Landscaping – gtg

 

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Pair a great pot with the right plants, and the results will delight you all summer. Here are ideas: great plant combinations, handcrafted pots, and potting soil secrets

We are the master of stuffing, you’d be surprised how many plants we can get into a pot.

We make a living creating instant gardens in pots. You can do a lot more with large containers, be much more dramatic than with small pots.  You have a greater variety of plants to choose from – plants with large foliage, shrubs, and trees – plus you can do multilayered plantings.

We find that plant-filled big containers are perfect solutions for paved-over areas where plants otherwise wouldn’t be able to grow, such as beside a front door, along a broad expanse of paving, or where pavement meets a house or garage wall.

But the best thing about large containers is that you can change plants and change the look and experiment whenever you want.

June is prime time to shop for plants, and to create your own garden in a pot in just an hour or two.

Choose Your Container and Then The Color Scheme

We suggest choosing the container first, because its shape and size will help determine the kinds of plants you’ll choose. I’m a container nut. If we see a pot with a wonderful shape, fabulous glaze, or great feel, we have to have it. We have even lugged huge pots home from overseas trips.

We consider where the pot will go, and the style of the backdrop. If the house’s interior and garden are Asian, we might choose an Asian pot. For a Spanish-style house, we might use one of our favorite containers from Mexico. Of course, you can always break the rules and choose something avant-garde.

You should decide whether you want to emphasize the plant or the pot, or both. If the pot is strong in character, you may want to fill it with a simpler plant, such as a camellia or other evergreen. But if the pot is simple, the plants it holds can dominate, with colorful and bold-leafed varieties to carry the show. Or you can have a little fun and put brightly colored plants in a colorful pot. Too much is never enough.

With so many plants to choose from, it’s tough to know where to start. We advise choosing a color scheme first. Sometimes we work off fabric samples from interior drapery, fabric-covered chairs, and accent pillows. But some of our clients just prefer certain color schemes.

We avoid the “Barnum & Bailey look” – using too many colors in one pot. I pair blue with gray because gray makes blue pop out. One of our favorite combinations is gray Plecostachys serpyllifolia with lavender-flowered Limonium perezii and blue trailing lobelia – “like a silver cloud with blue stars.” Other handsome choices in this color range are blue hibiscus, salvias, scaevola, and artemisia.

We also likes combining shades of pink, which she often accents with white or gray. For a pot in the shade, that might mean planting pink fuchsias, begonias, and impatiens with pink polka dot plant and ‘White Nancy’ lamium.

We describe our “neon” look as “less serious and more playful.” Plantings combine bold colors, such as orange, purple, red, yellow, and lime green. For example, we combine yellow begonias, bright orange ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ fuchsia, and orange-red impatiens.

There are no hard-and-fast rules” when combining colors. You can set the mood and create what you feel.

The Plants and the Planting

“Large pots always get lots of attention, so you want them to look presentable year-round, even if there’s not much flower color,” she says. So we first select a foundation plant – one with foliage that always looks good. Some of our favorites are citrus, flax, Limonium perezii, maple, princess flower, and sago palm. But we are always willing to break the rules for a special plant, such as fuchsia, even if it has some downtime. And we avoids plants whose roots take over the pot quickly, such as laurel and Myers asparagus.

Once you have a foliage plant, choose plants whose flowers pick up its colors. We spend time walking through nurseries and looking for plants. We even hunt for plants in the house plant section. We carry around leaves and other parts of plants so I can match colors or choose complementary textures. For instance, there are many shades of green, and not all greens go together. And [New Zealand] flax comes in different shades of pink and salmon.”

One word of caution when choosing plants: never mix plants with different water requirements.

Before you plant, put your pot, the plants, and bags of potting soil where you want to display the container permanently (once planted, a big pot is heavy, and difficult to move). For air circulation, we set the pot in place, then raise it on clay feet. If using drip irrigation, we run 1/4-inch laser tubing up through the hole in the bottom of the pot and allows enough slack so she can run it around the soil surface a couple of times when finished planting.

Partially fill the pot with a mixture of potting soil and well-composted chicken manure, adding just enough of the mixture so that the top of the rootball rests about 2 inches below the pot rim. Then loosen or score the foundation plant’s roots and sets the plant in the pot, putting its best side forward. Finish filling the pot with planting mix (only up to the top of the biggest rootball) and fills in the gaps with smaller flowering and foliage plants. Finally, incorporate a controlled-release fertilizer and give the planting a thorough watering.

What do you do after a few years, when the foundation plant and some of the fillers have spread out and there’s no room for flowers? We suggest root-pruning the plants and replanting them with new soil, dividing them (which is possible with New Zealand flax and other clumping plants), or starting over.

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Five easy annuals for every garden

If you only had time and space to grow five summer flowers, which ones would you choose? We asked ourselves that question last year. Flowers in dazzling colors topped our list-ones whose vivid hues would stop passersby in their tracks and invite lingering looks. We’d toss in a few varieties with eye-catching frills, spots, or stripes.

Our next criterion: They would be annual (or behave that way), going from seed, tuber, or seedling to flower to seed again in one glorious spring-to-fall season. They would be easy to plant and easy to grow. We wanted nothing that needed fussing over, nothing temperamental or wimpy. The flowers had to be good for bouquets or good companions for cutting flowers. We wanted ones that would bloom over a long season (as long as we were faithful about deadheading, of course).

We made a list and pared it down. We browsed through nurseries and catalogs, choosing plants that piqued our interest. Finally we planted many varieties of five flower groups.

As they grew, we studied their backgrounds, noting that all of them hail from hot climates. Cosmos originated in tropical America. Dahlias come from Mexico and Central America, where they were first used as food (their tubers contain a nourishing starchy substance not unlike a potato), while improved varieties bloomed lustily at Montezuma’s gardens in Huaxtepec. The marigold family, despite French and African names, is entirely American, found from New Mexico and Arizona south to Argentina. Summer mums are native to Morocco and have naturalized in sand dunes along Southern California’s coast. Sunflowers grow wild from Minnesota to the Pacific Coast and south to Argentina. (Red sunflowers descend from Helianthus annuus lenticularis, a variety found in 1910 near Boulder, Colorado.) Together, these groups make up a colorful and sunny brotherhood.

