Many gardeners put up their tools and prop up their feet during the winter months. It is a time to slow down and take life a little easier. Many gardeners spend the long evenings poring through garden catalogs and magazines. Getting inspiration for their spring planting. I do the same. But that is not the point of this post.
Here in Durham North Carolina, we usually have fairly mild winter with the occasional snow. Today for example the high temperature will be in the 60′s. It is still a little early to do a lot of cleanup in the garden as the leaf litter helps keep down winter weeds and moderates soil temperature fluctuations. Never know if bitter cold weather is still ahead. Besides, the dried tops of many perennials look good in their winter browns and tans. I especially like some of them when they are covered in frost and sparkle in the sunlight. So I usually wait until later in the winter to do my cutting back of perennials. Take the time to appreciate the subtle colors and textures of your winter garden.
I also take the time to see where the garden is lacking in interest during the winter. Around here the leaves drop just before Thanksgiving, and the trees don’t leaf out until late March or early April. That’s a good 4 months or more. Don’t waste that time! Add color for that third of the year. Find blank areas in the garden in the winter where you can add evergreens or plants with winter color like berries or a change in color. One of my favorite plants in my garden is a white pine called ‘Hillside Winter Gold’ As the name suggests, the needles on it turn gold in the winter.
Hillside winter Gold Pine
Another plant that adds interest to the winter garden is Ilex verticillata. Some variety names are Winterberry and Sparkleberry. These are native deciduous hollies. As with all hollies, there are both male and female plants. If you don’t have berries, you may have a male or you have a female and there is not a nearby male. I usually insure berries by ordering a male any time I plant females. Most named varieties will be of a known sex.
Winterberry Holly
Other plants with winter berries are evergreen hollies, hawthorn, and beautyberry. Many of the thuja cultivars have evergreen foliage that changes color with the cold weather as do some of the junipers. Many winters the oakleaf hydrangeas hold onto some of their deep red leaves. Some plants have interesting bark that shows more after the leaves fall. The oakleaf hydrangeas have a cinnamon peeling bark that is hidden by the large leaves all summer. Ninebark also has interesting bark that is unnoticed during the summer.
The point I am making is that the garden doesn’t have to be boring for the third of the year or longer that it is “dormant”. With some planning and some appreciation for winter’s subtleties the garden can be quite enjoyable year round.
Jaliya's Garden January 2012
Jaliya's Garden 20102
So I haven’t posted on here in quite a while. 2011 got very busy for me and a lot of progress was made on Jaliya’s garden as well as the plantings around the house. I hired a landscape architect to help with my business as I found I didn’t have enough time to keep up with all the design work myself. He is a plant nut like myself. It’s like living with your crack dealer. He showed me new plants for me to try as well as new sources for plants I had been looking for. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on plants last year and Jaliya’s garden is filling up. I found a source for native azaleas here in North Carolina and added several species to the garden. I also purchased the new Hamamelis ovalis which was a new species discovered just a few years ago. Other witch hazels I discovered were Hamamelis purpurea which has purple flowers and is blooming now. Another is Hamamelis vervalis Lombart’s Weeping which of course is a weeping witch hazel.
I’ve also added Physocarpus ‘Little Devil’ which is a smaller version of the more well known Physocarpus ‘Diablo’. The Diablo has done very well for me so having a smaller version was a no-brainer. I think I may actually like it better. I will write a post about it with pictures when it blooms later this year. Another new purchase is Diervilla sessilifolia ‘Cool Splash’ This is a rare native plant to start with but this variety is variegated. It held it’s leaves late into the season, and in fact still has a good many of it’s leaves now in the middle of January. More posts will follow through out the year as plants reach their prime season.
Many times, especially in urban areas, a homeowner is faced with a jungle of invasive, non-native plants over-running everything. Some of the common plants in the Southeast are English Ivy, Asian wisteria, Ligustrum or privet, (or both), the non-native mulberry, and Japanese honeysuckle, just to name a few. Bamboo is often common and extremely hard to get rid of. How does one go about getting rid of these invasive plants in order to grow more desirable plants?
There is no easy way. It requires a lot of work and persistence. It does not happen all at once and requires a focused long term program. The first thing to do is to dig out all that you can physically dig out. This is hard, back breaking work. You can be sure that there will be some that you miss. As soon as you see some sprouting back up, you have to remove it quickly. Many of these plant will regenerate from the roots. Any foliage that remains long will recharge the batteries of the roots so to speak. You must keep at it until the roots are exhausted. It is not a once or twice hit and you’re done type of project.
Some achieve more rapid results by spraying the foliage with a chemical brush killer. I prefer to not use chemicals as a general rule but in the case of invasive plants, it can shorten the time-line. These chemicals work best on newer leaves. One way would be to cut everything to the ground and then follow up with a chemical spray once you see new leaves. This process requires you to keep it up with several repeat sprays until the roots have given up and are dead. You can also put the concentrated brush killer on freshly cut stumps to prevent regrowth.
