Landscape Vision Design Software: Garden Tips

"I Can Grow" Youth Garden Award

2011-11-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Applications now open for 2012 "I Can Grow" Youth Garden Award

Calling all school and community gardens! Burpee is now accepting applications for its 2012 “I Can Grow” Youth Garden Award. This special program provides vegetables, herbs and other gardening resources to worthy organizations.
Do you have what it takes to win the grand prize? We’re looking for established or start-up gardens that demonstrate well-developed and staffed plans for youth-centered gardening education. If your program emphasizes nutrition, food production, environmental awareness and/or social responsibility, we want to hear from you!
To-date Burpee has given away more than 8,000 vegetable and herb plants to help create 16 gardens nationwide in cities such as Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Denver; Dallas; Nashville; Detroit; Tampa Bay, Fla.; and other areas “hungry” for educating kids on where food comes from.
This year Burpee will provide winning entries with vegetables from our new Burpee BOOST collection of high-nutrition vegetables. The six varieties contain higher levels of antioxidants for an even bigger “boost” in healthy eating. Burpee BOOST will be introduced in stores and online next spring.
Educators and community garden leaders can visit the “I Can Grow” portion of this website to learn about the grand-prize award and to download the 2012 application. But don’t delay! All entries must be postmarked by Friday, Dec. 23, 2011.
To review the lucky winning gardens from 2011, check out the Burpee blog archives under the “I Can Grow” category.
Good luck to all! If you have any questions, email us at gardenhelper@burpeehomegardens.com.

Landscape Vision hopes you pass this on..SHARE THIS, we did!

Melinda Myers has some great info for you!

2011-10-18T21:06:00.000-04:00

Fall Planting Tips From Melinda Myers

Time to Think of Poinsettias, REALLY?

2011-10-13T17:44:00.002-04:00

Our friend Melinda Myers thinks so, she suggest you...

Start covering your poinsettia now to have a colorful plant for Christmas. Give your plant 14 hours of total darkness each night and bright sunlight during the day. Make sure to block out any artificial light from inside or outside your home. Keep the soil a little drier and the plant a bit cooler at night for the greatest chance of success. Repeat until the bracts (leaves beneath the yellow flowers) are fully colored.

At LandscapeVisions we enjoys reading tips from Melinda Myers!

Wood Fireplace: 9 Tips for Safety and Efficiency

2011-10-13T17:24:00.001-04:00

From our friends at HouseLogic

Ready for the colder months? You will be if you follow these simple guidelines to keep your wood fireplace burning brightly—and safely.

1. Only burn dry, cured wood—logs that have been split, stacked, and dried for eight to 12 months. Cover your log pile on top, but leave the sides open for air flow.

Hardwoods such as hickory, white oak, beech, sugar maple, and white ash burn longest, though dry firewood is more important than the species. Less dense woods like spruce or white pine burn well if sufficiently dry, but you’ll need to add more wood to your fire more often, according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA).

2. Burn firewood and only firewood! Crates, lumber, construction scraps, painted wood, or other treated wood releases chemicals into your home, compromising air quality. Log starters are fine for getting your wood fireplace going, but they burn very hot; generally only use one at a time.

3. Close the damper when not using your wood fireplace to prevent warm indoor air—and the dollars you’re spending to heat it—from rushing up the chimney.

4. Keep bifold glass doors open when burning a fire to allow heat to get into the room. On a factory-built, prefab wood fireplace with a circulating fan, keep doors closed to prevent unnecesary heat loss.

5. Have a chimney cap installed to prevent objects, rain, and snow from falling into your chimney, and to reduce downdrafts. Caps have side vents so smoke escapes. A chimney sweep usually provides and can install a stainless steel cap, which is better than a galvanized metal one because it won’t rust. Caps cost $50 to $200.

6. Replace a poorly sealing damper to prevent heat loss. A top-mounted damper that also functions as a rain cap provides a tighter closure than a traditional damper for your wood fireplace.

7. Install carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors in your house—near your wood fireplace as well as in bedroom areas.

8. Get your chimney cleaned twice a year if you burn more than three cords of wood annually. A cord is 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long, or the amount that would fill two full-size pickup trucks.

9. To burn a fire safely, build it slowly, adding more wood as it heats. Keep the damper of your wood fireplace completely open to increase draw in the early stages. Burn the fire hot, at least occasionally—with the damper all the way open to help prevent smoke from lingering in the fireplace and creosote from developing.

WendyParis a New York-based freelance writer who has written for This Old Housemagazine, as well as for The New York Times and Salon.com.

Winter Tree Wrapping

2011-10-07T17:10:00.003-04:00

Great tip from Otten Bros. Garden Center & Landscaping!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_hPRhmfLA&feature=related

Great Garden Podcast

2011-10-07T16:40:00.001-04:00

Check these Podcast from our friends at Burpee Garden Coach.

I'm going to listen to them on a hike this weekend!

Overwintering our non-hardy succulents by YVONNE CUNNINGTON

2011-10-07T16:32:00.000-04:00

- Overwintering non-hardy succulents can be a challenge -
Yvonne Cunnington

I love growing lots of succulents in containers. They’re easy because they don’t need a lot of watering or fertilizer.

Many of my favorites are non-hardy, and that means if I want to keep them, I have to take them inside over the winter. The hardy hens and chicks (Sempervivum species) are no problem: we keep them in their pots, but move them into our unheated hoophouse to avoid the worst of winter’s freeze thaw cycles.

But you can’t do that with the tender succulents. In past, not wanting to bother with taking cuttings (I’m tired of gardening by this time of year), we’ve taken all the containers into the basement as is. There they would sit out winter under a big mercury vapour light.

The trouble with this method is that they get lank and overgrown stretching toward the light. So this year, I changed my plan of attack.

My cuttings for overwintering

Today I took cuttings from the top center of the plants, and then we took all the succulent containers apart, discarding the mother plants. Tonight’s heavy frost will do them in on compost pile.

As for the cuttings, I removed the bottom leaves so that a little stem about half an inch long remains. I’m going to let this callus over for about five days, then stick the cuttings into a gritty potting mix to root in small nursery pots under the big basement light. (We add sand and fine gravel to a regular growing mix.)

Succulents in glazed container

I’ve tried this in the past with some of the succulents, and we had much nicer plants to start out with for spring.

We have our work cut out for us next week with all those cuttings, but I’ll be glad not to have to do this in spring, when there are so many other jobs on my to-do list.

Gardening Jobs for Oct

2011-10-05T18:29:00.002-04:00

From our friends at "The Old Farmer's Almanac"

Apples keep well for about six months at temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees F.

A Styrofoam chest or a double cardboard box in a cool mudroom or cellar can approximate root cellar conditions. Remember to give your apples an occasional change of air. Apple cider may be frozen after first pouring off a small amount to allow for expansion.

Store beans in a moisture-proof, airtight container. Beans will stale and toughen over time even when stored properly.

Onions and garlic: mature, dry-skinned bulbs like it cool and dry, so don't store them with apples or potatoes. French-braided onions and garlic are handy and free to get some ventilation as well.

Brush your root crops clean of any soil and store in a cool, dark place. Never refrigerate potatoes and apples together; the apples give off ethylene gas, which will spoil the potatoes. Clipping the tops of parsnips, carrots, beets, and turnips will keep them fresher longer.

Squash don't like to be quite as cool as root crops do. If you have a coolish bedroom, stashing them under the bed works well. They like a temperature of about 50 to 65 degrees F.

Put some parsley plants in a box and place the box in a light cellar or shed.

Put some frozen rhubarb roots in a barrel of dirt in the cellar, where they will produce stalks for winter use.

Dig up and store dahlias, gladioli, and other tender plants.

Plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs.

Clumps of sensitive chrysanthemums can be set in a cold frame for the winter. They will yield many divisions in the spring.

Clean, oil, and store lawn mowers.

Paint any garden structures that need it.

Clean up and burn diseased plants, spread manure, and plow the garden.

Rake up the fallen leaves and use them as mulch for flowers and shrubs. Hardwood leaves such as oak and chestnut contain more plant food than those from softwood trees.

To balance all the harvesting, do a little indoor planting, which will liven up the house later. Calla lilies and begonias can be planted now, and paperwhite narcissi can be started.

Purchase The 2012 Almanac

Tablets

2011-07-16T20:32:00.001-04:00

Just purchased a new Xoom Tablet wondering if anyone reading this can share their thoughts on tablets. So far I'm diggin' this one!

How to Keep Wild Birds Healthy around Your Feeders

2011-07-14T14:35:00.000-04:00

From our friends at Scott'S We love their Scott's Products check them out.

A Clean Feeder Helps Keep Birds Healthy

When you think about it, those cute little wild birds are pretty tough. They have to survive hot summers, cold winters, and lots of migrating. But even that tough crowd can pick up diseases from your feeders if they're not properly cared for. Here are some helpful tips to keep your feeders doing the job you want them to: feeding healthy wild birds.

Avoid Overcrowding

Having too many birds at one feeder can be a problem. They fight. They bicker. They mess up the food. If this is happening, place another feeder nearby, but not too close.

Keep Your Food Fresh

Check your feeders regularly. If the food is moldy or wet, replace it with fresh food right away.

Pest-Proof Your Wild-Bird Food Storage

If rodents or other animals are an issue where you live, be sure to store your food in heavy-duty containers and always be sure to sweep up any spills.

Protect Your Birds, and Yourself

Make sure your feeder has no sharp points or pointy objects sticking out.

Keep Your Feeder Clean

Be sure to clean your feeders regularly, every 2 or 3 weeks is recommended. Take a look at our easy steps for cleaning your feeder.
1. Clean and wash the feeder in soapy water.
2. Make a 10% solution of liquid chlorine household bleach (14 oz) in a gallon of warm water. Mix sufficient solution to enable complete immersion of the empty bird feeder.
3. Immerse feeder in the solution for a period of 2-3 minutes. Allow to thoroughly dry before refilling with seed.
Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned with a mild bleach solution each time you fill the feeder.
Around your feeder, remove any bird droppings or seed, seed bits, or seed hulls that begin to accumulate; regularly rake the ground below. Each season, relocate the feeder a few feet from its present location.

BHG015-Supporting Your Plants; Why it’s Important

2011-07-11T13:13:00.000-04:00

Click the Arrow to Listen Now

Although most vining plants will produce an adequate harvest if left alone, when practical, they’d all benefit from some vertical support. Besides the added benefit of conserving space and getting more out of your garden’s footprint, by growing plants vertically, we open them up to much needed air circulation and light; two things very important for keeping plants healthy and productive. In this podcast, Joe Lamp’l sheds some light and what you need to know to support your plants properly.