By early summer, there was an abundance of blooms that we enjoyed as much in bouquets as in the garden. Our vases were always full. And those electric colors did more than caffeine to jump-start our days. We made note of the duds and the stars; our favorites are listed below. April is a splendid time to plant them all.

Annual chrysanthemums

Unlike the muted, mostly warm-toned perennials that sustain the autumn border, annual chrysanthemums are generally earlier and brighter, and flower longer. You’re likely to encounter two kinds, both native to the Mediterranean region and both recently renamed by taxonomists (the new designation follows the old in these descriptions).

Tricolor daisy (Chrysanthemum carinatum, now Glebionis carinatum) is a 1- to 3-foot-tall annual whose flowers have bright bands of color around dark centers.

Court Jesters mix comes in orange, rose, salmon, scarlet, white, and yellow White Carinatum Dunnettii Choice mix has white, yellow, bronze, and crimson flowers. In ‘German Flag’, scarlet rays and a golden yellow band surround the central disk. Merry mix has multicolored bull’s-eye flowers on 2- to 3-foot-tall plants. Single Annual mixed comes in yellow, pink, purple, and rust.

It’s a shame crown daisy (Chrysanthemum coronarium, now Glebionis coronaria) had its botanical name changed, since the word chrysanthemum combines the Greek for gold (chrysos) and for flower (anthos)-a perfect description for this lovely annual, which usually has yellow petal-like rays and a yellow central disk. Flowers can be single or double.

‘Primrose Gem’ is a double yellow on a 3 1/2- to 4-foot stem.

Cosmos

Cosmos (C. bipinnatus) must be one of the easiest annuals ever. Sow its seeds once, and pink or white flowers come back year after year from their own seeds. Flowers (mostly singles) start blooming in early summer and continue for months until the first hard frost. The wonderful Sensation strain is the best known of the clan, but cosmos come in many other flower forms-some have rolled or filled petals-and in a range of solid colors and stripes.

‘Candy Stripe’ produces white flowers with crimson borders or stripes and grows to 3 to 31/2 feet tall. Three-foot-tall ‘Daydream’ has petals of rosy pink that fade to pale pink edges. Psyche mix bears semidouble blooms and grows to 3 feet tall. Seashell mix (to 31/2 ft. tall) has rolled petals in creamy white and shades of red, rose, and pale seashell pink. Sonata mix, a 2-foot dwarf, bears many 3-inch single blooms in white, pink, and mixes. ‘Versailles Tetra’ (to 3 ft. tall) has 4inch pink flowers and darker shading around a bright yellow eye.

Yellow cosmos (C. sulfureus) brings yellow and red flowers into the cosmos clan, but at a cost: Its seeds don’t germinate as easily as common cosmos, and its flowers tend to be smaller (2 in. in diameter) than other cosmos. Many gardeners find it easiest to grow from nursery seedlings.

Bright Lights mix has large (2 1/2-in.) flowers of yellow, gold, orange, or scarlet on 3- to 4-foot plants. ‘Lemon Twist’ bears clear lemon yellow flowers on stems to 2 1/2 feet tall. Ladybird mix grows to only 1 foot in height. Sunny Orange-Red and Sunny Gold top out at 15 inches.

Dahlias

During the 19th century in England, winning dahlias fetched hefty cash prizes in competitions, motivating breeders to produce a steady stream of larger, increasingly exotic varieties. In The English Flower Garden (1883), English landscape designer William Robinson called the large-flowered varieties “monstrosities,” prompting breeders to work on smaller single-flowering types to be used as bedding plants. Today, Westerners grow both. Named varieties, many of them magnificent in bouquets, number in the tens of thousands.

‘Anatole’ has white flowers streaked with crimson and grows to 3 1/2 feet tall. ‘Bashful’ (2 1/2 ft. tall) bears deep purple blooms with lavender tips and golden yellow centers. The flowers of 5-foot-tall ‘Chilson’s Pride’ are pure pink with white centers. ‘Pink Gingham’ (to 4 1/2 ft. tall) has petals of bright lavender-pink with white tips. ‘Siemen Doornbosch’ bears lilac blossoms with creamy pincushion centers on stems to 1 1/2 feet tall. On ‘Wheels’ (to 3 1/2 ft. tall), red petals and a yellow fringe surround the center disk.

Marigolds

The vast array of garden marigolds traces back to three ancestors: African marigolds, French marigolds, and signet marigolds, all of which originated in the Americas.

In the 16th century, the Spanish took seeds of Tagetes erecta to Africa, where it naturalized so quickly that botanists thought it must have been native there. When T. erecta finally reached England, the Brits named it African marigold. The name still sticks–especially in the craws of growers who would like to see it renamed American marigold. These 1- to 3-foot-tall plants do well in heat and produce huge flowers.

‘French Vanilla’ and ‘Snowball’ are creamy white 2-footers. Inca mix and ‘Perfection’, both with gold, orange, and yellow flowers, are excellent midsize varieties. ‘First Lady’ (to 20 in.) has yellow flowers. ‘Deep Orange Lady’ (to 20 in.) blooms in orange. Plants of Sugar and Spice mix bear 3 1/2-inch flowers of orange, yellow, and white on 20-inch-tall stems.

French marigold (T. patula) came to England via France, so it, too, wound up with a logical but inaccurate moniker. These marigolds are shorter and more refined, usually staying below 1 foot tall.

Disco mix has single 2 1/4-inch flowers of clear yellow, orange, or red on compact 10-inch plants. ‘Gypsy Sunshine’ (frilly butter yellow blooms) and ‘Honeycomb’ (frilly reddish petals edged with gold) are floriferous 6- to 10-inch-tall plants. ‘Jaguar’ bears single golden yellow flowers dabbed with maroon spots over neat, mounding 10-inch plants. ‘Mr. Majestic’ produces single bright yellow blooms with mahogany stripes on a 1- to 2-foot plant. The single flowers of ‘Striped Marvel’ (2 ft.) are striped red and gold like a pinwheel.