Whatever method you take, you have to be vigilant to be sure your garden stays free of these invasive plants. Vines such as wisteria will creep back in from your neighbor’s yard. Seedlings will pop up and will need to be removed as soon as you can spot them. It is not a battle, it is a war. You have to be in it for the long haul. However it is worth it. You can do your part to keep our native plants and non-invasive exotic plants by being run over by these exotic invasive plants. Future generations will thank you. Most of these plants flourish because there is no natural control to keep them in check. In this case, it has to be human control.
Many people stereotype southerners as slow or living a slower paced life. With the heat and humidity of the South, it’s not laziness, it’s survival. The biggest garden chores in the summer are watering and weeding. You can plant year-round in the South but a lot of people hold off planting in the summer. Summer heat is stressful for plants. It takes a lot of water for plants in their first year in the garden and especially so in the summer. You will always have a “first” summer for any plant in your garden. This is often the most critical time in getting a plant acclimated to your garden.
The other main chore of the summer is weeding. Tree seedlings can soon turn your garden into a forest. I also make sure any invasive exotic plants that are seeding into the garden are removed immediately. My definition of a weed is “a plant out of place”. Some ornamental plants are appreciated when they seed in and fill in a space. Others can take over a planned garden. When I first moved into my current home, I removed every invasive exotic plant from my rear garden. When I was done, I only had one tree left. It was a jungle of invasive plants. In many urban areas, it is a constant battle keeping out these types of plants that someone in the past thought it was a good idea to plant. Even if you don’t have them in your yard, they often seed in from the neighbors. Education is important. Gently encourage your neighbors to also remove invasive plants. They may or may not listen. The more people who understand the damage done to the environment by invasive exotic plants, the better for future generations.
During the summer, take notes on any time period that your garden doesn’t seem to have blooming flowers. You can sit in the comfort of your air conditioning and plan for buying plants to fill those gaps. You might notice that you have too much of one color and not of another. You might find areas where you have a lot of weeds because your garden isn’t planted thick enough to discourage weeds. Sit back with your favorite cold beverage and look at the plant catalogs and online information to plan what you want to plant at the first sign of cooler weather in the fall. If you can plant early in the fall, you will get some good new growth before winter and the plant will be further established by the time next summer rolls around. Then when the heat and humidity of the next summer has you feeling lazy, you can look at your garden with more enjoyment and less work.
I was back home again in Indiana for the Memorial Day weekend. While I was there, I visited with some family members. One of my uncles asked me what was the best type of Spruce for him to plant. I had no good answer for him. I grew up in Indiana and studied at Purdue so I learned the plants for Indiana. However, it has been over 20 years since I did any landscaping in Indiana. So I forgot most of it.
Which brings me to my point. Many times while looking for gardening advice, we look at books of more likely today, we look it up on the internet. The internet covers the WORLD! How can you know exactly what is the right plant for your area? You have to find out what location the writer/blogger is referring to. Plants listed as full sun in the northern states might need shade in the hot south. In our area in NC, hostas are grown in the shade but in their native environment, they grow in full sun. But they also grow in marshes in their native china so the moisture level stays constant for their large leaves.
As for spruces, The Norway spruce is grown in our area but they really would prefer to be grown one zone north of us. The Colorado Blue Spruce is grown here but it would normally be found in more northern/ higher altitudes. One of the biggest surprises for me when I went to Miami was seeing “house plants” being used as landscape plants. You have to take local areas into context when looking at gardening ideas on the web. Some websites such as Dave’s Garden will tell you where people are growing a certain plant. Local garden centers are much better about local information than any of the big chains such as Lowes or Home Depot. You might pay a little more for the plants but you get the correct information. When you consider the cost of buying new plants to replace the ones that die, then usually you will come out cheaper. That makes gardening a lot more enjoyable and a lot less frustrating.
So it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything here. Spring for any garden designer is busy along with the time spent on one’s own garden getting ready for a tour. So there has really been no Spring break,
We’ve had a pretty good spring so far in Durham. We haven’t hit 90 degrees yet which is a little unusual and have had many days below 80, also unusual. We’ve also had a bit more rain than normal so everything is growing very well. Some years it seems that spring is only 2 weeks long because we go from cold to hot in a very short time.
