Sunday, April 6, 2008

A Lawn Without Grass

I doubt if there is any one interested in the landscape who hasn’t considered removing their lawn to put an end to the time consuming tasks of mowing, watering, weeding, and feeding. Coupled with the effects of lawn maintenance frequently being raised in discussions regarding climatic change and the landscape, I can’t help but believe there must be better regional choices than planting grass seeds often where they need to be coddled to grow. I thought I would photos of different examples of lawn-less landscapes that I come across with the hope of discovering an alternative for myself and perhaps inspiring others as well.

Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Garden - Grand Cayman- Display of grass-less lawn.

The white sand allows offers a restful pallet for the eye to examine the landscape.

Grand Cayman neighborhood where many residents plant native and non-native species in their white sand lawn.
The white sand lawn brightly accents the other colors in the garden, of course with the exception of white flowering plants.
Although over 50% of this neighborhood was grass-less some felt the need for a lawn regardless of how much watering would be necessary.

Even the public graveyards on Grand Cayman are grass free.

e of where my lawn meets the woodland but after one short year realize this is a high maintenance replacement for lawn that is often devastated by birds and small animals searching for the grubs that live happily just under the moss. But I will say the velvety green carpet of moss paints a beautiful background that easily allows the eye to rest and peruse the surrounding gardens.

Lichens that grow on soil would make a great grass free lawn.

When dry the stiff lichen would not be as soft or durable as grass but what a great color

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hydrangeas

A few Hydrangea Blossoms From My Garden 2007

Snow Envy


Living on an island off the coast of New England that is wrapped in the warm blanket of the Atlantic Gulf Stream insures that I am one of a very few New Englanders that doesn’t own a snow shovel. Yes I realize those of you reading this in snow belt territory are assuming I am bragging but stop for a moment to consider what life might be like without that clean white pallet that much like a grass lawn allows the eye to comfortably set on your evergreens, conifers, grasses, and my favorite winter interest… bark. Without snow the bright reflective qualities of any garden are limited to the sun capturing light in the shinny leaves of evergreens. As beautiful as the “twinkle lights” of evergreen leaves can be they are often lost to me in the clutter of winter without snow. Think what a pallet of brown dirt accented with late decaying plants, leaves, twigs, plant markers, and of course yard art takes on an entirely different meaning. I would also like to point out that although you folks living in areas with large deer populations experience considerable damage I would ask you to ponder how severe the damage would be without a blanket of snow to protect the lower trunk. By far year round the most damaging effects to my garden are caused by “winter burn” I spend a small fortune on anti desiccants twice through out the winter and this of course has limited success. So come on you gardeners in snow territory admit how fortunate you really are.

Monday, February 11, 2008

A Gardeners Patriotic Duty



How did we evolve into a country where patriotic duty has become synonymous with shopping? In recent years during times of crisis rather than being encouraged to volunteer, donate, or sacrifice, we Americans are asked to pull out our credit cards and head off to the mall. Our current president told the nation right after 911 that every citizen could contribute to the common good by purchasing stuff, and now that we are in…yes I will say it…and economic recession, the low and middle class will receive tax rebates costing the federal government 170 billion dollars so that we can dash out and buy a new red, white, and blue, flat screen tv. Some answers as to how we got where we are today can be found at Annie Leonard’s site The Story of Stuff , her very thought provoking video brought me to examine my own consumerism which to be honest at this point in my life has slowed down with of course the exception of my horticultural purchasing. All of this leads me to ponder could gardeners and all they consume rescue a failing economy? Consider how well the short life cycle of most plants in my garden fit into the current economic requirement of planned obsolescence, buy plant, nurture plant, kill plant,… buy plant, nurture plant, the length of this cycle can be remarkably short I have been known to loose a young plant over night only to run back to the nursery the next day.
Have you noticed how the frequency of new plant introductions have aided our materials driven economy by perceived obsolescence? Most gardeners love being the first person on their block to be growing the latest and greatest plant. The nursery industry has taken this to such lengths that we now have a long list of inferior Echinacea introductions, and don’t even get me started on the subject of hemerocallis.
In 2007 the Chicago Tribune reported that the nursery industry uses up 320 million pounds of plastic a year making plant containers and pots. Most of which are not recycled primarily due to the lack of uniformity, unlike milk and water bottles. If we could replace the plastic pots for compost friendly pots there would still be a constant need for production of new pots but without toxins. I feel confident that the nursery industry will be unable to ignore this issue for much longer.
So will you be doing your patriotic duty and buying new plants for your garden with your tax rebate check?

