GardenDesignOnline

Books: A Grab Bag

Think you need an orchard to enjoy home-grown fruit?  Well, think again. In Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden: Planting and Tending Small Fruit Trees and Berries in Gardens and Containers (Cool Springs Press, 2021), author Christy Wilhelmi guides you through the process of growing fruit trees in small-space gardens, and even in containers. It's all in this book, and she covers almost any type of fruit: avocados and cherries, figs and pears, pomegranates, berries, and many more.  Wilhelmi blogs at Gardenerd, and was on the board of an organic community garden for 20+years.

 

This book is an amazing treasure.  The botanical illustrations of 85 of our native wildflowers are among the most stunning I've ever seen.  In A Naturalist's Book of Wildflowers: Celebrating 85 Native Plants in North America (Countryman Press, 2021), author and naturalist Laura G. Martin devotes a full page to each plant which has a color drawing with all of the plant's main attributes.  It's followed by info on bloom time, habitat and range, conservation issues, and for some of the entries, info on how well they grow in the garden medicinal use, and wildlife partners.  It's a reference you definitely want on your bookshelf.

 

Garden tips, garden tips, and more garden tips. In Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks (Adams Media/Simon & Schuster Inc. 2021), author Jon VanZile offers tips and tricks in brief entries ranging from planting tips to easy garden creations to suggestions for ridding your plants of pests ... and almost anything else you can think of that's garden-centric.  A good book for the beginning gardener (and maybe even some pros) to peruse.

Books: For the Rocks

I've never been a big fan of rock gardening, but maybe that's because I don't know much about it.  I might change my mind after perusing the new book by Joseph Tychonievich, Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style (Timber Press, 2016).

The author worked at the Shibamichi Honten Nursery in Japan, was the manager at Arrowhead Alpines, a first-class rock garden nursery in Michigan, and he's also been a frequent guest on the NPR program The Splendid Table.

As Joseph notes in the introduction, rock gardening is growing in popularity for a couple of reasons: "... rock gardening allows an urban gardener with an apartment balcony or tiny plot to grow a bewildering diversity of different plants in a small space, and maintenance takes a fraction of the time required to deal with a similar number of plants in a large perennial border."  He also notes that most rock garden plants do well in dry conditions, the new normal in many parts of the country.

The book profiles 10 stunning rock gardens with scads of gorgeous photos.  The author then discusses proper techniques to install a rock garden, and finally devotes the back of the book to the plants you might want to consider for your garden.

Since I'm now a balcony gardener (missing the larger landscape) ... perhaps I'll have to try my hand at something new. This is the perfect book to get started.

 

Xmas Gifts I - 2016

Some of my old favorites ...  you can't miss if you give one of these items to a favorite gardener or designer.

Soil Knife. A.M. Leonard

Don't fool around with any other kind of weeder.  Believe me, this stainless steel knife from AM Leonard works better -- and faster -- than any weeder on the market.

And, it can also be used to plant bulbs (better than a bulb planter), divide perennials, open bags of mulch, cut twine , you name it.

Clear an simple, don't go without one.

 

Garden Glide, A.M. Leonard

No matter what your age, it's much easier on your body if you use this handy little garden tool when hauling pots, bags of soil or mulch, bricks, pavers, whatever is heavy.  It'll easily handle two or three bags of mulch or soil.  You just pull the handle, and it glides along behind you.  I can't imagine what took everyone so long to come up with something like this!  Belongs in every garden.

Row Covers from Gardener's Supply

I keep some of this fabric around all the time ... wrap it around pots, stake it over my window box herb garden ... and keep my tender plant protected through winter ... or keep my herbs going as long as I can.  Well, my French sorrel, oregano, parsley and thyme are still going strong, so I highly recommend that you get some for yourself or for a gardening friend.

 

Books: Soil Sense

The United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of soils for future food security world-wide.  A General Assembly resolution says that soil conservation will also help all countries adapt to climate change, preserve essential ecosystems, alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development.

So what can we do here at home in our own backyards? You might want to start with one of the best books I've ever read on the subject.

In Building Soil: A Down-to-Earth Approach: Natural Solutions for Better Gardens & Yards (Cool Springs Press, 2015), author Elizabeth Murphy will help you kick-start your garden and give your flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs the boost they need to thrive for months and years. 

In a recent interview, Murphy, a soil scientist and gardener, says that in the age of industrial agriculture, "our intuitive knowledge of how to build healthy soils needs rediscovery." She's definitely in tune with the UN resolution, as she notes that "soil depletion and resulting environmental degradation results in famines, wars, and political upheaval."

At the back yard level, Murphy says that soil care is one of the most basic ways a homeowner can have a beneficial environmental impact.  Communities with healthy soils produce their own food, reduce water pollution, sequester carbon and reduce the possibilities of floods and landslides, creating sustainable neighborhoods. Soils, gardens, and our world, she says, are living ecosystems, and "everything is connected and interdependent." 

In her book, Murphy shows you how to recognize healthy soils, then offers a series of easy steps to help you get your own soil under control.  And she covers all the bases:  mulching, compost, weeds, fertilizers, organic matter, water, cover crops, you name it.  Drawings, photos, sidebars and tables beautifully illustrate the main concepts and make it easy to refer back to what you need.