Signet marigolds (T tenuifolia) produce many yellow flowers on 8to 16-inch plants with fine foliage.

‘Lemon Gem’ and ‘Golden Gem’ both have dainty single flowers on 8-inch plants. Starfire mix has miniature single flowers in shades of red to gold and reaches 12 to 14 inches in height.

Sunflowers

In 1888, while living in southern France, Vincent van Gogh made a remarkable series of sunflower paintings. Done to decorate his house for a visit from fellow artist Paul Gauguin, the works show sunflowers with dark and light centers, long and short petals, and blooms of many sizes. These oils hint at the wonderful variety of these large, sunny

Sunflowers grow quickly and are easy to tend–that’s why they’re favorites with children. If you want to use them for cut flowers, as van Gogh did, choose varieties with long stems and smaller flowers. It helps if they’re pollenless, so they don’t shed on your furniture and carpet.

Pollenless ‘Dorado’ bears golden yellow flowers with dark centers on 5-foot stems. ‘Sunrich Lemon’ is pollenless and has 3-to 8-inch flowers with lemon yellow petals and black disks on 4- to 6-foot-tall plants. ‘Strawberry Blonde’ is pollenless and bears 5-inch straw-colored flowers overlaid with light red on 6-foot-tall stems. Multiflowering branching types such as creamy yellow ‘Valentine’ (5 to 6 ft. tall with 5- to 6-in, blooms) look better in the garden longer than single-stemmed sunflowers like ‘Sunrich Lemon’.

Plant our fiesta flower bed

This dazzling combination glows in the summer sun. Many of these flowers–especially the cosmos–attract butterflies and hummingbirds. In late summer and early fall, flocks of tiny finches and other seed-eating birds swoop in to graze among the spent blooms. Mass the taller-growing cosmos in the rear, with a clump of sunflowers behind (optional) and dahlias, marigolds, and midsize cosmos in the middle row. Plant lower-growing marigolds and yellow cosmos in front.

A. Ladybird mix dwarf cosmos; B. ‘Mr. Majestic’ marigold; C. ‘Tangerine Gem’ or Starfire mix marigold; D. ‘Bashful’ dahlia; E. Ladies mix marigold; F. Sonata mix cosmos; G. Sonata White cosmos; H. Seashell mix cosmos; I. Bright Lights mix cosmos; J. ‘Candy Stripe’ cosmos; K. Cosmos Sensation strain.

Planting and care Except where noted, these annuals prefer mostly sunny locations. Keep old flowers picked off to prolong bloom.

Annual mums. In hot climates, choose a spot that gets some afternoon shade. Sow seeds outdoors after weather warms for blooms in summer and fall. (If you live in a mild-winter climate, you can also sow in fall for spring and summer bloom.) You may also plant from nursery containers. Summer mums aren’t fussy about soil. Space plants about 8 inches apart. Water deeply and frequently where soils are porous, less in heavy soils. Feed mums two to three times during the growing season.

Cosmos. Sow seeds in open ground from spring to summer, or set out transplants from cell-packs, 4-inch pots, or 1-gallon cans. (Yellow cosmos are easiest to start from nursery-grown plants.) Cosmos will flower best in poor, sandy soil; heavily amended soils and lots of fertilizer result in fewer flowers. Space plants about 12 to 18 inches apart. They can tolerate some aridity, but for best bloom, water them regularly (once a week or so), especially in hot inland valleys.

Dahlias. Provide light afternoon shade in hottest areas. Plant tubers in spring after soil has warmed and danger of frost is past. Dig holes 1 foot deep in loose loam high in organic matter. Space largest kinds 4 to 5 feet apart and smallest ones only 1 to 2 feet apart. Drive a stake into the hole; place the tuber horizontally, 2 inches from the stake, with the eye pointing toward it. Cover tuber with 3 inches of soil and water thoroughly. As shoots grow, gradually fill the hole with soil. Start watering regularly after shoots are above the ground. Dahlias planted in soil enriched with compost rarely, if ever, need supplemental fertilizer.

Marigolds. Plant in full sun. Marigolds are easy to grow from seed and sprout in a few days in warm soil. Or set out plants from nursery flats, cell-packs, or 4-inch pots. Slugs and snails are especially fond of young marigold foliage; use traps or ring the planting with horticultural diatomaceous earth (available at nurseries).

Sunflowers. Sow seeds in spring. If you use young nursery plants, space them 8 to 12 inches apart in soil well amended with compost. After true leaves appear, water plants deeply once a week. Fertilize once when plants are actively growing, using a controlled-release fertilizer. Large-flowered kinds need rich soil and lots of water.

Flowers. Today the color range is even greater, with red, mahogany, and white forms in many sizes.

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Sometimes one of the best ways to reap the benefits of your hard work in the garden is to simply stop and sit and enjoy what’s around you. In an informal garden, that might mean plopping down in the grass or perching on a large stone or a rock wall. But with the growing popularity of separate outdoor areas, or rooms, the type and style of the garden furniture you choose can play a big part in the overall ambiance or feeling you are trying to create. Here is a quick review of several kinds of garden furniture. Take a look and see which material might be right for you and your garden.

Wood

Quality and price can vary greatly here. Teak and mahogany benches, for instance, can cost between $400 and $600, but last for 20 years or more, even if left untreated . A cheaper alternative: white cedar. If treated, a bench made of white cedar will last almost as long as one made of more expensive woods and cost about a third as much.

Treated pine is another good option that might be within your budget.

Wooden furniture is a favorite for many gardeners because it is lightweight and can be moved around the yard easily when you need to mow or want a change. It is recommended you apply a protective sealant during the first year or two of use, however. Paint, stain or water sealer (like the ones used to treat decks) work well.

Wrought Iron

Iron furniture has been around for years and is another good choice for the garden or patio. Again, prices vary. Purchase products with a powdered coat finish. The furniture will last a whole lot longer, and it won’t rust.

