut them back. The leaves on my tomatoes, peppers, and basil have started looking ratty—the cooler temperatures haven’t been doing them any favors—so I’ve pulled them out of their pots. At this time of year, I take great pleasure in diminishing the number of pots I have lined up on my deck. If the soil is breakable I just put it in my compost pile . If the roots are too bound, I’ll just place the clumps tightly together at the base of a slope I plan on planting on next season.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 09-092010---If leaves dropping off the ash trees on my garden is any indication, I’m in the middle of fall. Leaf blowing could become a daily chore if I wasn’t so consumed with watering. The dry soil seems to be attracting an enormous number of moles and voles to my gardens. I was able to catch a mole in a mouse trap but the next day another quickly took its place. I can’t afford to have plant roots dangling in the tunnels when everything is so dry, so it’s a daily tamping of the beds, hoping they’ll move on. I’m hesitant to use bait or repellents since my dog has suddenly begun eating things in the garden—grass clumps, morning glories, gravel and God knows what else. I continue to deadhead the Echinacea—their still blooming with lots of new buds, and I’ve cut back the rugosa roses of all their rose hips—they’ll bloom again if I do this. Combining Grub Beater to the soil and spraying with Sevin really made a difference with the Japanese beetles this year. The infestation was very light compared to other years. A very good customer here at the garden center did some sleuthing on the problem with Harry Lauder’s walking stick. It starts as slits in the bark which rapidly develop into rough black raised areas which follows by the death of the branch very rapidly. It keeps spreading and eventually the plant dies. This is caused by a bacteria that is common in the northwest and unfortunately now, the northeast. Its spread by heavy rainfall and by using contaminated pruners. The plant is susceptible if weakened by sunburn, winter injury, and poor growing conditions. The solution is to spray in the fall with a tribasic copper sulfate in the fall before the rains begin. Trim infected twigs in the fall, cleaning your pruners with rubbing alcohol between cuts and remove debris from the garden.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 09-02-2010---It's that time of year when I’m hardest on my garden, and rightfully so. There are perennials that have to be moved since the shrubs around them have become too large. Daylilies that had planted beneath a physocarpus have stopped blooming two years ago so that area has become a hosta garden. A yellow climbing rose was also removed but until I can think of a good spot, it’s blooming happily in a planter that was holding my lettuce all summer. The heuchera ‘Ginger Ale’ was also too shaded, so I replaced that with brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ that was scorching in the afternoon sun in another area after I lost a hydrangea tree. There is a gorgeous large ‘Golden Carousel’ berberis in this bed but its taking up too much space in a fenced area where other deer-tempting plants can be planted and protected. This is going to require some major muscle and root damage, so I’ll wait until its cooler. Its going to give me another four foot of space though and that’s exciting. There is also a variegated boxwood that was planted as an experiment and Paul said wasn’t hardy, but this has done beautifully for four years now so I’d like to move it to a more prominent place. As I’m doing all this, I try not to be sentimental about any plants—if a plant doesn’t work or if I just don’t like it, I’m moving it or getting rid of it. If I have the space, I'll make the bed larger and spread things out. If perennials are spreading out too mush—campanula, stachys, geraniums, sedums—pull them up or toss them out. Don’t try to give away every plant you dig up. If you can, great. But I found that was holding me up because I had to pot them up and then see who wanted them and then take care of them until someone finally had a spot in their garden. So don’t let that be an excuse—be brutal. You will accomplish a lot more in less time.