Gabriel's Garden Notes

Is it Spring yet?

Spring is here, have you cut back your deciduous ornamental grasses yet?  If not don't delay another day as the new growth has begun.  Deciduous grasses don't have to be cut back yearly but they look much nicer if you do.  It is also a good time to cut back over-sized New Zealand Flax (Phormium).  I must admit I was a bit afraid of cutting a Flax to the ground but had been assured by a fellow gardener that this hardy plant would survive a radical haircut. 

I have become a bit more ruthless in the past few years when it comes to taking chances with plants that are not behaving.  For example,common Lavender is a plant that begins looking very woody and unattractive if it has not been pruned back yearly.  I tell my clients that I can remove these plants and replace them with a fresh new one for about $10.00 or I can cut back the existing plant and wait.  Sometimes these old Lavender plants come back from a good whacking, sometimes they die.  In the old days I didn't want to kill any plant that still had life in it.  Now I take my chances and just roll with the outcome.

I don't recommend radical rejuvenation pruning of all plants.  But if you know the name of the plant you should be able to look it up in any good gardening/pruning book and get advice on what pruning methods are recommended.  As a general rule radical renovative pruning should be done in late winter or spring right before the plants awaken from winter dormancy and after fear of hard frosts.

Winter thoughts

I am thankful that the shortest day of the year has come and gone.  Now everyday is getting just a little bit longer.  I don't know about you, but I am already anticipating fresh salad greens, dancing yellow Daffodil's and Camellia's dripping with flowers.

Today though, I am content looking through one of the numerous seed catalog's I receive in the mail on a daily basis.  This week I won't be out in the garden much.  I like many of my plant friends go into a some what dormant phase this time of year.  I find myself staring out the window watching the juncos, chickadees, sparrows and hummingbirds that flit about my yard as they partake in the feast I set out for them to enjoy.

This year I decided to leave many of my perennial plants such as monarda, aster, and solidago, standing to see if the birds would be interested in the seeds they produce.  It does make the garden look a bit messy, but I have decided that my garden is as much for the birds as it is for me. 

If you would like to learn more about attracting birds to your garden checkout Seattle Audubon http://www.seattleaudubon.org/, or invest in the great book by local author, Russell Link "Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest"

Veggie's

Sustainability is a real buzz word these days.  I have noticed quite a few books, blogs, movies and articles on this topic.  As a gardener I am just overjoyed that so many people are increasing their awareness and moving towards buying locally grown food.  I am fascinated with the 100 mile diet!  There is a group of people involved with Sustainable Ballard that are committed to doing the 100 mile diet, for more info check out their website http://sustainableballard.org.  I don't think I could do it, I can't give up coffee and chocolate.  But what I can do is grow a portion of my food right in my backyard.

This year I expanded my vegetable garden and am proud to say that I have not bought any vegetables besides some carrots and onions since May!  I am just amazed at how many vegetables I was able to grow.  I always grow tomatoe's and lettuce and zuccini, but this year I tried a few new things.

I chose the varieties of veggie's that would grow well in this area from the Seattle Tilth publication listed on my site.  New for me this year-cauliflower, petit pan squash, turnips, snow peas and cabbage. 

The initial work early in April, bringing in soil, compost, fertilizing and  starting seeds, took about 10 hours.  Now I spend about 3 hours a week watering, harvesting and weeding the beds.  I am delighted with amount of food I get with minimal input and am ready to help anyone wishing to start growing some food for themselves.

Right now I have more tomatoe's, zucchini, garlic, potato's and snow peas than I can keep up.  You could too, just say the word and I will be there to help you get started!

Keeping the Garden Fresh

Throughout the summer there is quite a bit of maintenance to do in gardens with a variety of perennial flowers.  Here in the Seattle area we had some unusual weather in July including a record high, followed by a week of cloudy rainy weather.  If you didn't properly stake tall growing perennials they may have ended up face down in the dirt after the rains, they should perk back up once they dry out.  If not, you may just want to cut them back, or get out the stakes and twine now.  Shasta Daisie's are notorius for flopping, they are probably close to being done at this time so you may just want to opt to cut them back.   Stems with a single flower should be cut all the way to the ground.  Stems with secondary flowers that still appear fresh should be cut back to just above the second flower.  Echinacea/Cone Flower is also coming into bloom now and can be deadheaded in the same way as the Daisy.  Heuchera and Hosta's flower on long tall spikes which when done flowering should be cut all the way back.  If you want to you can leave some flowers up for winter interest, I recommend experimenting with Astilbe, Eryngium and Liatris.