Wicker

Wicker is one of the more aesthetically pleasing (though expensive) options for outdoor furniture. But, caution, even if you paint it, stain it or otherwise treat it, wicker should never be left outside year-round. A new alternative is faux wicker, made of weather-resistant plastic resin. It comes in a variety of colors and looks remarkably like the real thing.

Plastic

Furniture made of plastic is generally cheap, lightweight, maintenance-free and can be left outside forever–what more could you want?

Stone

Furniture fashioned from stone provides a natural look, is surprisingly affordable and has the added benefit of being a more or less permanent fixture in your landscape (if permanence is what you’re looking for).

Fabric

You may not consider a fabric hammock a true piece of garden furniture, but it does provide a great place to relax in the garden. Fabric styles are mold- and mildew-resistant and therefore last much longer than the rope ones.

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Composting is good for your garden and good for the environment, but most bins are not an attractive addition to your yard. For homeowners composting is also not convenient because people usually hide their bin in their side yard and don’t use it very often. An attractive bin placed in a more central location that would fit in well with existing redwood deck and garden would be used more.

So a landscape designer designed an appealing compost bin made of redwood to complement decks; the bin has an arbor and lattice sides. Three separate bins facilitate the stages of composting. Colorful plantings around the structure enhance the charming garden style.

A professional would charge about $2,500 for the custom-made compost bin, but do-it-yourselfers can buy the materials for only $900 (excluding the cost of plants). This project is rated a 3 on a difficulty scale of 1 (easy) to 5 (difficult) and requires basic carpentry skills and tools. It can be completed in one weekend with the help of friends.

Step One: Preparing the Site

Remove any plants or other materials to make room for the 4- by 12-foot structure. Mark where the posts will go, in two parallel rows of four posts, using a spare plank to line them up. Space the rows four feet apart, and mark a 10-inch diameter around each mark to outline the size of the post holes.

Step Two: Setting the Posts

Choose redwood posts that are decay-resistant and coordinate with the existing deck, but you can use cedar instead. Each 10-foot 4×4 redwood post costs about $20.

Dig the holes to two feet deep using a post hole digger. Starting with an end post, add one shovel of quick-setting concrete and set in the post. Shovel in more concrete until it’s one inch above ground level. Do the same for the other end post. Once both end posts of one row are up, tie a string line between them to help line up the middle posts. Set up the middle posts and other row of posts in the same manner. Allow the concrete to cure for three to four hours.

Step Three: Adding the Arbor Roof

Cut off the tops of the posts at a consistent height of 7-1/2 feet. Next, take two 15-foot-long 2×8 beams and cut off the ends at an angle for a decorative touch. Hammer some nails partially into the top of the outside of one row of posts, and rest a beam on the nails, making sure the overhang is even. Attach the beam with 3″ galvanized screws. Attach another beam to the outside of the second row of posts.

After the beams are in place, top them with 2×2 crosspieces, one at each end, secured with screws. Run a string line between the end crosspieces on each side to help you line up the rest of the crosspieces. Space more crosspieces about one foot apart between the two end pieces and attach with screws.

Step Four: Building the Bins

To build the back of the bins, use 12-foot-long 2x6s to span the back row of posts. Set a board on the ground against the back posts and secure with screws. Place another board on top using 1×1 spacers to allow for air flow and then attach the board with screws. Continue by stacking one board above another until you reach a height of three feet.

For the front, first create guides so that the slats can easily slide in and out. Make the guides with two 1x1s, 2 inches apart, attached to all the sides of the posts that the slats will adjoin. Slide a scrap 2×6 between the guides to make sure they’re wide enough apart.

For the front removable slats, cut 2×6 slats to four feet long. Attach 1×1 spacers to each end of the slats so they won’t rest right on top of each other, to allow for aeration. Then slide the slats between the guides, stacking them up to form the remaining sides of the three compost bins.

Step Five: Adding the Finishing Touches

Start with a pre-fab 4- by 8-foot sheet of redwood lattice. Use a circular saw to cut it in half and set each lattice panel against the inside of the end posts. Attach them with galvanized screws.

Planting: Around a Compost Bin

Choosing flowering vines add softness and greenery to the sides of the compost bin. Colorful annuals in the area around the bin coordinate with the rest of the garden. And hanging baskets of vivid flowers adorn the top of the arbor. The planting plan includes:

Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrida ‘Gay Fandango’), Zones 8-10, for the hanging baskets

Verbena (Verbena canadenis ‘Homestead Purple’), Zones 4-7

Tips for Successful Composting

To speed up the natural decomposition of materials, to bring together the right conditions to increase heat in the compost bin. Here are some other tips:

Balance sources of carbon (saw dust, dry leaves) and nitrogen (grass clippings, coffee grounds, vegetable trimmings).

Don’t put meat or dairy products into a compost pile because they take too long to decompose, can attract animals and other pests and cause odors.

Begin with a layer of carbon-rich materials (also called brown matter) and follow with a layer of nitrogen-rich materials (also called green matter). Continue filling the bin until you reach one cubic yard of equal parts of green and brown matter.

Turn the pile daily with a pitch fork for aeration.

Keep the pile moist, but not too wet. During rainy seasons, cover the pile with a tarp.

Check the compost periodically with a meat thermometer. The material will eventually reach 120 to 160 degrees.

Composting is a great way to turn kitchen waste and yard scraps into a material that is beneficial for the garden. Mix it into your garden as a soil conditioner to nourish flowers and vegetables or use it to top-dress your potted plants.

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Home decor trends and a back-to-nature emphasis are reshaping what today’s lawn and garden consumer is seeking beyond the traditional categories of live goods, tools and supplies. Like it or not, retailers must be in tune to fashion trends in gardening decor and outdoor living products to be successful in this niche.

The five hot areas are glass garden accents, water gardens or fountains, wind art, “critters” both in the form of statuary and wildlife feeding products, and whimsical garden decor that fell under a heading dubbed as “anything goes.”

Water gardening is still as hot as ever. It’s a hugely popular area right now with lots of options.

