Garden Tips & Resources

Archive for March, 2008

In the flush of excitement we all get when planning a new garden, or finding a beautiful new plant at the store, we don’t always think to stop and create a record of our gardening activities. And while it’s not critical to keep a garden record, it can be extremely helpful in knowing how your plants are doing, keeping track of things you’ve tried and either succeeded or failed at, and revisiting the joy your garden brings anytime you’d like.

And that’s where a garden journal comes in. Keeping a garden journal can help you to learn from past experiences. It can also help you keep track of various plants, trees or bushes you have. It can be used to keep notes about common diseases or pests, watering and soil requirements, and so much more.

A garden journal can be used for so much more than just simple record keeping and maintenance though. In fact, it can become a treasured scrapbook and historical journal of your personal gardening adventures.

When you come across a beautiful young plant at the store for instance, and buy it on impulse, you can take a quick picture of it and place that into your garden journal. Then you can add the required growth information of course, because these details will help you three months down the road when you can’t quite remember that particular plant’s name. So record the latin and common names in your journal. Note what the soil, sunlight and water requirements are, and if you can find more information such as diseases and pests to watch for then put that into your garden journal too.

Now the fun part is the regular updates. How often you do these will of course depend on you, but once a month is usually nice. Take a new picture of the plant every month or two. Make additional notes about how it seems to be doing in it’s present location. If you prune it, then get before and after pictures then note down how well (or badly) it seems to respond to trimming.

Write in your garden journal how you feel about the plant too. Do you absolutely adore it? Is it driving you nuts because it tries to spread out too fast? Do you think in restrospect that it would have been better off planted in another location? All of these thoughts occur to every gardener as they’re tending their flowers and bushes, but many of us tend to forget them. By keeping a garden journal though, we can note down these thoughts along with any others as needed.

Garden journals can be used to sketch out ideas for new garden bed designs too, or hold pictures of other gardens and plants we like too. You can clip pictures from magazines, or insert pictures you’ve taken while on vacation or exploring someone else’s garden too.

And one of the best things about keeping a garden journal is the winter time. If you live in an area which gets quite cold and dreary during the winter months, and you long for the beauty of your gardens, you can open the journal and revisit your ideas, plans, and how far your various plants, flowers, and specific gardens have come since the beginning.

Hosta plants are most well known for their ability to grow in shady areas, and their amazing variety of colors and textures. Not everyone knows this, but many types of hosta plants actually produce flowers too, and these flowers can be quite beautiful in and of themselves.

Flowering hosta plants usually need a little more sunlight than non flowering ones though, and this is particularly true for hostas which produce flowers that have a nice scent to them. How much sunlight these plants need will depend on the strength of sun in your own garden zone though, and there may be a bit of trial and error involved before you discover just the right location for them.

In most cases, it’s safe to plant flowering hostas in a location which receives morning sunlight, and shade in the afternoon. The morning sun is not as strong as the afternoon sun is, and the light doesn’t last as long either.

For the most part though, hosta plants are generally grown for their gorgeous colorful foilage instead of their flowers. And a basic rule of thumb is: The darker the foilage, the more shade the plant can handle. Sometimes however, the best planting location will depend more on the color of the hosta’s foilage than the darkness of that color.

Hosta plants which have golden colored leaves for instance, tend to do better with a bit more sun. The sun actually helps bring out the color of the foilage in all it’s glory. A hosta plant which has blue colored leaves though, will do much better in shady areas. It can live in mostly shaded locations, or fully shaded locations.

Many hosta plants actually have variagated foilage though, and a general rule of thumb is that they should be grown in partial to full shade. You’ll find some have lighter colors in the center of their leaves, while others have the lightest colors at the outer edges.

If you live in a climate which has a fairly hot or strong sunlight, then partial shade might still be a bit too much sun for many types of hosta plants. What you’ll want to look for is a location that has heavily filtered sunlight, or light shade all day long.

Hostas are fairly easy to care for too, because their growth habits tend to choke out weeds. They’re also quite useful as lawn or garden border plants, and they can even be used as all purpose ground covers in some areas too. Hosta plants do need plenty of water and good drainage though, and this can make growing them in hot climates a bit difficult.