BHG015 – Supporting Your Plants

So at one time or another, we’ve all heard or said; “Oh, grow up!!!” Besides the implication of acting like a child, there was a lot more to the expression. It refers to being ready for the challenges that lie ahead, and the same applies to many of the plants in our garden! Although most vining plants will produce an adequate harvest if left alone, when practical, they’d all benefit from some vertical support. In the home garden, the most common candidates include tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans and peas.

Besides the added benefit of conserving space and getting more out of your garden’s footprint, by growing plants vertically, we open them up to much needed air circulation and light; two things very important for keeping plants healthy and productive. The air circulation helps to dry out plant leaves faster, so less the chance for diseases to take hold. Similarly, when a plant is properly supported, more sunlight reaches more leaf surface. We already know by now just how important it is for plants to take in maximum sunlight each day, so by providing that opportunity as our Burpee Home Garden plants grow, the better off they’ll be.

And there’s another very important reason to support your plants. Some plants become laden with fruit and the weight of even one large tomato or a cluster of peppers can be more than the stem of that plant can bear. Without adequate support, the plant eventually gives way under all the weight of ripening fruit. Usually the stem folds over or breaks. Either way, now you have a situation that will affect the future health and harvest, and I KNOW you don’t want that. So even with non-vining, woody-stemmed plants, like peppers and eggplants, staking is a prudent action that will protect your plants.

So what’s the best type of support for all the plants in your garden? Well, that depends. Some plants climb rather than twine. Small finger-like tendrils reach and grab onto whatever they comes in contact with. Cucumbers and peas are classic climbers. Twine, netting or galvanized fencing works well, largely because of the many contact points for the tendrils to find as the plant grows up. Climbers by contract, wind their way around their support. Pole beans are the classic climbers. Provide these plants with tall pieces of bamboo or other similar support and stand back.

And then you have those plants that aren’t considered climbers or twiners, but still need to be supported to keep them upright under the weight of ripening fruit. Tomatoes are the most common plant like this. I always support my tomatoes, even bush varieties. As for the taller, plants, my favorite method is to use a large, sturdy round wire cage made from heavy fencing, with the plant growing up within in. But there are endless ways to support your plants, so you’ll need to decide what works best for you. Smaller plants like peppers and eggplants do well with simple staking. Just be sure not to bind the plant too tightly. Always use something soft and flexible. My favorite methods are to use florist tape or Velcro plant ties. Even an old pair of stockings is ideal for its flexibility and strength, but again, there are many choices!

So just because we’ve provided the right location for our plants when we created our garden, it’s important to make sure we keep it that way. By helping them grow “up”, we’ll have a healthier, and more productive garden too.And speaking of support, there are 26 Burpee Home Gardens podcasts in this series, all created to provide the support you need to get your garden off to a great start, and see it through, all the way to harvest. You can subscribe to the entire series for free in iTunes. Or find them at burpeehomegardens.com, along with a lot more helpful ideas and inspiration anytime.

Now go get dirty!

Learn more from Growing a Greener World

Green Tip of The Day

2011-07-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

From our friend Melinda Myers Learn from Melinda

Shade Trees

Reduce your energy bill while increasing the beauty of your landscape. Adding a few well placed trees to your landscape can decrease your energy bills. Adding as few as three properly placed shade trees can lower air conditioning costs by as much as 30%. Plant shade trees on the east and west side of your home for the greatest energy savings. Trees shading the roof from the afternoon sun can reduce your home’s temperature by as much as 8 to 10 degrees.

Related Green Tips

5 Gallon Watering Can

Save energy, care for new trees and conserve water in one easy step.

Care for Your Trees

Proper watering and mulch is the best thing you can do for the health and longevity of your trees.

Care For Your Trees

Proper watering and mulch is the best thing you can do for the health and longevity of your trees.

Celebrating Trees

Celebrate Arbor Day all year long by planting new trees or caring for those in your landscape and community.

Gardening on a Slope

Take advantage of gravity when gardening on a slope.

Not Just a Decoration

Your Christmas tree is not just a fleeting holiday decoration.

Stop Unwanted Junk Mail

Save a tree and help reduce the huge carbon footprint of junk mail.

Windbreaks

Use trees and shrubs to create windbreaks that intercept the prevailing winter winds and help reduce heating costs by up to 25%.

How to keep slugs away

2011-07-11T12:37:00.000-04:00

Stephen Lacey finds that Longstock Park, which is never knowingly undermined by slug damage
Tackling slugs: target slugs by watering on nematodes where badly affected plants will grow
By Stephen Lacey
11:00AM BST 11 Jul 2011
Comment
In Hampshire with a morning free, I paid my first visit to Longstock Park, the residential and agricultural estate owned by the John Lewis Partnership.
I went for a rummage in the nursery, but bumped into Peter Moore, the plant breeder (Choisya 'Aztec Pearl’, Buddleja 'Silver Anniversary’ and Cotinus 'Dusky Maiden’), who, after a career at Hillier Nurseries, is now on the staff. He invited me to see the famous Water Garden, normally open only on periodic Sundays.
The presentation is immaculate – seven acres of crystal-clear lakes and waterways, perfect lawns and drifts of bog plants, woven around little bridges and islands, and a thatched summer house, equipped with phone, from where the partnership’s founder John Spedan Lewis, who developed the garden from 1946, could keep an ear to the business.
What particularly caught my eye were the sweeps of hostas: not a slug or snail hole to be seen. Clearly, some serious chemical warfare was going on.
Absolutely not, head gardener Rob Ballard assured me. The whole garden is run organically and, as for the hostas, nothing is used on them at all. His secret is to allow no leaf debris to accumulate around them, and therefore no hiding places, and should any holes appear, the plant is searched until the culprit is found.

It is partly because of the slug issue that hostas have fallen out of fashion with garden designers, who don’t want to make their planting dependent on pest control. Also, the more ornamental hostas are now considered an embarrassment popping out of the grassy, naturalistic style prevailing today.
Happily, home gardeners have remained loyal. Hosta sales figures remain buoyant, according to Bowden Hostas, nursery by appointment to HRH the Prince of Wales, who leads the hosta fan club with a National Collection at Highgrove. As for slugs, we all devise our own methods of dealing with the blighters – sharp grit, coffee grounds, beer traps, barrier sprays, nematodes… or slug pellets.
One way to sidestep the problem is to grow hostas in tubs and pots – which can make stunning features. In the borders at home, I use organic pellets like Growing Success, widely available in shops, which are harmless to other wildlife.
I scatter them around the emerging hosta snouts in early spring and then a few more times until midsummer, when I stop, which leaves me with the odd munched leaf, but I can live with that. But with my stone and brick walls, and leafy understorey, planting hostas in sweeps as at Longstock would be reckless. So, I have them as solitary punctuation points and a means of maintaining interest among plants that finish flowering early.
It is the blue-leaved hostas I like the best. There are few other plants with that leaf colour (Berberis temolaica, Fothergilla gardenii 'Blue Mist’ and some rhododendrons among shrubs; Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum, Macleaya cordata and Kniphofia caulescens among perennials), and they are terrific in shade with purple cimicifuga, blue and pink-flowered geraniums, alliums and much else.
There are lots of newer varieties but mid-sized 'Halcyon’ and its variegated sport 'June’ – a superb lime-green and blue in shade – and the large-leaved H. sieboldiana 'Elegans’ and its lime-edged counterpart 'Frances Williams’ – are still hard to beat. Revitalise every five years or so by lifting, dividing and replanting the outer segments. Happily, their thick textured leaves are less attractive to slugs.

Garden Design Awards III

2011-07-10T22:54:00.000-04:00

Garden Design Awards III

Jonathan Drori: The beautiful tricks of flowers | Video on TED.com

2011-07-06T19:04:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Drori: The beautiful tricks of flowers | Video on TED.com

Growing a Greener World

2011-07-02T23:26:00.001-04:00

Episode 201: Best of Season One – Inspiring PEOPLE

by GGWTV on JULY 1, 2011

Welcome to season two of Growing a Greener World. We have come a long way since the pilot episode and we’ve (literally) covered a lot of ground. In bringing you 26 episodes in the first year, we traveled to 36 cities across 18 states in eight months. During our time on the road, we met some pretty incredible people. If you’re new to our series, allow us to give you taste of what it’s all about through the people we meet and their incredible stories. If you’re an old friend, you’ll enjoy revisiting four of our fan favorites. They typify the people we feature making a real difference in growing a greener world!

Mary Seton Corboy – Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA

Greensgrow opens its doors for their Fall Festival sponsored by Subaru

For some, urban agriculture might seem like a new idea. But for the people at Greensgrow Farm, it’s been their work and way of life for over 10 years. What was once a thriving galvanized steel plant, was eventually abandoned as an industrial brown field—hardly the kind of place you’d imagine for growing edible plants— But then again, most people don’t have the entrepreneurial vision of Greensgrow’s co-founder, Mary Seaton Corboy!

About 3 miles north from the Downtown skyscrapers of Philadelphia and tucked within densely packed row houses lies this pioneering urban farm. It provides locally grown food for a community that often has little while managing to survive as a profitable business in the process. In the 10 short years Corboy has poured her life into this place, her impact now reaches far beyond this one-acre lot.

This is an inspiring story one person’s vision, determination and dedication to sustainability that shows just how much can be accomplished on such a small plot of land. From the nursery to the Farm Market, the community supported agriculture co-op program and even the Community Kitchen, Mary and her small but dedicated staff at Greensgrow touch the lives of so many. Along the way they have become the national model of urban farming.

Watch the entire episode from season one here – Episode 118: GreensGrow Farms with Mary Seton Corboy

For more information

Darren Joffe, AKA: “Farmer D” – Atlanta, GA

Daron introduces Joe to very tasty radish seed pods at Serenbe Farms in GA

Whatever image comes to mind when I say farmer – you can forget it. This segment showcases one individual that represents a new generation of farmer, with a thumb far greener than any of its predecessors. These new farmers live to make a difference in the world through their passion for the earth and the natural methods that can save it. Their work applies to gardens of any size but the goal is the same—to save resources, reduce chemicals, promote sustainability and create a healthier planet for all.

But who are the people bringing these progressive ideas from revolutionary dream into reality? Known everywhere as Farmer D, in this segment, we feature Darren Joffe; a new face on an old practice.

Watch the entire episode from season one here – Episode 111: Farmer D

For more information

Farmer D
Understanding Biodynamics
Serenbe Farms
See more videos of Daron on Mother Nature Network

Will Allen – Growing Power, Milwaukee, WI

Conceived to provide teens with jobs, Growing Power also feeds the community

Less than half a mile from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project lies a small two acre urban farm that’s cultivating a lot more than edible plants. Known as Growing Power, this farm has blossomed into a national nonprofit organization with global acclaim and a commitment to sustainable food systems. The co-founder and man behind this idea factory is Will Allen. Today, his low cost farming methods produce year-round food, while dishing out ideas to people around the world.