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Gardeners Six Word Memoir

With the six word memoir craze found all over the blogoshpere I must admit I have been caught up in the challenge, the best of which can be found at "The Brent Park Project". Today I was presented with a few mind numbing minutes when I was void of conversation, books, and technology and created a six word gardening memoir…be warned not a simple task. I share mine with you with the hope you will post and share yours.
Plant
Nurture
Kill
Research
Repeat
Again
Hope you can join us tonight to review Helen Dillon’s “Down To Earth” I wonder what her six word memoir would be…hmm perhaps I’ll email her.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Really Bugging Me

Photo Curtesy of UMass Extension

Recently I have come to realize that my biggest problems are generally self created by ignoring the warning signs when they were small problems. My Pieris japonica var. yakushimanum ‘Prelude’ has been hit hard by the Andromeda Lace Bug Stephanitis takeyai for two years in a row, my treatment plan has been limited to spraying horticultural oil just prior to June 1st in my Massachusetts garden and then to be frank I become lazy, forgetful, and disinterested by midsummer and follow up by doing nothing.
Winter is the time I make promises to my self about better gardening practices with this in mind I decided to learn more about the Andromeda Lace Bug Stephanitis takeyai (not Lace Wing the beneficial insect) with the hopes of creating an aggressive pesticide free plan to save my Pieris japonica, and I thought I would share what I have learned, my plan of action, and update you throughout the 2008 season with the plants condition.
The Andromeda Lace Bug Stephanitis takeyai is a non native insect from Japan that was thought to have been brought over on a plant. Stephanitis takeyai has adapted very well to my zone 7a environment and according to the University of Massachusetts Extension there will be as many as three to four generations of this insect in one season(May though September). One of the things that makes combating this insect so difficult is the mother lays the eggs inside the tissue of the underside of the leaf and then protects the egg further by sealing it with a shellac like substance. Both the nymphs and the adults feed on the Pieris japonica by piercing the leaf and sucking on the plant fluid, this causes the leaves to look yellowed as in my photo. The appearance of damage to the top of the leaf can look similar to damage caused by a mite attack but the underside will be very telling as the Andromeda Lace Bug will reveal the lace bug, nymph, excrement and the shellac like substance. In the photo of my Pieris japonica leaf all of that “bug juice” can be wiped off the leaf leaving only some rather large puncture holes.
My plan of action is to begin spraying the undersides of all leaves but particularly those closest to the ground with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap (undecided which might do a better job) to eliminate as many nymphs as possible and repeat this once every two weeks eliminating new generations of eggs until the end of September.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Save A Tree And A Trip To The Recycling Center



On a morning talk show I watched a piece about a group of fourth graders taught by Ted Wells from the Park School in Brookline, Mass who had cancelled 4175 unwanted catalogs in one month. They were able to contact and cancel such a large number of catalogs with help of a great non profit Catalog Choice Lets face it most of us have limited time to devote to non-urgent chores but this was simplistic and fast, after logging on I was able to select which catalogs I wanted to cancel, and cancelled six catalogs in a period of five minutes. You will want to have the catalog in front of you as it expedites the whole process if you have your customer number from the back label. I can’t tell you how many times I have resented the burden of receiving catalogs I didn’t request and some of the worst offenders seem to send them weekly. I am not much of a shopper but I know that I send three to four shopping bags filled with catalogs to the recycling center every other month and that is not including what I immediately throw in the recycling bin at the Post Office. Many thanks to Ted Wells and his fourth graders.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

City Mouse

Hello to you all. I am new to this blog and to all of you. I live in a first-ring suburb of Pittsburgh called Mt. Lebanon in a little townhouse with enough dirt to keep me busy with flowers and herbs each year.

Lately, though, I've been gravitating more and more towards the "growing" movement of urban agriculture. I will be growing at least some of my own food this season at a community plot near where I work. Here's the website, if you're interested: http://www.homewoodgarden.net/
From what I understand, there is much sharing of crops, seeds, recipes, etc. among the gardeners here. I'm very excited!