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 08-20-2010---I kept putting off transplanting, dividing and removing plants this summer due to the weather. I kept waiting every weekend for a solid promise of rain, but it just didn’t come until this weekend. I cut down all my daylilies except re-bloomers, campanulas, and early-blooming geraniums so the rain could get to the ground. I also weeded all the tickseed out of my woodland garden, for the same reason. This goes amazingly quickly since the weeds are so easy to pull up and are so large, that in 10 minutes a 10 x 10foot area is done. It was also an opportunity to kill a good number of slugs that hide at the base of perennials, particularly daylilies. I had to cut down some beautiful native viburnums in this garden, just to get some more light in. When the barberries lose their red color in the summer, you know there’s too much shade. I can’t stress enough how important it is to water deeply. If your still watering with a hose and a spray nozzle, chances are you’re not watering enough. When you’re done watering one section of your garden and you think you’ve done a good job, get your trowel out and dig a hole in the soil. I think you’ll be in for a shock at how little of the ground will be wet. You need to water deeply so the roots at the bottom don’t die off. If water is kept at the top, those are the only roots that will survive until the ground dries again and then the whole plant will die very quickly.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 08-07-2010---In gardening, there comes a time when taking away is better then putting in. And this is that time. This weekend, I carried twenty-seven large buckets of plant debris, weeds, branches and plants to my mulch hill —I can’t call it a mulch pile any longer because its six foot high and about forty foot long. It’s at the edge of our woods and used to be a burn pile but I’ve decided to just let it break down on its own. The deer tend to go around it so it acts as a sort of fence but I know its probably home to various critters that I’m hope stay in the woods. I’m cutting back all the daylilies except repeat bloomers, tradescantia is cut back to the ground. Any geraniums that are finished flowering like ‘Johnson’s Blue’, Geranium phaeums and striatum, ‘Wargrave Pink’ are all being cut back. Salvia is on just finishing its second bloom so I’m cutting those back hard again. I had cut the lower bstems of the nepeta weeks ago and they have filled out nicely, so I’ll cut the rest back now. This way I’m never without flowers. I keep deadheading the stokesia so it keeps reblooming. Centranthus is blooming again which is a welcome sight. I’m also removing any old or tattered leaves of the hosta, pulmonaria, ligularia, and heuchera. Keep the anemones watered—they like moist conditions and will produce more buds. Unless you want millions more allium, remove the flower heads before they drop their seeds. Some larger grasses like miscanthus grasses droop around the edges. I’ll just cut these blades back to the base and leave the upright blades. The weight of grass on another plant can result in injury or dieback.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 07-29-2010---What a welcome relief Sundays steady rain was. I wish I could say I spent the afternoon on my screened porch reading Elizabeth George’s latest book. Instead, I was watering in my woodland garden, which is under very dense tree cover. I have three rain barrels off one rain gutter that fill very quickly when the rain is the slightest bit heavy or steady. I hated to lose the extra water so I connected a hose to the faucet and emptied the last barrel as quickly as it filled up. All my hosta, cicmicifuga, ferns and ligularia are very well watered and I hope its enough to get them through the rest of the summer. Even my redbud and variegated maple got a good soaking since this was a steady stream of water instead of the sprinkler that I usually use. Many plants are needing cutting down and trimming up. Campanula like ‘Sarrastro’ and ‘Kent Belle’ are just finishing so I cut the stems right back to the leafy base. Kalimeris has loads of spent flowers at the top of their stems, so I just grab them by the handful and trim them off to just where there are still unopened buds—just about 6 inches. This plant will continue to bloom so don’t cut it to the ground yet. I’m also cutting any heuchera or coral bell stems that are finished and any tattered leaves at the base. This is the first year I’ve noticed snail damage on the heuchera—they usually don’t touch it. Corydalis can sometimes fade out mid-season depending on how severe the weather is. The heat and humidity has faded out the color so I’ve trimmed many of my plants back. If they’re really becoming invasive, just pull out the whole plant.