Gardening Tips

Written by Adam Latham  

Landscape lighting can be accomplished with line voltage (120v) or with low voltage (12v). Each method has advantages and disadvantages. It’s not difficult to install a low-voltage system yourself. You’ll need to have an outdoor 120v receptacle near where you’d like to make the lighting improvements.  Local lighting supply houses and big-box retailers offer system components, including transformers, fixtures, lamps (bulbs), wire, and educational materials. These systems offer the ability to easily and safely adjust the location of fixtures as plants mature or when you’d like to change the design for some other reason. Depending on the quality of the components, low-voltage systems may be more expensive to install than line voltage systems. But because of their low cost to operate, they can make up the difference in installation cost.

Line voltage systems do not require transformers and are easily understood by homeowners. However, these systems are more expensive to operate than 12v systems, and alterations to the system layout are difficult to make and potentially dangerous. For these reasons, I recommend limiting 120v systems to small systems close to or attached to the home and its door-side light switches.

The Design Side

In its simplest and most common form, everyday landscape lighting is thought of as purely functional, meeting a household’s need for nighttime safety. For example, a light is needed to shine in a particular location for a stated purpose — lighting a set of steps to mitigate a tripping hazard, say, or lighting at the door for security reasons — and a fixture is selected to do that singular job. The visual results of the selection of both the fixture and the amount of light have about equal chances of being appropriate and meeting the need, or being ineffective and possibly dangerous. Perhaps the only decorative component homeowners think of is what the fixture looks like. This way of thinking is actually upside-down.  Whether lighting is provided via line voltage or low-voltage, the lighting design objective should be the same: see the light and not the source of the light. In those cases where you do want to showcase the fixture, careful attention has to be paid to proper mounting height to avoid glare.

Outdoor lighting is all about illumination for beauty and safety, not showcasing the style of light fixture. You still need to select a light fixture for a stated purpose (ask yourself “why light?”), but now you can view the fixture style as unimportant because you really don’t want to see it anyway. For landscape lighting, I recommend that the light source should blend with the surroundings; black, brown, weathered copper and bronze are good colors for the garden. Imagine how your landscape would appear without six-foot-tall post lights. Why would you want a post light that shines in your eyes anyway? If a path needs to be lit at night, the best way to do it is with down-lighting, or throwing light from knee-level bollards or path lights. Using down-lighting is a way to add more effective and natural moonlight-style lighting. For lighting a path near a house, a fixture matching the house’s color can be mounted in the house’s soffit or an earth-toned light can be mounted 15 feet up in a tree, and the light will shine down and pool on the walk without glare to pedestrians. Add a few path lights in key locations, such as steps, or a change in direction, and you’ve accomplished evening security goals with interesting lighting effects.

For more dramatic effects, up-lighting and backlighting can be used to show off interesting plant forms and textures. Without their leaves, trees and shrubs with horizontal branching patterns like flowering dogwood and redvein enkianthus become more evident and are perfect specimens for backlighting. New fallen snow nestled in the peeling bark of a Heritage river birch or in the deeply grooved bark of an old tupelo can be softly illuminated for an interesting close-up scene.  Multi-trunked trees that are aligned with the view from a living room or kitchen window are the perfect trees to be illuminated by up-lighting, creating an inspiring natural sculpture to be viewed at night. This method of lighting can also be used to cast shadows from plants, garden ornaments, and sculptures against exterior walls.

New to the Market

Over the last few years, LEDs for landscape lighting have been reaching more and more of the mass residential lighting market. Although initially more expensive to purchase, LEDs last thousands of hours longer and use substantially less energy than conventional incandescent and halogen lighting, making them more financially attractive when viewed over the long term. Because they don’t emit as much heat as conventional lights, LEDs may have some limitations for use as uplights in our climate, as snow and ice will not melt off the lens as quickly as they do on conventional landscape lighting. They do, however, make great down-lights, bollards, cable lights, and path lights.

I hope you’ll use this season to experience the lighting of your landscape in a new way. For more on the design side of landscape lighting, an online search for landscape lighting manufacturers will yield bountiful information and sample photos to assist you.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Adam Latham

Each year at this time of rapidly diminishing daylight, there’s a rush to get it all done before winter — to finish collecting the fallen leaves, clean gutters, cut the lawn for the final time, and cut back perennials, among other tasks. Remember that when winter arrives, your plants will be exposed to extreme environmental stresses like nor’easter winds, snow and ice loading, and arctic temperatures. Injury to plants caused by people using snow removal equipment and de-icing chemicals and by animals feeding on tender bark and shoots is also a cold weather concern. By instituting protection measures this fall, you may save yourself from added work and the disappointment of replacing dead plants or nursing an injured plant back to health next spring.

