Gardening Tips

Written by Adam Latham

You’ve spent money, time, and energy locating, selecting, and then finally determining the proper placement of the perfect plants for your home. Now you’ll want to do all you can to help them survive the upcoming summer. Perhaps the primary factor in determining plant survival is the supply of adequate soil moisture in the root zone. If a plant doesn’t survive, you can assume it was either loved to death or abandoned to fend for itself.

To survive after planting, a plant needs to either:
Replace the root system lost in transplanting if it was dug out of the ground (whether bare root or Balled and Burlapped, also called B&B), or

Extend its root system out into the surrounding soil in the case of containerized plants.

An estimated 90% of the plant’s root system is cut away when it is dug at the nursery. The plant needs to recover from transplant shock and replace the fine, fibrous roots it used for the uptake of water and nutrients. Likewise, plants raised in containers have a significantly smaller root system than the same-sized established plant growing in the landscape. Although they generally have a more extensive root mass than B&B plants, containerized plants still need to be encouraged to send roots out of the growing media and into the surrounding soil.  

Water, Water, Water
To help a plant replace or extend its root system, you need supply the proper amount of water to prevent the plant drying out. Keeping average garden soil adequately moist requires about an inch of water per week. An inch of water will percolate through the soil to a depth of eighteen inches. However, the amount of water required by a plant can vary widely depending on the type of soil, season, temperature, humidity, and the amount of exposure to the sun and wind in your garden.

Observe your newly installed plants, they may be telling you something. Are the leaves wilting or is the leaf color not quite right? Before you water a plant that appears to be wilting, it’s best to check the soil. Sometimes a plant’s physical appearance to overwatering is the same as underwatering. Fine textured soils such as clay and silt require less watering than coarse or gravely soils. Be careful not to drown your plants with love — more water is not always better. Applying more water than the soil can adequately drain or the plant can take up spells disaster. Too much water in the soil displaces the tiny air spaces in the soil that allow oxygen, needed for respiration, to reach the roots. Not enough oxygen in the root zone equals a dead plant.

Don’t assume that because you watered them when they were installed, have an irrigation system, or that it has rained recently that your plants have enough water. Water trees weekly with three to five gallons of water per inch of trunk caliper (the diameter of the trunk six inches above the soil line). The root systems of containerized shrubs and perennials may need to be thoroughly soaked two or more times per week for several weeks, as these plants tend to dry out quickly.

As the season progresses, remember to care for your investment. Extended periods of high summer temperatures, wind, or drought warrant supplemental watering of landscape plants. And don’t forget about them next year either. Continue to monitor their health and apply adequate amounts of water when necessary. 

Mulch
Applying mulch around newly installed trees and shrubs is essential to their survival. The use of mulch conserves soil moisture, suppresses the growth of weeds, and adds organic matter to the soil. A two-to-three-inch-deep layer of aged, shredded bark, composted yard waste, pine needles, or similar organic material substantially increases the rate of survival. Buckwheat hulls work very well for mulching perennials and annual beds. They are lightweight, easy to spread, and won’t scorch or smother tender plants like shredded bark mulch can. You can buy buckwheat hulls as a bagged product at your local garden center. Before applying mulch around newly installed trees or shrubs, form a ring of soil two to three inches high outside the limits of the rootball, forming a saucer to hold water. Be sure the mulch covers the entire area of the saucer and that the mulch is not piled against the trunk or stem.

“Mulch Volcanoes,” as stacks piled against the tree are called, are detrimental to the health of trees. Piling mulch in this way creates a moist environment at the base of the trunk that can cause the bark to rot and invite disease-causing organisms to infect the tree. In the winter, mice looking for a home or a bite to eat can tunnel into the mulch pile and gnaw the bark off the base of the tree, killing it. The correct thing to do is to remove the excess mulch and install a mulch ring three inches deep.

Tools for the Job               
Soaker hoses, drip bags and pans, watering cans, hose timers, and garden hoses with soft-spray nozzles are the best methods to apply water to newly installed trees, shrubs, and perennials. You can also use a hose turned on at low pressure without a spray nozzle. All of these methods will permit the maximum amount of water to go to the place the plant needs it most, instead of running off across adjacent surfaces.

How about installing a rain barrel if the plantings are adjacent a downspout? If you live in a village or urban area, the use of rain barrels has the added benefit of reducing the amount of runoff entering the street stormwater system. If you have an irrigation system, don’t assume that it will do the job. Often, the coverage of the spray heads is inadequate to apply water in the proper amounts and locations. If you’ve had a drip system installed, water may not be reaching the root systems of newly installed plants. Again, it is important to check the condition of your plants as well as probe the soil to observe the depth of water percolation.

It’s not rocket science, but properly caring for your newly installed plantings does require time, energy, close observation, and dirty fingernails. But in time you will be rewarded with flowers, fruit, and foliage for many seasons to come.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

You’ve spent money, time, and energy locating, selecting, and then finally determining the proper placement of the perfect plants for your home. Now you’ll want to do all you can to help them survive the upcoming summer. Perhaps the primary factor in determining plant survival is the supply of adequate soil moisture in the root zone. If a plant doesn’t survive, you can assume it was either loved to death or abandoned to fend for itself.

To survive after planting, a plant needs to either:
Replace the root system lost in transplanting if it was dug out of the ground (whether bare root or Balled and Burlapped, also called B&B), or

Extend its root system out into the surrounding soil in the case of containerized plants.

An estimated 90% of the plant’s root system is cut away when it is dug at the nursery. The plant needs to recover from transplant shock and replace the fine, fibrous roots it used for the uptake of water and nutrients. Likewise, plants raised in containers have a significantly smaller root system than the same-sized established plant growing in the landscape. Although they generally have a more extensive root mass than B&B plants, containerized plants still need to be encouraged to send roots out of the growing media and into the surrounding soil.  

Water, Water, Water
To help a plant replace or extend its root system, you need supply the proper amount of water to prevent the plant drying out. Keeping average garden soil adequately moist requires about an inch of water per week. An inch of water will percolate through the soil to a depth of eighteen inches. However, the amount of water required by a plant can vary widely depending on the type of soil, season, temperature, humidity, and the amount of exposure to the sun and wind in your garden.

Observe your newly installed plants, they may be telling you something. Are the leaves wilting or is the leaf color not quite right? Before you water a plant that appears to be wilting, it’s best to check the soil. Sometimes a plant’s physical appearance to overwatering is the same as underwatering. Fine textured soils such as clay and silt require less watering than coarse or gravely soils. Be careful not to drown your plants with love — more water is not always better. Applying more water than the soil can adequately drain or the plant can take up spells disaster. Too much water in the soil displaces the tiny air spaces in the soil that allow oxygen, needed for respiration, to reach the roots. Not enough oxygen in the root zone equals a dead plant.

Don’t assume that because you watered them when they were installed, have an irrigation system, or that it has rained recently that your plants have enough water. Water trees weekly with three to five gallons of water per inch of trunk caliper (the diameter of the trunk six inches above the soil line). The root systems of containerized shrubs and perennials may need to be thoroughly soaked two or more times per week for several weeks, as these plants tend to dry out quickly.

As the season progresses, remember to care for your investment. Extended periods of high summer temperatures, wind, or drought warrant supplemental watering of landscape plants. And don’t forget about them next year either. Continue to monitor their health and apply adequate amounts of water when necessary. 

Mulch
Applying mulch around newly installed trees and shrubs is essential to their survival. The use of mulch conserves soil moisture, suppresses the growth of weeds, and adds organic matter to the soil. A two-to-three-inch-deep layer of aged, shredded bark, composted yard waste, pine needles, or similar organic material substantially increases the rate of survival. Buckwheat hulls work very well for mulching perennials and annual beds. They are lightweight, easy to spread, and won’t scorch or smother tender plants like shredded bark mulch can. You can buy buckwheat hulls as a bagged product at your local garden center. Before applying mulch around newly installed trees or shrubs, form a ring of soil two to three inches high outside the limits of the rootball, forming a saucer to hold water. Be sure the mulch covers the entire area of the saucer and that the mulch is not piled against the trunk or stem.

“Mulch Volcanoes,” as stacks piled against the tree are called, are detrimental to the health of trees. Piling mulch in this way creates a moist environment at the base of the trunk that can cause the bark to rot and invite disease-causing organisms to infect the tree. In the winter, mice looking for a home or a bite to eat can tunnel into the mulch pile and gnaw the bark off the base of the tree, killing it. The correct thing to do is to remove the excess mulch and install a mulch ring three inches deep.

Tools for the Job               
Soaker hoses, drip bags and pans, watering cans, hose timers, and garden hoses with soft-spray nozzles are the best methods to apply water to newly installed trees, shrubs, and perennials. You can also use a hose turned on at low pressure without a spray nozzle. All of these methods will permit the maximum amount of water to go to the place the plant needs it most, instead of running off across adjacent surfaces.

How about installing a rain barrel if the plantings are adjacent a downspout? If you live in a village or urban area, the use of rain barrels has the added benefit of reducing the amount of runoff entering the street stormwater system. If you have an irrigation system, don’t assume that it will do the job. Often, the coverage of the spray heads is inadequate to apply water in the proper amounts and locations. If you’ve had a drip system installed, water may not be reaching the root systems of newly installed plants. Again, it is important to check the condition of your plants as well as probe the soil to observe the depth of water percolation.

