Archive for the ‘Trees and Shrubs’ Category:
Let’s Plant A Tree!
The fall months give us the best opportunities of the whole year to plant a tree, or better yet, several trees. Planting a tree in the fall allows the plant to settle in to the new address before top growth occurs during the warmer months.
Deciding what variety to plant is probably the hardest part of the whole endeavor. As a Master Gardener, I get that question a lot. However, choosing a tree is not the problem many people think it is if just a few questions are answered before you ever get to the nursery.
Why is the tree being planted? Is this a large shade tree over the kid’s sand box or a patio where shade on the western exposure will be enjoyed for years to come or is this a small tree in the entry garden? Does it drop fruit or seedpods that would mess up certain situations or not affect the planting site at all? Don’t even think about digging that first spade full of dirt without knowing where underground utilities or overhead power lines are? Will the tree outgrow its space or is it neighborhood friendly? Determine the soil type, sandy, loam, acid or alkaline? Here in western Kansas, additional irrigation is almost always needed. Maintenance is critical for several years to come.
To assist us with the actual tree variety selection is a publication provided by the Garden City Parks Department. The Parks and Tree Board have spent a lot of time compiling a list of recommended trees for this specific area. After
answering all the questions to assist in selection, the actual list that groups trees by size with fruiting, leaf color and flowering information will ease the decision process.
Now you are armed with the necessary information to make a nursery visit. Look for a tree with healthy leaves or buds, a straight well developed leader and healthy bark. A good branch spacing is between ten to eighteen inches and
Walnut trees in Shirley's yard
well spaced around the tree. You can actually “sneak a peek” at the roots if it is a small containerized tree by pulling the plant out of the container. White, healthy roots should be present, not a gray, moldy mass encircling the root ball.
Recent research has provided us specific planting instructions too detailed for this article, but you can obtain a copy of the latest planting guide from the parks department or your county agent. Planting depth, watering, staking, fertilizing and mulching are all addressed in this publication. Do you think you are too old to benefit from all the effort it takes to establish a tree? Nonsense! Plant for the next generation, after all, someone planted for you thirty or forty years ago.
Subscribe to the comments for this postBugs, Beasts and Blight
Second article in a series of three
It doesn’t take a serious gardener long to realize you don’t garden alone. And here at Indian Hill Farm, that has been both a plus and a minus. During the winter months, in an average dry winter, we probably have the only water hole for miles around. Doesn’t matter to a thirsty coyote or a ravenous racoon if it is just a 2,400 gallon koi pond fifty feet from my kitchen window….it is water, and any water will do. So we have learned to share, and enjoy the various animals, both the upright kind and slithering kind that comes for daily sustanence.
Flickr photo by RoGo Bliss
However, there is a down side to all this company. If the varmints would only sip and run, it would be tolerable, but some sip and stay to eat. And therein begins our battle with the bunnies. We have fenced off the veggie garden. I don’t mind the thirty-inch tall chicken wire that surrounds the tomatoes, potatoes and cukes. The blackberries and strawberries are not munched to the ground when safely circled by the shiny wire. We must also net the berries to keep the birds at bay. But I refuse to fence off the flowerbeds. It is ugly. And so each evening we must do bunny patrol to keep the population down to tolerable numbers. We also trap them in corn baited live traps. It is a never-ending battle. One mama bunny can produce two or three litters of up to eight babies in a year.
The garden catalogs are filled with offerings of potions to deter the creatures from sharing our space. Some are supposed to stink, some are supposed to taste badly, but all work for a short time and then the munching resumes.
Flickr photo by Janzeke
Eventually Bambi is back and Thumper is not far behind.
Flickr photo by TuT99 Roger
The most successful creature control in the garden is a physical barrier of some kind. Fencing is practical but not always cosmetically acceptable. Deer fencing must be at least eight feet tall or more, rabbit fencing must be a small mesh and at least thirty inches tall. Keeping some stickery stems such as rose bush trimmings scattered around plants will keep the kitties out. Leash laws hopefully provide a peaceful solution to stray pooches. But keeping the garden free of damage from critters and creatures is a challenge. I’ve been at it for almost fifty years and still lose my fair share of the battles.
Ten Perfect Perennials for Southwest Kansas
Perennial sales have tripled in the last five years as gardeners realize the benefits of planting these plants that come back year after year. Professional landscapers to first time gardeners are using these blooming treasures in beds, borders and containers, sparking up the landscape with new colors, textures and shapes.
