GardenDesignOnline

In the Magazines Aug-Sept 07

American Gardener July-August
Read About:

• The use of native plants by landscape architect Steve Martino
• Hardy Plants for Cool-Climate Gardens like Rhodora, Bunchberry & many others by Carole Ottesen
• See-through plants that add mystery to any garden
• Champion plant propagator Harald Neubauer of Hidden Hollow Nursery in Belvidere, TN
• Plants for evening gardens

Garden Design Aug-Sept

• The San Jose garden by "site artist" Cevan Forristt,  who's used cast concrete columns, 19th c . Balinese beds, antique Chinese doors & much more to create a very unique outdoor living space.
• Eye-catching centerpieces using ferns
• Eco-smart solutions to protect lakes, streams and bays
• The super-mod Texas hillside garden by landscape desigenrs Selena Souders and Dylan Robertson of Big Red Sun in Austin.

Horticulture Aug-Sept

• The plant collector's garden of neurologist-turned gardener Ellen Lathi, with help from designer Kevin Doyle
• Fabulous South African Restios
• How Renee Shepherd of Renee's Garden got into the seed business and has made it a huge success.
• Upright plants for narrow spaces

The Vine Menace

Vines Threatening Southern U.S. Forests

Southern US forests, as we know them, are going through a dramatic change, according to a new study by researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Georgia.  The study found a ten-fold increase in the number of vines over 20 years in two South Carolina forests.  The vines included poison ivy, trumpet vine, Virginia creeper and grapevines.

The study's lead author is Bruce Allen, a recent doctoral graduate of Ohio State's School of Environment and Natural Resources.  "Collectively, we're talking about an increase of more than 500 vine stems in 27 acres of forest area that we studied," he said.  "There are now so many vines they they're starting to change the makeup of the forest.  It appears that as the number of vines increase, the density of small trees decreases at a fairly uniform rate."

The study appears in a recent issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management.
Allen and two colleagues collected data from six plots in South Carolina's Congaree National Park and five other plots in a forest along the Savannah River and one of its major tributaries.  Vine density in Congaree doubled within 12 years, and although there were fewer vines at the end of the study in the Savannah River forest, there was still a 10-fold increase over the course of the research period.

The threat to the forests comes from the reduced sunlight reaching the forest floor.  As the number of vines increase, their leaves block the sun's rays and choke out competing plants on the ground.  "The likely result is that more vines will grow on existing trees and compete directly with tree seedlings," said Allen.  "A steady increase in vine numbers will likely influence the kind of trees that ultimately grow in these forests."

The study was supported by the National Park Service, the US Dept of Energy, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

Bluetooth in the Garden

A Revolution in Watering

Can't wait until this new technique hits the home irrigation market, and it just can't be that far off.

Scientist Robert Evans of the USDA's Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Montana, has developed a revolutionary new watering system in which the plants talk to the irrigation system and let it know how much water they need.

Evans and colleagues developed the system using Bluetooth technology, sensors, weather stations and traditional irrigation equipment.  Apparently, the sensors constantly take the temperature of the plants as well as the soil surrounding them.  This information is transmitted back to a central station via Bluetooth wireless, and each individual sprinkler head is then told exatly how much water to release.

It almost sounds too good to be true, but let's all hope that someone re-configures this system for the home landscape asap.

(image: Jack Dykinga courtesy USDA/ARS)

Happenings August 2007

August 1, Global Warming in Our Own Backyards, Martha's Vineyard, MA
7:30 PM, Polly Hill Arboretum, Lecture by Dr. Richard Primack (508) 693-9426
August 5  Garden Conservancy Tours: CT, IL, ME, MA
Open Days Tours, Litchfield, CT; West Chicago, IL; Mt. Desert, ME; Berkshire Cty, MA
August 5-11 Perennial Plant Symposium, Columbus, OH
Annual Meeting, Perennial Plant Association: garden tours, lectures, trade show & more. (614) 771-8431
August 9-12 Beantown Digs Community Gardens, Boston, MA
28th Annual Conference, American Community Garden Association
August 9, 16, 23, 30 Conservation & Botanical Research, Washington DC
6:30PM, US Botanic Garden, Lecture series on projects and research conducted by scientists at the US Dept of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. Topics listed on USBG website.
August 10-12, Butterfly Garden Tours, Cape May, NJ
Tour private butterfly and hummingbird gardens in Goshen to Dennisville; North Cape May to Rio Grande; and Cape Island (609) 898-8848
August 11 Manchester House and Garden Tour , Pittsburgh, PA
10th Annual Self Guided Tour in one of the city's historic districts (412) 321-7707
August 11-12 Garden Conservancy Tours: WA, NJ, CT
Olympia Area, WA; Bergen & Morris Counties, NJ; Hartford Cty, CT
August 13, Waterwise Gardening, Del Mar, CA
6PM, Del Mar Raceplace, Lecture by Plantswoman Judy Wigand, San Diego Horticultural Society
August 14-17 Garden Sculpture Workshop, Washington DC
9AM-4:30 PM, US Botanic Garden, Workshop on basic stone carving taught by award-winning sculptor DJ Garrity (202) 225-8333
August 22, Travels of a Plantsman, Martha's Vineyard, MA
7:30 PM, Polly Hill Arboretum, Lecture by British Plantsman & author Roy Lancaster (508) 693-9426
August 23-25 Farwest Show, Portland, OR
Trade Show sponsored by Oregon Assn of Nurseries for landscape professionals