It’s not rocket science, but properly caring for your newly installed plantings does require time, energy, close observation, and dirty fingernails. But in time you will be rewarded with flowers, fruit, and foliage for many seasons to come.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

If you’re anything like me your “house plants” are simply the plants you’ve had outside on your deck that need to come inside for the winter. Unfortunately mine are huge and I bemoan this fact every time I have to haul in these mini-shrubs and find a place for them somewhere in the house. I have a Clivia, for instance, that has to be carried in by two people! But they bring me joy indoors and out so in they come. I think there are plants that are perhaps better sized for your home year-round.

In the northeast, house plants are simply those that might easily live outside in warmer parts of the country. Many tropical plants such as orchids couldn’t possibly survive outside in a Rhode Island winter.

We like to grow plants indoors because they literally bring life into the home – energy, bright color, gorgeous foliage, interesting shapes, fragrance… We decorate with plants trailing them up around windows or stairways, gracing a corner of the living room, making a statement in the entrance hallway or simply being there in the kitchen when you come down in the morning – greeting you with their beauty. They are living artwork. Tending and caring for these plants is therapeutic in so many ways, particularly through the winter months when you can’t garden outside.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLANTS
Find plants that suit you and your home. If you don’t like spending a lot of time caring for them then get easy, no-care plants like a Chinese Jade Plant (Crassula arborescens), remembering, of course, that there is no such thing as a “no-care plant.” If indoor horticulture is what gets you up in the morning then you can go for more finicky plants like a Camellia. It’s a bit like choosing a dog in that you have to choose one that fits your lifestyle. If you like to go away and aren’t around to water then cactus and other succulents might be your plants of choice.

What it really comes down to is choosing a plant that pleases you, in whatever way that may be. I have tried and failed at orchids but I keep on trying because they please me. 

CARING FOR PLANTS INDOORS
Your indoor plants are totally, 100% dependent on you for their survival. Plants that live in pots their entire lives get nothing if you don’t give it to them. They need you to feed them, water them, mist them, prune them and heal them. Keeping them clean is important because dusty plants can’t breathe (transpire) and look awful. I had a Rubber plant (Ficus) in my office for years that I would wash regularly to ensure its health and because it looked so good afterwards. I have also put plants in the bathtub and turned on the shower to simulate rain, taking care to make the “rain” gentle. 

 Place plants in an area where they will get the correct amount of light. This is the same whether you plant outside or inside. Try to find areas that simulate the kind of light they like naturally. If you know a plant’s native origin you will have some sense of what that plant needs to survive. In a sense you’re trying to recreate their homeland. Orchids, for instance, hail from tropical areas with moist warmth and filtered light – that’s what they best like so that’s what you try to give them. And don’t put cyclamen in a bright, sunny window because they like a lower light – put a cactus on that windowsill – they are used to bright desert light. Regular incandescent lightbulbs will not give a plant what it needs – only sunlight or grow-lights can do that and unless you are raising plants you probably don’t want the aesthetics of grow lights in your living space. 

 Correct light is a very important. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone into an office and seen a dried-out, half-dead Spider plant (Chlorophytum commosum) hung in a dark corner. They look dreadful and I itch to coddle them. The intent to have a live plant is there but maybe the time to care for it is not? Spider plants need bright light, plenty of moisture and frequent feeding. And often they are hung over a central heat duct. These plants like warmth but not too much heat.  

 Fertilizing a potted plant is essential. Most will benefit from a regular feeding of dilute fish emulsion like Neptune’s Harvest or, if you want to encourage blossoms you could use a fertilizer formulated for this purpose. I favor non-chemical gardening and recommend top-dressing any potted plant with some good home-made compost. The nutrients filter down each time you water. 

 When watering make sure there is drainage at the bottom of the pot and that the plant does not sit in water, or at least not for long. I always “overwater” my Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Wallisii) but it drinks “like a fish” so rarely is it left sitting in that water.

If you give a plant what it needs it will give back to you ten-fold in terms of happiness.  

PLANT PROBLEMS
Plants inside the house are susceptible to dust, drying out, over-heating, poor light and, of course bugs. The one that seems to be oh-so-common is the fleshy white mealybug – you’ll see a white, waxy, wooly blob in the crotch of the leaves. If you catch it in time you can hand remove it, but if you miss it early then more drastic measures are required – even a systemic insecticide. But, as I said, I go for non-chemical and prefer to take alcohol on an ear bud and “hit” them with that.  

It’s not a bad idea to open a window briefly to let in fresh air, or turn on a fan to get the air moving. Stale air harbors pests and if plants are in close quarters they will easily transfer from one to the other.

A book that I like is the Reader’s Digest, Indoor Plants: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Caring for Houseplants by Jane Courtier & Graham Clarke. I don’t agree with their chemical approach to problems but it is chock full of good information, the plant directory is easy to read and the photographs illustrate most of the problems.  

“Indoor plants” do not have to live only indoors. If conditions are right you can certainly put them outside – that’s where they would naturally be, but bring them in when conditions get harsher and threaten them.

I grew up surrounded by my mother’s house plants. When she died my father felt compelled to continue to care for them even though he knew nothing about plants. It was emotionally healing for him and brought him closer to her memory. Whenever I see a Zygocactus I think of her.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

If you’re anything like me your “house plants” are simply the plants you’ve had outside on your deck that need to come inside for the winter. Unfortunately mine are huge and I bemoan this fact every time I have to haul in these mini-shrubs and find a place for them somewhere in the house. I have a Clivia, for instance, that has to be carried in by two people! But they bring me joy indoors and out so in they come. I think there are plants that are perhaps better sized for your home year-round.

In the northeast, house plants are simply those that might easily live outside in warmer parts of the country. Many tropical plants such as orchids couldn’t possibly survive outside in a Rhode Island winter.

We like to grow plants indoors because they literally bring life into the home – energy, bright color, gorgeous foliage, interesting shapes, fragrance… We decorate with plants trailing them up around windows or stairways, gracing a corner of the living room, making a statement in the entrance hallway or simply being there in the kitchen when you come down in the morning – greeting you with their beauty. They are living artwork. Tending and caring for these plants is therapeutic in so many ways, particularly through the winter months when you can’t garden outside.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLANTS
Find plants that suit you and your home. If you don’t like spending a lot of time caring for them then get easy, no-care plants like a Chinese Jade Plant (Crassula arborescens), remembering, of course, that there is no such thing as a “no-care plant.” If indoor horticulture is what gets you up in the morning then you can go for more finicky plants like a Camellia. It’s a bit like choosing a dog in that you have to choose one that fits your lifestyle. If you like to go away and aren’t around to water then cactus and other succulents might be your plants of choice.

What it really comes down to is choosing a plant that pleases you, in whatever way that may be. I have tried and failed at orchids but I keep on trying because they please me. 

CARING FOR PLANTS INDOORS
Your indoor plants are totally, 100% dependent on you for their survival. Plants that live in pots their entire lives get nothing if you don’t give it to them. They need you to feed them, water them, mist them, prune them and heal them. Keeping them clean is important because dusty plants can’t breathe (transpire) and look awful. I had a Rubber plant (Ficus) in my office for years that I would wash regularly to ensure its health and because it looked so good afterwards. I have also put plants in the bathtub and turned on the shower to simulate rain, taking care to make the “rain” gentle. 

 Place plants in an area where they will get the correct amount of light. This is the same whether you plant outside or inside. Try to find areas that simulate the kind of light they like naturally. If you know a plant’s native origin you will have some sense of what that plant needs to survive. In a sense you’re trying to recreate their homeland. Orchids, for instance, hail from tropical areas with moist warmth and filtered light – that’s what they best like so that’s what you try to give them. And don’t put cyclamen in a bright, sunny window because they like a lower light – put a cactus on that windowsill – they are used to bright desert light. Regular incandescent lightbulbs will not give a plant what it needs – only sunlight or grow-lights can do that and unless you are raising plants you probably don’t want the aesthetics of grow lights in your living space. 

 Correct light is a very important. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone into an office and seen a dried-out, half-dead Spider plant (Chlorophytum commosum) hung in a dark corner. They look dreadful and I itch to coddle them. The intent to have a live plant is there but maybe the time to care for it is not? Spider plants need bright light, plenty of moisture and frequent feeding. And often they are hung over a central heat duct. These plants like warmth but not too much heat.  

 Fertilizing a potted plant is essential. Most will benefit from a regular feeding of dilute fish emulsion like Neptune’s Harvest or, if you want to encourage blossoms you could use a fertilizer formulated for this purpose. I favor non-chemical gardening and recommend top-dressing any potted plant with some good home-made compost. The nutrients filter down each time you water. 

 When watering make sure there is drainage at the bottom of the pot and that the plant does not sit in water, or at least not for long. I always “overwater” my Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Wallisii) but it drinks “like a fish” so rarely is it left sitting in that water.

If you give a plant what it needs it will give back to you ten-fold in terms of happiness.

PLANT PROBLEMS
Plants inside the house are susceptible to dust, drying out, over-heating, poor light and, of course bugs. The one that seems to be oh-so-common is the fleshy white mealybug – you’ll see a white, waxy, wooly blob in the crotch of the leaves. If you catch it in time you can hand remove it, but if you miss it early then more drastic measures are required – even a systemic insecticide. But, as I said, I go for non-chemical and prefer to take alcohol on an ear bud and “hit” them with that.

It’s not a bad idea to open a window briefly to let in fresh air, or turn on a fan to get the air moving. Stale air harbors pests and if plants are in close quarters they will easily transfer from one to the other.

A book that I like is the Reader’s Digest, Indoor Plants: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Caring for Houseplants by Jane Courtier & Graham Clarke. I don’t agree with their chemical approach to problems but it is chock full of good information, the plant directory is easy to read and the photographs illustrate most of the problems.  