Spring is also a time for historic home tours in Durham and I’ve made it around to my share this spring. Of course, many times I am more interested in the gardens than the houses but no one really needs to know that. Preservation Durham’s home tour party was held at a home with an extensive garden on a corner lot. This allows the garden to become sort of a public garden. Nothing like touring someone’s garden other than your own to put your plant identification skills to the test. Truth be told, I have a couple of plants in my native garden that I have forgotten what they are. Nothing wrong with discreetly leaving a plant tag near the base of a plant to remind yourself later what it is. I’ve spent some time recently tagging some of the larger trees and shrubs with aluminum plant tags that hang by thin wires. These can be moved easily as the plant grows to allow you to find it later. I went through a pack of 50 of these tags and had to order another 50. Perennials are not conducive to this technique so I’ll have to either remember them or do the tag in the ground thing.
I have shown the garden to more people this spring than probably the past four years combined. I’ve always told my customers that most gardens really seem to come into their own on the third year. This has held true for Jaliya’s garden. Of course, I know what is left in my mind to be done at a later date but new people to the garden do not know. Seeing a garden in this stage followed by pointing to the jungle in the back yard next door let’s them know that they too can have a beautiful garden in just a couple years time. My own back yard looked just like the one next door when I moved in.
Before the blood sweat and tears.
It will take some time for the trees and shrubs to reach their prime. That is where perennials do such a good job in creating interest in a garden. Too many landscapes focus only on trees and shrubs and are missing out. Or they will throw in a few daylilies or some other common tough perennial and stop there. We’ve talked before about the five design functions of plants and these pictures help to bear that out. The perennials give a lot of interest to the garden while the larger plants grow. In five years, this garden will look so much different because the shrubs will be showing their form and the trees will change the sun/shade patterns. But that is the fun of garden design. You have an idea in your mind of what you want to create. You then go to work and let nature bring it to fruition. A garden is never really done. It just grows and develops along with you.
Spring flowers are highly anticipated and treasured for their brief display. Today I walked through Jaliya’s Memorial Garden and took some pictures of currently flowering shrubs. Tomorrow I will try to show you pictures of the flowering perennials from the garden.
Rhododendron 'Roseum Elegans'
Rhododendrons are large evergreen shrubs native to the mountains and piedmont in the southeast. They require shade and good drainage. They can have some morning sun but no more. There are many cultivars out there. Roseum Elegans is my favorite.
Eastern Ninebark 'Diablo'
This is an Eastern Ninebark variety called ‘Diablo’. It is noted for it’s dark leaves. There are other cultivars available with yellow and copper leaves. I like Diablo for the contrast in color especially while in flower. Ninebarks would often get lost in the shrub border if you used the standard green leaf variety.
Blue Muffin Viburnum
This is a Viburnum dentatum called blue muffin. It is claimed to have nicer shinier leaves than the species. Later these flowers will be dark blue berries for the birds to eat.
Fringe Tree
This is a native shrub/small tree called Fringetree. It’s easy to see how it gets the name. There are male and females of this tree and supposedly the male flowers are showier. I don’t notice the difference. Probably because usually you see them as a stand alone specimen rather than in groups so you could compare. There is a Chinese Fringetree that may have a nicer habit but our native one has fragrant flowers that the Chinese species does not.
Many of the native azaleas have already bloomed but there are still more to bloom later in the season. Hopefully one day I can devote a post to all of them. The Virginia Sweetspire is in bud and will be blooming any day now.
Redbud trees are usually the first blooming trees people notice in the spring. They bloom just before the dogwoods and often the end of their bloom overlaps the start of the dogwood bloom. They are understory trees and usually are most noticeable along the edges of woods. This tells you a lot about where they are happiest to grow. However, people do grow them out in full sun.
Jaliya’s Memorial Garden has 6 different cultivars of redbud. The most common variety is the Forest Pansy Redbud. This redbud grows to a typical redbud size but the leaves start out as a Reddish/Purple color. They will keep the purple color for a while into the season before turning a dark green.
Forest Pansy Redbud with new leaves.
Their is a new purple leaved Redbud called Merlot. It is said to hold the purple leaf color longer into the season.
Another Redbud in the Garden is Called Hearts of Gold. The leaves on this plant start out a yellow color and stay light green all season. This helps the plant to stand out in the shade or with a dark background.
Hearts of Gold Redbud
Another Redbud in the garden is Floating Clouds Redbud. This redbud has leaves that are variegated with white.
Floating Clouds Redbud
There is another White variegated leafed redbud called Silver Clouds.
Another Redbud in the garden is the Rising Sun Redbud. I have had this one less than a year. The leaves on it come out yellow and even orange in the spring. I am told it will hold these colors all season.
Rising Sun Redbud
I have two weeping Redbuds in the Garden. The first is a weeping redbud with the typical green leaves. The second is called Ruby Falls. It has purple leaves like the Forest Pansy or Merlot.
Green Weeping Redbud
A very young Ruby Falls Redbud
All of these Redbuds have the reddish purple flowers. There is a redbud with white flowers. There are also cultivars of Redbud from the texas subspecies of Redbud that have shinier leaves than their eastern counterparts.