Environmental Injuries

To help avoid winter-burned leaves on broadleaf evergreens like hollies and rhododendrons, which are exposed to drying winter winds or are in full sun, apply an anti-desiccant when the temperatures are still in the 50s or wrap the plants in burlap. Several years ago I planted a small hedge of inkberry along the street in front of my house. Here in full sun, they bravely face an open windswept cornfield to the west. Each year I have applied an anti-desiccant to them via a small ready-to-use bottle. Last year it seemed like I pulled the trigger on that spray bottle a few hundred times. So this year, I’ll mix a larger batch in a two-gallon spray tank and avoid cramping my hand on the small bottle’s trigger.

If your mophead or lacecap hydrangea failed to bloom this year, it could be that the flower buds were killed by single digit temperatures last winter. This year, install a burlap barrier or wire fence around the plant and fill it with leaves or other natural insulating material to protect next year’s flower buds, which lie at the tips of the branches. This method obviously works best on younger, smaller plants.

Trees, shrubs, and perennials planted this year will benefit from an insulating layer of mulch over their fragile young root systems. If you didn’t mulch at planting time, it’s still not too late to get it done. At this point in the fall, don’t be too concerned about having to use mulch that’s coordinated with the rest of the mulch you’ve been using; you can do that in the spring. For mulching only a few plants, use whatever is available: shredded leaves, straw from a bale left over from fall decorating, or compost that’s bagged or from the bin.

Plant injuries from animals and people

The deer have begun seeking out alternative sources of food now that the leaves are gone, and the plants in your suburban landscape might be their next meal. Fortunately for me I’ve seen very little damage to my plants from these four-legged hedge shears, only some munching on a few young bottlebrush buckeye (which deer aren’t supposed to favor). The cemetery two lots down is the favorite place in my neighborhood for the deer to dine on a fine selection of arborvitaes and yews.

If winter browsing by deer is a problem for you, there are a couple of things you can do to protect your plants, including using physical barriers and deterrent sprays. For their favorites, such as arborvitaes and upright yews, installing seven-foot-high deer netting around the plants is the most effective method, although not the most attractive option. Set the fence a couple of feet away from the damaged plant and secure the netting to 2”x2” wood posts with cable ties. Deer netting can be draped over lower growing shrubs to deter browsing, but the deer will eat any plant material sticking through the net.

My wintertime skirmish is with the rabbits. Many rabbits live under the large and gangly multiflora rose hedge along one of my property lines. Here they gnaw the bark off the canes throughout the cold weather, to which I pay no mind. Unfortunately, they also savor the flavor of young blueberry bushes.  Two years ago, I planted three bushes. The first winter they were nearly chewed to bits. With the added benefit of deep snow, the rabbits were able to nibble the branches down from the tips, leaving nothing but stubby twigs about a foot tall. Last fall I encircled the bushes with wire fencing and they escaped injury. I’ll do the same each fall until the plants are large enough to fair for themselves.

The field mouse is another winter nibbling rodent. They’re tiny, but can be effective plant killers. In addition to your garden shed, they will find refuge under a deep layer of bark mulch or under a canopy of low-hanging evergreen boughs. Under these mouse-cozy covers, they will gnaw the bark off trees and shrubs. If the mice remove the bark all the way around a tree, called girdling, the tree will die. You can help to prevent this problem by pulling mulch away from the trunks of trees, especially young ones, and removing very low-hanging branches on evergreens such as spruces and firs.

If you have your driveway plowed, set out stakes to protect your lawn and adjacent plants before the ground freezes. Take some advice from this snowplow operator — in the middle of the night it’s very difficult to locate an unmarked driveway under a foot of new fallen snow.

In late winter or early spring, take note of the browned foliage on evergreen trees and shrubs adjacent to our roads. It is particularly evident on arborvitae and white pines that are planted close to the street.  The dead needles are the result of applying salt on our roadways. The fine mist that is generated by passing traffic accumulates on the foliage and desiccates it. On young plants, this often results in the death of the plant. There really isn’t anything practical that can be done to prevent the damage during the winter; just be more careful next time in choosing more salt-tolerant species to plant adjacent to roads.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Barbara Gee

The following is excerpted with permission from Barbara’s upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, to be published by Globe Pequot Press in January 2008. Barbara will be presenting at the RI Flower Show in February, and signing her books.

All folks who garden by the sea face similar challenges—salt and wind. And given that there are 400 miles of coastline in RI it’s no surprise that there are many seaside gardeners in the state. There are islands, moraines, salt marshes, rocky shores, wetlands, beaches, cliffs, dunes, salt ponds – you name it and most Rhode Islanders are probably close to it. Doug Hoyt out on Block Island, for instance, gardens at his home high on a hill which has a great view but receives battering wind. He also maintains gardens in town too but still finds “drying wind and salt,” to be his main problems.