Growing Power’s story came to life in 1993 on this small plot of land less than half a mile from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project. Along came Will Allen; a man returning to his farming roots, who happened to be looking for a place to grow food indoors during the winter and sell it closer intown. With no formal plan, he told the city he’d hire kids in need of work and teach them about food systems, and to grow food for their community. The rest is history. Today, Growing Power is considered to be the leading urban agricultural project in the United States and Will Allen, the hottest go-to guy in urban farming.

Watch the entire episode from season one here – Episode 105: Growing Power with Will Allen

For more information

www.growingpower.org

Maria Rodale – The Rodale Institute and Rodale, Inc.

Maria Rodale with Joe Lamp'l

Thanks to more interest in taking care of the health of our planet and ourselves, the term “organic” has become a lot more common, even chic in many cases. Consumers are waking up to the potential hazards of using synthetic chemicals as a shortcut to growing that perfect-looking vegetable or plant. Unfortunately, the impact to our environment and our health is now more clearly understood and those consequences have us taking a second look at how we farm and garden…and even at the decisions we make in our everyday lives.

For the Rodale family in rural Pennsylvania, the writing was already on the wall back in the early 1940s. One man’s devotion to organic agriculture and healthy living has evolved into the world’s leading multimedia company with a focus on his dedication to restoring a healthy planet. Almost 70 years later, granddaughter and CEO, Maria Rodale, along with her daughter Maya, are working harder than ever to advance that mission. This segment showcases part of Maria’s story and inspires us all to make a difference.

Watch the entire episode from season one here – Episode 123: The Rodale Institute

For more information:

In this episode, Chef Nathan Lyon also serves up an amazing Roast Pork Tenderloin with Spiced Applesauce.

On the next episode of Growing a Greener World (#202), we bring you a similar format sharing some of the most inspiring and memorable places of season one. You won’t want to miss it!

Create Knockout Gardens

2011-07-02T23:08:00.000-04:00

The end of January celebrates the start of the new gardening season with the Tacoma Home & Garden Show, the first big show of the spring season that opens Jan. 26 at the Tacoma Dome.

The best part about any winter show is the spark of energy that ignites with the anticipation of spring. Last week I wrote about the new Double Take quince and disease-free Home Run roses, two newbies that I’ll be giving away at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show. But this week the real question for gardeners is this: How does one fit in more plants to an already full garden?

This is not the time to give up and throw in the trowel. Every garden can be improved every year with the right editing, layering and landscaping techniques. Our green world depends on gardeners to keep planting, keep growing and keep knowing that the more habitats we humans destroy, the more home gardeners must plant. Birds, butterflies and other winged wonders need a diversity of plant material to make it through the winters in Western Washington.

One of my talks at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show will teach how to improve the landscape by building better garden beds with more color and fewer weeds.

Here are some take-away tips just in case you won’t be able to visit me at the show – but let me remind all gardeners – I like to give away plants and other gifts to people in the audience.

CREATING KNOCKOUT GARDENS

These ideas will pack a punch and help you wallop the weeds.

1. Plant closer together.

With beds crowded so that shrubs link arms, perennials are planted in the petticoat zone under the skirts of trees and shrubs. Use of annuals that spill over the boundaries will create a landscape with less weeding, pleading and feeding to keep it looking good.

2. Grow up – we’ve always had some mighty fine vines.

We are lucky to live in Western Washington where clematis is the queen of the vines and you don’t need a lattice to enjoy a clematis. Let your vines decorate upright shrubs such as Nandina and rhododendrons. Act like the English and look at every tree in your landscape as a living support for a flowering vine.

3. Evergreens provide safe havens.

During wild winter weather, whoever has the most evergreen shrubs wins when it comes to protecting our birds. I’ve been known to gossip about the ever-boring juniper plants but plants with thick winter cover such as junipers, cypress, laurel and yew become the safe havens for chickadees and other small birds during storms. These dense evergreens are also the places where butterflies cocoon and other beneficial insects can safely deposit their eggs and ensure the next generation of good bugs in your garden.

Evergreens add structure to the garden and hospitality for the garden creatures.

4. Groundcovers are the groundwork of less maintenance.

Think beyond pachysandra and English ivy. To create a knockout garden, think about the effect of hellebores carpeting the ground under dogwoods, lamiums filling in at the feet of rhododendrons and woodland bulbs turning your shaded areas into the jewel box gardens of spring. Ground-cover plants do need maintenance – but trimming and spot weeding are a lot less work than the constant weeding required of naked soil.

5. Learn to layer

The real secret of creating knockout gardens is to layer plants with different bloom times, punch it up with focal-point plants and organize the landscape into feature gardens for different seasons of the year. We live in a place where we can have four seasons of color, texture and natural beauty.

Leaving the world more beautiful than it was before you arrived is a noble goal –and with a knockout landscape you can do your part.

Marianne Binetti is the author of “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and eight other gardening books. She has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and will answer questions from her website at www. binettigarden.com.

Meet Marianne

Marianne Binetti will speak at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show at 2 p.m. every day of the show’s run. The show runs Jan 26-30 inside the Tacoma Dome. Admission is $8-$10. Visit www.otshows.com or call 253-756-2121 for more information. Check back next Wednesday for a story here about some of the show highlights.

Check out our landscape design software to create your knockout gardens Landscape Vision
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1507871/create-knockout-gardens-with-color.html#ixzz1R0XpVjWN

Lawn & Landscape : Asian longhorned beetle found in Ohio

2011-06-28T00:55:00.000-04:00

Lawn & Landscape : Asian longhorned beetle found in Ohio

Why Landscape Design Software

2011-06-22T20:16:00.001-04:00

Landscape Vision: landscape Design Software, Garden Design Software

Rose Problems

2011-06-20T02:38:00.001-04:00

Rose Problems July 30, 2009
Sandra Mason
Unit Educator, Horticulture & Environment
Champaign County Unit
801 Country Fair Drive
Suite D
Champaign, IL 61821
Phone: 217-333-7672
FAX: 217-333-7683
slmason@illinois.edu.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but might not get as many diseases. Rose problems can become rampant this time of year. Here are a few of the possibilities.
Blackspot is a common fungal disease of roses. It can completely defoliate roses by fall, which weakens the plant and shows the plant's not-so-attractive prickly legs. Blackspot causes (you guessed it) black spots on the leaves, starting at the bottom of the plant and moving upward. Infected leaves eventually turn yellow and fall off. Infection can also appear on canes as reddish-purple spots.
The best way to combat blackspot is to select resistant varieties; however keep in mind even resistant varieties may still be infected when weather is conducive to disease. As with most fungal diseases infection is more serious during rainy weather. The fungus overwinters in fallen leaves and stem cankers. Raking and removing leaves in the fall may provide some control. Avoid wetting leaves when watering and give plants good air circulation. Mulching also helps keep water from splashing up onto the leaves. If you choose to use fungicides such as Funginex, Daconil, or Mancozeb they should be started in spring as new leaves appear. Spraying now would protect only new leaves.
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects young leaves, causing them to curl, twist and develop a purple coloration. As the disease progresses, leaves become covered with white powder. Blackspot is usually most severe on the lower part of the plant but mildew in roses affects the top part of the plant. Mildew is spread by wind and develops rapidly during periods of warm, humid days followed by cool nights. Infection can be reduced through sanitation by pruning out all dead and diseased canes and with fungicide sprays concentrating on coverage of the new growth. Once again plant roses in areas where they receive good air circulation.
When rose rosette disease first appeared it looked as though it would be a great natural control of the pesky weed, multiflora rose. Unfortunately it didn't stick to wild roses and has now moved into cultivated roses. The symptoms are easy to spot. This is definitely a "wow, what's wrong with this plant" moment. Rose rosette causes plants to form very thick, multiple red stems with extreme thorniness. Leaves may also appear deep red, or a mix of red, yellow and green. Leaves are often distorted and stunted.
Rose rosette is a virus-like disease. Plants usually die within about 22 months of infection. The disease can be spread from rose to rose by a tiny mite, so small that 20 would fit on a pinhead (30 if they hold hands).
Grafting can also spread rose rosette. Sorry, plants infected with rose rosette cannot be cured so rip them out roots and all. Bury the carcass with proper ceremony.
It's hard to talk about rose problems without also discussing the dreaded Japanese beetles. If you have a few beetles, one tactic is a daily harvest of the beasts into a container (my favorite is a 2 lb. coffee container with the lid) filled with soapy water. If you have mass quantities of beetles, insecticide sprays of carbaryl sold as Sevin or synthetic pyrethroids such as permethrin and bifenthrin can be used. Keep in mind Sevin is toxic to beneficial insects as well. Systemic insecticides such as imidacloprid are most effective if applied in spring. Read and follow all label directions. Forget beetle traps. They attract more than they catch. For more rose information check out the UI Extension Our Rose Garden website. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/roses/
If your roses look wretched, take plant samples to your local UI Extension office http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/index.html or to UI Plant Clinic http://plantclinic.cropsci.illinois.edu/ at 1401 W. St. Mary's Road Urbana, IL 61802; 217-333-0519.
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Landscape Design and Maintenance Ideas

2011-06-19T22:08:00.001-04:00

This is a great article, full of useful advise, not just for those in Texas. Check it out

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2011-06-17T17:03:00.000-04:00

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Planting Guides

2011-06-17T16:26:00.000-04:00

We just love these guides provided by our friends at The Old Farmers Almanac

Welcome to our plant guide to flowers, shrubs, and houseplants.
Learn how to grow common annuals, perennials, bulbs, roses, and more.
We'll give you helpful information on planting, growing, and caring for common plants.
You'll also find tips on garden pests and problems, recommended plant varieties, free e-cards, and a dose of Almanac wit and wisdom.
Click one of the free plant guides below—then select your plant!

Flower Guide: Bulbs, Roses, Perennials, Annuals

Shrub Guide

Houseplants Guide

Flowers, What Flowers by our friends at Proven Winners

2011-06-17T16:17:00.000-04:00

My plant was flowering and now it's stopped. Why did it stop flowering? More important, how do I make it start again?

Gardening sometimes seems to require the skills of a juggler and the coordination of a balance beam gymnast. However, if a plant has a problem flowering there are a few things that are the likely suspects. When a plant stops flowering we need to adjust the simple variables that we have been juggling in the garden: soil, light, water, temperature, and nutrition. We need to look the conditions in the garden or container, to look for clues as to why things (environmental conditions) are out of kilter. What changed from when the plant was blooming to now when it is not?