So choose one or more redbuds for early spring flower color. The flowers may only last a couple of weeks but with the new cultivars out there you can have more seasonal interest than just flowers.
There is a new residential development in our area that advertises that they are green and use native plants. This excited me because having a whole neighborhood that was planting natives could show how attractive a native community could be and such a large area of natives would be a seed source for natives to be reintroduced into the natural landscape.
Imagine my surprise when I drove through this neighborhood and had a hard time finding these native plants. I had a couple customers referred to me in this neighborhood and their front yards were already planted by the landscaper hired by the builder. NOT ONE native plant was in these front yards. The clients were surprised to hear this.
So I found out the name of the GUY IN CHARGE of selling lots in the development and gave him a call. He told me that they did plant native. When I told him what I saw he said well they plant SOME native. When I pressed further, he said well they plant drought-tolerant and maybe in order to do that, they had to plant some non-natives. You do not have to plant non-natives to have drought tolerant plantings. Many natives are drought tolerant because every where has the occasional drought and the natives in that location survive. Then he said that azaleas are native. I told him that some azaleas are native but the ones that are here are deciduous. The evergreen azaleas common in the south come from Japan. He still insisted that they are native because they are everywhere. That is the same as saying European- and African-Americans are Native Americans. He then got short with me and said he had heard enough. He did not want to hear the truth any more. He wanted to go on believing that he was being responsible to the environment and planting native plants. I feel he is lying to prospective buyers.
The term NATIVE when it comes to plants means that it is indigenous to the area. When I plant “native”, I include plants that are indigenous to the Southeast US with the exception of South Florida. This gives me an expanded palette of plants to choose from above what is indigenous to Durham, NC.
The term NATURALIZED means that the plant came from another part of the world but has moved into the natural environment on it’s own. So the Japanese Azaleas are not even naturalized as they do not seed into the woods. Privet is naturalized as it comes up on it’s own all over the woods. It is in fact an invasive exotic. Some 20% of the plants found in the woods are invasive exotics that should not be there. Up to 30% are NATURALIZED, invasive or not. NATURALIZED plants are NON-NATIVE!
Most plants sold by plant nurseries are in fact NON-NATIVE. Care must be taken when planting non-natives to not introduce them into the wild. Most of the native plants in the wild are nearly non-existent except for the native trees. Many wildflowers and native shrubs are hard to find in their native habitats any more due to farming practices and clear-cutting. Native plants are usually limited in the wild to steep slopes and swamps where man could not farm.
Planting natives today means you are helping to reintroduce the native plants into your area and hopefully they will once again be seeding in and sprouting up in their native habitats they used to enjoy. Calling a plant native when it is not does not make it so.
When you build a garden over time, sometimes it seems that things are moving slow. Yesterday, I had visitors who had seen the garden a couple of years ago but had not recently. It was great to hear their excitement over how much it has come along. It gave me a renewed perspective on the garden and the work that has gone into it. I have a vision for where I want it to be and I know it’s not there yet. Visitors don’t know the vision that’s in your head, they see the beauty that’s already there. Now I do appreciate the garden as it is. But sometimes in looking at the vision of where I want it to be leaves a feeling that there is a lot to be desired. Not true. I need to remind myself of that more often.
These visitors were unscheduled. they just happened to show up while I was working in the garden. I was working in the garden because I do have scheduled visitors coming this week. This give impetus to doing some work that I had been putting off until the time was “just right”. This is a good thing. Sometimes in weeding and pruning, the developments of the garden get put on hold. This is another part of human nature. We put off things until we feel we have to get them done. We need deadlines to make things happen.
Unscheduled visitors can help you to appreciate the garden as it is. Scheduled visitors can motivate you to make new changes that you had been putting off. Schedule visits to your garden regularly and let that motivate you to do the things you’ve put off. You will find that the garden develops quicker and you will be happy showing it off any time someone just shows up.
As I wrote about yesterday. Spring is a season full of surprises and change. Each day seems to bring a new plant blooming and makes a walk through the garden a new pleasant surprise each day. There are some native Spring blooming plants though that you only see for a very brief time in the Spring. These plants are called Spring Ephemerals.
Spring Ephemerals are plants that most often grow in the woods and do all their growing in a very short period of time. These plants sprout leaves before the trees leaf out, bloom and then die back to the ground soon after the tree leaves are fully out. Their whole life cycle is based on using the light and moisture available before the trees start taking most of both.
Spring beauties are delicate looking little plants with white/ soft pink flowers. There are a couple species of Hepatica that bloom either white, pink or blue. Trout lily is a yellow flowered lily with speckled leaves. All of these you can look up online for pictures and more information.