“Indoor plants” do not have to live only indoors. If conditions are right you can certainly put them outside – that’s where they would naturally be, but bring them in when conditions get harsher and threaten them.

I grew up surrounded by my mother’s house plants. When she died my father felt compelled to continue to care for them even though he knew nothing about plants. It was emotionally healing for him and brought him closer to her memory. Whenever I see a Zygocactus I think of her.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

Your newest Fritillaria tulips have been planted as have your favorite Thalia daffodils. The garden is cut back and put to bed, the leaves are raked, shredded and on your compost pile – so what do you do now? You dream, read and plan for next year. Perhaps the event to get you jump-started on your dreaming and planning is The Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show (www.flowershow.com) which, in 2008, will be held February 21-24 at the Convention Center in Providence. It’s an inspiring, educational and very fun event – not to be missed.

My upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardeners Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State*, which is chock full of information for Rhode Island gardeners, has a very detailed chapter on gardening resources for RI gardeners. There is a wealth of information in Little Rhody – fabulous garden centers, plant societies, public gardens… and I detail them all, but here are a few to get you started (you’ll find the contact information at the end of the article).

I have found some of my best advice comes from my local garden centers. Knowledgeable staff really do enjoy helping with gardening questions so don’t be timid about asking. A favorite story involves the Island Garden Shop on Bristol Ferry Road in Portsmouth. The owner, Martin Van Hof is a very busy man and yet when I walked in one day with a sickly plant he took time out of his day to find an answer for me. It was a challenge for him and he rallied, with pleasure. Which is why I’m a loyal customer. 

Local garden clubs and horticultural societies are also wonderful resources as is our own University of Rhode Island in Kingston. URI has a terrific environmental sciences, plant sciences and horticulture program, one of the best in New England, not to mention a fabulous botanical garden which is open to the public. There are multiple resources at URI – the Cooperative Extension (CE) and the Education Center (CEEC), the GreenShare program, Home*A*Syst water program, sustainable landscaping… 

The URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program is known to be one of the best in the country. The mission of this program is education and master gardeners are trained volunteers who help the public with their gardening problems. URI has also partnered with the new Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence so many of the education programs there are created by URI Extension Master Gardeners. URI and RWP have also partnered with various Rhode Island plant societies such as the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, the RI Rose Society, the RI Orchid Society, and more…

URI’s lovely Dr. Marion Gold, an entomologist and Director of the Cooperative Extension Education Center, is also The Plant Pro on NBC/Channel 10. This is a very popular gardening segment that is broadcast from the URI greenhouses and airs frequently.

Garden books and magazines are, of course, a fabulous way of learning more about gardening. My all-time favorite book about gardening is A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler. She has captured my attitude to gardening perfectly. But the first book I ever read on gardening, and one that I constantly return to, is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. She and her husband Eliot Coleman are both organic gardeners, farmers and writers. Coleman has published a number of books one of which is The Four Season Harvest. I should add here that anything I read is about organic or biodynamic gardening. I have moved completely away from anything synthetic in my garden.

I list over 40 good garden books in the resources chapter of my book but I’ll include a few here that have a northeast if not Rhode Island focus: 

The Adventurous Gardener – Where to Buy the Best Plants in New England by Ruah Donnelly

Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by Irene H. Stuckey & Lisa Lofland Gould

A Guide to Rhode Island’s Natural Places by Elizabeth Gibbs, Tony Corey, Malia Schwartz, Deborah Grossman-Garber, Carole Jaworski, Margaret Bucheit

Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines by William Cullina

The New England Gardener’s Book of Lists by Karan Davis Cutler

The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions & Answers

A Northeast Gardener’s Year by Lee Reich

The Practical Gardener by Roger Swain

Seascape Gardening: from New England to the Carolinas by Anne Halpin and Roger Foley

Trees of Newport: on the estates of the Preservation Society of Newport County by Richard L. Champlin

Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso 

A few other resources for you:
Apeiron Institute for Environmental Living, www.apeiron.org, a Rhode Island organization that promotes sustainable living and agriculture.

Toxics Information Project, www.toxicsinfo.org. I can’t resist this one – a Rhode Island based organization, TIP publishes the Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory.

Save the Bay, www.savebay.org. They have published a great brochure Yard Care Guide for the Homeowner. 

Farm Fresh Rhode Island, www.farmfreshri.org, links Rhode Islanders with local and organic foods, farm stands, community supported agriculture and much more…

Gardening for Good, www.gardening4good.org, founded by Rhode Islander Mary Beth Miller, educates the public in ways for older and incapacitated folks continue to garden.

New England Carnivorous Plant Society, www.necps.org, was founded by Rhode Islander John Phillip, Jr. 

Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs, www.gardencentral.org/rigardenclubs. There are 32 clubs in Rhode Island. 

Rhode Island Orchid Society, www.riorchidsociety.org. 

Rhode Island Rose Society, www.rirs.org.

Rhode Island Tree Council, www.ritree.org. 

Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, www.riwps.org. 

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, www.providenceri/botanical-center.com. 

University of Rhode Island, www.uri.edu

URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Association, www.urimga.org

The Providential Gardener is a website created by Rhode Islander Susan Korté to “link the Growing Community” – fabulous resource: www.providentialgardener.typepad.com.

Garden Guys radio show, www.garden-guys.com. Sam Jeffries and Fred Jackson – airs on Sundays from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on WHJJ 920 AM. 

People, Places & Plants, www.ppplants.com, a magazine for northeast gardeners, with a calendar of events and listing of other resources and public gardens.

Happy dreaming and planning for 2008.

*The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, published by Globe Pequot Press, will be available in January. The Massachusetts Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening from the Berkshires to the Islands, was published in 2007.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Your newest Fritillaria tulips have been planted as have your favorite Thalia daffodils. The garden is cut back and put to bed, the leaves are raked, shredded and on your compost pile – so what do you do now? You dream, read and plan for next year. Perhaps the event to get you jump-started on your dreaming and planning is The Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show (www.flowershow.com) which, in 2008, will be held February 21-24 at the Convention Center in Providence. It’s an inspiring, educational and very fun event – not to be missed.

My upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardeners Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State*, which is chock full of information for Rhode Island gardeners, has a very detailed chapter on gardening resources for RI gardeners. There is a wealth of information in Little Rhody – fabulous garden centers, plant societies, public gardens… and I detail them all, but here are a few to get you started (you’ll find the contact information at the end of the article).

I have found some of my best advice comes from my local garden centers. Knowledgeable staff really do enjoy helping with gardening questions so don’t be timid about asking. A favorite story involves the Island Garden Shop on Bristol Ferry Road in Portsmouth. The owner, Martin Van Hof is a very busy man and yet when I walked in one day with a sickly plant he took time out of his day to find an answer for me. It was a challenge for him and he rallied, with pleasure. Which is why I’m a loyal customer. 

Local garden clubs and horticultural societies are also wonderful resources as is our own University of Rhode Island in Kingston. URI has a terrific environmental sciences, plant sciences and horticulture program, one of the best in New England, not to mention a fabulous botanical garden which is open to the public. There are multiple resources at URI – the Cooperative Extension (CE) and the Education Center (CEEC), the GreenShare program, Home*A*Syst water program, sustainable landscaping… 

The URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program is known to be one of the best in the country. The mission of this program is education and master gardeners are trained volunteers who help the public with their gardening problems. URI has also partnered with the new Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence so many of the education programs there are created by URI Extension Master Gardeners. URI and RWP have also partnered with various Rhode Island plant societies such as the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, the RI Rose Society, the RI Orchid Society, and more…

URI’s lovely Dr. Marion Gold, an entomologist and Director of the Cooperative Extension Education Center, is also The Plant Pro on NBC/Channel 10. This is a very popular gardening segment that is broadcast from the URI greenhouses and airs frequently.

Garden books and magazines are, of course, a fabulous way of learning more about gardening. My all-time favorite book about gardening is A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler. She has captured my attitude to gardening perfectly. But the first book I ever read on gardening, and one that I constantly return to, is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. She and her husband Eliot Coleman are both organic gardeners, farmers and writers. Coleman has published a number of books one of which is The Four Season Harvest. I should add here that anything I read is about organic or biodynamic gardening. I have moved completely away from anything synthetic in my garden.

I list over 40 good garden books in the resources chapter of my book but I’ll include a few here that have a northeast if not Rhode Island focus: 

The Adventurous Gardener – Where to Buy the Best Plants in New England by Ruah Donnelly

Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by Irene H. Stuckey & Lisa Lofland Gould

A Guide to Rhode Island’s Natural Places by Elizabeth Gibbs, Tony Corey, Malia Schwartz, Deborah Grossman-Garber, Carole Jaworski, Margaret Bucheit

Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines by William Cullina

The New England Gardener’s Book of Lists by Karan Davis Cutler

The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions & Answers

A Northeast Gardener’s Year by Lee Reich

The Practical Gardener by Roger Swain

Seascape Gardening: from New England to the Carolinas by Anne Halpin and Roger Foley

Trees of Newport: on the estates of the Preservation Society of Newport County by Richard L. Champlin

Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso 

 A few other resources for you:
Apeiron Institute for Environmental Living, www.apeiron.org, a Rhode Island organization that promotes sustainable living and agriculture.

Toxics Information Project, www.toxicsinfo.org. I can’t resist this one – a Rhode Island based organization, TIP publishes the Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory.

Save the Bay, www.savebay.org. They have published a great brochure Yard Care Guide for the Homeowner. 