Understanding why plants flower in the first place will provide clues to help you diagnose why your plants are no longer flowering. At its simplest, a plant’s whole purpose it to live and procreate. They are concerned only with survival, making us happy is a side effect! Flowering is necessary for plant survival. Flowers attract pollinators, get pollinated and set seed.

Most gardeners include annuals and perennials in their landscapes for color, structure and duration, but mostly for flower color. When the plants don’t perform as expected, experienced gardeners start looking for reasons. Environmental conditions such as moisture, nutrition, temperature (both day and night), and even soil and soil volume all impact the flowering activity of most plants. All of these factors interact to affect garden performance, often making it difficult to pinpoint what factor is out of alignment. Adding to the confusion, if one factor is changed, it may well impact several other factors.

Stress:

Plants react to stress by shifting from vigorous growth to simply trying to survive, a lot like humans. If the environmental factors are optimum for plant growth (the right temperature, the right moisture level, the right nutritional level and a great root zone, free of obstructions) and there is no stress on the plant or its environment, there would be minimal need for pollination and seed set.

Now let’s look at the flip side of the coin. A plant is growing in poor soil, or in an over crowded pot, it hasn’t rained in a month, there are no nutrients in the water and minimal nutrition in the soil and it is hot and dry. The plant is stunted due to lack of both nutrients and water; probably its foliage has taken on a grey or olive grey color, and the plant has flowered and begun to die. Why? The plant is threatened; survival of the species is the triggering response: flower, attract a pollinator, set seed, and survive!

Fertilizing:

You have probably seen lush tomatoes and impatiens with thick green leaves yet no fruit or flowers. These plants have been given everything they need, and there is minimal need to flower or fruit because there is no risk of death. Overly lush plants are often a product of over fertilization. Over feeding puts that plant in a heavily vegetative state, under feeding produces flowers but not many and not very pretty.

You have also seen plants where the foliage is turning yellow and the plant simply looks sickly, although it is probably pushing out at least a few flowers. This is likely the result of under fertilization. The best practice is to apply a balanced fertilizer about every three waterings for containers and about once a month in the garden. Look for slow release formulas of fertilizer for you garden as they last longer, let you fertilize less, are more environmentally friendly, and in general give more constant supply of food.

Have I been feeding the right amount? Is my foliage really lush indicating over feeding? Is my foliage yellowish indicating underfeeding? There are some plants that are supposed to have yellow foliage, if this is your plant ignore this statement. Click here for more on fertilizing.

Watering:

In order for your plants to be truly happy, their basic needs to be met without over indulging. Too much water causes rapid growth and fleshy, weak branches and poor roots. Not enough water causes restricted growth, instigation of the flowering cycle, grey green foliage color with tough brittle stems. Remember that it is best to water in the early morning hours rather than at dusk. Water sitting on the leaves and flowers overnight helps diseases get a foothold in your garden.

Ask yourself, have I been watering the right amount? For more on watering, click here.

Pot size:

Give your plants lots of room to grow! Plants that are root bound are much more likely to use up all their fertilizer, and their water; quickly becoming both nutrient starved and stressed from drying out repeatedly. Plants need a lot room in a pot to grow new roots (new roots = new blooms and growth) if they remain crowded too long they simply stop, set seed and decline. Always plan for a summer’s worth of growth in the pots you plant in spring, it is not only better for your plants, it is also better for you because the plants will need less care in larger containers. This is part of the reason for a national trend in larger containers, less care and everyone benefits. Click here for more on planting containers.

Sunlight:

Sunlight is the source of all plant energy, especially those really colorful annuals and perennials that expend so much energy putting out big beautiful flowers. In most cases, flowering plants need about 6 hours of sun a day in order to gather enough solar energy to keep their health and flowering up to par. Often gardeners underestimate how much sun an area gets and only find out later that the situation doesn’t provide enough light. Even hanging baskets of flowers usually look better on one side than they do on the other because one side receives more light (you can counteract this by turning your baskets once a week or so.)

Does your plant just look weak? This could be a problem with not enough sun. If your plant needs full sun make sure it is getting at least 6 hours of direct sun a day.

Too much of a good thing? Does the foliage on your plant look silvery or coppery? This could be too much sun. Your plant has literally gotten a sunburn (shade plants need less than 4 hours of direct sun a day and it is best if they don’t get mid-day sun). Move it to an area with more shade. If the amount of sun is correct this could also be an indicator of a need for fertilizer or micro nutrients being out of balance. To learn more about sun versus shade, click here.

Temperature:

Many times we see gardeners having problems in the heat of summer, when night temperatures get very high, and humidity rises. This causes some plants to slow down or stop flowering because they cannot rest and recuperate when night temperatures are too high. It’s like sleeping without air conditioning in the south; you wake up even more tired than when you went to bed. Under this type of conditions, an early morning watering is the best way to help the plants; it cools them down a little and makes sure they have enough water to avoid stress the following day.

Deadheading:

Does your plant have all dead flowers and not new flowers? This could indicate that your plant needs deadheading. If a plant has already set a bunch of seed it may decide that it has done its job of procreating and stop producing new flowers. Remove the old flowers to help it re-bloom. Click here for more in deadheading.

Is your plant just not flowering but all of these conditions seem to be right? Check for insects and disease, they can impact flowering and treat as needed, following the label instructions. Your local University Cooperative Extension Agent should be able to help you diagnose insect and disease problems. They know what insects you are likely to find and also when these insects and diseases emerge each year in your area.

A beautiful garden is the result of juggling these factors, a little bit of detective work, and your choice of plant material. Properly balancing moisture, soil, nutrition, temperature, and light will prompt and sustain good flower and foliage development. By providing a water soluble fertilizer every three waterings, by growing in a well aerated soil, and by planting in a container that is large enough to support root growth, the gardener will find true happiness. Balance, moderation and observation are keys to happy gardening.

http://www.provenwinners.com/

Attract Butterflies with this Annual

2011-06-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

A native of Peru, heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) grows 4 feet tall in its native environment. It's grown as an annual in most of the United States, usually reaching just 12 to 18 inches tall.

Heliotrope's clusters of flower heads have a fruity fragrance and bloom throughout the summer. In Europe, flowers are used for making perfume. The dark green foliage is rough, wrinkled, and sometimes slightly tinted with purple. Plant heliotrope in containers, annual flower beds, hanging baskets, and window boxes where you can watch the butterflies it attracts.

Plant Facts
Common name: Heliotrope, cherry pie
Botanical name: Heliotropium arborescens
Plant type: Short-lived shrub usually grown as an annual
Height: 12 to 48 inches
Zones: 10 to 11
Family: Boraginaceae (Borage)

Growing conditions

Sun: Full sun
Soil: Moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Moisture: Water regularly to establish roots on new plants. Once established, water moderately.

Care

Mulch: Apply an organic mulch to deter weeds and retain soil moisture.
Fertilizer: Use a balanced fertilizer monthly.
Pruning: Pinch shoots to encourage a bushy habit. Remove spent flowers to encourage more flowering.

Cultivars

‘Atlantis' (pictured) has dark purple flowers with a sweet fragrance.
‘Alba' has fragrant white flowers.
‘Marine' has violet-blue flowers 6 inches across.
‘Mini-Marine' is a dwarf variety with violet-blue flowers.

Garden notes

Where not hardy, set out seedlings after last frost in spring.
In warmer climates, plants like some afternoon shade.
Shorter cultivars like ‘Atlantis' are good for containers. They can be overwintered in a bright spot with temperatures from 50ºF to 60ºF.
Heliotrope does well as a houseplant if it has enough bright light.
Contact with foliage might irritate skin and eyes. Some sources list foliage as poisonous when ingested.

Pests and diseases

Watch for white flies, mealy bugs, aphids, and spider mites.
Rust and leaf spot occasionally occur.

Propagation

Sow seeds indoors 10 to 12 weeks before last average frost date.
Take cuttings of cultivars in summer.

All in the family

Some better-known perennials in the Boraginaceae family include Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla), Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), woodland forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), and lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.).

Text by Mary Pestel, photo courtesy of Monrovia Growers.

For more gardening info check out our friends National Home Garden Club

Gardening Jobs for June

2011-06-01T19:34:00.000-04:00

From our friends at The Old Farmers Almanac

Any bedding plants you find for sale can safely be planted outdoors in beds, boxes, or containers.

The pros recommend treating tulips as annuals with the exception of species tulips. Painful as it may be, yank those tulips up, compost them, and plan to plant the bed anew in the fall.

If you long for a hanging basket filled with blossoms, compare prices on different-size plants. It may be more economical to buy several small plants and combine them yourself rather than pay for one large plant. Starting this month, keep hanging plants such as fuchsias well watered and out of direct sun, or their leaves will burn.

Plants that bloom now include balloon flower; Canterbury bells; clematis; coreopsis; delphiniums; English, painted, and Shasta daisies; foxgloves; Oriental poppies; and sweet William.

If you're growing June-bearing strawberries, pinch off all the flowers that bloom the first spring after planting. If not allowed to bear fruit, they will spend their food reserves on developing healthy roots.

Encourage young fruit trees to develop strong limbs and a wider crotch angle by weighing down the branches with clothespins.

Thin fruit trees by leaving 1 fruit approximately every 6 to 12 inches along the branches or 1 fruit per cluster. The higher the leaf-to-fruit ratio, the sweeter the fruit. A standard apple tree should have about 40 leaves for each fruit. Dwarf apples, which usually produce a ration of 1 fruit to about 25 leaves, will yield better-quality fruit when thinned.

Stop cutting asparagus when the yield decreases and the spears diminish in size. Top-dress the bed with compost or well-rotted manure.

Stake tomatoes or build cages around them.

Plant beets and carrots for a late-fall crop.

As the days grow warmer, yank up lettuce that begins to bolt and toss it on your compost pile. Plant another crop of beans in its place.

Thin crowded plantings of lettuce, carrots, beets, and herbs. Give them a good watering when the job is finished to help the roots of remaining plants recover from any damage your pulling may have inflicted.

Religiously patrol your basil plantings and remove all the clusters of flower buds that form at the stem ends the minute you see them forming. This will encourage nice bushy plants and a continuing supply of leaves.

Place beer-filled plastic tubs or saucers in the garden, set level with the soil, to lure slugs to a drunken death. (Studies show they prefer imported beer.) Or place a few old boards in the garden and turn them over every morning to find slugs as they sleep. Dispose of them by dropping them into soapy water or crushing them with a brick.

Mulch around trees to create a safe zone where your mower won't go. Nicking a tree trunk can seriously damage even a well-established tree.