One of the favorites among most people are the Trillium. Trilliums are so named because the whole plant seems to be based on threes. The leaves are three leaves fanned out usually in a flat plane. From the center comes a single flower with three petals. White, pink, maroon, and yellow are the possible colors. The leaves are often mottled. Some trilliums have their flowers upright and some are ‘Nodding”.
Trillium
My favorite is the Virginia Bluebell. When I was in college, I visited a memorial garden that had whole hillsides planted with these. It was breathtaking. Blue is a favorite flower color for me as I find it very cooling in a garden. On occasion you will find bluebells that start out looking more pink before they turn blue.
Virginia Bluebells
Other ephemerals are Mayapple, Jack in the Pulpit, and Bloodroot.
In my mind all of these are to be treasured because they are so fleeting and help to mark the seasons. Please don’t go dig these up from the wild for your garden. Find nurseries that propagate them in their nursery rather than wild collect. This way you leave the wild ones for others to enjoy and every gardener knows that some times when you transplant a plant, you end up killing it.
When you ask people their favorite season, you can get any one of the four seasons. I’ve never done the research but I am sure they aren’t equally spread out over the four. Growing up in the Indiana, it seemed that most people’s favorite season was Spring after a long winter. Summer was usually a close second as it meant pleasant weather most of the time and no school.
When I moved south to Georgia, I found more people who liked fall because in the south, fall is long and drawn out and usually quite a pleasant respite from a long hot summer. I used to say Savannah had two seasons, Hot and Not so Hot. I found people there who thought winter was their favorite season which seemed ludicrous in Indiana. In Indiana, fall was nice but was a reminder that a long rough winter was just around the corner.
Here in Durham, NC, our springs some years seem to be over in a flash. It’s the fall that seems to be long and pleasant and winters usually aren’t that much to be feared. Fall can easily seem to be 4 months or more even if the calendar doesn’t say so. Spring sometimes seems to last only 4 days.
Which brings me to my point, (finally). One of the best things about Spring is that you can usually go out every day and find something new in flower, something new leafing out. It’s surprise after surprise even though you knew it was coming. The best gardens are designed with that in mind. People like pleasant surprises. The well-designed garden should gradually reveal itself. It’s best if you can’t see the garden all at once or from one brief look. A garden should invite you into itself to be enjoyed. As you STROLL through it, you find pleasant little surprises and time should melt away. It should have a variety of plants to give seasonal interest all through the year. The spring flowers might evoke memories of years of Easter egg hunts in the garden. Flowers from other times of the year might bring back memories of prom dresses, wedding anniversaries, births and birthdays. A garden is never static even though some garden designers do attempt to design a garden that looks the same day in and day out. They think of the “perfect” garden and hope for that look for all time. There is a place for all seasons. The garden should reflect that. It is a way of marking time and years and most of all pleasant little surprises that turn into memories.
Many yards have some place that water seems to drain slowly or even have standing water for a few days after a rain. You can curse these spots, regrade your yard to move the water out, or you can take advantage of your luck and plant a rain garden.
Low areas in the lawn are always a problem as it makes mowing difficult. The lawn mower will leave wheel tracks through the mud and the situation seems to get worse and worse. It is best to give up the grass completely in a low spot. In this post, I will give you some idea of the native plants that work well in Durham NC. You can find similar plants native to your area online.
If your low spot is large, you might want to plant water loving trees such as River Birch, Sweetbay Magnolia, Serviceberry, and Bald Cypress.
For shrubs that like damp areas, you can plant Inkberry Holly, Sweetshrub, Clethera, Illicium, Leucothoe, and Wax Myrtle. Winterberry Holly is a great shrub for these locations and they have berries that help to attract birds.
Hibiscus is a plant with large flowers that loves wet areas. There are the “dinner plate” hibiscus as well as the star hibiscus. Some plants that usually like shade such as Cardinal Flower and Cinnamon Fern will grow in full sun if kept consistently wet. Monarda is a great hummingbird attractor as is the Cardinal Flower. Joe Pye Weed and Swamp Milkweed are great butterfly attractors. Swamp Sunflower and the Native Ageratum are late fall bloomers for wet areas. Turtle head is an unusual looking flower that also likes damp soil. For grasses you can add the rushes, Carex, and Acorus. Louisiana Iris and the Virginia Iris also add vertical elements to the rain garden.
So as you can see, there are a lot of possibilities for a poorly drained area of your yard that are way more attractive than a lawn. In fact, you may even decide to run the downspouts from the gutter for your house and intentionally create a rain garden. Any time you can keep water on your property rather than running into the storm sewer it’s a good thing. I run the downspout water into my garden ponds and the overflow for them is a rain garden. Sometimes dipping a bucket of water out of the pond for a thirsty plant in the summer is easier than dragging a hose out to the garden from the house.