Farm Fresh Rhode Island, www.farmfreshri.org, links Rhode Islanders with local and organic foods, farm stands, community supported agriculture and much more…

Gardening for Good, www.gardening4good.org, founded by Rhode Islander Mary Beth Miller, educates the public in ways for older and incapacitated folks continue to garden.

New England Carnivorous Plant Society, www.necps.org, was founded by Rhode Islander John Phillip, Jr. 

Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs, www.gardencentral.org/rigardenclubs. There are 32 clubs in Rhode Island. 

Rhode Island Orchid Society, www.riorchidsociety.org. 

Rhode Island Rose Society, www.rirs.org.

Rhode Island Tree Council, www.ritree.org. 

Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, www.riwps.org. 

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, www.providenceri/botanical-center.com. 

University of Rhode Island, www.uri.edu

URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Association, www.urimga.org

The Providential Gardener is a website created by Rhode Islander Susan Korté to “link the Growing Community” – fabulous resource: www.providentialgardener.typepad.com.

Garden Guys radio show, www.garden-guys.com. Sam Jeffries and Fred Jackson – airs on Sundays from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on WHJJ 920 AM. 

People, Places & Plants, www.ppplants.com, a magazine for northeast gardeners, with a calendar of events and listing of other resources and public gardens.

Happy dreaming and planning for 2008.

*The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, published by Globe Pequot Press, will be available in January. The Massachusetts Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening from the Berkshires to the Islands, was published in 2007.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

The word Autumn evokes a sense of slow, undulating pleasure as the season unfolds its beauty. Fall on the other hand seems to conjure images of swift, abrupt movement and does not do the season justice. Both terms are used in the U.S. but for me it will always be Autumn – a season of vibrant color with the garden in its full flush of growth. And the light at this time of year is exquisite, particularly in Rhode Island for some reason. Autumn is a season that you must enjoy for all its worth because it is all too soon gone and with it the color and growth. A signal to slow down in the garden as you head into a winter of hibernation, relaxation and regeneration – or skiing!

But you can’t simply walk away from your garden. Yes, you can do that but you’ll probably regret it in the spring. Autumn is a gorgeous time to work out in the garden – it’s not too hot, the birds are creating a racket and you’re outside – what could be better.

 

Cutting back and cleaning up

You can have a lovely lazy time in the garden, enjoying the seed heads and changing forms only to be faced with a mind-blowing amount of clean-up in the spring. Or you can scalp your garden to the ground, feverishly denuding it to ensure a “clean palette” in the spring. A lot depends on what you want to look at, and think about through the winter. There are, of course, issues of hygiene versus animal habitats. If you clean up too much you may exile some poor mouse family out of your garden, or deny the birds their nest-making materials for the spring. But, if your garden is too much of a mess you may also be encouraging unhealthy fungi and parasites. Somewhere in between spartan and cluttered probably works best.

Cut back those plants that are truly ugly when they have passed and leave the ones that still have some form and structure. This adds to the texture of the garden in the winter, particularly when snow settles. Take care when putting the cut back debris on the compost pile – too any seed heads will add seeds to the pile and they may be plants you don’t want popping up everywhere the following year when you spread the compost.

Pruning

An arborist I know said that the best time to prune is after your Christmas lunch. Another said to prune “whenever you have the time.” Two very different ways of looking at the timing of pruning. So – whether to prune in the autumn, or not, seems to depend a lot on your schedule. This philosophy, of course, totally ignores the necessity for pruning to ensure spring blooms. You don’t want to prune your lilacs, viburnums or forsythias in the autumn because you will then have just cut off all of the next spring season’s waiting blooms that have already set. But, if that’s the only time you have to do it you’ll just have to live one season without blooms – it won’t kill the plant. Any good pruning book will specify when you should prune a specific plant, but you need also to temper this information with the growth of that particular plant and the growing area in which you live. Go by the plant’s growth not the book’s text.

 

Transplanting

Transplanting in the autumn, early enough in the autumn, gives plants a leg-up on establishing themselves before the winter sets in. Autumn is the time when most plants are in die-back mode so it is a wonderful time to transplant because the focus is on what’s underground and not what’s above – roots not blooms. You don’t care if the foliage collapses on you because that’s what happening to the plant anyway.  And, pretty soon you’ll cut it back. What you care about is making sure the roots take hold, and that the plant is well-watered in, minimally fertilized, and happily mulched for the winter. If you don’t have time to transplant in the autumn just make sure you do it early enough in the spring that you don’t affect the plant’s growth patterns.

Fertilizing

Fertilizing is usually thought to be a spring task because you want to encourage growth at that time. Fertilizing in the autumn can be a little tricky because it is growth that you don’t really want to encourage. However, if done with care autumn fertilizing is a wonderful way of amending the soil and helping continued healthy winter growth of roots. What fertilizer you use matters rather more than whether or not to fertilize.

Nitrogen is more important for stem and leaf development whereas Phosphorous is for root enlargement and expansion so less of the former and more of the latter.  Autumn is also a great time to test your soil to see if it needs improvement. Take a sample and send it to your local extension office. If the results show that your soil needs improvement autumn is the time to do it because you don’t have to be quite so careful when working the soil. You’re not working around new growth so you can turn the soil and work in the amendments with less worry about damaging something.

The Lawn

Autumn is a good time to aerate the lawn. This involves running a machine over the entire lawn that removes plugs of soil. The plugs when left on the lawn decompose and filter nutrients back down into the soil. The open holes allow moisture, air and nutrients to find their way more deeply into the soil.

 

Tools

Cleaning your tools before putting them away for the season is an excellent way of emotionally finishing up. I like to clean my smaller tools during the winter when I’m inside anyway. I spread a tarp out in front of the fire and bring in my tool carrier. I clean, sharpen and oil them. At the same time I empty my carrier of all accumulated junk. When I put everything back into the garage I know they’re ready to go the moment I see an opportunity to head out into the garden in the spring. Clean tools last longer too!

Recommended Reading:

The Complete Gardener’s Almanac: A Month by Month Guide to Successful Gardening by Marjorie Willison

People, Places & Plants: the Magazine for Northeast gardeners – always has a calendar of tasks in each issue.

Barbara is a business and creative writer who has published two books and many articles in local and national magazines. She is a URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and likes to write about anything green.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

The word Autumn evokes a sense of slow, undulating pleasure as the season unfolds its beauty. Fall on the other hand seems to conjure images of swift, abrupt movement and does not do the season justice. Both terms are used in the U.S. but for me it will always be Autumn – a season of vibrant color with the garden in its full flush of growth. And the light at this time of year is exquisite, particularly in Rhode Island for some reason. Autumn is a season that you must enjoy for all its worth because it is all too soon gone and with it the color and growth. A signal to slow down in the garden as you head into a winter of hibernation, relaxation and regeneration – or skiing!

 

But you can’t simply walk away from your garden. Yes, you can do that but you’ll probably regret it in the spring. Autumn is a gorgeous time to work out in the garden – it’s not too hot, the birds are creating a racket and you’re outside – what could be better.

 

Cutting back and cleaning up

You can have a lovely lazy time in the garden, enjoying the seed heads and changing forms only to be faced with a mind-blowing amount of clean-up in the spring. Or you can scalp your garden to the ground, feverishly denuding it to ensure a “clean palette” in the spring. A lot depends on what you want to look at, and think about through the winter. There are, of course, issues of hygiene versus animal habitats. If you clean up too much you may exile some poor mouse family out of your garden, or deny the birds their nest-making materials for the spring. But, if your garden is too much of a mess you may also be encouraging unhealthy fungi and parasites. Somewhere in between spartan and cluttered probably works best.

 

Cut back those plants that are truly ugly when they have passed and leave the ones that still have some form and structure. This adds to the texture of the garden in the winter, particularly when snow settles. Take care when putting the cut back debris on the compost pile – too any seed heads will add seeds to the pile and they may be plants you don’t want popping up everywhere the following year when you spread the compost.

Pruning

 

An arborist I know said that the best time to prune is after your Christmas lunch. Another said to prune “whenever you have the time.” Two very different ways of looking at the timing of pruning. So – whether to prune in the autumn, or not, seems to depend a lot on your schedule. This philosophy, of course, totally ignores the necessity for pruning to ensure spring blooms. You don’t want to prune your lilacs, viburnums or forsythias in the autumn because you will then have just cut off all of the next spring season’s waiting blooms that have already set. But, if that’s the only time you have to do it you’ll just have to live one season without blooms – it won’t kill the plant. Any good pruning book will specify when you should prune a specific plant, but you need also to temper this information with the growth of that particular plant and the growing area in which you live. Go by the plant’s growth not the book’s text.

 

Transplanting

Transplanting in the autumn, early enough in the autumn, gives plants a leg-up on establishing themselves before the winter sets in. Autumn is the time when most plants are in die-back mode so it is a wonderful time to transplant because the focus is on what’s underground and not what’s above – roots not blooms. You don’t care if the foliage collapses on you because that’s what happening to the plant anyway.  And, pretty soon you’ll cut it back. What you care about is making sure the roots take hold, and that the plant is well-watered in, minimally fertilized, and happily mulched for the winter. If you don’t have time to transplant in the autumn just make sure you do it early enough in the spring that you don’t affect the plant’s growth patterns.

 

Fertilizing

Fertilizing is usually thought to be a spring task because you want to encourage growth at that time. Fertilizing in the autumn can be a little tricky because it is growth that you don’t really want to encourage. However, if done with care autumn fertilizing is a wonderful way of amending the soil and helping continued healthy winter growth of roots. What fertilizer you use matters rather more than whether or not to fertilize.