Gardening in a greenhouse allows you to control growing conditions such as temperature, water, soil erosion and more. Many people actually prefer to have their entire garden inside a greenhouse, because the environment is much more controlled and because it allows them to tend their gardens all year round.

Greenhouses are simply structures of varying sizes which are designed specifically for growing plants. They’re often designed with many windows, or using side and roof materials which are primarily see through (such as plastic, fiberglass, or regular glass) so that plenty of sun is able to continuously pour in throughout the day.

Greenhouses can have heating and cooling systems installed, so that the temperature is kept even all year round. This allows plants of any type to be grown at will, despite what the weather outside might be like.

Greenhouses also tend to have a dedicated water system installed, which will constantly irrigate or sprinkle the growing plants and ensure they maintain even water levels at all times.

Greenhouses can be built from scratch using your own designs, or you can purchase building plans and supplies to build them from instead. Greenhouse kits can also be purchased though, and these usually include all materials and instructions needed for creating your very own greenhouse.

The size of greenhouse you build or buy is completely up to you, however many gardeners often wish they had more space available in their existing greenhouse. So try to build or buy one as big as you can afford, and as big as your existing space will allow.

Be sure to research the various design options available before getting started on your own greenhouse too. You can for instance, build a greenhouse or buy a kit which is designed to use solar power for heating the greenhouse. In other words, instead of installing a heating system in your greenhouse, you would use the existing power of the sun for keeping the greenhouse from getting too cold in the winter. This is much more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, but it does require some specialized planning and design to put into place.

If you buy a greenhouse kit, you’ll be able to select from a wide variety of sizes, styles, and designs. Some for instance, are designed to be attached to an existing building such as your house. This would be excellent for creating an herb garden off your kitchen, and depending on how the kit is designed you might even be able to use that herb garden as your morning sun room or patio too.

Most people know inherantly that garden trellis can make your yard and garden stand out even more beautifully than it does already, and many gardeners want to incorporate trellis into their garden, but they’re not quite sure how to do this. So here we’ll look at several different ways you can use garden trellis to enhance your own yard and garden.

1. Climbing Vines – If you like plants and flowers which climb, these are ideal to use with garden trellis. You can simply attach your trellis to the wall of your home for instance, then plant Morning Glory or Clematis vines at the base of the trellis. In time – sometimes quite quickly – you’ll have flowering vines climbing up the side of your home.

There are of course many types of flowering vines to choose from, so select those you particularly like and those which are suited for the sun and soil conditions where you plan to place your wall trellis. Depending on the types of vines you plant, you may need to use a bit of string or twine to tie the vines to the trellis as they’re growing, so they can learn to climb it properly. Sometimes all you need to do is wrap the around the trellis though, instead of tieing it in place.

Not only will this make the exterior of your home more lush and beautiful, but you’ll also discover it helps to insulate your home from the summer heat too. If you prefer not to have vines climbing a wall of your home however, you can instead attach your trellis to a carport and plant the vines there. This will serve to partially enclose an open carport, and as the vines grow they will provide additional shade and coolness for your vehicles.

2. Privacy Fencing – Garden trellis can also be used to help make your front or back yard area more private too. Alternatively, it can be used to create a private garden space, and to enclose a gazebo or patio area as well.

There is a specific type of garden trellis which is designed for creating more privacy too, and it simply has smaller holes between the wooden slats. This privacy trellis is quite useful for beautifying and shading specific areas of your yard and garden, even if you don’t want vines or plants climbing the trellis.

3. Enhance Your Container Gardens – Another way to use trellis for beautifying your garden is specifically useful for container gardens. If for instance, you have a nice large container garden sitting on the front porch or patio that seems to be missing some final finishing touch, you can add that extra something by simply attaching a piece of garden trellis to it. The trellis piece can be as tall or short as you’d like of course, to fit with the particular look and design you’d like.

And of course if you’re growing something that needs a bit of support – such as tomato plants or flowering vines – the trellis will become a functional part of your container garden too.

