My Marching orders:

-Go on a weed walk. What’s blooming, poking its head up? What’s dead and alive??

Take a look at the pear trees starting to bloom. As well, we’ve got the magnolias (both big southern tree type and shrub “Royal Star”) beginning to bloom! Early spring shrubs like flowering almond and forsythia are starting too- quite beautifully! Please keep in mind that they, along with LILAC can only safely be pruned right after bloom.

I love the blooming Pears, the budding (but not quite blooming) crabapple, the plums (pinky, lavender) and the glorious PEACHES!

 

 

 

-Herbaceous weeds are starting to poke up out of the ground. Often these are plants you’ve attempted to or your neighbor has attempted to eradicate. But they have traditional herbal uses- pay attention to them:

-Dandelion- stomach ailments and liver/ kidney support (eat the leaves! Good early salad), Chickweed- SUPPOSED to emulsify FAT. But it has tiny very blue flowers with a white eye. Henbit- glorious little Henbit- so purple!

****

-Check on your shrubs- prune out dead and look for the bud swell. My roses are beginning to leaf out. My ninebark, viburnum and others are starting to swell-assuring me that they are still alive. I’ve begun to clean out around them, leaves, sticks and the like. The other thing I like to do is plan my edging now- where do I need to re-edge and mulch? Also, making notes on how much shrubs have grown in one year. This helps me plan….

****

-I’ve started lots of plants for my herbal garden- not veggies, but cold friendly plants for my medicinal herbal garden (Echinacea, clary sage, burdock, lavender, yarrow). I’ve started all of them out of doors in an experiment call “Winter Seed Starting”. It minimizes indoor grow lamps and heat mats…. I’m using recycled containers (mostly) and trying it all outdoors. EXPERIMENTS! This is supposed to yield stronger seedlings (less leggy) with little to no equipment. Essentially, the cool outdoor temps naturally striate the seeds and allow them to germinate with the outdoor temps. I’ve gotten seedlings from the yarrow and Echinacea so far. Have to remain true to the basics of seed starting-evenly moist, sunny location and close up the containers on cold nights to insulate a bit.

-Hoard newspapers and cardboard to act as mulch in veggie patches. You can put this under polite bark mulch as well for great natural weed control, with no chemicals!

Late February chores and plants I can’t wait for!

Here are some plants I can’t wait to try this spring. Granted, I’ve used these other people’s landscapes, cultivated them but I’m anxious to get them in my own garden. New garden, new plants!

Chamaecyparispisifera, ‘Sungold’.Evergreen shrub, 3-8’ H x W, slow growing, likes partial shade to sun. Exotic year-round color- requires drainage and no overwatering.

Japanese Forest Grass or Hakonechloa- 1-3’ H x W. Shade loving grass (also takes moist soils!)!! Gorgeous three season color and texture. (photo by the lovely garden mistress Margaret Roach!)

Moneywort or Lysimachia- groundcover. Amazing shade tolerating ground cover- creeps and provides popping color underneath trees! I frequently use it in baskets and pots. Can’t wait to get some underneath the trees in my garden.

Hydrangea paniculata- 4-6’H x W. Partial sun, rich soil. A carefree hydrangea that loves part shade, part sun. It will take a good pruning after bloom to keep it strong and sturdy but has the most glorious white blooms! Not your grandmother’s hydrangea…..

 (photo from MOBot)

And my favorites from my old garden that I want in my new garden:

Witch Hazel, ‘Arnold’s Promise’ or ‘Jelena’ (red/orange blooms)- 6-8’ H x 12’ W. These shrubby trees can get to 12’ high but I’ve only seen them mature at 8’. They are a woodland favorite of mine- liking intermediate light (mixed sun, a bit of shade but will tolerate hot western sun). They have amazing leaves but, best of all, bloom out in February through March. The have white bark and a very, very architectural structure. Ahhh…. alink to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s witch hazels!

Beautyberry or Callicarpadichotoma‘Issai’- 3-5’ H x W. Easy to grow, simple woodland, semi-native. Long arching branches create a softly Asian shrub that works well as a structure plant in partial-shade. Not too showy blooms in pink result in shockingly violet berry production that persist all fall! Good golden fall color. Great natural shape creates back drop for showier, smaller plants.