 

Nitrogen is more important for stem and leaf development whereas Phosphorous is for root enlargement and expansion so less of the former and more of the latter.  Autumn is also a great time to test your soil to see if it needs improvement. Take a sample and send it to your local extension office. If the results show that your soil needs improvement autumn is the time to do it because you don’t have to be quite so careful when working the soil. You’re not working around new growth so you can turn the soil and work in the amendments with less worry about damaging something.

 

The Lawn

Autumn is a good time to aerate the lawn. This involves running a machine over the entire lawn that removes plugs of soil. The plugs when left on the lawn decompose and filter nutrients back down into the soil. The open holes allow moisture, air and nutrients to find their way more deeply into the soil.

 

Tools

Cleaning your tools before putting them away for the season is an excellent way of emotionally finishing up. I like to clean my smaller tools during the winter when I’m inside anyway. I spread a tarp out in front of the fire and bring in my tool carrier. I clean, sharpen and oil them. At the same time I empty my carrier of all accumulated junk. When I put everything back into the garage I know they’re ready to go the moment I see an opportunity to head out into the garden in the spring. Clean tools last longer too!

 

Recommended Reading:

The Complete Gardener’s Almanac: A Month by Month Guide to Successful Gardening by Marjorie Willison

People, Places & Plants: the Magazine for Northeast gardeners – always has a calendar of tasks in each issue.

 

Barbara is a business and creative writer who has published two books and many articles in local and national magazines. She is a URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and likes to write about anything green.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

In Rhode Island turfgrass is a big deal. The turfgrass industry is one of the largest in the state. Research conducted by the plant sciences department of the University of Rhode Island has gained the university a national reputation as a recognized authority on the subject. “The Skogley Memorial Turfgrass Research Facility at URI is the oldest turf research facility in the USA,” says Dr. Brian Maynard or the plant sciences department. “The turf industry in RI basically owes its existence to research and outreach conducted by URI.” 

Selecting the right grass
If you are starting a lawn from scratch, as with any element of your garden, it’s worth taking the time to plan and do it right. Assess the site and your requirements for that site. Is it in sun or shade, or a combination? Will it get high or low traffic – family football games or a quiet reading area? How do you want it to look – manicured or more natural? What type of soil do you have? Questions and choices – but they’re yours to make, and there is a grass to meet every need. 

The staple New England grass is 100% Bluegrass says Glenn Chappell of New England Turf in West Kingston, but he says they incorporate different species in with the Bluegrass to create mixes that serve a variety of purposes. Examples of mixes would be Bluegrass and Fescue, and Bluegrass, Fescue and Rye. NET’s Farm Manager Mark Pearson says they also grow Shortcut Bluegrass which is a dwarf variety that you can mow up to under half inch.  “It=s great for the golf course industry but also for the homeowner who likes a tight perfectly manicured look. It=s a very pretty grass but you have to be prepared to mow 4-5 times a week.” 

Maintaining a lawn
Nothing beats getting professional advice from lawn care companies. John Bannon owns Coastal Care in Pawtucket and says he is happy to come out and give you a free estimate on your lawn. “No customer is too small,” he says. “I’ll help anyone in anyway I can.” 

But in short, a lawn needs water, food, air, sunlight and regular haircuts. If you have a healthy lawn then the problems won’t be too daunting. If you inherited a lawn it is wise to find out what grass is in your lawn. You can take a strip of it to your local garden center, or stop by a sod farm in your area. They will identify it for you.        

Recommended watering requirements are about one inch a week. Regular watering helps establish a deep root system. You can measure the amount of water you’re putting on your lawn by placing straight-sided cans around to catch the water.  

Dealing with weeds can be as painful or painless as you choose to make it. Tim McGuinness at the Olde Bristol Ferry House Bed & Breakfast in Portsmouth finds digging dandelions out by hand relaxing and therapeutic. His lawn reflects the care he puts into it – dealing with weeds before they take over.  The web site for SafeLawns.org (www.safelawns.org) has plenty of information on non-toxic lawn care and getting rid of weeds.

Mowing
Joe Gibson of TrimLawn Landscape & Lawn Services in East Providence believes correct mowing is key to a healthy lawn. “Mow high,” he says. “Three inches – for shade and photosynthesis. Less light is able to reach the soil surface which means it will be shaded and therefore provide less opportunity for weed germination … Higher mowing also provides more grass blade leaf surface so sunlight is more readily absorbed helping with photosynthesis.” 

A higher cut, according to Gibson, also improves appearance because “it looks thicker from a distance, blemishes are less noticeable, and the grass has a deeper root system.” He adds that the color will also be better due to the shaded soil.

Experts agree about leaving the grass clippings on the lawn, unless they are too long when they will choke the lawn, and look messy. Paul Tukey, author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual and founder of SafeLawns.org says “Grass clippings decompose quickly – they are 80% water and organic. They recycle nutrients back into the soil.”           

To feed the grass a fertilizer with 20-5-10 ratio is usually advised. Normally two applications are recommended one in the spring and one in the fall. And whether to put lime on your lawn or not is a regular question gardeners have. Lime helps raise the ph level of the soil to make it less acidic. If you haven’t done a soil test to determine the ph of your soil then the normal recommendation is 50 to 100 pounds of lime per thousand square feet every two years. 

Pests and diseases are an indication of a less-than-healthy lawn. But don’t whip yourself into a frenzy if you see birds pecking at the grubs in your lawn, or you see ugly rings in the grass – just identify the problem and get advice on how to deal with it.

If you have a grass that is adapted to your site and to your uses the best advice I can think of is to let nature take care of it. A brown lawn in the summer is part of living in RI.  It does not mean the lawn is dead simply that it is a cool weather grass and goes dormant in hot weather. If you see folks with lush bright green lawns in August then they are putting a lot of water on it.  When there are water bans don’t worry about your lawn – it will come back.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Barbara Gee

Most of us assume that strolling in the garden will be a wonderful uplifting experience. But what if it isn’t? What if the stroll depresses you? What if the color combinations do more than unsettle you? Or you find the entrance to the garden unwelcoming? The answer could be more than just bad landscaping. Your garden may be in serious need of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui (pronounced Fung S’way) literally means “wind” and “water”.  It is not a religion, as many think, but an ancient Chinese environmental philosophy that is all about building harmony between mankind and the environment. Chinese farmers relied on Feng Shui to determine where and when to plant their crops and how best to embrace the spiritual forces of nature to ensure a more abundant crop. This does not just mean good soil and lots of sun and rain. The philosophy of Feng Shui demands a far deeper and more spiritual understanding of the workings of Mother Nature in order to connect with the sacred in our lives.

In this country the application of Feng Shui is more commonly associated with buildings so many architects and interior designers here are familiar with the concepts. But having good Feng Shui inside your home or office building does not assure a happy environment unless the Feng Shui of your external surroundings is good. How can a building be a happy building if it is placed in an unhappy location? There is good Feng Shui, but there is also bad Feng Shui and the trick is to ensure you have all the good and none of the bad. Bad Feng Shui, however, comes about more from the misapplication, or lack of application, of the principles of Feng Shui.

Garden Feng Shui is a holistic approach to gardening. A Feng Shui analysis of a garden will incorporate an analysis of the air and the soil. This is not to be confused with an American-style soil test which evaluates the Ph and lime content of the soil along with the levels of plant nutrients, organic matter and mineral components of the soil. A Feng Shui analysis calls into play the energy of the soil. The Chinese word for this energy is “Chi”, as in the well-known meditative exercise of T’ai Chi. Chi is the life force of all living things. It is the driving force in human beings, and it is the quality of the environment, the power of the sun, the moon and the weather. The energy present at a location can be altered dramatically with Feng Shui, both for good and bad.

The Chinese have a saying: “First, there is luck; second, destiny; third Feng Shui; fourth, virtue and fifth, education.” As you can see Feng Shui is only a part of the whole. Central to the philosophy is the symbolism of celestial creatures: the Dragon, the Tiger, the Turtle and the Phoenix. These four creatures symbolize landforms, and the position of these landforms around your house dictates whether you have good or bad Feng Shui.

The forces of Yin and Yang are also central to the practice of Feng Shui. They are forces which are opposite to each other but complementary. Yin is dark and conceptualizes the passive female energy symbolized by the moon. These Yin forces are most powerful during the winter months. Yang is all things light and positive and conceptualizes the strong male energy symbolized by the sun and are most powerful during the summer months.

The five types of energy which are so important in Feng Shui are symbolized by the Five Elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water – all of which rely on each other and work together in symbiotic fashion.

There are different schools of Feng Shui but all stress the importance of land formations and the shape, direction and position of water elements. The largest, the most well-known, the Compass School, uses the baqua (or ba’gua) compass which utilizes complex mathematical computations and measurements of various elements at a site. The baqua is divided into eight aspects of life such as career, family, health, and their corresponding elements – wood, metal, earth, etc., as well as their corresponding colors. For instance, the North of the property is associated with career, water and black, the Northeast is knowledge, earth and blue, the East is family, green and wood, and so on. The baqua is superimposed on the site plan to ensure the correct assignment of landscape elements to the correct segment of life to bring about balance and harmony.