Anne Wilson suffers similarly at the seaside garden she has maintained in Newport for 18 years. Just off Ocean Drive it is very exposed and on a rock ledge which causes big drainage problems, she says. But the biggest challenge for her too is the wind – “coming from the west it’s not too bad but from north, northeast or south it’s bad.”  They have planted living barriers in the form of privet hedges which you can shape and, she says “is dense enough that it does help block the wind and hardy enough to cope with the salt brought in on the wind.”

Rhode Islanders are blessed to call Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum their own. In Bristol, overlooking the Naragansett Bay, it is one of only two arboreta in the country situated on salt water. Visitors can explore 33-acres of plants that survive and thrive in those conditions. In particular the rock garden down close to the water gets battered by wind, salt and drenched with water every so often so anything growing there is an example of a great seaside plant.

Heather Driscoll is head gardener at Carnegie Abbey Club, a private sporting estate in Portsmouth on the Bay, directly across from Blithewold. She experiences similar problems “Gardening by the water has always been a challenge for me. Dealing with the elements of wind, salt air and microclimates are key factors in plant choices.”

Designing a Seaside Garden
How can seaside gardeners cope with their intrinsic challenges? “In a garden without the wind buffer of a house or even a shed,” says Driscoll, “sturdy plants like hydrangea and shorter varieties of ornamental grasses are at the top of my list. Add some Stella D’oro daylilies and hardy pink geraniums and you have a simple but classic seaside garden.” She also chooses perennials with strong root systems to withstand coastal winds. “Rudbekia Goldstrum and Bee Balm have been proven winners,” she says.

Right Plant, Right Site
A terrific book by two Rhode Islanders is Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by the late Irene H. Stuckey and Lisa Lofland Gould (who also founded the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society). It describes in detail the different habitats you encounter by the sea. They stress that knowing what kind of place a plant wants to be in – and then putting it there – goes a long way towards that plant’s happiness. And a happy plant needs less maintenance

Julie Morris and the staff at Blithewold deal constantly with gardens drenched by salt water and hit by drying winds… “Choosing plants that do well in our conditions is key,” she says.

Perfect Seaside Plants
June Halliday manages the perennials nursery at Chaves’ Gardens & Florist in Middletown. She gets daily requests from customers looking for plants that thrive by the sea. Her own garden in Jamestown has become a laboratory for these kinds of plants. And, as a bonus, she maintains that most of the following plants are not bothered by the deer that roam around her property. 

Shade & Part Shade
Pulmonaria ‘Benediction’
Ligularia ‘The Rocket’, ‘Brit Marie Crawford’
Heleborus ‘Foetidus’
Hakonechloa ‘Aureola’
Dicentra Formosa ‘Luxuriant’, Spectabilis
Fern – Anthyrium ‘Bramford Beauty’ Woodland
Spigelia Marilandica ‘Indian Pink’
Mertensia ‘Virginia Blue Bells’
Asarum canadensis ‘Wild Ginger’
Cornus canadensis ‘Bunch Berry’
Phlox divaricata ‘London Grove Blue’
Sun (very long blooming)
Cranesbill Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Salvia ‘May Night’
Dianthus ‘Rosish One’
Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne’
Veronicastrum ‘Fascination’

Gene Rinker’s garden on Prudence Island is a testament to having the right plant in the right place. He could not be any closer to the water which is just across the street. Anything you see growing in his garden can definitely withstand being drenched, blown, battered and salt sprayed. He inherited the garden from his uncle who created it almost 60 years ago. Rinker highly recommends annuals and biennials like cosmos, cleomies, nasturtiums and hollyhocks, while his friend Anna Levesque just down the road prefers what she calls trouble-free perennials like shasta daisy, rudbeckia, daylilies, asters…

Wilson reels off a list of perennials that do well for her on the Newport ledge – “alchemilla everywhere – irises, japanese iris, thalictrum (lots of different ones) – cimcifuga, toad lily, hostas of any sort, differant hydrangea, niko blue – massive, ajuga, pachysandra does well in summer but dries out in winter depending on location – old standby, Hakonechloa, Houttuynia ground cover, ginger, solomon seal variegated…”

Driscoll finds from experience that plants with gray foliage like santolina or artemesia perform well by the sea. “Of course Rosa Rugosa is synonomous with seaside gardens,” she says, “but I have found that even hybrid teas and landscape roses do well with the salt air acting as a natural insecticide.”

 These are some of my favorite seashore plants:
• Panic grass (Panicum amarum ‘Dewey Blue’)
• Black fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’)
• Miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’)
• Leatherleaf sedge (Carex buccchanii)
• Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
• Coneflower (Rudbeckia sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’)
• Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum ‘Sheffield Pink’)
• Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’)
• Stonecrop (Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’)
• Mugwort or sagebrush (Artemesia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’)
• Pine (Pinus thumbergii ‘Thunderhead’)
• Spruce (Picea pungens glauca ‘Montgomery Blue’)

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

The following is excerpted with permission from Barbara’s upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, to be published by Globe Pequot Press in January 2008. Barbara will be presenting at the RI Flower Show in February, and signing her books.