From elaborate backyard ponds with waterfalls to ready-made birdbaths or decorative fountains, water features continue to drive sales. Another super-hot segment involves animal figurines and wildlife feeding. Demand keeps rising for bird-feeding products, which are be coming more decorative or upscale, while the single most popular critter in garden statuary is the frog.

Wind chimes, flags and spinners are another strong category, along with glass accents in garden decor, such as gazing globes and stakes. Under the “anything goes” category, items ranging from patio candles to unique garden sculptures are capturing the buyer’s eye.

Retailers need to stay on top of decor trends and make their stores inviting and compelling in order to succeed against big-box chains. Savvy retailers also know that their target female consumer is highly sophisticated, wants quality but at a value and is willing to shop elsewhere if her needs aren’t met. Smart retailers communicate with their shoppers through a Web site or e-mail and work to sell a “whole garden” rather than individual products.

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When you think of spring bulbs, tulips and daffodils are probably the first plants that come to mind. There is, however, an exciting collection of lesser-known bulbs that deserve your attention. As easy to grow as common bulbs, these unusual varieties will enchant you with their bold colors and unusual bloom shapes. Plant now, and transform your spring garden into a flower festival. Here are some of our favorites.

Scatter the bulbs of Fritillaria michailovskyi throughout your rock garden or woodland border and enjoy their lovely, nodding, maroon and gold blooms in late spring. Also called Michael’s Flower, this hardy charmer grows 6 inches tall.

Sometimes the smallest flowers can have the biggest impact. Anemone blanda, for example, grows only 6 inches tall, but when you plant it in large clumps or drifts, you’ll be rewarded with a riot of early spring color. Blue, purple, and white anemones were scattered underneath a deciduous tree. By the time the tree leafs out, the sun-loving anemones are done blooming for the year.

Pale green is probably not the first color that comes to mind when you think of spring bulbs. Yet, the bell-shaped, greenish-yellow flowers of Fritillaria pallidiflora are surprisingly eye-catching. Appearing in late April and early May, Fritillaria pallidiflora grows 12 inches tall. Plant it where more boldly colored bulbs won’t overshadow its subtle petals.

Few bulbs in our Test Gardens receive as much attention as the two-toned flower spikes of Muscari latifolium. These extraordinary little plants pop out of the ground in late April, quickly producing their unusual jewel-like blooms a few weeks later. Unlike its close relative, the common grape hyacinth, Muscari latifolium develops only one large leaf per bulb. The plants grow 6 inches tall and look terrific planted next to yellow narcissus or white Anemone blanda.

Double your pleasure with Hollyhock hyacinth. It’s just as fragrant as traditional single-flowered varieties, but it packs twice as many petals per stem. Plant Hollyhock hyacinth in a bed of its own, or team it with tulips or muscari along a garden path where you can enjoy its color and scent to the fullest. Hollyhock hyacinth grows 8 to 10 inches tall.

The towering, 3-foot-tall spikes of Fritillaria persica make an extraordinary addition to any garden. Occasionally called Persian Bells, these deep-violet, bell-shaped flowers are particularly effective when planted near bright yellow daffodils. The flowers are fragrant and appear in April and May. Persian Bells are not winter hardy in the far north.

Growing just 6 inches tall, Blue Spike muscari, Muscari armeniacum, makes an ideal edging plant for your flower garden. Each plant is smothered with clusters of double blue flowers in April and May. Left undisturbed, Blue Spike muscari will multiply, eventually carpeting the garden with bloom. For the best show, plant in clumps of at least a dozen bulbs.

When you plan your bulb garden, be sure to group varieties that complement each other in height, color, and bloom time. In this bed, small islands of double early tulips are surrounded by a sea of grape hyacinths. Both species grow 6 inches tall and flower in late April.

Cook up your own recipe for spring color by mixing different exotic bulbs together. Hawera narcissus is the main ingredient. It’s been liberally seasoned with Gemendg double tulips. The tulips’ large, ruffled flowers in red, orange, pink, and yellow complement the simpler blooms of the narcissus without screaming for attention.

A bulb auger is probably the best planting tool for larger bulbs such as fritillaria or hyacinth. The auger works like a posthole digger; just twist the handle and excavate individual holes. Plant large bulbs about 8 inches deep. Sprinkle a little bonemeal in the bottom of each hole before planting.

To plant smaller bulbs such as muscari and anemone, use a dibble. This tool has a point on one end to make planting holes. It is especially useful when you’re planting bulbs around rocks or trees. Plant small bulbs 4 inches deep.

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Drip Fertilization

These devices let you fertilize plants while you drip-irrigate them. How do you fertilize plants watered by drip irrigation? You can’t spread granular fertilizer because it would reach roots only where emitters wash it into the soil. And controlled-release fertilizers worked into the ground at planting time only last so long. You could walk from plant to plant, giving each a dose of diluted liquid fertilizer, but that would defeat the labor-saving benefits of a drip system. The easiest way to feed plants on drip is to slowly introduce nutrients directly into the water line. Two devices let you do just that; either can be hooked into a new or existing drip system.

Dissolvers use fertilizer tablets You can get nutrients to your plants using fertilizer tablets. They are loaded into a simple dissolver attached to your water source or attached just before your filter. Water flows through the unit and slowly dissolves the tablets, releasing nutrients into the drip system. The number of tablets you insert depends on the system; follow the manufacturer’s guidelines that come with the unit. If tablets fit, they can be inserted into the Y-type filter, creating a simple dissolver. But never do this with liquid or water-soluble dry fertilizers; they may severely burn your plants. Most dissolvers cost less than $10 and hook up in minutes. Some units have a built-in back flow device to keep fertilizer from siphoning back into your household water supply. If not, you’ll have to position a back flow device (check local plumbing codes for requirements) between the water source and the dissolver. The drawback with dissolvers is that you must use the manufacturer’s tablets, which are expensive for the amount of nutrients in them (about $3.50 for 10 tablets). Also, you can’t increase fertilizer concentration to accommodate more emitters; all you can do is fertilize more often.