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 07-23-2010---One of my pet peeves in gardening, as I’m sure I mentioned before, is when a plant is finished blooming, or is beginning to look ratty, and is cut down, it leaves a huge space in the garden. And some perennials don't put new leaves out fast enough to fill in that gaping whole in the same season. Poppy foliage usually dies back or as in my garden, or just looks really bad so I tend to cut it back. Monarda’s and phlox’s bottom leaves turn brown and needs to be hidden behind another plant even in the moistest of summers. But once they're finished blooming, they spread so vigorously, that a very large area tends to be left open. There are several ways to deal with this. Combining shrubs and grasses in beds is one way. You always have at least foliage to fill in and add contrast. Taller perennials can be tucked behind shrubs so they not only hide unsightly ‘legs’ but camouflage empty spots. Annuals can be planted in these areas and the small pots don't do much damage to existing roots. A third option is to plant vigorous plants in front. They will weave their way through the taller stems. The rambunctious geranium ‘Rosanne’ is excellent for this purpose since it fills in so well, it will grow right between stems or if planted among shrubs, will become much taller and will grow almost upright. Don't use a plant like this with less vigorous plants or they will be quickly overwhelmed and may begin to decrease in size. Late trimming of boxwood tends to result in the browning of the new growth in the spring, so I trim my boxwood before the end of July. This seems to give them enough time to harden off before the cooler temperatures can cause damage. This isn't my favorite chore so I do one at a time interspersed with other chores to break up the tedium, and they'll be done before the cut off date.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 07-16-2010--I had to put supports in the ground to support some of the echinacea. Some of them are nearly five foot high. I do remove the older flower heads to also keep the stems upright. Sedum ‘Angelina’ puts out long trailing flower stems that I’ve started to cut back just to tidy the plants up a bit. I continue to cut off the older flowers on the scabiosa plants. I find ‘Blue Diamonds’ to be a much better plant than others in the family and it just keeps going, and unlike other scabiosa, actually survives season to season. Many of my daylilies are blooming now. In fact, my early and mid bloomers have been blooming together for weeks now. Some of the fall asters also have flowers on them. The high temperatures are encouraging early bloom times, but the flowers aren’t lasting long at all. The ‘Casablanca’ lilies that the deer didn’t get are just beginning to bloom, but are half the size they usually are, while the buttery-yellow ‘Conica d’Or’ is absolutely spectacular in size and fragrance. I don’t know why since the ‘Casablancas’ are in much better soil. Its one of those unfathomable mysteries in gardening. One mystery solved, though, is where those beetles that are doing so much damage to almost everything, is hiding during the day. While shifting through a pile of stone, I discovered dozens of shiny blackish beetles sluggishly hiding among the rocks. I thought they would scurry away, but I was able to crush them easily.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 07 08-2010---The dry weather has made watering my priority right now. Its been such a dry spring, that everything under the trees is already wilting. With the tree leaf coverage, it would take an all day deluge to make a difference. Overhead watering is sufficient for only a day or so before I have to water again. I'm mulching any bare spots after watering to conserve moisture and I'll probably start cutting back some of the shrubs to lessen the foliage that the roots have to support. Since the plants are under stress already, I'm hoping they wait to put out any new leaves. Any weeds are pulled up to lessen moisture competition and then I water the disturbed soil back down again. Don't use fertilizers if your soil is dry—water first, and consider waiting with fertilizers at this point all together. One of the plants I really got excited about when they first introduced, was the new coneflowers. ‘Sunrise’, ‘Sunset’, ‘Tomato Soup’, ‘Green Envy’ and ‘Tikki Torch’ are just a few. These plants lend themselves to so many plant combinations that it boggles my mind. You can't go wrong adding a coneflower to every planting bed. They look great with grasses, sedums, shrubs, and other perennials. And there is a color for every other plant. I've combined the pink varieties with barberry, physocarpus, and spirea which has very similarly colored flowers. I like the white coneflowers with nepeta and yellow roses. The pale yellow variety I combined with one of my favorite daylilies ‘Custard Candy’ whose main color is pale yellow with a blush of pink and a purple eye. But my favorite planting is a large group of the orangey ‘Sundown’ planted in front of the smokebush ‘Grace’ Now anyone who has ‘Grace’ knows it has an amazing range of colors in its leaves, but this coneflower just glows against the rich, dark foliage. Yellow corydalis billows around the base of a pillar barberry that’s also in the bed and there is a miniature daylily that blooms later in the same orangey-pink colors. This is one of my most successful beds as far as color and texture, but it has been a lot of trial and error. I get some of my best ideas for plant combinations when I fill the tiny vases on the entrance wall outside the gift shop. I take cuttings of flowers, grasses, and leaves and arrange them until I find something appealing. You can do the same thing in your own garden. If you have a bed that needs that something to tie it all together, take a flower or leaf stem and walk around your garden and collect bits of plants you have. Or if you need something new, bring it to the garden center and find something that compliments it or adds texture.