This customer had a wet drainage area that we turned into a garden pond and rain garden.
I don’t believe I have yet introduced you to Graham and Chedda, my two qwackers. Graham and Chedda are Call ducks. They live in Jaliya’s memorial garden and the ponds are where they spend most of their time. However, in the past couple of days, Chedda has disappeared into the vacant lot next door to lay some eggs. Usually she is the louder of the two ducks but she is staying perfectly quiet. In fact, it took me a day and a half to figure out exactly where she was sitting. Graham is still guarding the garden and pretending he has no clue where she is. However, he does. He thinks he must protect the garden from Onyx, my 60 lb black boxer/pit mix dog. He “bites” her but of course it doesn’t hurt so Onyx thinks he is just playing. She gets Graham’s whole head inside her mouth at times and when Graham starts to chase her then it is just a game for her. I don’t know how long it takes for the eggs to hatch but here’s to hoping for Easter baby ducks. (I know, I can look it up on the internet to find out how long which is probably what I will do next.)
Most of my time is in the garden is spent pulling winter weeds and the little tree seedlings that seem to have popped up everywhere. I am looking forward to the day when the garden perennials have filled in enough to reduce the weeds. Mother Nature fills every possible inch of growing space so when you plan your garden, it is important to try to cover the ground. Otherwise she will with something you didn’t want.
Speaking of something I don’t want, the wisteria is in full bloom in this area. It is beautiful and smells wonderful. However, it takes over everything. As I am in the garden, I keep my eye out for the seeds that show up and put them in the trash. I don’t dare put them into my compost pile as I am sure it would be a tangled mess of wisteria vine in short order. I enjoy wisteria in the neighboring lot but I spent way too much time removing it from my garden to dare let it get another foothold. I always miss a few seeds and shoots still pop up from the underground roots that still seem to cross my garden.
Graham and Chedda
Many people today are concerned about where their food comes from and whether or not it has been sprayed with chemicals. One of the best ways to do this is to grow your own food. A long term investment in your food supply is to plant dwarf fruit trees.
With Spring having arrived here in Durham, NC, dwarf fruit trees are also blooming right now. The added bonus of spring flowers is a hint of juicy goodness later in the year. The following is the fruit trees I have in my garden.
I have two dwarf apple trees. I planted two because I have heard that apples must cross-pollinate. My trees are young therefore I have not had any fruit on them yet. Apple trees would prefer a little cooler weather than we have in this area. However, since I only planted them for my consumption and any friends I might share with, that does not concern me. If I was trying to sell enough to make a living on them then that might be an issue.
I have a dwarf peach tree called Belle of Georgia. Peach tree buds can often get nipped by late freezes in this area but last year I had a great little crop of peaches. I had so many peaches that a large limb in the tree was broken by the weight. I learned my lesson there and will go into pruning fruit trees a little later in this post.
In the native garden, I have a native plum. these are naturally small trees and the plums are also small. However, they are great to snack on while enjoying the garden. I cooked some of them down into a plum sauce which was very good on baked pork chops and even some baked chicken. New trees easily pop up around the parent plant allowing you to dig them up to share. They also seem to have a tendency to send up new shoots from the roots. These must be removed if you don’t want a thicket of plum.
I also have a native cherry. It has bloomed great this year. Last year I don’t remember how much it flowered but I do know I had very few cherries on it. We will see how they do this yer. I have been told that cherries also would do better in a little cooler climate as well. My view is the same as it is with the apples.
One tree that I also have but will not be dwarf is a pear tree. This tree has already produced quite a few pears. However, I still haven’t eaten one because it seems the squirrels know exactly when to pick every last one off the tree before I can get them. It’s tempting to sit out there with a BB gun and reduce the squirrel population so I can enjoy some pears.
Another native fruit tree that I have but you don’t see a lot of is the PawPaw tree. This is also known as the Hoosier Banana because the fruit is said to taste somewhat like a banana. These trees look a little tropical with their large leaves. Pawpaws can grow into large colonies. However for fruiting, you need to have trees from different colonies.
The way to prune fruit trees except for the last two on this list is to prune any limbs which are growing straight up and let the tree grow wide. This helps to make it easier to pick the fruit. You also want to prune branches back so they are stubby. This allows the structure of the tree to be strong enough to support the weight of the fruit. It also helps the fruit that does develop to be fewer yet larger. Generally prune the tree to be open and sturdy. It does no good to let the tree go big if it can’t support the fruit and you end up losing some due
Native Cherry in bloom.
to broken limbs.