Mow your lawn according to the needs of the grass, not the calendar -- for example, every Saturday. Grasses thicken and provide better cover when regularly clipped at the proper height. Adjust your lawn mower blades to cut the grass at 2 or 3 inches rather than at 1 1/2 inches.

Prune rhododendrons after they flower. On young and old plants, snap off spent flower stalks by bending them over until they break away from their stems. Be careful not to damage growth buds at the base of each flower stalk.

Don't trim iris leaves into scallops or fan shapes after the flowers fade. Leaves carry on photosynthesis and develop nourishment for next year's growth. Cut off brown tips and remove the flowering stalk down to the rhizome. If you're dividing irises, cut the leaves back by about half just before you move them.

If you're growing plants outdoors in containers, don't use a soilless potting mix. Be sure it contains at least half soil. Or make your own blend for window boxes and patio containers by mixing one part compost, one part garden soil, and one part builder's sand.

When shopping at a nursery, don't buy a tree or shrub with a damaged root ball. Inspect it carefully to make sure it is uniform, not crushed, and a good size. For every inch of the trunk, the ball should be seven to eight inches in diameter.

Unless you're working your way through knee-high grass, don't remove those grass clippings from the lawn. Leave them where they fall to filter down to the soil, decompose, and recycle nutrients into the roots.

Attract Humming Birds

2011-06-01T17:53:00.001-04:00

KidsGardening.org

Hang some hummingbird feeders around your garden. Place a bit of distance between them, to avoid the squabbles, which can be quite a sight! Powdered “food” formula is available, but you can easily make your own by combining one part sugar to four parts water, and boiling it for two minutes, then cooling and storing in the fridge. Never use honey, which can ferment, or red dye, which can be harmful to the birds.

From our friends at Kids Gardening

Plant Data Base

2011-05-25T16:56:00.002-04:00

Here's a really good plant data base.http://www.plantpress.com/home.html We purchased/developed our award winning plant data base with the help of our friends at The Plant Press.

Shade - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2011-05-20T01:50:00.000-04:00

From our friends at Proven Winners

When a new gardener is envisioning their first garden, more than likely the image in their head is a sun garden. Sun gardens are crammed with a multitude of colors. Colors range from the bright and bold, like orange, red and fuchsia to the softer beauty of blues, creams and pinks. But make no mistake, flower color is the main show and thousands of different plants can play their part.

However, every gardener is inevitably faced with another kind of garden. A garden that is more challenging, more subtle than exuberant. Not less beautiful than that bold sun garden, but a different kind of elegant beauty - this garden is the shade garden. I think many people approach shade gardening with at least a bit of trepidation, if not fear and loathing. However, it is best to embrace shade gardening for what it gives you, rather than what it cannot give you.

During those steamy dog days of summer a shade garden is a refuge from the heat, an oasis in a landscape that can be sun blasted and tiring. In the middle of summer, just looking at a shade garden can make me sigh with pleasure at the thought of escaping the glare of the blazing sun. Once you embrace the shady part of your garden as having a wonderful role to play in making the garden more beautiful and user friendly, what was once a chore becomes a labor of love!

The first thing to learn about shade is that not all shade is created equal. You might say that when it comes to shade there is the good (bright shade, dappled shade), the bad (deep shade, deep tree roots) and the ugly (the dark side of a wall, shallow tree roots). Fortunately for us, good shade can be quite fun to work with, bad shade can often be turned into good shade and the ugly isn't all that prevalent. Plus there are strategies to make even these deep shade environments look nice.

Let's start by defining what shade is. The rule of thumb for shade is an area that receives less than 4 hours of direct sun a day. Full shade plants prefer to get little direct sunlight. They like less than 4 hours of direct sun a day and prefer morning and late afternoon sun to mid-day sun. Full shade plants will also do outstanding in dappled shade conditions. An area that will be shaded by a fence or wall will need to get several hours of sun in either morning or late afternoon for plants to do well. Full shade does not refer to dark places - all plants need at least some light.

There is one other aspect of shade you should keep in mind, shade moves throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. It can be easy to over or under estimate how much sun versus shade an area gets. However, learning how the shade moves across your yard, is a good thing to do.

Now that we know, in general, what shade is, let's start looking at the different kinds of shade.

The Good

Good shade can be defined as areas that get morning and/or late afternoon sun, receive dappled shade all day and areas that are bright, but not sunny. These types of conditions create shade that has enough light for a fairly wide selection of plant material to thrive. Good shade can still be challenging, but usually those challenges can be worked around with relative ease. Most shade plants will thrive in the conditions found in good shade.

Dappled shade refers to areas where there is a mixture of sun and shade, generally because a deciduous tree is nearby. Plants in this category are often woodland plants and will do best with almost no direct sun (even morning or late afternoon sun). The dappled shade area is usually larger than the tree canopy creating it. Woodland plants thrive on full days of sun that has been filtered by trees. Bloodroot, Aquilegia, Wild Ginger, Wild Violets, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Heuchera, Hosta and Meadow Rue are some examples of woodland plants.

The Bad

Bad shade could also be called dense shade and can be defined as areas that get no direct sunlight but still get reasonable light, are too dark to be considered dappled shade and/or have complicating factors such as abundant surface tree roots that make gardening difficult. Because these spots have more limited light, the plant palette is much more refined. Let me also say that bad shade means that it can be difficult to establish a lush garden under these conditions.

This does NOT necessarily mean that you want to get rid of all of your dense shade areas, as dense shade can be a haven from the heat of summer. One type of garden that works in dense shade is a woodland garden. Woodland gardens will largely rely on shrubs and foliage plants installed under a dense canopy of trees. These gardens tend not to be densely planted and often use mulch to give a uniform appearance in the open areas. Spring ephemerals, plants that grow and bloom before the trees leaf out in spring are a key element in these garden situations. To best make use of your woodland garden, install some benches or other seating so that you can sit and enjoy your respite from the heat.

Sometimes dense shade can be improved. If you are going to try to turn bad shade into good shade, the first thing you need to do is identify why the spot would be considered bad shade. The first thing to come to mind is that there are trees that are creating dense shade conditions. If you have a deciduous tree or trees creating dense shade conditions, you can usually create good shade by simply trimming off the lower branches to allow more light to penetrate under the canopy. The tree roots do limit plant selection somewhat, but the light is fantastic.

If you are gardening under trees, roots are simply going to be a fact of life. However, not all tree roots are created equal either. Trees with relatively deep roots, such as Hickory, Oak and Black Tupelo, are comparatively easy to garden under. Deep-rooted trees are easier to dig holes and plant under. Shallow rooted trees, fall under the "Ugly" shade category. When tree roots are a factor, you need to plan on utilizing plants that will tolerate dry shade.

The Ugly

Areas in your garden that are not only shaded, but are dark - are the most difficult type of shade in which to garden. These areas get no direct sun, not even dappled sunlight. These spots are usually created by walls or fences, often combined with trees. While trimming nearby trees can make some difference, these spots usually cannot be turned into bright shade. If your dark spot is due to a fence, you could opt for a more open type of fence, for example a wrought iron or picket fence rather than one made of solid wood, to help improve the situation. However, if privacy is the goal of the fence, this is probably not an option.

There is a rather limited plant palette available for these areas. If you have a dark spot you might want to consider transforming this area using hardscaping. You could pave it and make it into a seating area or perhaps install a water feature to add ambience. Using garden art, statuary, outdoor furniture or containers to add color would also be something to consider. Despite the limited plant palette, a dark corner can be turned into an asset for your garden with creativity and persistence.

Another side of ugly shade is where there are shallow rooted trees, such as Maple, Birch and Beech trees. Shallow rooted trees have roots very near the surface of the soil, practically on top of the soil. These very shallow roots make digging holes for planting extremely frustrating, not to mention hard work. You may be tempted to get around the root problem by installing a raised bed and simply adding soil on top of the roots. There are two problems with this - first, the roots will eventually grow into this new soil layer. Second, if you put too much soil over tree roots you can actually kill the tree. Roots need to breathe and adding a dense layer of soil over the root system limits the oxygen it receives and can over time weaken and then kill the tree. We will cover strategies for dealing with shallow rooted trees in another article.

The last ugly shade condition are trees with very low hanging branches, such as evergreens that have branches within a foot or two of the ground. With very low-branched trees, you should probably plan on using mulch rather than planting. If you do use mulch, do not over mulch. The recommended mulch depth for trees is two to four inches, which will discourage weeds and improve aesthetics. Using too much mulch will have the same oxygen reduction effect as adding soil.

Shade gardens can be wonderful additions to any flower garden, you simply have to embrace what shade can bring to your garden

Gardening Jobs for May

2011-05-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

Weed perennial beds with special care to avoid pulling up precious self-sown seedlings. When you can tell for sure what's what, pull the weeds and top-dress the plants with compost or rich soil -- just before a rain, if possible.

Provide support for flowers that need it before they start to fall over. Try twiggy prunings or pea stakes for sweet peas and ramblers. Put Grow-thru rings in place for bushier plants such as peonies, balloon flower, and globe thistle.

Spread a little lime or wood ashes around delphiniums and peonies.

Divide late-summer or autumn-flowering perennials. If necessary, go after phlox and artemisia with a sharp spade or even an ax. If delphiniums need to be divided, remove and replant the new little plants growing around the outside of the clump. Discard the hard old heart.

Trim climbing roses and attach securely to fences or trellises.

Scatter crushed eggshells in a thick ring around roses to deter slugs.

Sow annual poppies and baby's breath in borders for midsummer bloom by scattering them between the other plants, covering with fine soil, and tamping down gently.

Prune suckers from fruit trees now before they become established.

Melons often benefit from supplemental warming, such as that provided by growing under plastic. Wait until the transplanted seedlings are established, as they cannot take up moisture very well at first and can easily get dehydrated.

Plant aboveground crops in the light of the moon.

Thin beets and lettuce and use the tiny thinnings to fill in spaces in the row or to start additional plantings elsewhere.

For a crop in two years, plant year-old asparagus roots about eight inches deep in trenches lined with rich compost. Fan out the roots and space two feet apart. Cover gently with good soil.

When potato plants come through the soil, hill them up by pulling several inches of soil around their stems with a hoe to encourage deep roots and keep young potatoes from exposure to light.

Mulch between rows and keep the garden weeded to give emerging seedlings a fair chance.

Get that herb garden started by putting in plants. If you include mint, plant it in a large plastic tub (the kind drywall joint compound or birdseed comes in) with its bottom removed. This will help keep it from invading the rest of the garden.

An established asparagus bed will be ready to harvest. Patrol daily and select spears of about the same size (which will require the same cooking time). If you had trouble locating those first spears, mark the bed with stakes so that you can find them next year.