Injectors pump in liquid fertilizer These units slowly add liquid or water-soluble dry nutrients to your drip system. The injector fits into your water line after a back flow device and before a filter and regulator. In areas with water pressure over 80 psi, place the regulator before the injector and filter. Your water department can provide information on water pressure. To fill the injector, you pour liquid fertilizer (not fish emulsion–it can clog emitters) or dissolved dry nutrients into the plastic reservoir. Pressure differences within the injector cause the fertilizer to be sucked into the water line, then distributed to your plants. Three factors determine how much fertilizer you need: the number of emitters in your drip system (more emitters, more fertilizer), manufacturer’s specifications, and the fertilizer’s dilution rate. Injector directions should tell you how much fertilizer to use. Using liquid fertilizers limits the amount of nutrients you can inject into a system at a given time. For example, you can add only 1 pint of fertilizer to a 1-pint reservoir, and you can’t increase the concentration. However, you can simply fertilize more often to get the amount of nutrients you need for the number of emitters in your system. With water-soluble dry fertilizer, you can mix a more concentrated solution. Just add dry fertilizer to water until you get the concentration you need. Injectors range from $15 to $60 (most are about $35), not including filter and pressure regulator.

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After The Sun Goes Down, Your Garden takes on a new dimension. Most gardeners plan for their landscapes to be viewed during daylight hours, but landscape lighting can extend your enjoyment into the evening. Lighting makes your garden come alive, highlighting the curved branches of a Japanese maple or lighting a rippling pond. Soft light shows off the artistry of flowers, shrubs, trees and landscape accents in a new and different way.

Planning and installing lighting is easier than ever with low-voltage lighting. Both standard 120-volt and low-voltage 12-volt lighting are used to light gardens and patios. The higher voltage is generally preferred for lighting where security is a concern, but low-voltage works well in most other areas. In addition, the more powerful 120-volt lighting is subject to a number of electrical codes. It is best for a licensed electrician to work with high-voltage lighting.

The use of low-voltage lighting has dramatically increased in the last five years. Many do-it-yourself lighting kits can be installed in a weekend. The case of installation lets you focus more time and energy on designing and enjoying the lighting system.

The first step is deciding what type of nighttime atmosphere you want to achieve. Well-executed lighting is subtle, so observe how different home landscape are lighted when you walk or drive around at night. Make notes of the ideas you like.

Then, take a critical look at the landscape area you want to light. Be sure to stand where others will be viewing the landscape. For the front yard, stand at the curb and look toward the house. For the back yard, stand in the area where you do most of your entertaining.

On a pad of paper, draw the landscape and mark the best features. Let you imagination paint a picture with light. Envision light splashed on a fence, spotlighting a favorite sculpture or shining up a tree.

The following are several basic lighting techniques you can use to highlight the areas you marked:

Uplighting. This is one of the most common lighting methods. Place a floodlight at the base of a tree and angle the light into the branches. Work with the light to find the most interesting branches. Crosslighting uses two or more lights to uplight from different angles.

Downlighting. Also called moonlighting, downlighting splashes light onto plants and other landscape elements. You can mount lights in trees or on the roof. Downlight sparingly to mimic the soft glow of a full moon.

Backlighting. Light the object from behind to cast artistic shadows and create appealing accents. Light a wall or fence to silhouette plants in the foreground.

Path Lighting. For safety, light paths, stairs look, alternate sides the landing strip look, alternate side for lights. Place lights on one side of narrow walkways.

Highlighting. Sculpture, water features, specimen plants and patios are among the landscape elements you may want to highlight. Highlighting can be done with one or more lights focused on the element.

Once you have designed your lighting plan, the next step is selecting lights. There are many choices of low-voltage lights, ranging from simple to artistic. Tier lights are one of the basics, available in everything from simple black to ornamental designs.

Most people look at design and budget when purchasing lights. However, you should consider the durability of the lights you choose as well. Outdoor lights need to withstand wind, rain, sun and other abuses. The light bulbs and lenses should be easy to change. Wiring should be durable and well-insulated to protect it from the elements.

A transformer is also necessary to connect the 12-volt lighting into your existing 120-volt system. The transformer reduces the voltage to the level needed to operate low-voltage lighting. Many lighting kits come complete with lights, wiring and a transformer.

The principle of wiring outdoor lighting is basically the same as indoor lighting except outdoor wiring must withstand the elements. It must be waterproof and weatherproof. Transformers generally are contained in as waterproof housing, but it is best to install them beneath an overhang and at least 1 foot above ground.

For the transformer, choose a central location to minimize the amount of wire you need to run to the lights. Connect the transformer to an electrical outlet with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). A GFCI looks like an ordinary electric outlet, but it is designed to shut off within 1/40 of a second if there is a leak in the system. This safety feature helps prevent electrical shocks.

The transformer size, available watts on the circuit and wire thickness will determine how many lights you can attach to the system. Check the transformer rating for the total allowable wattage for all lights attached to the transformer. The rating also tells you haw many feet of cable it can service. Always err on the side of attaching fewer lights. Do not overload the system.

When working with electricity, be sure to shut off the circuit breaker before attempting to make installation or repairs. Do not turn the electricity back on until you are finished.

Run the low-voltage wire from the transformer to the landscape lights. Whenever possible, choose the shortest distance between points. Lay low-voltage wire on the surface or bury it just a few inches below ground. Burying the wire can help prevent vandalism and accidents.

How lights attach to the wiring will depend on the type of lights you select. Most connect to the wire without stripping and require little or no grounding. Many systems feature snap-on connections that clip the lights onto the main wire. The lights attach with a short length of wire that allows you to move the light around a bit before placing it.

Once all the lights are connected, turn on the electricity. With the help of a friend, move the floodlights around to offer the best angles and cast artistic shadows. Placing lights is an art, so take time to find the best spot. Whenever possible, tuck the floodlights in a hidden spot so the light shines on its target, appearing to come from nowhere.

Lighting can be an evolving art, so take another look at the lighting every season. You may find new garden features than can shine in the night.

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Since fertilizer is actually food for your plants, you should consider the various mixtures, types, forms and nontraditional aspects of fertilizing a yard. There are two broad categories of fertilizers: synthetic and natural.