I'd like to start my plants from seeds this year -- and I have plenty of them! This will be the first time I've tried to start lots of seeds indoors at this house, so I'm in the process of setting up a space in my basement with an industrial-style fluorescent light fixture I got from Construction Junction -- a VERY fun place to find recycled building materials and lots of other neat stuff with tons of creative potential. Here's their website, if you're interested: http://www.constructionjunction.org/

So -- my question is: Have any of you ever started seeds using grow lights or fluorescent bulbs?
I have only ever started seeds in a large sunny kitchen (NOT the one I have now) -- but never in a basement! Suggestions welcome!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Garden Photos of Lodges, Inns, and B&B's


I am what is best described as a novice gardener because of this I appreciate visiting gardens that I can easily adapt some elements of the design to my own smaller non formal suburban landscape. My eye just isn’t schooled enough to bring home insights from large European Castles and translate what I have seen into something appropriate on my little patch of earth. For this reason I have on occasion found gardens at B&B’s, Inns, and Lodges, to be some of my favorite gardens. I thought I would share a few garden photos of a few places I have stayed and hope you might do the same as well. This will be an on going post and from time to time I will add more photos so if your interested check back.
This lodge Kapitea Ridge is located in Hokitika, New Zealand and was photographed as fall was approaching.


Plant Wish List For 2008

CapeCodGardener suggested we all share our plant wish lists for 2008 here on this post with our names on them and ask for comments. I will go first…I must warn you my list is long and constantly changing, as CCG has already commented on my list I will share her comments with you as well. If you need any tech advise on how to add your list to this post I would be happy to help just email me.
Wish List - Katy - each plant is linked to the web site I plan to purchase from.
1. Euphorbia 'Nothowlee'
2. Kniphofia pumila
3. Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold'
4. Helleborus argutifolius ‘Silver Lace’
5. Paeonia 'Bartzella’ …..an insane extravagance
6. woodland paeonia from Avant Gardens – not in catalog
7. Hydrangea Macrophylla Sharona(tm)
8. Hydrangea Macrophylla ‘Sol’
9. Hydrangea Serrata 'Kiyosumi'
10 Ilex ‘Tiasquam’ …buy locally
11 Sassafras albidum, Sassafras
12 Ilex ‘Rock Garden’….perhaps one dozen
13 Arisaema sikokianum -- Japanese Dragon Arum or Jack-in-the-Pulpit
14 Aster tataricus 'Jindai' - Dwarf Tatarian Aster


Sunday, January 20, 2008

Winter Weeding


January gardening chores in my Massachusetts garden have always been limited to reading gardening books and catalogs in front of the fireplace. This year however the invasion of Cardamine hirsute commonly known as hairy bittercress has forced me out of my cozy chair and believe it or not into my garden. Cardamine hirsuta is a winter annual that is native to Europe and Asia, but has also found its way into North American gardens primarily by way of nursery potting soil. It germinates in autumn and sticks around through the winter as a basal rosette with pinnately compound leaves as in the above photo taken a few days ago. This herb is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and although it is said to be bitter it is an edible green and has been used as a cover crop. My zone 7 humid, wet garden provides everything this plant might desire. Cardamine hirsute typically flowers sporadically in the fall, then again from late winter through out spring, but this past year I had a third (not unheard of) generation of plants in early to mid July. Small white flowers sit on top of short six to eight inch wiry green stems, these flowers go to seed and ripen at different times so by the time you have spotted your first white flower there may have been ripened seeds already dispersed throughout your garden. The seed of Cardamine hirsuta like many other mustard family plants will burst explosively, when touched, sending the seeds flying far (three to four feet) from the parent plant, and it can set seed a few days after flowering, because of this the best time to remove this dastardly plant is prior to late winter. Pulling this weed in the garden is not difficult but it has begun to take over my front lawn, I have daffodils scattered through out this area so I have in the past delayed mowing until mid spring this allowed the life cycle of Cardamine hirsute to flourish. This year I hope to have the have lawn mower out as early as the end of March, bag and dispose the clippings rather than risk throwing them into the compost pile. Yes a hot pile will kill the seeds but this plants design to set seed is so ingenious that it can ripen it’s seed after the plant has been pulled from the ground, with determination like that I won’t be taking any chances.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Monday, January 14, 2008

Monthly Live Book Discussions


I thought we might try via cbox (instant messenger) live gardening book discussions once a month. For those of you interested you would need to sign up with them by clicking on cbox at the bottom of the messenger. It is free and as simple as giving them your email and screen name, if you have any difficulties with this please let me know and I will help.
I would be happy to have the book selection a democratic process so feel free to make suggestions for the February 7th discussion. My choice is “Down To Earth with Helen Dillon…advice and inspiration from one of the world’s great gardeners”. This book seems to be casual light reading packed with great information.