If you planted annuals for summer color they also need routine deadheading.  Dahlia's, Petunia's, Fuscia's and Zinnia's all perform and look better when flowers that begin to fade are removed.  Also, don't forget to keep applying slug bait every few weeks.

Rose's also perform better with deadheading.  Some varieties also have attractive hips.  If you would like to have the hips for winter interest stop deadheading at the end of August.  Rugosa roses and Rosa glauca are two varieties to add to to the garden if you would like to try a tough disease resistant rose with great rose hips.

A really helpful tip for those who are planning renovate their garden is to take pictures every few weeks throught out the year.  This will help you remember when you go meet with a professional horticulturist just what it is you would like to improve. 

To Do

May and June are very busy months for Northwest gardeners, this is my excuse for not posting since April.  May is a mad dash of planting whether I am sowing seeds in the veggie garden, new trees in the parking strip or containers packed with annuals to wow summer guests, there is never enough time to get it all done.

There is also quite a bit of maintenance to do in the garden in May, not the least of which includes keeping up on weeds before they mature and set seed.  I prefer to hand weed as I just don't trust pesticides to actually kill off the weeds before they manage to set seed.  Weeds also have a very sneaky habit of growing in and amongst plants I am trying to grow which would resent being sprayed with an herbicide.

Other tasks in the garden include pruning of early blooming shrubs like Forsythia, Weigela and Lilac.  Removal of spent foliage of tulips, daffodils and other bulbs.  Staking of perennials, dead-heading, applying slug bait and squishing aphids.  Oh dear, so much to do.  Back to work!

New Plantings

I ha ve been doing a lot of new planting this spring as have many of you.  Normally springtime is a great time to plant because spring rains keep these newly acquired plants watered without our help.  So far this past month we really have not gotten enough rain to keep plants growing happily.  I have been watering containers by hand and advising clients to turn on their irrigation manually as needed to keep plants from becoming stressed during the spring push.

Established plants will probably not need supplemental water unless they are located in an area which does not receive rain, like under the eaves of your home or porch.  To check for moisture in the soil simply poke your finger into the soil 6" away from the trunks of trees of shrubs.  If the soil is dry to the touch deeper than 1", it is time to water. 

Lawns may also need a bit of water if they have been over-seeded with new grass seed or if you had new sod installed.  The tiny new grass plants roots will die quickly without water.  Depending on your soil type, a 5 minutes of irrigation in the  late morning and again in the afternoon will keep seeds moist and growing.  Established lawns that have not been newly renovated should not need supplemental at this time.

Plants that are stressed are more susceptible to pests and disease so make sure to check soil moisture regularly throughout the year. 

Dividing perennials

Spring begins tomorrow, hurrah!  Though for me that means time to get to work on dividing perennials.  There are a couple of reasons why we divide perennial plants.  First of all, after they have been in the ground a few years, many perennials begin to lose vigor and die out in the centers.  Division both reinvigorates and creates more plants to redistribute throughtout the garden or to share with friends.  The second reason then to divide perennials is to have more plants!

Dividing is actually quite easy with many plants.  Almost all perennials with daisy type flowers do best divided every 3 to 4 years, depending of course upon the conditions in your garden.  The Shasta Daisy and Asters are two perennials you can experiment on.  First, dig up the whole clump, then take a sharp shovel or spade and cut clump into 2 or more sections.  Remove old dead sections, then replant young vigorous growing sections.  A top dressing of compost at this time dresses up the bed and nourishes the replanted perennials.

For a list of which plants are divisible and how often this should be done refer to Tracy di Sabato-Aust's book.