With any landscape design there will be a variety of scenarios to consider ranging from a virgin plot to an old and well-established landscape. A virgin plot allows for a total Feng Shui design from the outset. The house itself can be designed in such a way as to ensure good Feng Shui with all the right number of doors and windows facing the right way and so on, and then it can be positioned correctly on the plot according to the principles of Feng Shui. The important elements for good Feng Shui can all be manipulated to ensure good Feng Shui and decrease the potential for bad Feng Shui – the raised terrain will be on the correct side of the house and the essential water feature will be given an auspicious placement. Feng Shui is even applied to the position of the barbecue area.  With the house oriented correctly to bring good Feng Shui inside then the external surroundings can be designed in such a way as to dramatically augment the good energy inside the home. The choice of landscaping material will be based on shape, texture, height, and so on, and can be positioned correctly according to Feng Shui principles.  The choices are based on principles inherently different to those of our accepted concepts of landscape design.

You should not be downhearted, however, if you do not come to Feng Shui with this pristine empty space. You can still make changes to your environment without re-orienting your home or uprooting trees and diverting rivers through your property. You can make changes, and that is the strength of Feng Shui. Recreating the classical Armchair Configuration created by the positioning of the celestial creatures can be accomplished without shifting your home.

See next month for Part 2 of Feng Shui in the Garden, including resources.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Most of us assume that strolling in the garden will be a wonderful uplifting experience. But what if it isn’t? What if the stroll depresses you? What if the color combinations do more than unsettle you? Or you find the entrance to the garden unwelcoming? The answer could be more than just bad landscaping. Your garden may be in serious need of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui (pronounced Fung S’way) literally means “wind” and “water”.  It is not a religion, as many think, but an ancient Chinese environmental philosophy that is all about building harmony between mankind and the environment. Chinese farmers relied on Feng Shui to determine where and when to plant their crops and how best to embrace the spiritual forces of nature to ensure a more abundant crop. This does not just mean good soil and lots of sun and rain. The philosophy of Feng Shui demands a far deeper and more spiritual understanding of the workings of Mother Nature in order to connect with the sacred in our lives.

In this country the application of Feng Shui is more commonly associated with buildings so many architects and interior designers here are familiar with the concepts. But having good Feng Shui inside your home or office building does not assure a happy environment unless the Feng Shui of your external surroundings is good. How can a building be a happy building if it is placed in an unhappy location? There is good Feng Shui, but there is also bad Feng Shui and the trick is to ensure you have all the good and none of the bad. Bad Feng Shui, however, comes about more from the misapplication, or lack of application, of the principles of Feng Shui.

Garden Feng Shui is a holistic approach to gardening. A Feng Shui analysis of a garden will incorporate an analysis of the air and the soil. This is not to be confused with an American-style soil test which evaluates the Ph and lime content of the soil along with the levels of plant nutrients, organic matter and mineral components of the soil. A Feng Shui analysis calls into play the energy of the soil. The Chinese word for this energy is “Chi”, as in the well-known meditative exercise of T’ai Chi. Chi is the life force of all living things. It is the driving force in human beings, and it is the quality of the environment, the power of the sun, the moon and the weather. The energy present at a location can be altered dramatically with Feng Shui, both for good and bad.  

The Chinese have a saying: “First, there is luck; second, destiny; third Feng Shui; fourth, virtue and fifth, education.” As you can see Feng Shui is only a part of the whole. Central to the philosophy is the symbolism of celestial creatures: the Dragon, the Tiger, the Turtle and the Phoenix. These four creatures symbolize landforms, and the position of these landforms around your house dictates whether you have good or bad Feng Shui.

The forces of Yin and Yang are also central to the practice of Feng Shui. They are forces which are opposite to each other but complementary. Yin is dark and conceptualizes the passive female energy symbolized by the moon. These Yin forces are most powerful during the winter months. Yang is all things light and positive and conceptualizes the strong male energy symbolized by the sun and are most powerful during the summer months.

The five types of energy which are so important in Feng Shui are symbolized by the Five Elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water – all of which rely on each other and work together in symbiotic fashion.

There are different schools of Feng Shui but all stress the importance of land formations and the shape, direction and position of water elements. The largest, the most well-known, the Compass School, uses the baqua (or ba’gua) compass which utilizes complex mathematical computations and measurements of various elements at a site. The baqua is divided into eight aspects of life such as career, family, health, and their corresponding elements – wood, metal, earth, etc., as well as their corresponding colors. For instance, the North of the property is associated with career, water and black, the Northeast is knowledge, earth and blue, the East is family, green and wood, and so on. The baqua is superimposed on the site plan to ensure the correct assignment of landscape elements to the correct segment of life to bring about balance and harmony.

With any landscape design there will be a variety of scenarios to consider ranging from a virgin plot to an old and well-established landscape. A virgin plot allows for a total Feng Shui design from the outset. The house itself can be designed in such a way as to ensure good Feng Shui with all the right number of doors and windows facing the right way and so on, and then it can be positioned correctly on the plot according to the principles of Feng Shui. The important elements for good Feng Shui can all be manipulated to ensure good Feng Shui and decrease the potential for bad Feng Shui – the raised terrain will be on the correct side of the house and the essential water feature will be given an auspicious placement. Feng Shui is even applied to the position of the barbecue area.  With the house oriented correctly to bring good Feng Shui inside then the external surroundings can be designed in such a way as to dramatically augment the good energy inside the home. The choice of landscaping material will be based on shape, texture, height, and so on, and can be positioned correctly according to Feng Shui principles.  The choices are based on principles inherently different to those of our accepted concepts of landscape design.

You should not be downhearted, however, if you do not come to Feng Shui with this pristine empty space. You can still make changes to your environment without re-orienting your home or uprooting trees and diverting rivers through your property. You can make changes, and that is the strength of Feng Shui. Recreating the classical Armchair Configuration created by the positioning of the celestial creatures can be accomplished without shifting your home.

See next month for Part 2 of Feng Shui in the Garden, including resources.

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

 

 

Written by Barbara Gee

When designing a garden space it is important to be clear about what kind of environment you want to create. Do you want a peaceful meditative garden, an action-oriented space, a funky whimsical spot, or a kitchen garden? Whatever kind of garden you decide on Feng Shui dictates that it should be built and treated with love and respect. Gill Hale, in The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui, writes “In the garden we are in partnership with other living things. If we work with them, balance and harmony will follow.”

It may not be within your power to determine the natural phenomena in your garden but you can still have a forceful hand in the installation and placement of the plants and garden features. With an understanding of the principles which govern Feng Shui (see Part 1, Vol. 4, Issue 6) you can choose furniture, plants and colors which work in harmony with each other and the surrounding area in order to create a balanced and harmonious environment. You can also install features which are specifically designed to clash thus creating a more vibrant energy in the garden. The correct choice of color is very important and red, in particular, is a pivotal color for good Feng Shui because it is the color of luck, power and energy. Emperor yellow is the second most auspicious color in Feng Shui, and if you like blue you should go for indigo because it comes from the seven colors of the rainbow and refractions from cut crystal.

In the garden the Yin and Yang interplay of sunlight and shade, dry and wet, smooth and rough, soft and hard, all contribute to the Feng Shui surrounding your home. The terrain can be shaped to simulate the “embrace of the celestial creatures” so that the house can, in fact, be in the correct position even though it has not been moved.  The back garden should be higher than the front garden for protection. If this is not the case a wall or fence can be installed, or a clump of densely foliaged trees can be planted to simulate the mountain.  The garden on the left side of the home – the Dragon – should be higher than that on the right – the Tiger. Again, if this is not the case you can install a bright light on a high pole on the left side to raise the Chi on that side thus keeping the Tiger under control. An important element in the garden is the Phoenix which is symbolized by a very slight mound or incline in the front of the house. This mound symbolizes a footstool which is part of the armchair configuration. If this is not already there you can create a small raised mound in front of your house planted with bright red flowers.

You can certainly do everything to bring good Feng Shui to your home and also decrease or even eliminate the bad Feng Shui by ensuring that Poison Arrows, do not direct bad energy into your home. Poison Arrows are interpreted as anything straight, pointed, sharp, or irregular. But whether animate or inanimate they direct bad energy into your home diluting or destroying the good Feng Shui. Elements such as a straight road pointing at your house, a neighbor’s triangular roofline facing your house, a tall tree trunk outside your window are all poison arrows. Even a straight path heading towards your front door is bad and if you add to that a mailbox pointing toward your house you have an extreme poison arrow. You can however diffuse the bad energy by planting something like a densely foliaged shrub between the mailbox and your house. You can also soften the edges of the straight path in such a way as to decrease the flow of bad Feng Shui into your home. You can either redesign it into a curvy shape, or simply plant containers all the way along, to divert or slow down the flow of chi.

Some primary problems which may surround your house can be remedied with garden lighting to activate the Yang energy in the form of fire. If your house has an irregular or “inauspicious” shape, or if your house is facing a straight road, you can diffuse this bad energy with the correct lighting to enhance the good Feng Shui.

Boundaries around your property are important but they should not cut you off from the outside world. Therefore the height of your boundary and the positioning of the entrances is important. A garden gate, for instance, should always look friendly and inviting. If it is ominous and off-putting then change it to a smaller, lighter, brighter one.

Whatever you do in or to your garden you should always show love and respect for it. One way to do that is to resist using chemicals and use only natural fertilizers and pest control. The results will be much longer lasting and far better for your environment. You should not be a prisoner to the forces of your environment because you have the power and the tools to change these forces for the good. Once you are familiar with the concepts of Feng Shui it is virtually impossible to sit back and take no action. You can never look at a landscape or garden the same way again.