LOOKAHEAD:

September 6-7 Southern Plant Conference, Mobile, AL
10th Biennial Conference, Lectures, Tours, and lots of new plants
Sept 28-Oct 2  Garden Writers Assn Annual Conference, Oklahoma City, OK
Lectures, garden tours, trade show & more
Oct 19-21 Home & Garden Show, West Palm Beach, FL
South Florida Fairgrounds
Nov 9 Turning a New Leaf Conference, Annandale, VA
8AM-6PM, Northern Virgina Community College 2nd Annual Conference of the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council on green development, shoreline management, designing native landscapes. (410) 634-2847

A Minimal Garden

Who needs plants when you've got a view like this?  This property is in Chatham, MA on Cape Cod. It overlooks the Oyster River, with views beyond of Nantucket Sound and Monomoy Island.  If you look to the west, you can see Harwich, MA, and towns beyond it on clear days.

The house is designed as a long, shallow arc, and you can see the water from every room inside.  A lot of plants would simply get in the way and spoil the view.

The front entry of the house, with the wide drive, gives you almost no clue about what lies beyond, except for the whimsical sculptures.  Sculptures are  scattered throughout the property, although they are not so numerous that they would draw your attention away from the dramatic vistas.

A charming entry garden next to the garage is filled with colorful perennials and leads the visitor to the back side of the property and the long, curving deck shown here  that spans the entire length of the house.

There's a bump-out in the deck about midway along that's big enough to accommodate a dining table for six people or so, along with a stand-alone grill.

At the end of the house, there's an invisible-edge pool with a seamless view out to the water beyond.  And just imagine yourself as this woman with the commanding view that she has of the entire property.

This garden was one of eight on view in mid-July on a garden tour of Chatham, MA, sponsored by Heritage Museum and Gardens, in Sandwich, MA, also well worth a visit.  And more to come on the Chatham gardens in coming weeks.

Action Plan for Bee Colony Collapse Problem

The US Department of Agriculture has announced a coordinated plan to figure out what's causing honeybee colonies to disappear.  Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, became widely apparent in the winter of 2006-2007, when beekeepers in many states began reporting losses of 30 to 90 percent of their hives.  Honeybees are vital to many crops across the United States. They are used to pollinate more than 130 crops and add $15 billion in crop value each year.

USDA's Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale Buchanan announced the new plan on July 13th.  "There were enough honeybees to provide pollination for U.S. agriculture this year, but beekeepers could face a serious problem next year and beyond," she said.  According to Buchanan, the new plan "provides a coordinated framework to ensure that all of the research that needs to be done is covered in order to get to the bottom of the CCD problem."

The plan says that CCD could be caused by bee pests or parasites; environmental or nutritional stress; pesticides; new or re-emerging pathogens; or a combination of those factors.  Scientists intend to survey the current situation, analyze samples for pesticides and pathogens, undertake controlled experiments to find the cause of CCD and develop plans to improve the general health bees to help them fend off future problems.

(image of healthy bees: Stephen Ausmus courtesy ARS/USDA)

Practicing What You Preach

Watch your local listings of garden events, and the next time Ed Snodgrass is lecturing in your area, don't miss it.  We met Ed at a regional meeting of the Garden Writers Association  in Washington, DC -- where he led the tour of the new green roof installed last year atop the headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects ( ASLA).  As you can see, in just a year the green roof plants are thriving in DC's heat and humidity, and the experiment is well ... a huge success.

Ed told us that green roofs have a rainfall retention rate of up to 77 percent, dramatically reducing the flow of stormwater.  They also insulate in winter and cool down buildings in summer, reducing energy costs, and in cities, they reduce the "heat island" effect. Depending on the type of roof you install, they either survive wind and drought conditions or they require some irrigation plus plant maintenance.  Ed showed us a slide of the approach to Stuttgart airport in Germany -- and instead of a sea of asphalt roofs, there's a swath of green atop the buildings as far as your eye can see.