Tis The Season


With the catalog season now in full swing most gardeners rely on their fine tuned shopping skills to attain that ever so sought after plant. Frankly gardeners shopping for plant material are in my opinion a far more dedicated bunch than the typical mall maven. I myself begin the shopping season by doing a variety of searches (American Nurseryman) for new plant introductions, I then spend a great amount of time canvassing some of my favorite tried and true nurseries, Avant Gardens, Plant Delights, Forest Farm, and LazyS. Having finally found a justifiable reason for signing up for that excel 101 class I start classifying plants and desires, this will go on for months until one cold wet spring day when the only thing that is going to keep me from being committed is pushing that *Proceed To Checkout* button. I must admit by this time my list is shamefully long but I just don’t have what it takes to narrow it down. I follow up this experience with actually cooking a warm meal for Joe and mentioning in passing that I ordered a few plants today! After twenty nine years of marriage the poor man still doesn’t know how to decode that passing comment to what it really means…Oh My I Can’t Believe How Many Plants I Just Bought. Yes I suppose on occasion I have experienced buyers remorse in mid May when a box of twenty some odd long forgotten plants arrive, but truthfully that remorse passes in the blink of an eye and suddenly I find my self gleefully tucking my precious purchases into the middle of what was a well designed garden. So what catalogs are you perusing?

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Entry Gardens


Likely when early man visited a neighboring cave for the first time he would have instinctually stood outside this cave quickly processing the surrounding landscape for clues telling him how safe it would be to enter. I wonder what early man would think about front entry gardens in the North American suburban landscape. Have we done a good job designing entry gardens that tell visitors something about the people living inside? The trend to plant a row of shrubs abutting the front door with the double purpose of hiding the foundation has been with us for fifty or sixty years. The impact of this foundation entry garden has been diluted by the vast repetitiveness in suburbs throughout North America. Although there are some ardent gardeners who have created unique entry gardens and there are a few books written on the topic, one of the best that comes to mind is “The Welcoming Garden... Designing Your Own Front Garden” by Gordon Hayward, I believe that for the most part suburban landscape has been stuck in a rut with few examples that are not limited to the scale in both size and cost to today’s trophy home. What simple design change to the entry garden would you suggest to the homeowner who lacks enough disposable income to hire a landscape designer? Would you recommend removing the plant material off of the house, or perhaps deepen the foundation bed and add layers of plant material, would you be as brazen to suggest a trend of creating an out door room that would lead to the front door? What about your personal landscape, what does your front entry garden tell the world about you and your cave?

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Magnificent Moss

In April of 2007 when I planted a moss garden I was so pleased with myself, unlike any garden I have ever installed the moss rewarded me instantly. I will even go as far as to say that I was pleasantly shocked by this elegant garden, somehow the vision in my minds eye didn’t match the end result. Now this imbalance between vision and end result is an often occurrence but more commonly it is a grandiose vision with less than grandiose result. I began this project by turning to George Schenk’s “Moss Gardening Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures” this book is considered the authoritative voice on the subject. A few things I learned that were helpful in understanding the needs of my new garden were the following;
1. Moss has no root system it anchors itself to the ground using rhizoids.
2. Moss has no vascular tissue for sending nutrients and water throughout the plant.
3. Moss gets its nourishment from the air, photosynthesis, and water.
4. Under stressful conditions moss (like lichens) are able to temporarily stop growing and go dormant.
5. Moss reproduces by means of spores which are very dependent on an ample supply of moisture. As moss is not taking up moisture through its roots it is much happier receiving a constant fine misting rather than a frequent drenching.
After preparing the soil by removing existing plant material I loosened the surface slightly. The area I intend to plant was far too large for me to ever hope to collect from around my yard and transplant.
I contacted Moss Acres and ordered a variety of moss.