All folks who garden by the sea face similar challenges—salt and wind. And given that there are 400 miles of coastline in RI it’s no surprise that there are many seaside gardeners in the state. There are islands, moraines, salt marshes, rocky shores, wetlands, beaches, cliffs, dunes, salt ponds – you name it and most Rhode Islanders are probably close to it. Doug Hoyt out on Block Island, for instance, gardens at his home high on a hill which has a great view but receives battering wind. He also maintains gardens in town too but still finds “drying wind and salt,” to be his main problems.

Anne Wilson suffers similarly at the seaside garden she has maintained in Newport for 18 years. Just off Ocean Drive it is very exposed and on a rock ledge which causes big drainage problems, she says. But the biggest challenge for her too is the wind – “coming from the west it’s not too bad but from north, northeast or south it’s bad.”  They have planted living barriers in the form of privet hedges which you can shape and, she says “is dense enough that it does help block the wind and hardy enough to cope with the salt brought in on the wind.”

Rhode Islanders are blessed to call Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum their own. In Bristol, overlooking the Naragansett Bay, it is one of only two arboreta in the country situated on salt water. Visitors can explore 33-acres of plants that survive and thrive in those conditions. In particular the rock garden down close to the water gets battered by wind, salt and drenched with water every so often so anything growing there is an example of a great seaside plant.

Heather Driscoll is head gardener at Carnegie Abbey Club, a private sporting estate in Portsmouth on the Bay, directly across from Blithewold. She experiences similar problems “Gardening by the water has always been a challenge for me. Dealing with the elements of wind, salt air and microclimates are key factors in plant choices.”

Designing a Seaside Garden
How can seaside gardeners cope with their intrinsic challenges? “In a garden without the wind buffer of a house or even a shed,” says Driscoll, “sturdy plants like hydrangea and shorter varieties of ornamental grasses are at the top of my list. Add some Stella D’oro daylilies and hardy pink geraniums and you have a simple but classic seaside garden.” She also chooses perennials with strong root systems to withstand coastal winds. “Rudbekia Goldstrum and Bee Balm have been proven winners,” she says.

Right Plant, Right Site
A terrific book by two Rhode Islanders is Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by the late Irene H. Stuckey and Lisa Lofland Gould (who also founded the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society). It describes in detail the different habitats you encounter by the sea. They stress that knowing what kind of place a plant wants to be in – and then putting it there – goes a long way towards that plant’s happiness. And a happy plant needs less maintenance

Julie Morris and the staff at Blithewold deal constantly with gardens drenched by salt water and hit by drying winds… “Choosing plants that do well in our conditions is key,” she says.

Perfect Seaside Plants
June Halliday manages the perennials nursery at Chaves’ Gardens & Florist in Middletown. She gets daily requests from customers looking for plants that thrive by the sea. Her own garden in Jamestown has become a laboratory for these kinds of plants. And, as a bonus, she maintains that most of the following plants are not bothered by the deer that roam around her property. 

Shade & Part Shade
Pulmonaria ‘Benediction’
Ligularia ‘The Rocket’, ‘Brit Marie Crawford’
Heleborus ‘Foetidus’
Hakonechloa ‘Aureola’
Dicentra Formosa ‘Luxuriant’, Spectabilis
Fern – Anthyrium ‘Bramford Beauty’ Woodland
Spigelia Marilandica ‘Indian Pink’
Mertensia ‘Virginia Blue Bells’
Asarum canadensis ‘Wild Ginger’
Cornus canadensis ‘Bunch Berry’
Phlox divaricata ‘London Grove Blue’
Sun (very long blooming)
Cranesbill Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Salvia ‘May Night’
Dianthus ‘Rosish One’
Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne’
Veronicastrum ‘Fascination’

Gene Rinker’s garden on Prudence Island is a testament to having the right plant in the right place. He could not be any closer to the water which is just across the street. Anything you see growing in his garden can definitely withstand being drenched, blown, battered and salt sprayed. He inherited the garden from his uncle who created it almost 60 years ago. Rinker highly recommends annuals and biennials like cosmos, cleomies, nasturtiums and hollyhocks, while his friend Anna Levesque just down the road prefers what she calls trouble-free perennials like shasta daisy, rudbeckia, daylilies, asters…

Wilson reels off a list of perennials that do well for her on the Newport ledge – “alchemilla everywhere – irises, japanese iris, thalictrum (lots of different ones) – cimcifuga, toad lily, hostas of any sort, differant hydrangea, niko blue – massive, ajuga, pachysandra does well in summer but dries out in winter depending on location – old standby, Hakonechloa, Houttuynia ground cover, ginger, solomon seal variegated…”

Driscoll finds from experience that plants with gray foliage like santolina or artemesia perform well by the sea. “Of course Rosa Rugosa is synonomous with seaside gardens,” she says, “but I have found that even hybrid teas and landscape roses do well with the salt air acting as a natural insecticide.”