So it’s been a few days since I have posted here. With warm weather, seems everyone is now thinking spring and interested in working in the garden or calling me to work on designing their garden. Not complaining at all. I’ve taken advantage of the warm weather and breaks from work to tend to Jaliya’s garden and the garden near the house. Winter weeds are always a problem this time of year as they grow like crazy ready to go to seed. This means hand pulling them before they do so hopefully next years crop is smaller. I used last fall’s leaves to cover a lot of the area not heavily planted so that has saved a lot of labor. But areas that are not quite covered with plants still allow weeds to pop up. Also while cutting back the native ornamental grasses, tree seedlings are exposed. These must be removed since I am not trying to re-create a forest. Everything goes into the compost bin except for the wisteria seeds I still find lying on the ground. These go directly into the trashcan as I do not want even one to sprout. I spent way too much time removing wisteria to create the garden to let it take back over. Unfortunately their is still wisteria next door and the seeds somehow still end up in my yard from the wind.
Late winter in Durham can have a lot of bloom if the right plants are planted. The Camellias are blooming strong as is the daphne and mahonia. Bulbs are blooming everywhere with daffodils and narcissus being the most common. Hyacinths are small but noticeable by their sweet fragrance. Corylopsis, spirea, forsythia are also blooming ahead of their leaves.
Crimson Candles Camellia
Corylopsis Golden Spring
The Yoshino Cherry is blooming a little early this year. Macon Ga, where I used to live has a big cherry blossom festival every spring so I had to have one in my yard as a way to remember that city. They say they have over 300,000 Yoshino Cherries planted along the streets there. It is quite a sight to see.
Yoshino Cherry
Saturday I took time away from official work to go buy plants for my garden. The North Carolina Botanical Garden sell native plants daily that they have propagated on location. It is always tough to walk out of there without buying too many plants. However, I was able to obtain some new species for the memorial garden. One of the problems I am finding is trying to find the room for some plants. This is where the concept of plant layering comes in. Small plants under medium size plants under even larger plants. However, since the garden is still only about 4 years old, the separation of plants by size is not easily done while some of the larger plants have a lot of growing to still do. But as the saying goes, a “garden is never really finished.”
Walking through my garden on a warm day, I am finding blooming plants that already give hints of what is to come once spring is here. These are what is currently blooming.
The crocus have already bloomed and are fading away. The Camellia ‘Crimson Candles’ is in full bloom. This is an interesting camellia in the way it grows in a open yet narrow habit. The buds show a lot of color long before they actually open. Both the Lenten Rose and the Bird’s foot hellebore are also blooming near them. The Winter Daphne and Leatherleaf Mahonia bloom with their wonderful fragrance filling up the area. Both of these plants are musts for late winter fragrance in the garden. The fragrant tea olive is showing signs of blooming any day now. It too is a very nicely scented plant. One often smells it long before you see the flowers as the flowers are quite small.
In the native garden, the Carolina Jessamine is blooming and it too is fragrant. It is climbing up the arbor leading into the garden which means you get it’s wonderful smell every time you enter the garden while it is in bloom. The native Spring Beauties are also in bloom and the phlox “emerald blue’ is showing some flowers. The phlox makes a great evergreen ground cover. When it is in full flower, you don’t even see the leaves. The witchhazel is wrapping up it’s bloom season while the columbine looks to be ready to pop any day now. I have also seen the Virginia Bluebells poking up so I am looking for their blooms before long. The native violets are also blooming. It is still early in the native garden.
Back up around the house, the Daphne genkwa is just starting to flower. I also have a dwarf forsythia and the Kumson forsythia, both of which are in bloom. Kramer’s Rote heather has been in bloom for a couple of weeks now. The focal of the front garden is the Weeping Cherry Plum which has started to bloom and should be in full flower within a couple of days.
All said, it is an exciting time for a gardener with the glory of spring just around the corner.
Crimson Candles Camellia
Bird's foot Hellebore
Crocus 'Blue Pearl'
One of the most common landscape planting mistakes made is to plant a plant that will get too big for it’s space. After a few years, the homeowner is left with two alternatives. Either remove the plant completely or resign themselves to the chore of pruning the plant a couple times a year to keep it in check. Once this pruning process begins, the plant loses it’s natural shape and form.
One thing we do when we measure a new client’s property is to measure how high the windows are from the ground. If the bottom of the window is 4′ from the ground, then we select a plant that is not supposed to get taller than 4 feet. Too often we see a Japanese holly planted in these situations and a Japanese holly will get anywhere from 6-10 feet tall. They also will get just as wide and yet are often planted in between the house and sidewalk space that may also only be 4′ wide. The garden then becomes a ball and chain for the homeowner. Instead of enjoying their landscape, they have to spend several hours on the weekends just maintaining the space.
Now I know a garden takes some work. But it doesn’t have to take more work than necessary. By choosing the right plant for the right space, the homeowner has a lot less work.