Synthetic fertilizers are made up of inorganic blends of various mineral salts. They are often considered quick-release fertilizers because the ingredients dissolve quickly in water. As a result, the nutrients are readily absorbed by the plants’ roots. These types of fertilizers provide quick energy–but little nutritional value–for the plant.

Natural fertilizers are blends of natural and/or inorganic ingredients such as animal manure and unusual materials such as tankage, blood and bone meal, feather meal and green sand. These fertilizers are categorized as slow-release types because the nutrients they contain dissolve slowly in water. It could take several days or even weeks before these nutrients are available to the plant.

Hybrid fertilizers contain both synthetic and natural ingredients. The advantage of the hybrid is that your plants get both short- and long-term effects of fertilization.

All landscape plants require three major nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Nitrogen is essential for leaf growth and green leaves. Phosphorus is good for flower and fruit development, and potassium helps to maintain strong roots. Plants also require minor nutrients such as calcium, sulfur and magnesium, along with trace minerals such as zinc, copper and chlorine. Compost made up of organic matter may be considered yet another food group for plants. Without compost, plants will not grow, no matter how much fertilizer is used.

Some of the more popular brand names for nitrogen fertilizers are Bandini Blood Meal (an organic nitrogen product that produces deep green growth), 49er Cotton Seed Meal, Fish Emulsion and The Real Poop. Popular brand names for phosphorous are Bandini Bone Meal and Granulated Rock Phosphate by Whitney Farms. Some popular sources for potassium are wood ashes from the fireplace, Green Sand and Organic Kelp Meal, both by Whitney Farms.

Seaweed and kelp, available in liquid or dry form, also provide trace minerals and growth enhancers that help plants absorb nutrients better.

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For every bed and every border, there must be a reason. You have to figure out that reason before you even shape the garden. Is it an entry garden? Does it have to have a high-season splash of color? Are fall and winter interest important? Does it need to be low-maintenance? More questions: Do you want a specific kind of bed or border? English cottage garden? Mediterranean? Are deer a problem? Is water? Only once you have asked yourself all these questions, and more (and, yes, answered them), can you begin to plan the shape of your gardens. And only after that can you start to figure out what plants you want and where you want them.

Is your planting area in shade or sun?–another question to ask yourself.

Another tip for you. You’ll like this one especially.

It’s never a bad thing to make mistakes. You learn by trial and error. You will be self-taught by mistakes. When something doesn’t work, I change it.

If you need to move a plant, move it. But after moving a plant three times, it goes into the compost pile. Because sometimes a perfectly good plant turns out to have no earthly reason for being in your yard. If it doesn’t look good, excuse it from the garden.

One more thing – perennials aren’t the only answer. Make sure to integrate trees and shrubs into your herbaceous beds and borders.

We started a drive-by border with a triangular anchor of trees–cherry, magnolia, and liquidambar. Then introduced a slow-growing conifer–a golden Hinoki cypress–which gave a yearlong glow to the wonderful garden.

The addition of trees and shrubs does two things. One, it gives layers to your garden. The beds rise from ground-huggers to the coif-toppers, a must if your backdrop is filled with tall objects. But, two, the structural aspect of the woody plants gives you something pleasing to look at in the off-season–that oft-bandied term “winter interest.”

In winter, when everything else is gone, those architectural plants are still holding it all together. We just love four-season borders. If you plan well, you will include some colorful berries; trees with striped, peeling, or glossy bark; yellow and blue evergreens; broadleaf evergreen shrubs; and deciduous woodies with interesting branching habits.

We haven’t completely eliminated all-perennial gardens. We have some clients who still want them.

Why to Think Big

Seasoned gardeners know to do things in a big way. Paths shouldn’t be a stingy 2 or 3 feet wide; that’s a dog path. Paths should be 5 or even 6 feet wide. Two people should be able to walk side by side without tripping over each other. Benches, if they are to accommodate anyone but love-struck teens, should be 5 or 6 feet wide. For two more level-headed people to sit agreeably, 4 feet is too close for comfort. Elbows collide; drinks get spilled.

And then there are flower borders. We used to think of borders as 4 feet deep. Now we like to make mine 10 to 12 feet deep. That’s how you get all those ornamental trees and flowering shrubs in there. It really knocks your socks off.

A Few Parting Words

Put some edibles in your landscape. The kids graze all summer long, and we have apples all winter.

Plant lots and lots of euphorbias. We just love every one of them. They’re especially good in flower arrangements.

And Now a Few Words About Edging

We first edged an oval island bed with rocks collected on the property. Funny thing though–weeds don’t know they aren’t supposed to grow in and among stones. In fact, weed seeds like to lodge there. Worse, it is hard to weed out rogues around and under rocks. So what started out as a weed-suppressant idea became a weed-germination nightmare. Solution: we pulled back the stones, had a concrete barrier laid, and set the stones back in the concrete:

If you have flowerbeds next to your lawn, edging (such as flat stone or bricks) can provide double duty. This soil-level barrier not only keeps your lawn and your perennials from encroaching on each other’s turf, but also acts as a mowing path. Run the wheels of one side of your mower right on top of the stone or brick. The grass will be cut at a uniform height, and there will be no telltale line of towering stragglers along the edging. Nope, no hand shears or weed trimmers needed.

Garden plans

Most yards start out as a standard rectangle. It is up to you to break out of the box. Here are four starting points to get you thinking about what kind of shape or shapes you might want to impose on your landscape. Rather than just line the edge of the property with a hedge, think of the boundary as opportunity for border gardens. And maybe that’s all the gardening you want to do. For now. But gardening has a way of becoming an itch you just can’t help but scratch, and somewhere along the line you may decide more is better. The shape you stamp on your backyard is one of the greatest injections of personality you can make on your garden. Just remember: These shapes should have a reason too. Think: How do I use my yard?

Garden plans

The Garden Retreat This plan features a wide flower border on the left and an entertaining area (or a spot for seclusion) way out back.

The Cottage Garden An ambling, free-form lawn seeps like a slow river through undulating flowerbeds. Ah, to be in England.