Watch for signs of drought in plants transplanted from containers. Apply water (not much, but often) close to each plant's stem, where it will percolate down to the root ball. The larger the plant, the longer the recovery period, and the more diligently you need to water. Poke a pointed metal rod into the soil above the root ball. If the rod doesn't penetrate easily, the soil is too dry. If it moves around and feels squishy, the soil is too wet.

Moles generally come calling this month. They're searching for mates and also grubs in your lawn. To get rid of the grubs, apply milky spore disease (Bacillus popilliae or Bacillis lentimorbus), a dust you can buy at your local garden center. Or try a new product called Mole-Med, which has castor oil as its active ingredient. Moles don't like the taste of this any more than you do.

Prune late-flowering shrubs, evergreens, and hedges.

Don't be in a rush to plant tomato, eggplant, pepper, and other heat-loving seedlings if you live where late-May frosts are common. Old-timers will surely wait until after Memorial Day.

Don't cut the leaves off spent spring-flowering bulbs. Dying and yellowing foliage may look unsightly, but leave it in place (and don't tie it up) to help the bulbs ripen for next year's show.

If you have crocuses growing in your lawn, don't mow until their leaves have died down.

Don't force clematis to climb a lamppost or fan trellis. Instead, give it a chance to climb trees, scramble over shrubs, or romp over the ground.

From our friends at The Old Farmers Almanac

Low Water Landscaping Tips: Xeriscape, low water plants & more

2011-05-05T12:50:00.005-04:00

Low Water Landscaping Tips: Xeriscape, low water plants & more

The following is a list of the TOP TEN important tips for water conservation in a low water landscaped yard.

No. 1 Know the path of the Sun

The utmost important consideration for someone concerned with low water landscaping should be the path of the sun. Knowing which sides of the house receive the most sun, which receive early morning, late afternoon, or little to no sun is absolutely intregal. Low water landscaping and xeriscape techniques will aid you very little if you are, for example placing drought resistant plants in the shaded side of the house and water thirsty plants in the full sun area of your yard. The basic rule of thumb for a low water landscape is to place the most drought resistant plants in the full path of the sun and the most water thirsty plants in the shade. Generally speaking, an area exposed to the south gets the most sun during the year and the northword facing sides of the yard receive the least. Other factors such as wind direction factor in as well. You can also manipulate the path of the sun by placing large shade trees to the south of the yard that will then provide shaded north facing lots where more water thirsty plants can reside.

No. 2 Use Drought resistant plants

There are many drought tolerant trees, shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses to choose from. Our drought tolerant plants page lists many of them here. Choosing drought resistant plants can save you hundreds of dollars in water bills. Whereas in the past, drought tolerant conjured up the image of a gravel yard with catcus, the name has taken new connotations and many low water landscaped yards may even pass off as semi tropical if executed properly.

No. 3 Group Plants Wisely

Place water thirsty plants together and out of the path of the full force of the sun. Place drought tolerant plants together. A yard might make a progression from low water use drought tolerant plants (succulents, cacti, etc) to aloes, lord's candle, to drought resistant shrubs, to low water grasses, to palms, to tropicals (weather permitting). By grouping the water thirsty plants together, you only have one or two areas that need heavier watering during those summer days.

No. 4 Limit Your Lawn

Now this might sound anti-patriotic for an American to size down the lawn, but it doesn't mean you have to get rid of the lawn. The point is, only have lawn where it's needed and thin out as many unneccesay corners and low use areas as possible. The worst thing to do is run a rectangle lawn the length of the yard and just throw hundreds of dollars down the drain. You can very well have a decent sized lawn that looks to fill the yard but is actually half the square feet of a rectangle. Try knocking off corners, concaving in the sides (kidney bean style) and so on to limit your overall square feet of sod. It's also important to choose a lawn that is appropriate for your climate. Finally, in areas of low use, you may consider lawn-like ornamental grasses to give a lawn like appearance with half the water usage.

No. 5 Proper irrigation

How many times do we see sprinklers watering the concrete, sending valuable H20 right down the storm drain? It's important to check the layout of your sprinkler system regularly and adjust the heads as needed. Only water plants when needed, don't let the sprinklers come on in the rain, just before, or just after. It's also important to water at night or early in the morning when evaporation forces are at bay.

No. 6 Improve the quality of your soil

Routinely cultivate your soil, incorporating organic matter such as compost. Doing so improves the soil's ability to resist evaporation and retain moisture. In heavy or compacted soils around trees, you can improve air and water penetration with a heavy-duty drill and a screw-like auger (available at hardware stores and nurseries). Bore 12- to 18-inch holes, 3 to 4 feet apart into the ground withing the tree's drip line.

No. 7 Hardscape and Mulch

Use permeable paving that allows water to seep into the soil, instead of solid concrete the encourages greater runoff.

Decomposed granite or flagstones offer a beautiful permeated hardscape at a reasonable price. It's also important to mulch effectively to reduce weeds, slow erosion, and reduce the amount of water lost through evaporation. Organic mulches such as shredded bark, compost, and aged sawdust are best because they break down. A 2- to 4-inch layer, spread beneath the canopy of a plant is ideal.

No. 8 Control Weeds

These garden intruders steal water needed by desirable plants. Regularly hoe or pull them out when they're youn, or use landscape fabrics or mulches to contain them. It's important to fight the battle with the weeds BEFORE they seed. Many people go after the weeds once they've taken over and all the effictively do is remove the dying host plant material and spread the seeds for next year's generation. By removing the weeds before they seed, you can make your yard 95% weed free within a couple of years of so doing.

No. 9 Keep Plants Healthy

If they're robust, they'll be able to withstand dry periods better than plants that are troubled by pests, planted in the wrong locations, or improperly cared for.

No. 10 Care for container plants

Group containers so they shade one another. During droughts or periods of drying winds, place them in the deepst shade they can tolerate. Mix water-holding polymers into potting soil. (For details ask your nursery.) Be sure to wet the entire rootball (it may take several passes with a hose). Double-pot; set small pots inside larger ones, wiht a layer of sand or gravel between. Or set pots into the ground up to the rims. And top-dress pots with a layer of cobbles, bark, or rough compost over the soil surface.

Low Water Landscaping

Garden Design Using Native Plants by Genevieve Schmidt

2011-05-05T12:42:00.000-04:00

I've been reading "The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Landscaping," edited by Thomas Christopher (Timber Press, $34.95), and one of the points that has stuck with me is in Douglas Tallamy's section on welcoming wildlife into the garden through planting native plants.

Tallamy, of course, is a passionate advocate of using native plants in the landscape, and is the author of "Bringing Nature Home."

Why native plants are sometimes rejected

In a discussion in the book about why gardeners are resistant to planting native, Tallamy's wife points out:

"Horticulturists are artists, and their medium is the garden. Their goal is to paint the landscape with beautiful plants, and they have a larger palette to work with if they use plants from all over the globe."

Yes! This is completely true, and it's particularly hard when we've grown to love so very many non-native plants. Exhortations to plant more natives tend to fall on deaf ears, because firstly, we don't always know a lot about native plants and how to use them successfully.

I don't know about you, but the more I learn about a plant, the more I tend to fall in love with it, because I figure out how to show it off to its best advantage.

Another reason gardeners are resistant to planting natives is that we think of using native plants as an all-or-nothing deal. We've developed the false idea that we can either have a boring landscape of natives that looks more like a restoration project than a garden, or have a gorgeous, artful one which uses non-native plants.

The restoration approach can lead to a garden that seems to reject human artistry and contribution. But the other approach is missing a broad spectrum of life, beauty, and regional connection that isn't always obvious at first glance.

Using natives as a design element improves our gardens in so many ways, and gardeners who use natives are tapping into another lens through which to view a garden. We're used to considering color, movement, and texture in the garden. In the same way, using native plants can add a number of important elements to improve your design... .Read more

Care For Your Trees

2011-05-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

Proper watering and mulch is the best thing you can do for the health and longevity of your trees. Water new plantings thoroughly and often enough to keep the root ball moist. Check newly planted trees growing in well-drained soils twice a week and those in heavy clay soils once a week. Even established trees benefit from thorough watering during drought. Water thoroughly whenever the top 4 to 6 inches of soil are crumbly and slightly moist.

From Melinda Myers

LANDSCAPERS 50% OFF OUR SOFTWARE

2011-05-02T23:15:00.000-04:00

Easy to use landscape design software, Landscape Vision. Show your clients your design plans in 5 easy steps. 50% off . Enter this coupon code at check out LDSP-P5EM

Right on your laptop, in front of your clients, using a picture of their property, draw garden beds and fill with mulch, draw walkways and fill with pavers. Drag and drop images of Annuals, Perennials, Trees, Shrubs, Ground Cover, Roses, and more, right onto your clients lawn. Draw putting greens. Preview outdoor living products, furniture, gazebos, bridges and more. Import your own images. Print a shopping list of agreed upon plants and products. Landscape Vision an simple visual tool to bring your plans to life!

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Cooperative Extension System Offices

2011-04-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

Cooperative Extension System Offices Find your nearest Cooperative Extension office. The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide, non-credit educational network. Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of local or regional offices. These offices are staffed by one or more experts who provide useful, practical, and research-based information to agricultural producers, small business owners, youth, consumers, and others in rural areas and communities of all sizes.

NIFA is the federal partner in the Cooperative Extension System. It provides federal funding to the system and, through program leadership, helps the system identify and address current issues and problems.

Alabama	Iowa	New Jersey	Vermont
Alaska	Kansas	New Mexico	Virginia
Arizona	Kentucky	New York	Washington
Arkansas	Louisiana	North Carolina	West Virginia
California	Maine	North Dakota	Wisconsin
Colorado	Maryland	Ohio	Wyoming
Connecticut	Massachusetts	Oklahoma
Delaware	Michigan	Oregon	American Samoa
District of Columbia	Minnesota	Pennsylvania	Guam
Florida	Mississippi	Rhode Island	Micronesia-Kolonia
Georgia	Missouri	South Carolina	Northern Marianas
Hawaii	Montana	South Dakota	Puerto Rico
Idaho	Nebraska	Tennessee	Virgin Islands
Illinois	Nevada	Texas
Indiana	New Hampshire	Utah
		From our friends at HouseLogic

Heirloom Roses

2011-04-16T11:18:00.000-04:00

Landscape Vision loves National Garden Clubs. Here's a great tip from them.

I bet you would be hard pressed to find a gardener that hasn't tried growing roses. Part of the experience of growing modern day roses is dealing with root stocks suckering and crowding out the pricey hybrid tea rose you planted, spraying for black spot, and having to do a lot of maintenance to make them look good.