If you like the philosophy of Feng Shui you can try any of these techniques but educate yourself so that you really understand what you’re doing – and why. While it may be fun to dabble in Feng Shui you probably won’t benefit from its implementation. Bring in a Feng Shui consultant to assess your space and advise, or at the very least read up on the subject. Here are some suggestions for books on Feng Shui in the garden.

Feng Shui Garden Design: Creating Serenity, by Antonia Beattie

The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui, by Gill Hale

Feng Shui in the Garden, by Nancilee Wydra

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui for Gardens, by Lillian Too

Feng Shui in the Garden, by Richard Webster

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

When designing a garden space it is important to be clear about what kind of environment you want to create. Do you want a peaceful meditative garden, an action-oriented space, a funky whimsical spot, or a kitchen garden? Whatever kind of garden you decide on Feng Shui dictates that it should be built and treated with love and respect. Gill Hale, in The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui, writes “In the garden we are in partnership with other living things. If we work with them, balance and harmony will follow.”

It may not be within your power to determine the natural phenomena in your garden but you can still have a forceful hand in the installation and placement of the plants and garden features. With an understanding of the principles which govern Feng Shui (see Part 1, Vol. 4, Issue 6) you can choose furniture, plants and colors which work in harmony with each other and the surrounding area in order to create a balanced and harmonious environment. You can also install features which are specifically designed to clash thus creating a more vibrant energy in the garden. The correct choice of color is very important and red, in particular, is a pivotal color for good Feng Shui because it is the color of luck, power and energy. Emperor yellow is the second most auspicious color in Feng Shui, and if you like blue you should go for indigo because it comes from the seven colors of the rainbow and refractions from cut crystal.

In the garden the Yin and Yang interplay of sunlight and shade, dry and wet, smooth and rough, soft and hard, all contribute to the Feng Shui surrounding your home. The terrain can be shaped to simulate the “embrace of the celestial creatures” so that the house can, in fact, be in the correct position even though it has not been moved.  The back garden should be higher than the front garden for protection. If this is not the case a wall or fence can be installed, or a clump of densely foliaged trees can be planted to simulate the mountain.  The garden on the left side of the home – the Dragon – should be higher than that on the right – the Tiger. Again, if this is not the case you can install a bright light on a high pole on the left side to raise the Chi on that side thus keeping the Tiger under control. An important element in the garden is the Phoenix which is symbolized by a very slight mound or incline in the front of the house. This mound symbolizes a footstool which is part of the armchair configuration. If this is not already there you can create a small raised mound in front of your house planted with bright red flowers.

You can certainly do everything to bring good Feng Shui to your home and also decrease or even eliminate the bad Feng Shui by ensuring that Poison Arrows, do not direct bad energy into your home. Poison Arrows are interpreted as anything straight, pointed, sharp, or irregular. But whether animate or inanimate they direct bad energy into your home diluting or destroying the good Feng Shui. Elements such as a straight road pointing at your house, a neighbor’s triangular roofline facing your house, a tall tree trunk outside your window are all poison arrows. Even a straight path heading towards your front door is bad and if you add to that a mailbox pointing toward your house you have an extreme poison arrow. You can however diffuse the bad energy by planting something like a densely foliaged shrub between the mailbox and your house. You can also soften the edges of the straight path in such a way as to decrease the flow of bad Feng Shui into your home. You can either redesign it into a curvy shape, or simply plant containers all the way along, to divert or slow down the flow of chi.

Some primary problems which may surround your house can be remedied with garden lighting to activate the Yang energy in the form of fire. If your house has an irregular or “inauspicious” shape, or if your house is facing a straight road, you can diffuse this bad energy with the correct lighting to enhance the good Feng Shui.

Boundaries around your property are important but they should not cut you off from the outside world. Therefore the height of your boundary and the positioning of the entrances is important. A garden gate, for instance, should always look friendly and inviting. If it is ominous and off-putting then change it to a smaller, lighter, brighter one.

Whatever you do in or to your garden you should always show love and respect for it. One way to do that is to resist using chemicals and use only natural fertilizers and pest control. The results will be much longer lasting and far better for your environment. You should not be a prisoner to the forces of your environment because you have the power and the tools to change these forces for the good. Once you are familiar with the concepts of Feng Shui it is virtually impossible to sit back and take no action. You can never look at a landscape or garden the same way again.

If you like the philosophy of Feng Shui you can try any of these techniques but educate yourself so that you really understand what you’re doing – and why. While it may be fun to dabble in Feng Shui you probably won’t benefit from its implementation. Bring in a Feng Shui consultant to assess your space and advise, or at the very least read up on the subject. Here are some suggestions for books on Feng Shui in the garden.

 Feng Shui Garden Design: Creating Serenity, by Antonia Beattie

The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui, by Gill Hale

Feng Shui in the Garden, by Nancilee Wydra

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui for Gardens, by Lillian Too

Feng Shui in the Garden, by Richard Webster

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

Well your space may be small but your ideas don’t have to be. Your canvas is minimal but your palette doesn’t have to be and you certainly don’t have to be timid. You can still make bold choices. And the petite size can be a blessing. You have possibilities with a small space that may get lost in a huge landscape. Think of your oh-so-manageable space as a framework within which you must work and this will help you focus your design. Look at what you have: maybe an interesting wall between you and your neighbor, some lovely old shade trees next door, a rustic fence, or great front steps leading directly onto the street… The structural elements of the house or apartment building become more important in the design of a small garden because they’re “in your face.” But don’t dismiss the existing elements. Incorporate them into your design.

There are certain aspects of landscape design that are common to any space whatever the size. Perhaps the most important is getting to know the space. Note how the sun moves around it throughout the day. Look at the growing conditions and the soil which, on a city lot, may need some serious improvement. Think about how you want to use your garden: for entertaining, relaxing, exercising… and ask yourself if it’s more important to you to see your garden from inside your home or outside, or both.

Susan Pasquarelli, a busy college professor is very happy with the size of her tiny garden in Newport, RI, specifically because of its size. “I love the amount of work it takes – or doesn’t take! I can do the spring cleaning in one full day, and lay down mulch the second day while making a list for the garden shop of what plants I may need as replacement.”

Pasquarelli then has time to do the other things she loves which is spend time relaxing in her garden having cooked a gourmet meal for family and friends. “Some gardeners never get to sit and relax in their gardens because there’s always work to be done,” she said.

Pasquarelli designed her garden entirely from the second floor bedroom windows “I could see the whole garden,” she said. “It was easy to get the big picture.”

One piece of advice she has for folks who garden in small spaces is plant upwards. “When I first started the garden I didn’t realize how important the upward climbing plants would be for privacy.”

This is important when people live close to each other. Pasquarelli solved her problem by erecting a trellis and made of it a “living fence” using ivy, honeysuckle and climbing hydrangea. The next thing she did was open up the space by pruning the lower branches of the gigantic and overly dominant holly trees. This gave her room to plant underneath and to build a bluestone “terrazzo” for table and chairs.

Many folks with limited space make use of container planting. Grouping the containers together creatively is a great way of building a garden without having to plant in a bed. You can stagger the height of the containers, place them on steps or hang them from anywhere and everywhere – fences, walls, porches, overhangs, screens, trellises… Pasquarelli planted a selection of herbs in containers right outside the deck door which is near to the kitchen.

In a small space where the eye is intimately drawn to plantings containers allow you to make changes quickly. When something stops blooming you can exchange it for something that’s in bloom – but don’t forget that foliage can be the best feature of a plant. It’s not always about the blooms.

And city gardeners don’t have to go without their home-grown produce: fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers. Tomatoes work beautifully, so do peppers, beans and strawberries, and different lettuce varieties make a gorgeous display grouped together. Don’t be afraid to mix edibles up with non-edibles in the containers – just know which is which.

Shrubs can also be grown in containers and, at a pinch, small trees but these may have special overwintering needs which city dwellers can’t accommodate. There are some wonderful small trees and shrubs that work well in small spaces but if you’re up to the task you can still control a larger shrub and keep it small with judicious pruning.

Garden design isn’t just about the plants. The hardscape and accent ornaments are an important element. Another Newport resident Susan Champagne gardens on a lot that is 3,400 square feet total including the house but this does not stop her from using every inch for planting. She and her husband took out an old deck which took up most of the back yard along with a tiny strip of beaten up old turf and paved the entire area in bluestone creating two levels surrounded by bluestone raised beds. They also built a raised bed running the length of the driveway embellished all the way down with fun statuary and ornaments Champagne has collected over the years. They installed a privacy fence and a gate inviting visitors into the back yard thus creating a little mystery. True to her mission of planting everywhere Champagne designed different area plantings around the house including a “tropical garden” – yes, in New England – which is enclosed between her house and the next door neighbor: “it holds the heat and is relatively dry because the rain doesn’t always finds its way in,” she said, “so I can have fun there.”

City gardens have limitations and some of them may come from next door. Champagne had to contend with two big old trees in the neighbor’s yards that almost completely blocked the sun from her back yard. She pruned them back, with the go-ahead from the neighbors, but still there’s very little sun. Undaunted she incorporated a lot of unusual shade plants into her design and hung plants on the walls to catch what sun there is.  

 On a final note don’t forget about wildlife even in a city. Birds and butterflies bring life to a garden so hang bird-feeders taking care to place them somewhere that cats can’t reach. Take the same care with the placement of bird baths.   

 Pasquarelli and Champagne love the economy of work load in a small garden: “nothing bothers us about the size,” they say.