Pruning

It is still a little bit early to prune back the more tender of shrubs, but as there is always so much to do later in the season I have been cheating a bit.  For the past week or two I have been pruning old flower heads off of Hydrangea's.  Hydrangea's are fairly easy to prune, and very forgiving.  I like to prune out about a third of the oldest branches down to about 6 to 12".  Spirea, Weigela, Forsythia and other spring flowerin shrubs are pruned in the same way.  By pruning out some of the oldest stems each year, you assure lots of fresh new growth which in general produces more and better flowers.  There are many good books about pruning, I prefer to use Cass Turnbull's book on pruning as she is a local hero of sorts.  She is the founder of the non-profit educational group Plant Amnesty, which aims to stop the sensless torture and cruelty to plants and trees in the Northwest. The Plant Amnesty website is a great site to visit to learn more about pruning techniques, sign up for classes and other services their website is at  http://www.plantamnesty.org/   I share Cass's frustration with the uglifying of perfectly good shrubs by people who insist that every plant must be tamed into a tight round ball.  What I like to say to make it simple is the only plants one should prune into a square are those used as hedge material, such as English Laurel, Boxwood, Yew, and Photinia.  Pruning other shrubs in this manner just adds to maintenance duties, because plants don't want to be a square, they want to be allowed to do what they are supposed to do.  A plant will use up much of its stored energy to return to it's natural shape which if trimmed repeatedly, can result in the plant losing vigor and becoming more susceptible to drought stress and insect and disease damage.  When in doubt about the plant you are wanting to tame, take a sprig in to a local nursery and ask for advice.  You can also hire someone like me to do the pruning for you.  Please be warned that there are many people that work in the landscaping industry that do not use proper pruning techniques.  You may first want to let them know that you prefer a naturalistic look to your shrubs as opposed to the round balls seen in parking lots. Asking a few questions of the person you are thinking of hiring before they begin can save a lot of heartache.

Some good questions to ask are:

Do they have a certification of some type? Can they positively identify the plants in your garden? Can they tell you the difference between a heading cut and a thinning cut? Can you see some photo's of other gardens where they work? 

If you can get a referral from a friend or neighbor who has used a service that they are happy with, that is still one of the safest ways to find a good gardener.

Weeds

The weather has been great for gardening this week, the warmer weather has also been good for weeds to get growing.  I have been out diligently pulling up weeds like henbit, shotweed, and dandilions.  I prefer handweeding to using herbicides for many reasons.  The main reason I don't use pesticides is that they are harmful to the environment.  Another reason is that they take far too long to work.  Using a product like Round Up which is a post-emergent, meaning you apply it to the plant's leaves, takes 2 to 3 weeks to kill the plant.  Meanwhile you have to look at this ugly little thing go from green to yellow, most times they are able to reproduce by setting seed anyways, and then I go back and end up pulling out the dead carcass.  So I may as well just have pulled it out in the first place. 

I also like the use of groundcovers to compete with weeds.  Weeds are opportunists.  They like nothing better than a poorly growing lawn or a long stretch of empty landscape bed to set their roots and start to reproduce with abandon.  A ground cover is anything that isn't a tree or shrub and there are types of all shapes and sizes to fit every nook and cranny of the garden. 

If you would like to add ground covers to your landscape now is the time.  Late winter and spring rains help plants establish before our summer dry spell.  Let me know if you would suggestions for your garden.

Deep Freeze

The weather across the nation continues to baffle and bemuse.  Here in the Northwest we are experiencing a long cold spell which we haven't had in years.  Out east the Cherry trees are blooming.  As I continue to spend time at home reading and watching movies and planning for spring I am trying to focus on the positive.  This is kind of hard to do as I fear that many half hardy perennials and shrubs that gardeners have been growing with success around the Puget Sound, just may not make it through this winter.  What is a half-hardy shrub?  Shrubs like Hebe, Ceanothus and New Zealand Flax are all plants that we grow around here even though they won't survive long bouts of freezing weather.  So on the downside we may suffer some losses, on the positive side, room for new plants! 

The other positive is that a good freeze like this lessens the number of aphids and spider mites we will have in our gardens this year.  Last year was a terrible year for spider mites which thrive on dry hot weather.  Spider mites have piercing-sucking mouthparts which means they poke a hole in the leaf then suck out the juices.  An infestation of spider mites turns green leaves an awful ghostly grey color.  These mites are really hard to control because once you notice the damage it is already to late.  Spraying with insecticides is not very effective because they hide on the undersides of leaves.  I try to lessen the numbers after noticing an infestation by spraying of infected plants with a strong blast of water from the hose every few days.  Raking up leaves and disposing of them off of your site is also helpful in keeping the numbers of spider mites down.  This past summer I noticed spider mite damage on Dahlia's, Mexican Orange, Climbing Hydrangea, Skimmia, etc.   I am thankful for this cold weather that will lessen the damage they do this year.  Don't get me wrong though, I am still not looking forward to more snow tomorrow.