I don’t know about you, but where I live it’s beginning to look a lot like Spring. To me that means that it’s time to start planning my garden. One of the best and most enjoyable  parts of planning a garden is looking through the gardening catalogs.

If you’re anything like me, you always find something new that you want to try or maybe you’ll find one of the old-timey plants that your Dad or Grandmother planted.

The best place to start is with a gardening catalog. And why stop with just one, order four or five.

Here are some really good places where you can order FREE gardening catalogs.

Arbico-Organics

Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

Gardeners Choice

Gardener’s Supply Company

Park Seed

Wayside Garden’s Gardening Guide

Don’t waste any more time! Order your gardening catalog today. It won’t be long until it’s time to get those seeds and plants in the ground.

Gardening time is almost here!

March has been called the 3:00 A.M. of the year – it isn’t quite winter and it certainly isn’t spring. The weather cannot be depended upon – a warm sunny day momentarily may freeze into a blizzard, and a blizzard may melt away under a seventy-degree sun.

The only thing predictable about March – as a few million people have already noted – is its complete unpredictability. Here in Connecticut we can be pretty sure of snow during the month.

But through all the weather’s vagaries we had the surprise and joy of a lovely little winter flower garden beside the front door. The gap between winter and spring was gaily bridged by this garden’s rainbow of color. While on our place we have a minimum of cultivated areas and flower beds, I wouldn’t be without this one little garden spot even if it demanded a lot of care – which it doesn’t.

The L-shaped area, five by seven and about two feet wide, is protected on the west and north by the house wall, and exposed to south and east. Daily from 3:00 P.M. on the house shades the area—and some shade is desirable. The crocuses here bloom sometimes two months ahead of those out in the meadow.

Surely you have a similar, sheltered area somewhere near your front or back door. At least eight kinds of early-blooming bulbs and perennials are ready, willing and able to create for you a sensational March display. Planting is done in late August and early September.

There is an advantage in having such a garden near the front door. Each time you go in or out your heart skips a beat at the courage of these diminutive shoots. And, with an icy wind howling down your neck you are rarely tempted to wander far afield in search of early bloom. Dinner guests are equally enchanted as the front door light shines out on the flowers emerging in all weather and offering them a cordial welcome.

Every day during March – almost every hour, it seems – something happens in our tiny area, something new invites a brief pause and glance at the unfolding blossoms. Such a garden is simple to care for – small and well within the supply of time and energy of everyone. When the early flowers are gone you can fill in with zinnias and marigolds for a summer-long blaze of color lasting until heavy autumn frosts.

Right now why not select a possible site? Either prepare with hay, if planting time is some months ahead, or start right in and dig down a foot or so. Remove all old roots and rocks; add plenty of compost and manure, perhaps a bushel or two of each. You will do well to raise this garden a little above the surrounding earth level. We edged our with bricks to separate it from the gravel walk.

Eight Of Success

The first of the eight “little giants” to put in an appearance is winter aconite (eranthis). One March day you’ll observe small yellow buttercups resting on the snow, each with an Elizabethan ruff of greenery around its neck. (Eranthis is a member of the buttercup family). This tuberous rooted hardy perennial produces little blooms on 4-inch stems that last many days in chilly weather, and seem to be a tangible and visible sign that spring is somewhere near. Even in northern New England, eranthis may open in February if it is an early season. Once in our snow garden a blossom was encased in a diminutive bubble of ice. That day, time slipped by while I just stood there in wonder and admiration.

The important rule for eranthis is not to wait until autumn to order and plant. Send for the tuberous roots in August and get them underground in a hurry so they have time to grow a fine root system before winter. The flowers will be extra large and handsome if bulbs are planted this early. When the package arrives don’t be discouraged if it appears you have invested in a mere bundle of small dead roots. In spite of appearances, there is a golden promise in each wizened little corm. Plant immediately upon arrival, for they are ready to grow. Set 2 inches deep, 3 inches apart, and eighteen bulbs to a square foot. In full sun or semi shade they will reseed and naturalize in a rewarding manner.