Perennials on parade in Shirley's garden
While many plants are low maintenance, there isn’t such a thing as no maintenance. Even the peony, which is about as close to “plant it and forget it” as it gets need the early spring pruning away of last years growth. Almost 50 years of growing experiences has tweaked my list of ten perennial favorites several times, but I’ve settled on the following list. Criteria used in this selection were winter hardiness, pH tolerance, non-invasive and low maintenance,
Aster….one of the longest blooming summer plants is the aster frikartii Monch, flowering from early July to early October. The two inch lavender/blue blooms are crowded on loose branches for an open and airy floral display.
Coreopsis….Sometimes known as tickseed, Early Sunrise has a permanent place in my garden. There are other equally versatile varieties. Moonbeam, also very dependable, was the Perennial Plant of the Year 1992. Heat and wind are its friends and insects and disease are no bother. While it may be considered a short lived perennial, it often reseeds and is easily transplantable.
Hemerocallis….Better known as daylilies or by the fanatics as “hems”, daylilies come close to being the perfect perennial. Each bud opens for only a day but the sheer numbers of buds per plant take your mind off that fact easily. They grow in almost any soil and pH variations. Bloom size ranges from three inch miniatures to seven inch giants and in all colors except blue. Use daylilies in groups of five to seven in the perennial border.
Daisy….The Becky daisy, Perennial Plant of the Year 2003 sparks up the border with single white flowers on three foot stems. The flowers last for days in cut arrangements and the plant only asks that you deadhead faded blooms to make room for new ones.
Echinacea….Coneflower has claimed a prominent place in the flower border, tweaked from a nondescript prairie plant by breeding selection. Magnus, the Perennial Plant of the Year 1998 is a favorite, but there are now doubles and two-tiered blossoms and colors range from lavender to white, orange and yellow.
Heliopsis….Sometimes known as a perennial sunflower, Summer Sun commands a spot in the back of the border to bless you with bright yellow flowers for at least three months. At four feet tall, it fills a lot of space to fill a border on a budget.
Hibiscus….At five feet tall, this tropical looking beauty, Lord Baltimore, dominates the border with seven to ten inch crimson flowers from mid-July to September. The pink flowers of Lady Baltimore is a good companion but many other varieties are becoming available, including bi-colors.
Mums….Just when you think it is all over, fall months explode in color as the mums burst forth in pigmented mounds. Make sure your mum purchases are the garden variety and not the florist type which can winter kill. Usually the spring planted mums are more hardy in our area. Keep them pinched back until July 4th, fertilize and keep well watered in anticipation of the fall parade.
Peony….This old time favorite from Grandma’s garden still demands a place in every perennial garden. Find a permanent address for this keeper, as it resents transplanting. There are now over nine hundred cultivars offered for sale to collectors. Fall is the best time to plant. Pay careful attention to planting depth because mistakes made here can cost you.
Russian Sage….One of the most beautiful fillers in the permanent garden, coming back year after year without fail, is this low maintenance and drought tolerant plant. Loves full sun, not a lot of water and ignores disease and bugs. A good companion to heliopsis and Becky Daisy, this cheerful background plant will spark up a perennial border with little attention from the gardener.
Raspberries Hit The Spot
For the life of me, I can’t figure out why there isn’t a raspberry patch in every back yard. They are a perennial, coming back year after year in the same spot to produce an almost guaranteed crop, even easier than strawberries. That is if you treat them as a fall crop and not as everbearing. My patch of Heritage Red Raspberries is listed as everbearing. It is an upright variety, does not need staking. That means they should produce berries all summer and into the fall. But our summers are usually too hot to produce much beyond a few dehydrated wimpy berries. It is the late August, September and October berries that can be piled high on your morning cereal or sent to the freezer in ziploc freezer bags.
To get that one big crop instead of a dribble all summer, cut or mow the brambles four inches high in early spring. Scratch in some fertilizer between the plants and keep well watered. The canes grow rapidly, blooming and setting on a crop for late summer eating.
You will most likely have to order the rooted cuttings from your favorite mailorder nursery catalog in the early spring. Prepare the soil with extra care, ammending with compost and old manure. This pays off in years to come. Set the plants out in rows and keep them moist to root well quickly. New shoots will come up between the rows so be careful while weeding so you don’t cut off new growth. Better still, mulch well to eliminate need for weeding.
You won’t get a very big crop the first year because the plants are getting established, but in the coming years, expect to enjoy this delicioius berry in many ways. Don’t go another year without raspberries!