Well, one of the latest trends in rose growing is to go back to the basics and grow heirloom roses. Although most rose enthusiasts had heirlooms in the garden, the majority of gardeners didn't. The Texas Rose Rustlers brought attention to heirlooms. According to the Texas Rose Rustlers, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 10,000 varieties of these wonderful old roses in commerce. But times and preferences changed in the 1930's and 1940's, and only about 2, 000 of these beautiful, hardy, and care-free varieties of roses are still known to exist today. You can imagine then how many were available in the 1980's when this group was formed.

The scarce amount of these "old roses" out there are typically growing in little known cemeteries and along country roads, and still thriving in older neighborhoods and at abandoned home sites. The fact that they are thriving and growing in these areas is a testimony to their hardiness.

Most heirloom roses are grown on their own roots rather than being grafted on a rootstock like hybrid Tea roses. Own root roses have many advantages. First they typically are more winter hardy. They freeze to the ground and still sprout back in the spring from their own roots. They also have a longer life span. The catalog for the company, Heirloom Roses, says that the typical grafted rose has a life span of ten years. Own root roses can live to 100+.

But don't think that you need to "rustle" rose cuttings from cemeteries or old home to get these roses. There are many companies out there that specialize in these old roses. Do an internet search for "heirloom roses" to find some nurseries or go to local botanical gardens and take advantage of their libraries to find sources. Add an heirloom rose to your garden next year, and enjoy their blooms, fragrance (which most hybrids don't have), and their carefree upkeep.

Excerpted from Horticulture Tips, Salisbury Garden Yearbook, VFGC, Inc.

National Garden Club

Gardening Question of the Day

2011-04-12T13:38:00.000-04:00

I've heard that if you put the tea from old tea bags on hydrangea plants, the blossoms will turn blue or purple. I have four of these plants with pink blossoms, and I was wondering whether the tea would change their color.

Hydrangea flowers are pink in near-neutral soil and blue in acidic soil. You can change the color of the flowers by changing the pH of the soil. If you have a lot of lime in your soil, the blossoms will be pink. To get blue flowers, you need to lower the pH, which you can do by adding sulfur or peat moss to the soil. Adding tea, which contains tannic acid, also might bring on the blue color.

From our friends at The Old Farmers Almanac

April Gardening Jobs

2011-04-01T13:24:00.001-04:00

Start coleus cuttings now to plant outdoors in the garden by early June. These colorful plants are enjoying a revival as fine accents to annual and perennial borders.

Rake or remove mulches from all flower beds.

Plant rosebushes. They often do best if planted before growth starts and buds swell. And if you want to increase their fragrance, surround them with parsley.

Scatter annual poppy seeds in your flower garden and let them grow where they will. They don't like to be transplanted.

Broadcast lime, wood ashes, or a mixture of the two over alkaline-loving perennials such as delphiniums and dianthus. Bring color outdoors to patios, porches, and even the garden with pansy plants, which don't mind cold nights. To encourage constant flowering, routinely remove spent blossoms and keep them from getting bone-dry.

Sow sweet peas as soon as the soil can be worked. Nick the seeds with a nail file and plant them five inches deep, but cover them with only about three inches of soil. Hoe more soil up around them as they grow.

Plant lilies-of-the-valley, violets, and garden lilies. Divide summer- and fall-blooming perennials, including delphiniums, irises, chrysanthemums, daisies, and phlox.

Although we think of this as a rainy month, it can fool us. Keep transplanted flowers well watered during dry spells.

When danger of frost has passed, uncover strawberry beds and keep them well watered.

Plant blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and fruit trees.

Start seeds indoors for heat-loving crops such as eggplant, tomatoes, and squash.

To determine whether your garden soil is ready for seeds, grab a good handful of it. If you can form it into a ball, the soil is too wet. If it crumbles through your fingers and reminds you of chocolate cake, it's ready for planting.

If the soil is ready, give it a good stirring and let it sit for several days. Then top-dress it with compost or well-rotted manure and plant beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, radishes, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.

If you got your peas in last month, be sure to give them a good fence for support, made of chicken wire, twine, or stubby branches that are at least three feet tall. Otherwise, plant them this month as soon as you can.

Scatter spinach or lettuce seeds around emerging bulb foliage to make wise use of your garden space, and have a leafy green crop at the ready to cover the bare spots left by deadheaded spring flowers.

Prune forsythias as soon as the flowers fade. Cut the oldest stems to within a foot of the ground, but be sure to let the plant keep its arching form; don't turn it into a gumdrop or cannonball.

Feed your trees. As soon as the frost goes out of the ground, give them a well-balanced slow-release fertilizer. Scatter about six good handfuls per each 10x10-foot area. Store leftover fertilizer in a small plastic trash can or a covered plastic container, and label it.

Rake your lawn to remove all leaves, dead grass, and small twigs. Sow seed for a new lawn, or fill in bare patches by first covering the area with compost or other organic matter. Roll the lawn if the ground isn't soggy.

If you receive mail-order nursery plants before your soil is dry enough for planting, make a trench and heel them into the ground in a protected area.

Don't fertilize strawberries in the spring. This is when the leaves are developing, and you'll get lush growth and meager, soft berries. Wait until blossoms appear and use a light hand.

Don't set tomato plants out in the garden too soon. They hate cold soil and cold nights (under 55 degrees F).

Don't forget to vent your cold frame. April days may feel chilly, but the temperature under the glass can get over 100 degrees F on a sunny day. Salad greens are unhappy over 65 degrees F, and most other plants will perish over 85 degrees F.

From our Friends as The Old Farmers Almanac

7 Gardening Mistakes to Avoid

2011-03-31T15:00:00.002-04:00

Mistake #1: Too many changes, too soon

The excitement of buying a new home, plus a stretch of warm spring weather, often creates a passion for yard work. But don’t just do something, stand there! What looks like a spring weed might be a fall-blooming vine; that bare spot in March might reveal tulips in April.

Try this instead: Live with your land for a year. Observe how many hours of sunlight each part of your garden gets. Test the pH of your soil to determine if acid-loving or alkaline-loving plants will be happy in that particular patch of heaven. Observe when your lawn greens up in spring and becomes dormant in late summer. The money and time you save by watching and waiting will be your own.

Mistake #2: Too much togetherness

Trees and shrubs that look properly spaced when you plant them will crowd each other and compete for water, sun, and nutrients in a few years. If you’re lucky, you can transplant some bushes; if you’re not, you’ll have to throw away starved shrubs.

Try this instead: Before digging, read spacing instructions. Give trees plenty of space—you can always fill in later. Stagger bushes and plants and create two rows, which will create more breathing room. The results will look absurdly sparse at first. But live with it. In a few years, your shrubs will fill empty spaces without suffocating each other. (Landscape Vision software shows you how your trees will look fully grown!)

Mistake #3: Planting without a plan

Planting new garden beds without a long-term landscape plan is like pouring a house foundation without blueprints. Your haste results in a waste of time, money, and muscles.

Try this instead: Draw a simple sketch of your yard—what’s there now and what you might add later, such as patios, outbuildings, and pools. Bone up on the trees and shrubs that grow best in your soil and climate. Go online and click around landscaping sites that help you pick plants and design beds, (Purchase Landscape Vision Design Software and in just 5 easy steps plan your landscape), (Landscape Vision offers an Award Winning Plant Data Base, learn all you need with us)

Visit your local nursery or home improvement center where design staff can answer questions and make suggestions. Or hire a professional landscape designer to create a starter plan for as little as $250 to $500. (Save the $250-$500 and purchase Landscape Vision, bring your design to a pro for advise) Find a professional at the Association of Professional Landscape Designers or the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Mistake #4: Neglecting the root of it all

Even the hardiest plants need a little help putting down roots in new locations. Sprinkling the foliage doesn’t nourish the roots, the plant’s nerve center. You must deliver water to the root ball below the ground, or your plants will be stunted and short-lived.

Try this instead: Place the hose at the base of new bushes, trees, and plants and let the water trickle out for 20 to 30 minutes, twice a week (more during hot spells), for 4 to 12 weeks. Or snake a soaker hose ($20 for 50 feet) through your beds, which will deliver slow and steady water to roots.

Mistake #5: Forgetting the sun

Too many gardeners pick plants based only on looks, not the growing conditions plants require and the conditions that exist. Rookies will plant sun-loving perennials under an old oak tree or sun-shy hostas in the open. They look great for about a week, and then die.

(Landscape Vision software allows you to sort plants based on light type, thus avoiding costly mistakes.)

Try this instead: Observing the spot where you’re going to put the plant and estimating the amount of sun it gets over the course of a day during the growing season.

Mistake #6: Over-watering

An automatic irrigation system is a luxury that keeps your landscape hydrated throughout the growing season with almost no effort. Unfortunately, auto-watering can bring disease, root rot, and a premature death to plants; it also wastes water.

Many gardeners set watering timers for 15 to 20 minutes each morning, which wets the surface but doesn’t soak deeply to nourish roots of large trees and shrubs.

Try this instead: Water for 40 to 60 minutes only two to three times a week. Check with the company that maintains your irrigation system for local recommendations. A deeper soak also helps lawns develop deeper root systems.

Mistake #7: Budget blunders

Your landscaping can fall victim to construction bulldozers that park on lawns and dig too closely to trees and shrubs. New construction also demands rethinking your landscape plan to accommodate additions.

Unfortunately, many home owners don’t include landscaping in their construction budget. They end up with a beautiful new family room, screened porch, or solarium, and a few lonely azaleas planted around the foundation as an afterthought.

Try this instead: Allocate 10% to 20% of your construction budget to the landscape—both hardscaping and plants. If your construction spreadsheet can’t stand another line item, make a plan to landscape—in stages, if necessary—as soon as possible after construction is completed.

Oliver Marks is a former carpenter and newspaper reporter who has been writing about home improvements for 16 years.

Discount of Landscape Vision Design Software

2011-03-19T13:22:00.000-04:00

Hello, Landscape Vision would like to offer you a discount off our Award Winning Landscape/Garden Design Software. Simple add this code below into the "Coupon Code" box during check out to receive $10.00 off. Offer expires 4/20/11

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Planting Bed Preparation By David Beaulieu, About.com Guide

2011-03-19T11:45:00.001-04:00

In established perennial beds that performed well the prior year, working in some additional compost around your plants to fertilize them is the best thing you can do (beyond the tasks discussed on Page 1). Also remove weed plants as you encounter them (including old, dead growth you didn't remove in the fall) -- no sense in letting them get ahead of you.

While on the subject of compost, note that it's not just for planting beds. Most all your plants (including the grass in your lawn and your trees and shrubs) will enjoy a feeding of compost in the spring (later in the year, too, for that matter). The great thing about using compost as a fertilizer is that you never have to worry about burning plants with it. Compost is nature's slow-release fertilizer.