 These are some of my favorite seashore plants:
• Panic grass (Panicum amarum ‘Dewey Blue’)
• Black fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’)
• Miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’)
• Leatherleaf sedge (Carex buccchanii)
• Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
• Coneflower (Rudbeckia sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’)
• Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum ‘Sheffield Pink’)
• Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’)
• Stonecrop (Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’)
• Mugwort or sagebrush (Artemesia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’)
• Pine (Pinus thumbergii ‘Thunderhead’)
• Spruce (Picea pungens glauca ‘Montgomery Blue’)

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Adam Latham

The height of planting season is upon us. How do you select the ideal plant for a particular location? It doesn’t matter if you desire an annual, perennial, shrub, or tree, the basics of proper plant selection start with a green-industry standard phrase: “right plant, right place.”

Many people have made the mistake of selecting a pretty plant first and then plopping it in the ground wherever it fits, usually one foot off the foundation of a home, wall, or fence with little regard for the light, space, soil, or moisture requirements the plant needs to flourish. But before you start lamenting the mistakes you’ve made in the past, don’t worry, even people in the green business don’t heed our own advice. A good place to start the selection process is by going to URI Extension’s online database of Sustainable Trees & Shrubs at http://www.uri.edu/research/sustland. There is a useful search feature to help narrow your choices by checking criteria such as pH, sun, shade, natives, coastal environments, and deer resistance.

Probably the most common mistake I’ve seen is selecting a plant species that is too large for the available space. You’ve seen homes that suffer from it. It’s that place down the street were the foundation plants block the windows or threaten to engulf the house. I’ve always wanted to call the shrub police to come and ticket the offender, cut down the shrubs, and reveal a beautiful home.

Be sure to read the plant tag or ask a knowledgeable horticulturalist about the growth characteristics of the plant you’re interested in. Unless you’re planting a hedge or mass planting, give your plants enough space to fully develop without having to use looping shears to keep them under control.

Soils
Moist, well-drained soil is the ideal soil condition you find on a lot of plant labels. I don’t know if that soil exists. I don’t see it often, perhaps in the floodplain soils of the Connecticut River or the turf farms of South County. My garden soil is dry, gravelly, and doughty with a good dose of full sun, too. I’ve also developed planting schemes for my clients on poor draining, clay-based soils. The only way to find out what soils you have at your site is to put a shovel in the ground. It’s very important to do this before you purchase your plant material. You might be surprised to find an underlying, unexpected condition.  

I had a client who had purchased a new home and had spent additional money on improving the landscaping over and above the typical builder’s package. I was called in after the fact to assess the newly installed rhododendrons that were rapidly declining in health. The first thing I did was to dig around the rootball to see if the plants were properly installed. I found that the underlying subgrade was compacted so densely that the irrigation water could not drain through and was pooling around the rootball. The plants were literally drowning. Virtually all broadleaf rhododendrons abhor wet soils. This was clearly a situation where the plant was not matched with the soil conditions.

I’ve made errors too. The word hydrangea starts with the root word hydra, for water loving. Remember, my garden has droughty soils and my landscape is not irrigated. But I just had to try some Nikko Blue Hydrangeas. I suppose I really wanted to see just how little water these plants require. After all, hydrangeas flourish and bloom all over the Cape in sandy soils, so why not mine? Out of the four I’ve planted, one has been removed for being near death and three others have barely limped along for four or five years. Every summer the leaves on these poor plants shrivel, wilt, and scorch. Not a single flower has bloomed. No wonder these plants are barely alive. What was I thinking?

Pushing the Hardiness Zone
Our region ranges from zone 5b in the northwest corner of Rhode Island to the southern coastal areas of Massachusetts in zone 7. I’ve been trying to use the native American Holly on my plant lists for quite some time. Hampered by a lack of supply of selected cultivars, I’ve inquired as to the scarcity and have been told by nurseries that the plant is marginally hardy in my area. And with the popularity of the blue hollies and Nellie Stevens Holly, nurseries are reluctant to grow another, less-popular species. But they grow here in the wild; with the historically milder winters and earlier blooming times of trees and shrubs recorded by the Arnold Arboretum you just might be able to successfully grow plant material with more mid-Atlantic or southern “roots” such as American Holly. 