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 07-02-2010--- I’m beginning to cut back some of my perennials. Salvias first flowers are finished so I cut the stems back to where there are new flower buds forming—the stems will form a v. I’m trying to keep my roses clean and cut them before they fall. It’s a good chance to crush any beetles I find. Geraniums like ‘Orion’, ‘Splish Splash’ and ‘Victor Reiter’ are finished blooming and I don’t want any seedlings, so I’m cutting these back to the ground. I used purple-leaved ‘Victor Reiter’ in a container planting along with sedums and artemisia ‘Silver Mound’ and it not only came back through the winter, but has proven to be a very nice foliage plant. I just cut the heavier flowering stems and left the leaves. This variety self-seeds freely in gravel but many will have plain green leaves. They will still have the deep purple flowers, but the purple leaved geraniums are a much prettier contrast. There’s a gardening product on the market called the ‘Hollow Leg’ and it’s a long open, narrow bag that straps around your waist for any weeds, clippings, or even trash. It keeps your hands free while you garden. Right now I’m using two buckets—one for weeds and one with mulch, that I drag along as I go---not nearly as efficient. More often then not, I have a handful of weeds in my hand with no place to put them..
SUSAN’S GARDEN 06-26-2010---The high humidity brings fungal diseases which can be murder on some plants. Many of my dark-leaved sedums are collapsing. ‘Purple Emperor’ and ‘Emperor’s Wave’ have both toppled over with shriveled stems or stem rot. I’ve taken cuttings from the top of the plants and inserted them in fresh potting soil. I hope these will root up, so I don't lose the plants entirely. If you lose a sedum to either root rot or stem rot, don't put another sedum in its place. You can replace the soil, sterilize it, or drench the soil with a fungicide. The addition of grit with your soil will lighten up heavy soils. I was hoping the Japanese beetles, like the caterpillars, were going to give me a break this year, but I found a few on the roses. There’s something eating the rose-of-sharon, the perennial hibiscus, and the morning glories. I haven't seen anything during the day so I'll probably have to use an insecticide on these plants.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 06-18-2010---As welcome as regular rain showers are, of course they bring the snails and slugs. I always go on snail patrol after it rains, because they come out in droves. The back of my garden is all woods and beyond that are several creeks and eventually the river. Perfect breeding ground for snails. I thought the dry, hot weather of this spring would slow them down, but if it has, I can’t see it. My one coreopsis was absolutely covered with them—I counted 47 that I snipped and dropped in a bucket. This was obviously the food of choice since the hosta right next to it remained untouched. Tradescantia is another favorite-especially the yellow-leaved variety ‘Sweet Kate’. I’ve sprinkled snail bait at the base of all these as well as my daylilies, where they seem to enjoy depositing their eggs. Dianthus is looking a little waterlogged so I just grab handfuls of the flower stems and cut them about 6 inches, depending on the variety. Polemonium can be cut right back to the ground if you don’t want any new seedlings. Ajugas flower spikes are finished so I use my long-handled grass shears to cut them down to the base and then vacuum them up with my leaf vacuum. Last year, I planted a low-growing perennial snapdragon that had pretty little purple flowers all summer. The main plant died and I pulled it up in the spring, but I’ve noticed many tiny little purplish-green leaves coming up in the same area, so I think it must have reseeded itself. So if you purchased this plant from the garden center last year, keep an eye out for the seedlings.