 

Garden Chores:

• Although it feels like spring, it is NOT. Don’t clean leaves from your bed. These leaves provide organic matter and insulation for the plant and soil. Don’t think about mowing or much else out there- it’s muddy. Don’t walk on it- it will damage the soil, the grass and anything else.
• Dead-head perennials- get those flower stalks off. Cut down any evergreen foliage to the ground before new leaves start to emerge. We are cleaning up daylilies, liriope, irises, and any other perennials.
• Prune back your twiggy spirea! Prune back butterfly bush. All viburnums and ninebark (two very vigorous types of shrubs) can be hacked to the appropriate level for your garden. If they are young, just planted in spring or fall, don’t prune much! If they are older and well established, feel free to prune with abandon. Hack ‘em back!
• Vegetable gardening? You can prepare soil- till if you are a till-kind-of-person. Turn over the soil and/or add compost to your vegetable plots. This gives the soil time to get rich before lots of spring planting.
• Plan out your veggies- Try not to plant tomatoes or any of the nightshade/ Solanum family (potato, eggplants, tomatoes. tomatillo) in the same place you planted them last year. The reason gardeners recommend this is due to soil-borne diseases. Many farmers have no trouble with this (my husband was shocked when I mentioned this, as his grandmother the master gardener, had NEVER done it.) Honestly, my dad didn’t either. But if you’ve had any issues or let your plants to rot into the ground over the fall and winter, I’d move my planting area!!

For November our outdoor expert Laurel Sears gives us some tips to keep the garden and shed organized and alive.

CLEAN YOUR TOOLS- that’s an order!

Regular maintenance = less backaches, more effective/ sharper tools, less time wasted

Why clean tools??

If you clean after every use, you prevent diseases, fungi, insect larva, weed seeds from spreading around your garden.  You also extend the lifespan when you remove soil after every use- soil encourages rust (through moisture) and will eat the sharp edge off of your tools! The sharper the edge of your spade, trowel, hoe, edger, the easier they cut. The easier they cut, the less muscle you have to put into the project!

How do I clean them?

Hose off any tool that comes in contact with soil after every use. Use a garden hose set on maximum pressure or, with heavy clay soil, scrub with a bristle brush. DRY YOUR TOOLS- just like that nice sharp knife in your kitchen!

For cutting tools with sharpened edges that don’t come in contact with soil (like loppers, clippers, axes, pruning shears, knives), wipe them down with a rough cotton cloth. The idea is to remove sap and gum from the blades. Use a little paint thinner on a cloth to remove really sticky stuff…. Again, dry the tool after cleaning!

Prevent Future Damage

Steel tools are still susceptible to rust, even after cleaning and drying. Note: the higher the grade of steel, the more vulnerable to rust. Use oil to repel dirt, dust and erosion. Interestingly, motor oil is touted as great inexpensive rust preventer! They say, mix motor oil and kerosene in a 2:1 ratio (two part oil to one part kerosene). Put it in a sprayer for easy use. [Please dispose of it as you would motor oil and store in a safe way, away from heat sources]

Sharpen Tools

Sharpening is a bit more complex, but shovels, axes, trowels and hoes are easily sharpened by hand. Get an 8” long mill file with a bastard cut.It’s about $8 at your local hardware store!  That’s me with my file.

I like them with handles.You will too.

RULE OF FILE: Only draw the teeth one direction over the edge being filed. Sawing back and forth? Never. Ever.

Hold the tool to be sharpened in a vise or some other bracing system, so you can use both hands. You must maintain the same angle to the edge as you push the file across it.

To sharpen shears and knives, you need a vise and an oil stone. Like sharpening the good kitchen knife, go one direction and follow the instructions that your oil stone comes with!

Hang Your Tools

Really, fancy systems to organize your tools aren’t necessary, unless you want them! Use a two-by-four with 10-penny nails as your holder. Put the business end of your tool down, so as not to hit yourself or something else when you take it down. With wooden handled tools, just drill a ¼” hole in the handle of your tools (axes, rakes, shovels, etc.). Put a piece of leather through the end and Voila!

Random questions about tree care in cold months:

Tree Bags? Try a tree bag (brand name Treegator) to help water correctly. It provides deep, root zone watering with no run off or evaporation. So if you choose to ignore my directions about how to water, you can use this device! This is a good safety for newly planted trees and folks who have “brown thumbs”. Our opinion around here: they should be on every tree in every median, City of Lawrence.

Frank Male, our lovely production manager also reminds me of this: water every holiday through the winter. Water on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. This cold weather watering can really minimize winter damage and helps trees survive and thrive in the spring.