You probably have an area in your landscape that catches the winter rays of the sun, or maybe a place with morning sun protected from the drying winter winds. Perhaps there is a slight slope to the south. These areas are referred to as microclimates. Did you know that here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts the intensity of the sun and day length in winter is actually comparable to northern Portugal and Spain?  It’s true: we’re all on or near 42° latitude.  By protecting plants from the cold and drying winter winds, creating places that take advantage of the winter sun’s rays, and using south-facing slopes, you might be able to grow plants you never expected would grow here. I know of a nurseryman in South Dartmouth who has been experimenting with growing southern magnolias that he brought back from a trip to the Deep South. I wouldn’t recommend having plants shipped here from the far south, but you may want to experiment with pushing the plant hardiness envelope by one zone in these warmer or sheltered locations.

Read plant labels, research before buying, dig a few holes in the ground, and observe the microclimate in your home landscape. You’ll be rewarded with healthier, lower maintenance plantings.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

The height of planting season is upon us. How do you select the ideal plant for a particular location? It doesn’t matter if you desire an annual, perennial, shrub, or tree, the basics of proper plant selection start with a green-industry standard phrase: “right plant, right place.”

Many people have made the mistake of selecting a pretty plant first and then plopping it in the ground wherever it fits, usually one foot off the foundation of a home, wall, or fence with little regard for the light, space, soil, or moisture requirements the plant needs to flourish. But before you start lamenting the mistakes you’ve made in the past, don’t worry, even people in the green business don’t heed our own advice. A good place to start the selection process is by going to URI Extension’s online database of Sustainable Trees & Shrubs at http://www.uri.edu/research/sustland. There is a useful search feature to help narrow your choices by checking criteria such as pH, sun, shade, natives, coastal environments, and deer resistance.

Probably the most common mistake I’ve seen is selecting a plant species that is too large for the available space. You’ve seen homes that suffer from it. It’s that place down the street were the foundation plants block the windows or threaten to engulf the house. I’ve always wanted to call the shrub police to come and ticket the offender, cut down the shrubs, and reveal a beautiful home.

Be sure to read the plant tag or ask a knowledgeable horticulturalist about the growth characteristics of the plant you’re interested in. Unless you’re planting a hedge or mass planting, give your plants enough space to fully develop without having to use looping shears to keep them under control.

Soils
Moist, well-drained soil is the ideal soil condition you find on a lot of plant labels. I don’t know if that soil exists. I don’t see it often, perhaps in the floodplain soils of the Connecticut River or the turf farms of South County. My garden soil is dry, gravelly, and doughty with a good dose of full sun, too. I’ve also developed planting schemes for my clients on poor draining, clay-based soils. The only way to find out what soils you have at your site is to put a shovel in the ground. It’s very important to do this before you purchase your plant material. You might be surprised to find an underlying, unexpected condition.  

I had a client who had purchased a new home and had spent additional money on improving the landscaping over and above the typical builder’s package. I was called in after the fact to assess the newly installed rhododendrons that were rapidly declining in health. The first thing I did was to dig around the rootball to see if the plants were properly installed. I found that the underlying subgrade was compacted so densely that the irrigation water could not drain through and was pooling around the rootball. The plants were literally drowning. Virtually all broadleaf rhododendrons abhor wet soils. This was clearly a situation where the plant was not matched with the soil conditions.

I’ve made errors too. The word hydrangea starts with the root word hydra, for water loving. Remember, my garden has droughty soils and my landscape is not irrigated. But I just had to try some Nikko Blue Hydrangeas. I suppose I really wanted to see just how little water these plants require. After all, hydrangeas flourish and bloom all over the Cape in sandy soils, so why not mine? Out of the four I’ve planted, one has been removed for being near death and three others have barely limped along for four or five years. Every summer the leaves on these poor plants shrivel, wilt, and scorch. Not a single flower has bloomed. No wonder these plants are barely alive. What was I thinking?

Pushing the Hardiness Zone
Our region ranges from zone 5b in the northwest corner of Rhode Island to the southern coastal areas of Massachusetts in zone 7. I’ve been trying to use the native American Holly on my plant lists for quite some time. Hampered by a lack of supply of selected cultivars, I’ve inquired as to the scarcity and have been told by nurseries that the plant is marginally hardy in my area. And with the popularity of the blue hollies and Nellie Stevens Holly, nurseries are reluctant to grow another, less-popular species. But they grow here in the wild; with the historically milder winters and earlier blooming times of trees and shrubs recorded by the Arnold Arboretum you just might be able to successfully grow plant material with more mid-Atlantic or southern “roots” such as American Holly. 

You probably have an area in your landscape that catches the winter rays of the sun, or maybe a place with morning sun protected from the drying winter winds. Perhaps there is a slight slope to the south. These areas are referred to as microclimates. Did you know that here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts the intensity of the sun and day length in winter is actually comparable to northern Portugal and Spain?  It’s true: we’re all on or near 42° latitude.  By protecting plants from the cold and drying winter winds, creating places that take advantage of the winter sun’s rays, and using south-facing slopes, you might be able to grow plants you never expected would grow here. I know of a nurseryman in South Dartmouth who has been experimenting with growing southern magnolias that he brought back from a trip to the Deep South. I wouldn’t recommend having plants shipped here from the far south, but you may want to experiment with pushing the plant hardiness envelope by one zone in these warmer or sheltered locations.