Ed also has a great personal story.  He's the 5th generation to farm his family's old homestead in Harford County, Maryland, sandwiched between Baltimore and the Pennsylvania border.  Only these days, Emory Knoll Farms is growing a new kind of crop.  Once flourishing with corn, soybeans, cattle and more, the 1980's were hard on farmers, and Ed, a committed conservationist, decided to switch gears.  The farm is now the only nursery in the United States devoted to growing plants for the green roof industry.

Emory Knoll uses no paper plant catalogues: the catalogue is online only.  The farm's water wells are powered by solar energy.  Plant inventory is over-wintered in unheated greenhouses. Used cooking oil and kitchen grease are collected from local restaurants and the oil is burned for heat.  And there's much, much more that's detailed on the farm's website.  Ed's now a top consultant for green roof projects all over the United States, and the next time he's in your area, go listen and learn and get on board the coming green revolution.

(click to enlarge images)

Beetles Endanger Ash Trees & Baseball

Pennsylvania is the latest state that's facing the elimination of most of its ash trees.  The emerald ash borer, first discovered in Michigan in 2002, has now marched on to western Pennsylvania after decimating over 20 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, parts of Canada, and Maryland.

The destructive beetle was discovered in late June in Cranberry Township, PA, by US Dept of Agriculture surveyors during a joint federal and state effort to determine how far the beetle has spread.  A quarantine has now been imposed in Butler, Lawrence, Allegheny and Beaver countries.  It restricts the movement of ash nursery stock, green lumber, and any other ash material and the movement of any kind of firewood.  Shortly after the Pennsylvania discovery, US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced an additional $11.3 million in emergency funds for early detection programs and quarantine enforcement.

It's believed that the Asian beetles first arrived in this country in packing material from Asia, and it has no natural predators in the United States. If you see a bright green beetle on one of your ash trees, if the leaves start turning yellow before fall, or if you notice "D" shaped holes in the bark, notify your state's agricultural department or your local cooperative extension service immediately.

The emerald ash borer is also causing concern in the professional baseball world.  Eighty percent of the "Louisville Slugger" brand bats are made from ash, and most of the wood comes from Pennsylvania.  The company manufactures about 850,000 bats a year, and it supplies more than half of the bats used by major league players.  While a few top sluggers, including Barry Bonds, prefer bats made of maple, others -- including Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter -- always use bats made of white ash.

If the scientists can't come up with a solution to stop the beetle, a lot of batters are going to be making a switch when it comes to hitting.

(image: USDA PLANTS Database)

Tuscan Tea Cart, Moorish Sofas

The Moorish influence in gardens has been around since the beginning of the 19th century, and so this brand-new daybed design from McKinnon & Harris would be just the right thing on selected terraces, covered porches, or elsewhere in the garden.

In his book Moorish Style (New Ed Edition, Phaidon Press, 1999), Miles Danby describes "scenes of luxury and tranquility often showing social gatherings in gardens of exquisite beauty often containing fountains and pavilions of intricate designs."  Danby notes that the Moorish form is a natural one that can be traced back to plant life.

Two of McKinnon's outdoor furniture collections are now available with Moorish details in a wide variety of colors and fabrics.

If Italy is more your style, consider this Tuscan-inspired teacart which can be wheeled around the patio at will. Shown here in red, the top of the Spotswood Round Tea Cart is supported by Tuscan-style columns and the design of the cart handles on either side were inspired by classical architectural elements.

See the entire collection at www.mckinnonharris.com

(click to enlarge images)

The One Year Payoff

Landscape designers usually agree it takes three to five years after a garden is planted for the design to start looking like it should.  There's nothing more dispiriting than looking at all that mulch after the plants first go in, but if you trust in what you know, the payoff will not be far off.  The photo on the right was taken in October, 2006 at the US Botanic Garden's new National Garden (the rose garden).  To the left is the rose garden in late June 2007.  The Garden Writers Association held a regional meeting in DC this year, and the National Garden was on the tour.

Horticulturist Margaret Atwell, who's in charge of the rose garden, said DC's summer heat and humidity are taking a toll on the rose garden. No chemicals at all are used in this garden, so many have succumbed to black spot, Japanese beetles, and other problems. However, the hardy survivors include the Knockout roses, Rosa rugosa, the six David Austin roses planted in various locations, and a couple of the miniatures.  In the fall, Atwell plans to replace the roses that didn't do very well -- and just keep trying until the perfect ones are selected by trial and error.  And by the way, Atwell says that she simply doesn't believe that the much-touted "companion plantings" do anything much at all to keep the bugs and rose diseases at bay.  At least not in DC.

Atwell is also in charge of the National Garden's containers, and her artistry comes through in every single one.  How many people would have the nerve to use malabar spinach in an ornamental container planting?

(click on images to enlarge)