The Formal Garden Circular turf areas give strong geometry in a dramatic space. Ample areas are provided for ornamental plantings.

Room for Kids Children can get up a full head of steam and still avoid trampling on the flowerbeds. So they can play while you plant.

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Most people separate work and play into separate boxes–eight-to-five in the cubicle, weekday evenings watching sitcoms or carting the kids to ballet rehearsal, and weekends of golf or waterskiing.

Not so the gardener. Digging holes and pulling weeds could hardly be called recreation. But gardening doesn’t fit so neatly into the work box either. Although at day’s end you’re left with sore muscles and more weeds to pull, you also find that your soul has been nourished and your spirit rejuvenated.

Gardening is the most popular hobby, but the term seems pitifully inadequate. What term could be applied to a pursuit that takes so much of you and yet gives so much back? Gardening is an avocation, a passion, a calling. It’s getting out of the car after a long day and a longer commute, feet sore, brain frazzled, body drained, and finding you can’t wait to drag hose, tend tomatoes and transplant zinnias.

In the hierarchy of all things important, gardening is very near the top.

It’s important because you pass along the awe to the youngsters in your life. Together you plant radish and carrot seeds and you get as excited as they do when the seedlings poke out of the ground–not to mention that kids who grow radishes and carrots are more likely to eat them.

Gardening, they say, keeps you young, although there hasn’t been any scientific data on the subject. Staying young is important and I’m guessing gardening is less painful than some of the Beverly Hills methods (though perhaps nearly as costly). There have been a fair number of elder gardeners with a certain nimbleness of step, a bit less stiffness in knee and hip. The elder gardener may pull fewer weeds and find their shrubbery has swallowed large chunks of yard, but they walk through the garden with a grace that only a lifetime among bees and butterflies can give.

Gardening is important for the economy since only a gardener would spend $75 on a single hosta or daylily, and to do so with no regrets. Only a gardener would spend winter evenings reading plant descriptions in garden catalogs, believing every word.

It’s important because it teaches you humility when the $75 hosta is devoured by voles (a small vegetarian rodent with expensive tastes), or the prized rose bush decimated by Japanese beetles. It also teaches the joy of nurturing, the delightful responsibility of caring for a seedling that depends on you for light, water, life.

It gives you an excuse to wear silly hats that keep the sun off your neck and hang out with other gardeners who will covet your silly hats.

It’s important because when your gardening days are finally done, some young couple will come along and rediscover your long-neglected garden. As they are cutting back the overgrown shrubbery they will encounter some fragrant treasure that you sowed so many years ago. That treasure will spark in them something that they will pass along to their own children.

In a world where conflict and strife seem to surround us, gardeners create a space where peace and beauty reign. In a time of rampant selfishness, gardeners set the example of selflessness. For it’s impossible to garden only for yourself. The colors and textures you splash upon the ground are soaked up by all the birds, butterflies and passersby in your neighborhood.

But mostly, it’s important to be a good steward of a small patch of earth and to know that you are one among millions who are helping to heal a wounded planet, one garden at a time.

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This time of year, gardeners are likely to say, “What we need is a good rain.”

So what is “a good rain”? It’s a shower that is gentle enough to soak in before it runs off and lasts long enough to thoroughly moisten the garden. For gardeners who look to nature as a model to grow by, there is no better example of how to water than a good rain.

If you go out and do a little sprinkling each afternoon, over a few weeks your plants will develop roots in the top inch or two of soil where they find moisture. But when you go away for a week at the beach, the surface of the soil dries out quickly and your plants suffer.

However, if you water enough to moisten your soil 5 to 6 inches deep, and then wait until plants are thirsty before soaking the soil again, your plants will develop deep root systems that will survive your vacation this summer.

You can tell when your plants are thirsty before they wilt. Lawns, annuals, perennials, and shrubs look slightly pale; their green leaves have a grayish cast. Finally their leaves look a little limp before they actually wilt. That’s your cue to pour it on. Then sit back until your plants give you the signal again. With any luck, you will get a good rain before you have to drag out the hose.

Sprinklers vs. Soakers

Sprinklers actually simulate rain, and you can buy portable models in a variety of designs. Some are even adjustable in their coverage area. Just as in-ground sprinklers are chosen to fit their niche, select your portable sprinkler to suit your garden. You may need different models to fit different areas. Read packaging to determine how much area a sprinkler is designed to cover.

Tall foliage may block the spray coming from a sprinkler. Buy a tripod for your sprinkler, or simply set yours on a ladder and weight it down with a brick or rock. This will get the spray above nearby foliage so coverage is more even.

Soaker hoses include flattened plastic tubes with lots of little holes that emit short sprays, as well as hoses made of recycled tires that simply ooze water. Both have the advantage of providing moisture economically, delivering it where you need it with minimal loss to evaporation or runoff. These are ideal for long, narrow beds or rows in a vegetable garden, but they are not the best choice for an expanse of lawn.

Potted Plants

Plants growing in containers are especially dependent. Their roots can reach no deeper than the pot in which they are planted. If the container is unglazed clay, it will dry particularly fast, leaving the roots parched.

To water a potted plant, fill the reservoir formed by the inch or so of the container’s rim that extends above the level of the soil. Let that soak in. Repeat until water runs out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. If the soil becomes so dry that it has shrunk and pulled away from the sides, water several more times to be certain the soil is thoroughly moistened. (Sometimes water can just run down the sides and out the bottom of the container.)

Water-absorbing polymers can be mixed into potting soil to create an internal reservoir. These clear gelatinous granules swell to many times their size, holding water that is released as the soil dries. These products are good for hanging baskets, window boxes, and mixed planters that can’t make it through a hot day without wilting. Be careful though; if you don’t follow directions and use too much, the soil will expand and overflow.

Rule of Thumb

How much water you apply and how often you need to water depends on your soil. If you have a clay-based soil, it will hold more moisture. Apply about 2 inches of water (measure it in a container placed under the sprinkler) once each week. If you have sandy soil, it will hold less and dry more quickly. Apply about an inch of water twice a week.

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