Read plant labels, research before buying, dig a few holes in the ground, and observe the microclimate in your home landscape. You’ll be rewarded with healthier, lower maintenance plantings.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Adam Latham

Full-fledged gardening season is just around the corner. You can feel the first warm rays of the sun and green now means more than evergreen. The bulbs are ending their winter dormancy and sending up their long-awaited blossoms. Rain has replaced snow. Packages have arrived, fulfilling orders placed this winter after looking through enticing plant and seed catalogs. The Rhode Island and Boston Flower Shows have passed. I always feel like spring is here after I get my first sowing of peas in the ground. With so many outdoor chores, how do you start to think about ways to improve your outdoor experience? How about making a list of the issues you had to deal with last year? 

Competitors vs. The Freedom Lawn
Let’s start with the lawn; since it does or doesn’t green up this time of year, it gets the most attention. First, you need to decide how much time, energy, and money you want to spend. Those who care for their own lawns fall somewhere on the spectrum from most intensive maintenance, the “Competitors,” to the least intensive, the freedom-lawn advocates.

Competitors follow a strict regimen of fertilizer, lime, and weed- and insect-control applications, are advocates of a well-maintained irrigation system, and are likely to attempt striped mowing patterns.

If, on the other hand, you’re an advocate of a freedom lawn, then you’re grateful for whatever plants are green in your lawn in the summer. To you, fewer activities you have to perform means more free time you can spend doing other things. You may also view reduced pesticide and fertilizer use as good for the environment and yourself.

Regardless of where you fall on the lawn-care spectrum, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the pH and nutrient levels in your soil. Many problems with plants, including the thousands of grass plants that make up your lawn, can be addressed with basic soil analysis. Many local nurseries and garden centers offer free or low-cost soil-testing services. The University of Massachusetts Extension Service’s Soil and Plant Testing Laboratory will test your soil. To find out more visit their website at http://www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest/. Follow the test-result recommendations. Remember that limestone can be applied at any time of the year although it’s best done in the fall, and that fertilizers, especially those containing higher levels of nitrogen, have more specific application timing. 

Managing Weeds and Pests
The first step in managing weeds and pests in your lawn is to identify if the level of weed or insect infestation is high enough to warrant attention. There is probably more money wasted on needless uses of these products than there is spent on needed applications. If there are only a few broadleaf weeds in your lawn there is no need to apply weed killer everywhere; a spot treatment of the problem would be the best approach.

The same approach works for insects. Simple observation can be used to determine if insects are at thresholds that warrant the use of control methods. Check the web or visit the library or your favorite bookstore for information on these methods. 

 Here are a few simple steps to increase the health of your lawn, which translates to saving money:

Adjust the height of your mower to 2.5 inches to allow the grass to shade out weeds.

Don’t bag the clippings. Returning clippings to the soil with a mulching mower or leaving them in place with a non-mulching mower is the equivalent of one nitrogen application.

Aerate. Aeration reduces soil compaction. Compact soil reduces oxygen levels in the soil, injuring turf and encouraging weed growth. By loosening the soil, more oxygen reaches the root zone, encouraging a healthy stand of turf.

Landscape Design
Now that you’ve decided on a lawn-management plan, let’s begin with the basics of designing your landscape. It’s difficult to plan improvements to any garden space without a plan-view drawing. Begin by making a scaled sketch of your garden space. Don’t be too concerned with precision; you’re not a land surveyor. Close enough is fine.

Many books can show you the tools you’ll need and how to measure and draw to scale. Make sure to include a north arrow and notes on the slope of the land, favorable or unfavorable views, poor drainage areas, the hottest summer locations, and the last place snow melts. Even if you aren’t sure of the names of plants, note the flower color, size of plant, fall color, and form. With this information and a photograph, someone knowledgeable in plants can help you identify a plant without visiting your home. While they’re blooming, take note of where spring-flowering bulbs are located and indicate them on the plan. Bring the sketch along with photos to your local garden center or nursery for recommendations to fill your planting needs. Many garden centers offer specific dates and times in the spring for this service, so it’s smart to call ahead.

Another way to get a good idea of the areas that need to be addressed in your landscape is to select and analyze photographic views of your garden. Use your camera to focus attention on a specific area of your garden. What’s missing from the image? Is there a bare patch of mulch? Is there an opportunity to add a contrasting leaf texture against a particular plant? What are the limits of the plantings needed to screen an objectionable view? By focusing your attention to one or two details at a time, the task of improving the design of your garden space may not seem so daunting. For seasoned experts, it’s also a good way to see if you’ve been missing something.