If you must use chemical fertilizers, always be careful to follow the application directions, because chemical fertilizers will burn plants when used in excess. The one chemical fertilizer that really is convenient (at least in theory) is the "Weed and Feed" type that contains a preemergent herbicide to prevent crabgrass (see below).

To open up brand new planting beds, you have a few options, including:

Using a tiller to break new ground

Killing grass using a smothering method, to convert lawn space into a planting bed

Building raised beds

In particularly rough areas, you may wish to consider soil solarization.

If you've just opened up a planting bed by breaking new ground, you can be sure that weeds will find it quickly ("Nature abhors a vacuum"). That's why, in some situations, it's smart to lay a landscape fabric over the ground, and cover it with a layer of mulch (the mulch protects the landscape fabric from harmful UV rays). I don't like landscape fabric in vegetable planting beds, where I like to be able to reach down, scoop up a handful of soil and admire its fertility up-close and personal; I prefer just a straight mulching here (straw is my favorite). But in a shrub planting bed, these weed barriers are a great ally in helping you achieve a low-maintenance yard.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T12:06:00.001-04:00

THE MAGIC SHAMROCK

Three is Ireland's magic number. Hence the Shamrock. Crone, Mother and Virgin. Love, Valour and Wit.. Faith, Hope and Charity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Numbers played an important role in Celtic symbolism. Three was the most sacred and magical number. It multiplies to nine, which is sacred to Brigit. Three may have signified totality: past, present and future OR behind, before and here OR sky, earth and underworld. Everything good in Ireland comes in threes. The rhythm of story telling in the Irish tradition is based on threefold repetition. This achieves both intensification and exaggeration. Even today in quality pub talk, a raconteur can rarely resist a third adjective, especially if it means stretching a point. "Three accomplishments well regarded in Ireland: a clever verse, music on the harp, the art of shaving faces."

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Landscape Vision

Superbells - Blackberry Punch - Calibrachoa - Calibrachoa hybrid

2011-03-16T15:20:00.000-04:00

From our friends at Proven Winners

"Great new calibrachoa for 2011! If you happen to see Superbells Blackberry Punch at a garden center this spring - grab it up because it will be a harder variety to find this year due to it being the first year of introduction!"

Superbells - Blackberry Punch - Calibrachoa - Calibrachoa hybrid

Invest in your Property with Landscaping

2011-03-13T17:21:00.001-04:00

According to Sweat Equity of HGTV

"The average landscaping project will yield 100 - 200% return on investment"

Get Gardening/Landscaping. Spring is just around the corner.

8 Tips for Adding Curb Appeal and Value to Your Home

2011-03-13T17:18:00.002-04:00

Landscape Vision Garden/Landscape Design Software, just love House Logic.com

Homes with high curb appeal command higher prices and take less time to sell. We’re not talking about replacing vinyl siding with redwood siding; we’re talking about maintenance and beautifying tasks you’d like to live with anyway.

The way your house looks from the street—attractively landscaped and well-maintained—can add thousands to its value and cut the time it takes to sell. But which projects pump up curb appeal most? Some spit and polish goes a long way, and so does a dose of color.

Tip #1: Wash your house’s face

Before you scrape any paint or plant more azaleas, wash the dirt, mildew, and general grunge off the outside of your house. REALTORS® say washing a house can add $10,000 to $15,000 to the sale prices of some houses.

A bucket of soapy water and a long-handled, soft-bristled brush can remove the dust and dirt that have splashed onto your wood, vinyl, metal, stucco, brick, and fiber cement siding. Power washers (rental: $75 per day) can reveal the true color of your flagstone walkways.

Wash your windows inside and out, swipe cobwebs from eaves, and hose down downspouts. Don’t forget your garage door, which was once bright white. If you can’t spray off the dirt, scrub it off with a solution of 1/2 cup trisodium phosphate—TSP, available at grocery stores, hardware stores, and home improvement centers—dissolved in 1 gallon of water.

You and a friend can make your house sparkle in a few weekends. A professional cleaning crew will cost hundreds—depending on the size of the house and number of windows—but will finish in a couple of days.
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/8-tips-adding-curb-appeal-and-value-your-home/#ixzz1GVzHEuze

Tip #2: Freshen the paint job

The most commonly offered curb appeal advice from real estate pros and appraisers is to give the exterior of your home a good paint job. Buyers will instantly notice it, and appraisers will value it.   Of course, painting is an expensive and time-consuming facelift. To paint a 3,000-square-foot home, figure on spending $375 to $600 on paint; $1,500 to $3,000 on labor.

Your best bet is to match the paint you already have: Scrape off a little and ask your local paint store to match it. Resist the urge to make a statement with color. An appraiser will mark down the value of a house that’s painted a wildly different color from its competition.

Tip #3: Regard the roof

The condition of your roof is one of the first things buyers notice and appraisers assess. Missing, curled, or faded shingles add nothing to the look or value of your house. If your neighbors have maintained or replaced their roofs, yours will look especially shabby.

You can pay for roof repairs now, or pay for them later in a lower appraisal; appraisers will mark down the value by the cost of the repair. According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2010-2011 Cost vs. Value Report, the average cost of a new asphalt shingle roof is about $21,500.

Some tired roofs look a lot better after you remove 25 years of dirt, moss, lichens, and algae. Don’t try cleaning your roof yourself: call a professional with the right tools and technique to clean it without damaging it. A 2,000 sq. ft. roof will take a day and $400 to $600 to clean professionally.

Tip #4: Neaten the yard

A well-manicured lawn, fresh mulch, and pruned shrubs boost the curb appeal of any home.
Replace overgrown bushes with leafy plants and colorful annuals. Surround bushes and trees with dark or reddish-brown bark mulch, which gives a rich feel to the yard. Put a crisp edge on garden beds, pull weeds and invasive vines, and plant a few geraniums in pots.
Green up your grass with lawn food and water. Cover bare spots with seeds and sod, get rid of crab grass, and mow regularly.
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/8-tips-adding-curb-appeal-and-value-your-home/#ixzz1GVznGF00

Tip #5: Add a color splash

Even a little color attracts and pleases the eye of would-be buyers.

Plant a tulip border in the fall that will bloom in the spring. Dig a flowerbed by the mailbox and plant some pansies. Place a brightly colored bench or Adirondack chair on the front porch. Get a little daring, and paint the front door red or blue.

These colorful touches won’t add to the value of our house: appraisers don’t give you extra points for a blue bench. But beautiful colors enhance curb appeal and help your house to sell faster.

Tip #6: Glam your mailbox

An upscale mailbox, architectural house numbers, or address plaques can make your house stand out.
High-style die cast aluminum mailboxes range from $100 to $350. You can pick up a handsome, hand-painted mailbox for about $50. If you don’t buy new, at lease give your old mailbox a facelift with paint and new house numbers.

These days, your local home improvement center or hardware stores has an impressive selection of decorative numbers. Architectural address plaques, which you tack to the house or plant in the yard, typically range from $80 to $200. Brass house numbers range from $3 to $11 each, depending on size and style.

Tip #7: Fence yourself in

A picket fence with a garden gate to frame the yard is an asset. Not only does it add visual punch to your property, appraisers will give extra value to a fence in good condition, although it has more impact in a family-oriented neighborhood than an upscale retirement community.

Expect to pay $2,000 to $3,500 for a professionally installed gated picket fence 3 feet high and 100 feet long.

If you already have a fence, make sure it’s clean and in good condition. Replace broken gates and tighten loose latches.

Tip #8: Maintenance is a must

Nothing looks worse from the curb—and sets off subconscious alarms—like hanging gutters, missing bricks from the front steps, or peeling paint. Not only can these deferred maintenance items damage your home, but they can decrease the value of your house by 10%.

Here are some maintenance chores that will dramatically help the look of your house.

· Refasten sagging gutters.

· Repoint bricks that have lost their mortar.

· Reseal cracked asphalt.

· Straighten shutters.

· Replace cracked windows.

Georgia-based freelance writer Pat Curry has covered housing and real estate for consumer and trade publications for more than a decade.

Growing Green By Melinda Myers

2011-03-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

Spring cleaning does not have to result in more discards in the landfill. Find ways to reuse or recycle items in the garden. Some plant societies, garden clubs and master gardener groups may be willing to reuse some or all of those plant pots that have collected in your shed over the years. Old chairs, sleds and sentimental items can be used as artwork, focal points and planters in the landscape. And if these additions don’t fit into your landscape design, they may be the perfect item for friends, family and other gardeners. Check for recycling groups in your area before adding them to the trash.

Plant Trees!

2011-03-10T17:54:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for cost-effective yet eye-pleasing ways to lower your energy bills? Planting trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and hedges could be the answer. In fact,

Landscaping may be your best long-term investment for reducing heating and

cooling costs, while also bringing other improvements to your community.

A well-designed landscape will:

• Cut your summer and winter energy

costs dramatically.

• Protect your home from winter wind

and summer sun.

• Reduce consumption of water, pesticides, and fuel for landscaping and

lawn maintenance.

• Help control noise and air pollution.

This publication covers landscaping tips to save money year-round; ways that landscaping helps the environment; important climate, site, and design considerations;

Landscape planning; and tree and shrub selection. You can get additional information on regionally appropriate species from your local nursery and landscaping

experts.

Landscaping Saves Money Year-Round Carefully positioned trees can save up to 25%

of a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling. Computer models devised by the U.S. Department of Energy predict that the proper placement of only

three trees will save an average household between $100 and $250 in energy costs annually. On average, a well designed landscape provides enough energy

savings to return your initial investment in less than 8 years. An 8-foot

(2.4-meter) deciduous.

Landscape Vision is learning a great deal by visiting HOUSE LOGIC

Plant Search

2011-03-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

Plant Search

We at Landscape Vision just love Proven Winner. Check out the new plants for Spring. Get started with your dream landscape soon!

Grenier Fam's Birthday Wish / Online Fundraiser for Charity

2011-03-10T16:55:00.000-05:00

Grenier Fam's Birthday Wish / Online Fundraiser for Charity

Landscape Vision Demo

2011-03-10T11:45:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, check out our YouTube demo. Let us know what you think. Click below.

Landscape Vision YouTube Demo

2011 Best Planting Dates

2011-03-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

Every Gardener Must Check This Out. The Old Farmers Almanac has created this amazing chart of planting dates. It's based on where you live. Landscape Vision thinks you will really find this useful.

2011 Best Planting Dates
http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/

Once you've learned when to plant use our software to design your perfect landscape!

http://www.landscapeyourvisions.com/software_overview.php