Anyone who gardens or who designs gardens will find this book a very valuable reference.

 

Garden Design: Plant Maintenance App

Yes, we love techology!

With this new app from the French company Parrot, you'll never go away for awhile and come back to withering or dead plants.  Parrot Flower Power -- the green device at the front of the pot -- is a sensor that can monitor moisture, fertilizer, temperature, and light. 

You sync it to your mobile phone with Bluetooth, and it links to an app that has a database of some 6000 plants and trees, along with the maintenance requirements for each one.  You'll get notice if the plant needs attention, and you can also chart and keep a year's worth of info. 

For the time being, it only works on iOS.  You can order it online through Amazon or purchase it at Brookstone and Verizon stores.  The sensor monitors soil conditions in a radius of about four inches, so it would certainly work in planter boxes.  But if you buy a number of sensors, it will work in the garden as well.

 

 

Happy New Year & More

click to enlarge

Brrr ... the first big snowstorm of the year -- actually a blizzard on the way tonight -- so yesterday, fearing the cold winds coming across the nearby golf course, I wrapped my nandinas in burlap.  Last year I let them go, and they lost almost all of their leaves, but recovered (slowly) once spring decided to emerge. But up here in Massachusetts, spring takes a long time to take hold, so my nandinas looked pretty ratty until June or so. Hoping things will be different this year.

Also, we're expecting temperatures to drop tomorrow night into the single digits, so I'm not exatly sure if my Jasminum nudiflorum will survive.  It's now wrapped in a winter blanket, which I hope -- along with the snow -- will protect it until warmer weather arrives.  I imported these plants from DC, and they're now two years old, but in our Zone 6? region, they've never before encountered such low temperatures.  We'll see.

And, to enage your mind for the coming months, check out this wonderful video profile of Laurie Olin that ran in last month's Metropolis magazine.  It'll inspire you to keep going through the next couple of months.  And if you're anywhere near Boston next month, Olin is speaking at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on February 17th.

Fruit Buckets and Trash Plants

photo: nybg.org

Just read an interesting article in last weekend's Financial Times by well-known British garden writer Robin Lane Fox  -- on the merits of growing fruit in metal garbage cans or large buckets, which of course can be painted any color you like to go with your garden decor.

According to Fox, raspberries and pole beans do extremely well in garbage cans -- just punch some holes in the bottom, fill with soil, give them plenty of water -- and voila! Another plus is that it's hard for animals to do much damage to crops grown in such tall containers. Fox particularly recommends autumn-fruiting raspberries for containers, as they should be cut back in spring, when planted, and will then provide plenty of fruit in the fall.

He grows strawberries in hardware-store plastic buckets and gooseberries in big terracotta-colored plastic containers that can be found in most garden centers or hardware stores.  These containers, too, he says, take well to paint.  Sounds like a great idea to me.

If you'd like to read the original article, try here.

And by the way, you might look into the weekend edition of the Financial Times, which comes out on Saturdays -- Fox has a column every week, well worth reading.

 

 

Books: Proper Pruning

I am not a fan of pruning ... I always try to first talk clients into putting the right-sized plant in the right place.  Some plants, however, always outgrow their projected size, so selective pruning is a necessary art.

For most, pruning is indeed a mystery, though it need not be if you turn to the latest edition of Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning, 3rd Edition: What, When, Where, and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden (Sasquatch Books, 2012).  Turnbull is the founder of Plant Amnesty, an organization devoted to timeless pruning techniques and good plant management.

Her classic book has been updated with info on 20 additional plants and three new chapters. Although Turnbull is from Seattle, Washington, most of the plants in the book are ones that you'll find all over the country.  It's one of the easiest-to-understand pruning books out there, with easy-to-follow illustrations and clear, concise instructions on what you need to do.

Add this book to your reference shelf  ... you won't regret it.  And it would be a great present for all homeowners who are determined to try pruning themselves.

 

Design: Dealing with Contractors

This is the rhododendron that's been growing at my house in New England since way before the mid-80's, when we purchased it.

It was neglected for many years, yet it soldiered on and year after year produced the typical massive blooms that are a true glory in this region every May or June.

SO ... imagine my horror:

The house painter last fall could not imagine that I'd mind if he trimmed back the plant to get at the chimney ... and I couldn't imagine that he'd do such a thing without first asking permission.

It breaks my heart every time I walk down the drive.  And the lesson is, never assume anything, and tell every contractor who's working outside not to touch any of your plants unless they ask first.

 

Garden Tips: Transplanting Transformation

The next time you decide to transplant something in your garden, take some advice from top scientists:  subject the plant to the stress of drought before you dig it up and move it.

A research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has discovered through extensive trials that plants can "remember" how to deal with drought.  The scientists found that plants subjected to drought recovered more quickly the next time they were deprived of water.  Scientist Michael Fromm said that scientists are just beginning to understand exactly how the process works, but he suggests that plants might "overreact to a first drought stress ... panic ... and slow down more than they need to."

Fromm said if he wanted to transplant something in his own garden, "I would deprive of water for a couple of days, then water overnight, then transplant." 

Sounds like something all of us should try.