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 06-12-2010---I few days after planting up a pot of dill, I discovered a large swallowtail caterpillar devouring one of the plants. The camouflage of this creature is amazing and I’m always surprised when I actually spot one. By morning, it was gone, hopefully to become a butterfly and not become a birds meal. Look for these on rue, another plant they really like. The roses have all started blooming and none suffered over the winter so I had very little die-back. I did use systemic rose fertilizer and insect control earlier in the spring and I hope it helps with the aphids I sometimes get. Roses are so much prettier when grown with other plants and this time of year, some of the prettiest plants are flowering. Any fan of campanulas are in heaven right now—glomerata which has deep purple spheres , ‘Blue Waterfall’ with its cascade of purple bells, Sarrastro’ that has large purple cups, and the persicifolias with their tea cup-shaped flowers on wiry stems are so beautiful this time of year and come in shades of soft porcelain blue, white and lavender, are so uniquely June flowers. If you have a cottage garden, these are all a must have. In one of my pathways, I had laid down a piece of heavy cardboard to smother the weeds or weaken them so they will die much faster when I spray them with an herbicide. In this case though, it acts as a trap. Every morning, I lift the cardboard, which is covered with dozens of snails. I use my pruners to lift them up, snip, and then drop them in a bag. Don’t put these in the mulch pile since they are literally like putting meat in. Throw them in the trash instead.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 06-04-2010---Over the weekend, while cutting an old juniper down, we inadvertently also cut down a house sparrows nest. We had watched for any bird activity, and thought we were good to go. But once the shrub was down, two sparrows kept flying to where it had stood. We finally found the nest at the very top and found two baby birds with barely any fluff, on them lying in my driveway. I tucked them back in the nest and propped the whole juniper section in a pot filled with rocks and gravel. The frantic parents had in the meantime flown off and we were left with two now-chirping baby birds. After fifteen minutes of disbelief that they would abandon their young so quickly, I had seen one of the birds with a tiny green caterpillar in its beak so I started scouring my plants for caterpillars. Of course, I couldn't find a single one so I dug in my pile of shredded leaves and found some worms, that I cut up in tiny pieces, and after several false starts, finally managed to get the pieces into their tiny little mouths. I figured the snack would hold them until their dead-beat parents came back. We left the area completely, and when I checked a half hour later, thankfully, the parents had returned. That was the good news. The bad news was that there had been two other baby birds that we had missed. I won't be cutting any more junipers or trees down until fall. June is a spectacular time in the garden. There are so many plants in bloom now and many of them are the best gardening has to offer. The peonies, roses, and clematis with their large flowers are impossible to miss. Geraniums, dianthus, and the pink shaggy flowers of lychnis are brilliant. The little rock garden plant armeria has been blooming for weeks now, unfazed by the heat. I love the long arching branches of weigela and physocarpus and so do the hummingbirds. The violas that reseeded in the gravel paths are covered with flowers and one of the few reliable coreopsis, ‘Jethro Tull’ with its butterscotch-yellow flowers has begun flowering. Some creeping phlox needs shearing after flowering—if the flower stems are long and brown, this is the type. I do try to cut off the old peony flower heads before they fall—they create such a mess, and the remaining flowers will look better too. Spray ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea with Liquid Fence. The flower heads are forming already and the deer love these tender bits
SUSAN’S GARDEN 05-28-2010--- My front lawn would never win any prizes. One section is wonderfully thick, dark, and lush because this is where water creates a pool every time it rains. The upper part nearest the road is shaded by three pin oaks and is a combination of moss and buttercups. The side part in about one third grass with the rest being forget-me-nots, violets and weeds I have no interest in knowing well enough to be able to identify. My dog has contributed to the overall appearance of the lawn by large brown spots that is created during the winter and become glaringly obvious when spring arrives and everything else turns green. Throughout is a smattering of dandelions. Last fall I applied an organic fertilizer to my lawn, thinking a fuller lawn will smother out the weeds, which is what the experts tell us, along with not cutting the grass too short. Since I never fertilize my lawn and my spreader has been broken since 1992, I broadcast the fertilizer by hand imagining I was one of those woman in a painting, tossing seed from my apron. Except of course, I wasn't wearing a long calico dress or a bonnet or for that matter, an apron. The real test came this spring when the grass starting greening up. There are some very dark