One very common thing done in this area is to prune Crape Myrtles back hard each winter. The theory is that since they bloom on new wood, then create more new wood for them. However, this hard pruning destroys the natural beauty of a Crape myrtle. Think of it this way. Let’s say the Crape myrtle is 15′ tall. The root system for the plant is sufficient for a 15′ tall plant. Now someone comes in and cuts it down to 8′. The roots still function as if they are supporting a 15′ tall plant. When new growth begins in the spring, the new shoots shoot up to the 15′ height. With plants, fast growth is weak growth, much like it is in business. Then comes the summer bloom season. The flowers are heavy, especially after a rain and the blooms flop over. Now the plant looks all out of shape. It is then a never-ending battle to keep the plant looking right. Then every winter, the plant is pruned back to the same 8′ height. The plant never achieves the glory it could have.
It’s like a cute young child. You can hope to keep them young and cute but eventually they become teenagers. If you don’t allow them to grow as they should, you will have some deformed adults on your hands.
Today is March 1 and hints of spring abound. We’ve had 80 degree days followed by 50 degree days here in Durham NC. Very typical of late winter. Everyday I walk through my garden and something else has started to bloom. This morning I counted 17 different varieties of plants blooming. With temperatures almost to 70 today there will be one or two more to add to the list. The tree branches that I brought into the house a couple of weeks ago have started blooming in my first attempt at forcing blooms indoors. Already the Pear and Redbud stems are blooming and the Yoshino Cherry looks to be next. This is both an exciting and tough time of year for the gardener. Excitement for the new plants poking their heads up through the ground and those shrubs and tree buds beginning to swell into bloom. The tough part is waiting. If your perennial plants still have old foliage above the rosettes, it is a good idea to leave it a little while longer. This protects the tender young shoots below from the extreme temperature changes. The obvious is the cold nighttime temperature but the less obvious one is protecting the ground from warming up too quick and initiating growth too soon. Patience is rewarded here.
For many gardeners, Spring is their favorite time of year. Mother nature seems to be bursting at the seams bringing forth new life. It is an exciting time of year but usually a very short time of year. Many of your spring blooming plants bloom for a week or two and then they are done. Some of the woodland plants called “Spring Ephemerals” pop up briefly, bloom and then go dormant, not to be seen again until next spring. One of my favorites is Virginia Bluebells. Each day this time of year, I am looking for the signs of them popping up through the soil. A mass of these plants is breathtaking in bloom. It last so briefly that it is an experience to be treasured.
Many spring flowering bulbs are the same. Crocus, daffodils, narcissus, and hyacinths pop up late winter, bloom for a couple of weeks and are gone. Different varieties can be planted to extend the overall bloom season. I guess Spring happens so quickly that half the fun is the anticipation.
We are currently in a drought here in Durham, NC. This is particularly worrisome as it is still winter and winter time is when the lakes get re-filled and the soil moisture gets recharged. We did have some storms last night which helped but heavy quick rain runs off more than it soaks in. The question is how to catch some of the water instead of it running into the storm sewers.
One very common thing is to use rain barrels. Rain barrels are placed under a downspout to catch roof water. The downside of rain barrels is they are relatively small and therefore don’t hold all that much water. When they are full, the water still needs to go somewhere. Often times they are not attractive. They also need to be located at a high point on the property to allow gravity to send the water where you want it when you need it via a hose. They are better than nothing.
Another increasingly more popular option is to install cisterns underground. These can hold a lot of water to be used later in the season when it is dry. Water from the downspouts off the roof is piped into the cisterns. A pump is then used to pump the water out when you need it. The downside to cisterns is their initial cost and finding a space to put them. I have seen collapsible tanks that can be placed under your crawl space or deck. These are a little more affordable solution.
If you can’t collect the water in holding tanks, then a garden pond can be used. This is what I do in Jaliya’s Garden. My downspouts are piped to the pond and the pond fills up with a rain. When the pond is full, it overflows into an area planted with plants that don’t mind being very wet at times. I call this area my “wet meadow”. A similar effect can be done where water runs off your driveway to create a “rain garden”. Water flowing into the rain garden is slowed down from going further, however, during heavy rains, the excess still has to go somewhere.
Some of the plants in our area that work for rain gardens are Joe-Pye Weed, Monarda, Cardinal flower, native Ageratum, rain lily, Virginia iris, Louisiana iris, Swamp sunflower. Some shrubs also like wet areas such as Virginia Sweetspire, Inkberry Holly, Florida Anise, just to name a few. The idea is to take advantage of low wet areas and plant the plants that appreciate such conditions. In doing so, you can also keep some of the water that falls on your property from just going down the storm sewer doing you no good at all.
This water garden was built to take advantage of the water flow in the garden and turn a muddy spot into an attractive feature.