Putting together a simple plan now for improving your lawn, landscape, or garden is the best way to ensure long-term results. Next thing you know, you’ll be too busy mowing the lawn, installing plants, and doing all the other items on your spring to-do-list to properly plan.   

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Full-fledged gardening season is just around the corner. You can feel the first warm rays of the sun and green now means more than evergreen. The bulbs are ending their winter dormancy and sending up their long-awaited blossoms. Rain has replaced snow. Packages have arrived, fulfilling orders placed this winter after looking through enticing plant and seed catalogs. The Rhode Island and Boston Flower Shows have passed. I always feel like spring is here after I get my first sowing of peas in the ground. With so many outdoor chores, how do you start to think about ways to improve your outdoor experience? How about making a list of the issues you had to deal with last year? 

Competitors vs. The Freedom Lawn
Let’s start with the lawn; since it does or doesn’t green up this time of year, it gets the most attention. First, you need to decide how much time, energy, and money you want to spend. Those who care for their own lawns fall somewhere on the spectrum from most intensive maintenance, the “Competitors,” to the least intensive, the freedom-lawn advocates.

Competitors follow a strict regimen of fertilizer, lime, and weed- and insect-control applications, are advocates of a well-maintained irrigation system, and are likely to attempt striped mowing patterns.

If, on the other hand, you’re an advocate of a freedom lawn, then you’re grateful for whatever plants are green in your lawn in the summer. To you, fewer activities you have to perform means more free time you can spend doing other things. You may also view reduced pesticide and fertilizer use as good for the environment and yourself.

Regardless of where you fall on the lawn-care spectrum, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the pH and nutrient levels in your soil. Many problems with plants, including the thousands of grass plants that make up your lawn, can be addressed with basic soil analysis. Many local nurseries and garden centers offer free or low-cost soil-testing services. The University of Massachusetts Extension Service’s Soil and Plant Testing Laboratory will test your soil. To find out more visit their website at http://www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest/. Follow the test-result recommendations. Remember that limestone can be applied at any time of the year although it’s best done in the fall, and that fertilizers, especially those containing higher levels of nitrogen, have more specific application timing. 

Managing Weeds and Pests
The first step in managing weeds and pests in your lawn is to identify if the level of weed or insect infestation is high enough to warrant attention. There is probably more money wasted on needless uses of these products than there is spent on needed applications. If there are only a few broadleaf weeds in your lawn there is no need to apply weed killer everywhere; a spot treatment of the problem would be the best approach.

The same approach works for insects. Simple observation can be used to determine if insects are at thresholds that warrant the use of control methods. Check the web or visit the library or your favorite bookstore for information on these methods. 

 Here are a few simple steps to increase the health of your lawn, which translates to saving money:

Adjust the height of your mower to 2.5 inches to allow the grass to shade out weeds.

Don’t bag the clippings. Returning clippings to the soil with a mulching mower or leaving them in place with a non-mulching mower is the equivalent of one nitrogen application.

Aerate. Aeration reduces soil compaction. Compact soil reduces oxygen levels in the soil, injuring turf and encouraging weed growth. By loosening the soil, more oxygen reaches the root zone, encouraging a healthy stand of turf.

Landscape Design
Now that you’ve decided on a lawn-management plan, let’s begin with the basics of designing your landscape. It’s difficult to plan improvements to any garden space without a plan-view drawing. Begin by making a scaled sketch of your garden space. Don’t be too concerned with precision; you’re not a land surveyor. Close enough is fine.

Many books can show you the tools you’ll need and how to measure and draw to scale. Make sure to include a north arrow and notes on the slope of the land, favorable or unfavorable views, poor drainage areas, the hottest summer locations, and the last place snow melts. Even if you aren’t sure of the names of plants, note the flower color, size of plant, fall color, and form. With this information and a photograph, someone knowledgeable in plants can help you identify a plant without visiting your home. While they’re blooming, take note of where spring-flowering bulbs are located and indicate them on the plan. Bring the sketch along with photos to your local garden center or nursery for recommendations to fill your planting needs. Many garden centers offer specific dates and times in the spring for this service, so it’s smart to call ahead.

Another way to get a good idea of the areas that need to be addressed in your landscape is to select and analyze photographic views of your garden. Use your camera to focus attention on a specific area of your garden. What’s missing from the image? Is there a bare patch of mulch? Is there an opportunity to add a contrasting leaf texture against a particular plant? What are the limits of the plantings needed to screen an objectionable view? By focusing your attention to one or two details at a time, the task of improving the design of your garden space may not seem so daunting. For seasoned experts, it’s also a good way to see if you’ve been missing something.

Putting together a simple plan now for improving your lawn, landscape, or garden is the best way to ensure long-term results. Next thing you know, you’ll be too busy mowing the lawn, installing plants, and doing all the other items on your spring to-do-list to properly plan. 

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com