Bark Wrap?Trees and shrubs can be damaged by sudden fluctuations of temperature (hello, Kansas!), prolonged periods of low temperature with no insulating snow and unexpected early/ late season cold snaps. Sun scald happens on the south, southwest side of an immature tree. It can heat up on a cold winter day, initiating cambial activity. (This means it starts to grow) Suddenly, the temperature drops and it kills the tissue. This means a big old wound, dead place and scar on your delicate new tree.  Put commercial bark wrap on your tree to insulate and maintain a more even temperature. Paper or plastic work fine, as long as it’s put on in the early fall and removed in spring. Trees with thin bark that need this special attention: cherry, crabapple, honey locust, linden, maple, ash, plum. Since bark is much like skin, the wound can also heal. Take a sharp knife and cut out the wound in the same shape. Wrap in future winters to prevent more damage. Do no dress the wound.

Look at the second picture – This is a downtown Lawrence tree (awesome lights!). Notice the bark wrap? Yup. But also, look at the stakes. It is really important to stake young trees. Most nursery men agree that stakes are very important for the first year. If you are planting a tree on a windy, exposed site, leave the stakes on two or three years. Please note that trees in their 2nd or 3rd year in the ground can really grow exponentially. Watch that any cables or ties are not cutting into the bark (cambium).

 

 

 

Bringing our outside plants inside:

My favorties: Tamukeyama, Crimson Queen are laceleaf or dissectum Japanese maple that is pendulous or is a delicate weeper. They stay small, 6-10’ H and just as wide in 10 years.

 

Orangeola- outstanding orange color, 6-8’ H x W. Delicate cut leaves and traditional Japanese maple branch structure. Just  a big player in color- bright orange in spring, deep red-green in summer heat, and dark red back to orange.  A bit rare and a good find!

Emperor 1- Much like a Bloodgood (the most popular Japanese Maple), this is a full sized Acer palmatum. It is deep purple, will reach 15’ or more at maturity. It needs protection still, but is a bit hardier than the little trees. But it will burn up if left in direct sun all day! It turns amazing scarlet in the fall and has lovely branch structure.

 

Outside with Laurel- September 3, 2011
The cooler season is upon us! This brings relief in many ways- new colors and textures for the garden and landscape containers. Here are some plants that do really well in the changing temperatures (meaning they can take heat but stand up really well to cooler nights and cooling days).
Herbs: Many herbs come back into season when it’s cool. Nasturtiums and calendula have delicate orange/ yellow blooms and great foliage (as well as proving to be a great addition to fall salads). Don’t forget fennel (bronze!!) and dill.
Flowers to freshen up your containers: snapdragons, viola, PANSIES, asters and mums, lobelia, ornamental peppers. Don’t forget to add some hardy perennials and ornamental grasses for great foliage!

Use ornamental vegetables! Try ornamental kale, chard, cabbages, even lettuces look remarkable in containers. A “newer”, hipper ingredient in fall containers is Rumex and also “Red Giant” mustard.

Design:
And because I love fall and I love garden landscapes, I have to continue to plug those amazing SHRUBS that really come into their own in the Fall. No garden is complete if the design doesn’t consider fall color but we aren’t quite there yet, seasonally. So let’s stick to late summer-early fall TEXTURE! By this, I mean berries and subtle color changes.
Aronia- chokeberry does great this time of year (masses of black or red berries) and eventual scarlet color later on.
Blue Muffin and Autumn Jazz Viburnum have great color show but amazing berries. Pair Blue Muffin (bright blue berries here) with a blue/ purple satin Rose of Sharon for a glorious summer to fall show!
Rhus or Sumac is a tremendous native shrub that offers a big WOW in the Midwestern garden. Choose a lovely variety of Rhus typhina called Tiger Eye Sumac. This is a chartreuse beauty who looks wild and exotic in a landscape- turns brilliant oranges in the fall! It’s cousin, Rhus copallina “Lanham’s Purple” has glossy purple leaves that turn scarlet, a gorgeous “flower head” that attracts butterflies and loves poor soil. (Note: both sucker like mad. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Best for a more native garden, not a formal garden.)

Tree questions:
This week, we saw an unexpectedly early start to the White Pine needle drop. Every year, pines shed 1/3 of their needles. We always get a rush of people wanting to know if their pine has developed a disease. However, it’s totally normal in early fall for pines to drop the inner third of their needles! If they are yellowing from the TIP, take a sample to your extension office- you have other issues. Also, just check the needles. If the needles that have dropped have a ring around them, that indicates presence of a nematode most likely. Again, take them to the extension office! My favorite resource for this: http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/plant2/l722.pdf

On the next show: taking shoot cuttings of your annuals for houseplants. Planting bulbs- what to plant, how to plant! Think meadows of blooming squill next spring….