green patches which is where I think I went a little heavy with the fertilizer, but overall, where the lawn was nice and thick, it is now really nice and thick and unfortunately growing. And growing. I have to cut it twice a week just to keep it looking semi-tamed and it all has to be bagged. I’ finish cutting the grass in the dark and by morning I can't see my dogs legs! All right, that’s a slight exaggeration, but I have learned my lesson. As god as my witness, I will never fertilize my lawn again. On to other chores, if powdery mildew has formed on the pulmonaria, cut them right back to the ground—they will reshoot quickly. Now is the time to cut back your upright sedums if they tend to fall over later. You can put back any late blooming flowers by nipping them back now—asters, mums, heliopsis, and aconitum.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 05-22-2010---The last frost drifted through my garden like a poisonous mist, nipping the tops of my Japanese maples, the Japanese ferns, the rose of Sharon, and many of my hosta. I’m taking notes on what got damaged where, because a few feet away, is a plant that wasn’t touched, so I’m tracking where the cold spots are in my garden so next time, I’ll know which plants I’ll have to cover. I am cutting the damaged leaves off the hosta, and they will quickly put out new leaves this time of year. I’m going to give the maples an extra boost of fertilizer to encourage new leaves. Some of my mulch has gotten pushed around so I’m pulling it away from the bases of my plants. It can cause plants to rot out or in many cases, ants seem to find it a great place to create their nests. If you want to keep your pines small, now is the time to trim the ‘candles’ or new growth by half.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 05-14-2010 --I thought I had escaped scott-free from these frosts but some of my Japanese ferns, lespedezia, and Asiatic lilies have damage on the uppermost leaves. And as usual, my ‘Frisia’ locusts leaves got zapped. This tree has to put new leaves out every spring at least twice before they take. Some of my giant allium flower heads are drooping, but overall, they survived well. I'm also going to have the make the decision of which plant I want to give up in garden. All my junipers or my crabapples. The junipers have the apple rust on them and I see the crabapples starting to develop the brown spots already. And the rust isn't confining itself just to the virginiana species but is on all my uprights and even some of my spreading junipers. The French lilacs are blooming now, but there is a noticeable decline in the number of flowers. Several people have also mentioned it so I know I'm not special. And on one final happy note, some of my viburnums leaves are curling. Look for dark grey aphids. Spray with malathion or Sevin before the leaves curl because after they curl, they protect the aphids from sprays.
SUSAN’S GARDEN 05-06-2010 ---A little over-zealous digging under some shrubs has resulted in my losing a euonymus or burning bush. This was one of the first shrubs planted when I started this garden. It was underplanted with hosta, pulmonaria, ferns, and mertensia or Virginia bluebells. I don’t know what I’m going to replace it with yet. I do need some shade here but I’m not looking forward to digging up the huge root system this plant had. I’m considering the hydrangea ‘Phantom’ which would mean large puffy flowers in the summer and fall, a sambucus with its black Japanese maple-type leaves would be interesting but maybe would create too dark of a hole. I was feeling a little smug for a while, thinking how far ahead of the game I was. The weeding was in control, the leaves were picked up, pruning is finished. There were evenings I just wandered around not even carrying my pruners with me, which is really unheard of. Until the rains came. Suddenly there are dandelions a foot high! How did that happen? And then, the beds are covered with that tiny little clover that you need tweezers to dig up. I start out determinedly pulling each out, lose patience, and then just scrape the whole area up, which of course, is only going to make it worse since I’ve just uncovered a whole new slew of weed seeds which will germinate by next week. There are even weeds coming up in my formerly pristine gravel walkways. Now that’s just going a little too far. This is when I pick an area to start, usually the mailbox, and armed with Roundup, a trowel, a weeder tool, and a very large bucket, and methodically work my way through the garden. If I can pull or dig it up, I do. If not, it gets sprayed. This is the part of gardening I really don’t like at all, but it is rewarding when its finished. And this time of year it’s a pleasure to be outside with the scent of lilacs, narcissus, viburnum, and my beloved katsura tree that I’ve decided smells like sugared strawberries.