Fern Moss - Thuidium Cushion Moss - Leucobryum
Hair Cap Moss - PolytrichumAll of which thrive in acidic sandy soil in full shade.
My moss garden soil tested with a ph of 4.4 so there was no need to apply any type of acidifiers, but this is an important factor so you may want to test your soil to determine your ph. The spring and summer of 2007 was unusually dry so I don’t know why I was surprised when the slugs came slithering in, after all what more could they ask for slightly damp soil, a blanket of moss to shield them from the sun and predators, and a house that was dinner as well. Although the slug damage was beginning to tarnish my elegant garden it was manageable and I didn’t mind striking out early in the morning to hand pick and destroy these critters after all the slimy residue the slugs left on my finger tips made for a more secure grip around the thousands of weeds that were rising up everywhere and in some cases lifting the moss up off the ground. Note the brown circle of dead moss in the center of photo is the result of slug damage. I had recalled reading an experienced gardeners comment on a chat forum not so long ago that she often weeded her moss garden with tweezers and thought to myself at the time that she was a far more dedicated gardener than I would ever become, but now I was faced with so many weeds I had to learn how to do it with both hands. I convinced myself that if I kept on top of the weeding for the first few years it would eventually become more manageable. As our dry summer lingered on it became apparent that I hadn’t exactly chosen the best location for this garden as it abutted a very large blueberry bush that was attracting birds. I have come to discover that birds do the most damage to my garden, one morning I watched some Robins feast first on some blueberries then with one fluid motion lift large sheets of moss and toss them over their shoulder and walla breakfast was served. The watering was never ending, the misting system that I had invested in proved to be useless as a strong constant breeze blew the mist into areas of the woodland that I didn’t intend it to go. Sometime around midsummer I surrendered, it become clear that the drought, birds, and weeds were winning so I turned my back and ignored its presence. In spite of my neglect the moss garden survived and well you might even say thrived as you can see in this photo taken at the end of December.
Some tips that you won’t find from any reputable source but I learned the hard way.
1. Hortabsorb bonding gel that is recommended was a disastrous mess that kept the edges of the moss too moist which for me delayed the ability of the moss to hook on to the soil and resulted in some rotting.
2. The best way to deal with an area that has an abundance of moss growing with sparse scraggly grass scattered through out, is to lay some thick cardboard on top with a layer of mulch to hold down the cardboard, wait a few months checking every few weeks until the grass has died, you can then transplant the moss to another location or better yet fill in with more moss and you’ll have a beautiful mow free garden.
3. Moss that grows on bark is unlikely to be happy growing on soil. If you are transplanting moss attempt to mimic the same conditions.
4. Plastic netting will deter birds and small critters as well makes for easy removal of tree waste but is difficult to weed with, tie down, and it does alter the visual impression.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

What Are Your Ten Commandments In The Garden?

There are times you can tell how you are going to feel about a book half way through the introduction. This happened to me today when I picked up a Christmas gift “The Authentic Garden Five Principles For Cultivating A Sense Of Place” written by Claire E. Sawyers. Instantly I new this design book for all North American gardeners is likely to become a dog eared reference. By page seventeen I had the same feeling I get when I meet someone new and know instantly we will be fast friends, so to give this books it’s proper due I will report later on pages 18 thru 274 but for now I thought I would share the following (excerpted excerpt??).
“I’m indebted to the late Sir Peter Smithers, although I never met him, for outlining his clear principles to garden by and for setting an example that has inspired me. A career politician, he developed a celebrated garden at Vico Morcote in Switzerland and wrote with indelible clarity about how he did it. In an article I clipped out of a magazine years ago, he outlined the ten personal “commandments” he held dear and followed in creating his own garden. He reiterated them in his book, Adventures Of A Gardener (1995, 2-3):
1. The garden shall be a source of pleasure to the owner and his friends not a burden and an anxiety.
2. It must therefore be planted so as to reduce labor to an absolute minimum, and the amount of work must diminish as the owner grows older.
3. Any plants like palms or conifers that would contradict the nature of the surrounding deciduous forest should be rigidly excluded.
4. All plants in the garden must be of a permanent kind: no annuals, biannuals, or plants or plants requiring lifting in winter or special attention.
5. The planting must be dense so that the plants live in a self sustaining community with one another, with little space for weeds to grow and little need for support.
6. The plantings will be varying compositions according to the lie of the land with no repetition. The visitor should be surprised at every turn of the path with a new plant community different from what was seen so far.
7. At all levels planting distances are such as to form a canopy.
8. No plant is added to the garden if there is in existence an obtainable superior form.
9. Difficult plants, if not successful after a fair trial, should be abandoned for easier subjects of which there are plenty.
10. No plant is ever sold or exchanged. All plants are available to serious gardeners, stock and labor permitting. The pleasure of owning a fine plant is not complete until it has been given to friends.
These clear and practical principles really resonated with me and I plan on posting this list where I am likely to set eyes on it a few times a day. Now of course this is the season of gardeners resolutions, it is so easy to fool ourselves as we dive into yummy gardening books filled with wonderful advise that this will be the year that we follow strictly our own gardening ten commandments. Honestly I have become so good at lying to myself that each summer I am surprised when it is clear that I have slipped into my same old bad habits. Share with me if you will your list of gardening commandments.