SUSAN’S GARDEN--- 04-22-2010 The crabapples are looking so healthy this spring and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the conditions that brought the cedar apple rust, stays away. The cooler temperatures has made all the red and plum-colored foliage plants all that much deeper and richer. The crabs, ornamental plums, barberry and physocarpus are nearly black---a wonderful contrast to the flowers that are just beginning. I've cut my ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea back to the ground. There were shoots on the stems already but it won’t hurt the plant—only make stronger, shorter stems. I've never had a problem with the stems collapsing, but some people do and this might help. Cut the old hydrangea flowering heads off other varieties. The tips of the stems are usually dead too, so this will tidy up the plant. Japanese maples tend to have a bit of winter kill which can be easily broken off with just your fingers. Use your pruners for thicker stems. Now is the time to take action against those plants lovingly called vigorous—some varieties of campanula, petasites, galium, myosotis or forget-me-nots, euphorbia, artemisia—you probably know the list by now and can add a few of your own. If I pull up every one I see of all these plants, they will still reappear in a months time for just enough color.
Oh, and don't
forget to get the peony hoops up. They’re shooting up so quickly, your
window of opportunity is about to close. As I've mentioned in the fall, I
use my plant supports as deer and rabbit protection, so all I have to do is move
them to where they're needed now, instead of carrying them into storage.
Some of my grasses tend to flop, so I use the hoops on those too.
SUSAN’S GARDEN--- 04-16-2010 I’ve been weeding like mad—the mustard weed was first and now the jewelweed is coming up with those oversized leaves. I’m trying to get them all before they set seed. There has been a few very small tent caterpillar nests in my crabapples, but I removed them quickly. I hope this is a light year for caterpillars—I could use the break. The birds are making their nests so hopefully they’ll need the extra food supply and get the ones I don’t see. I’m trimming the dead tips off my trees and shrubs, but to be honest, there’s not much to trim with such a mild winter. I did notice my spirea is incredibly slow to put out buds. Now I have spirea everywhere. Its one of the few things the deer still refuse to eat so I have at least ten varieties planted throughout the garden. With a little sleuthing (I’m a huge Law & Order fan), I realized that those spirea that were around the deck and the driveway, had a heavy snow cover with shoveling and snowblowing, so they must have slowed down or killed the leaf buds. Any perennial foliage that is brown or damaged should be removed if it hasn’t been already. Pull gently by hand I and if it comes off easily, that’s all you have to do. If it doesn’t come off easily, use the pruners. Trim off any brown material from thyme, phlox and low-growing veronicas. This will tidy them up and allow new growth to fill them in. I usually fertilize my alpine and rock garden plants now with a water soluable organic fertilizer. They’re coming into flower now and appreciate the boost.
SUSAN’S GARDEN--- 4-8-2010 After having an allergic reaction to the grout mix in my new bathroom and spending two weeks swollen like a sharpei dog, another two weeks with a poison-ivy-type rash, and another two weeks trying to work the medications out of my system, I was ready for some good news. The last two weeks with its 70 degree temperatures made me forget everything unpleasant. I've been getting my strength back slowly, with raking, trimming, and sweeping gravel. Two mourning doves have nested outside my window. Right now I'm entranced—later on, I'm sure I'll want to fling a flower pot at the two them cooing at four in the morning. A vole ate its way along a large patch of euonymus, stripping the leaves all off and created large holes in my juniper nana procumbens. This was all buried under the snow and I didn't see the damage until it was too late. I caught the little bugger in a trap set with walnuts. One down---at least ten more to go. I doubt anyone's looking to me for chores to do in your garden, but I have been removing all the leaves and composting them. I've been vacuuming them up with the leaf vacuum and the result is so fine, I'm adding it right in the soil to add organic material and on top as mulch because those weeds are right there ready to go. Trim the old leaves off the heuchera—the new leaves are coming up in the middle and the old leaves are laying flat. Its tedious but worth it. If it’s a real chore, they probably need to be divided. Pull the old leaves off the pulmonaria—the new leaves and flower buds are trying to break through. Cut off any brown, torn or discolored leaves off the helleborous. You will be able to see the flowers better.
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