Plants for small gardens

Trees:

 Maple ‘Emerald Elf’

 Dwarf Alberta Spruce

Shrubs

Weigelia ‘Midnight Wine’

 Mugho Pine ‘Slow Mound’

 Spirea ‘Daphne’

 Chamaecyparis ‘Nana Gracilis’

 Lilac ‘Prairie Petite’

 Buddleia

Ornamental Grasses:

 Miscanthus ‘Kleine Fontaine’

 Sesleria nitida

Perennials:

 Artemesia ‘Silver Mound’

 Campanula ‘Blue Harebells’

 Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles’

 Daylily ‘Stella d’Oro’

 Chrysanthemum ‘White Bomb’

Annuals:

 Calendula officinalis

 Centaurea cyanus

 Scabiosa prolifera

 Zinnia peruviana

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Well your space may be small but your ideas don’t have to be. Your canvas is minimal but your palette doesn’t have to be and you certainly don’t have to be timid. You can still make bold choices. And the petite size can be a blessing. You have possibilities with a small space that may get lost in a huge landscape. Think of your oh-so-manageable space as a framework within which you must work and this will help you focus your design. Look at what you have: maybe an interesting wall between you and your neighbor, some lovely old shade trees next door, a rustic fence, or great front steps leading directly onto the street… The structural elements of the house or apartment building become more important in the design of a small garden because they’re “in your face.” But don’t dismiss the existing elements. Incorporate them into your design.

There are certain aspects of landscape design that are common to any space whatever the size. Perhaps the most important is getting to know the space. Note how the sun moves around it throughout the day. Look at the growing conditions and the soil which, on a city lot, may need some serious improvement. Think about how you want to use your garden: for entertaining, relaxing, exercising… and ask yourself if it’s more important to you to see your garden from inside your home or outside, or both.

Susan Pasquarelli, a busy college professor is very happy with the size of her tiny garden in Newport, RI, specifically because of its size. “I love the amount of work it takes – or doesn’t take! I can do the spring cleaning in one full day, and lay down mulch the second day while making a list for the garden shop of what plants I may need as replacement.”

Pasquarelli then has time to do the other things she loves which is spend time relaxing in her garden having cooked a gourmet meal for family and friends. “Some gardeners never get to sit and relax in their gardens because there’s always work to be done,” she said.

Pasquarelli designed her garden entirely from the second floor bedroom windows “I could see the whole garden,” she said. “It was easy to get the big picture.”

One piece of advice she has for folks who garden in small spaces is plant upwards. “When I first started the garden I didn’t realize how important the upward climbing plants would be for privacy.”

This is important when people live close to each other. Pasquarelli solved her problem by erecting a trellis and made of it a “living fence” using ivy, honeysuckle and climbing hydrangea. The next thing she did was open up the space by pruning the lower branches of the gigantic and overly dominant holly trees. This gave her room to plant underneath and to build a bluestone “terrazzo” for table and chairs.

Many folks with limited space make use of container planting. Grouping the containers together creatively is a great way of building a garden without having to plant in a bed. You can stagger the height of the containers, place them on steps or hang them from anywhere and everywhere – fences, walls, porches, overhangs, screens, trellises… Pasquarelli planted a selection of herbs in containers right outside the deck door which is near to the kitchen.

In a small space where the eye is intimately drawn to plantings containers allow you to make changes quickly. When something stops blooming you can exchange it for something that’s in bloom – but don’t forget that foliage can be the best feature of a plant. It’s not always about the blooms.

And city gardeners don’t have to go without their home-grown produce: fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers. Tomatoes work beautifully, so do peppers, beans and strawberries, and different lettuce varieties make a gorgeous display grouped together. Don’t be afraid to mix edibles up with non-edibles in the containers – just know which is which.

Shrubs can also be grown in containers and, at a pinch, small trees but these may have special overwintering needs which city dwellers can’t accommodate. There are some wonderful small trees and shrubs that work well in small spaces but if you’re up to the task you can still control a larger shrub and keep it small with judicious pruning.

Garden design isn’t just about the plants. The hardscape and accent ornaments are an important element. Another Newport resident Susan Champagne gardens on a lot that is 3,400 square feet total including the house but this does not stop her from using every inch for planting. She and her husband took out an old deck which took up most of the back yard along with a tiny strip of beaten up old turf and paved the entire area in bluestone creating two levels surrounded by bluestone raised beds. They also built a raised bed running the length of the driveway embellished all the way down with fun statuary and ornaments Champagne has collected over the years. They installed a privacy fence and a gate inviting visitors into the back yard thus creating a little mystery. True to her mission of planting everywhere Champagne designed different area plantings around the house including a “tropical garden” – yes, in New England – which is enclosed between her house and the next door neighbor: “it holds the heat and is relatively dry because the rain doesn’t always finds its way in,” she said, “so I can have fun there.”

City gardens have limitations and some of them may come from next door. Champagne had to contend with two big old trees in the neighbor’s yards that almost completely blocked the sun from her back yard. She pruned them back, with the go-ahead from the neighbors, but still there’s very little sun. Undaunted she incorporated a lot of unusual shade plants into her design and hung plants on the walls to catch what sun there is.  

 On a final note don’t forget about wildlife even in a city. Birds and butterflies bring life to a garden so hang bird-feeders taking care to place them somewhere that cats can’t reach. Take the same care with the placement of bird baths.   

 Pasquarelli and Champagne love the economy of work load in a small garden: “nothing bothers us about the size,” they say.

Plants for small gardens

Trees:

 Maple ‘Emerald Elf’

 Dwarf Alberta Spruce

Shrubs

Weigelia ‘Midnight Wine’

 Mugho Pine ‘Slow Mound’

 Spirea ‘Daphne’

 Chamaecyparis ‘Nana Gracilis’

 Lilac ‘Prairie Petite’

 Buddleia

Ornamental Grasses:

 Miscanthus ‘Kleine Fontaine’

 Sesleria nitida

Perennials:

 Artemesia ‘Silver Mound’

 Campanula ‘Blue Harebells’

 Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles’

 Daylily ‘Stella d’Oro’

 Chrysanthemum ‘White Bomb’

Annuals:

 Calendula officinalis

 Centaurea cyanus

 Scabiosa prolifera

 Zinnia peruviana

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

 

Written by Barbara Gee

Gardeners in southern New England live with truly erratic weather! Take last year, for instance – the spring was long and wet, the summer was kind of blah, and the winter was just plain weird – my cherry tree was trying to bloom on Christmas Day! Even the experts were not sure what this would mean for the spring this year. 

Planting perennials is one way of dealing with the questionable aspects of weather. But this does not mean that “perennial” is synonymous with “easy.” It can be if you choose the right perennials. But just because an established perennial plant survives for many years does not mean that it can do so without assistance. 

Perennials produce seeds and blossoms more than once in their life span. A perennial comes back year after year – in the right conditions. You have to give your perennials the conditions they want or they will not be happy. A plant like Mandevilla, for instance, that gorgeous vine with electric pink blossoms, is perennial in its native land of Brazil but behaves more like an annual in Rhode Island. The winter is too harsh for it and the plant dies, unless brought inside and overwintered. 

Perennials are classified as either herbaceous which means they have soft stems and tops which die back to the ground in the fall, like Bleeding heart (Dicentra), or woody which means they have stiff, shrub-like stems, like Russian sage (Perovskia). 

Perennials are also defined as hardy, semi-hardy or tender depending on their ability to survive the winters here. Hardy perennials, such as bellflower (Campanula), need very little protection through the winter; half-hardy or semi-hardy perennials need some protection, such as mulch; and tender perennials like salvia’s do not survive the winters. Tender perennials, often tubers such as dahlia’s, can be left to die or dug up and stored through the winter to be replanted in the spring. 

Perennials in the Garden
“Perennial borders” often contain a mix of shrubs and annuals because very few perennials bloom all through the spring, summer and fall. Plant form, structure, and foliage are just as important as flower color. When choosing perennials go for ones that have beautiful foliage so that when they are not in bloom they still look good. If you use plants that loose their foliage even while still blooming, like ornamental onion (Allium), plant something like Lady’s mantle (alchemilla) that will come fast behind and cover up the spent foliage. But if you love color through the seasons then choose perennials that bloom at different times.

Perennials for Sun or Shade?
Plants have different needs – give them what they want. Some, like nicotine plant(nicotiana), need full-sun, which is 6-8 hours of sun a day. Others like partial sun or shade. Cimicifuga, hostas, ginger, ferns… love the shade.  

 Island Beds or Straight Borders
Traditionally perennial borders are placed against a backdrop such as a wall or hedge. These are designed to be seen from the front. But island beds have become more popular in recent years. They are free-standing and designed to be seen in the round, from all sides. Front-viewed borders usually have taller plants at the back, gradating down in size to the low plants in the front. Island beds require the height to be in the center but it can also be a garden structure such as a teepee.

Plant in groupings of three or five and continue the groupings along the border to give a cohesive look. 

Containers
Most people think only of annuals in containers but don’t pass up the opportunity of putting perennials in containers. You will probably have to bring it in to overwinter, but if the foliage and structure are great then it may be worth it. Bergenia, for instance, looks great in a pot. The wonderful leaves and red stems continue to look good even when its pink flowers have gone by. 

Buying Perennials
A perennial is a plant that should be around for a good number of years so buy strong, healthy plants from a reputable nursery. Check the plant to make sure there are no signs of disease, or lack of care. You can always shake a plant gently out of its pot to make sure the roots are healthy. 

Take note of the size the plant will become at maturity, and plan accordingly. 

If friends offer you a plant from their garden don’t take it just to be nice. Make sure it is something you want and not a plant that will take over your garden.

Perennial Care
Healthy soil will ensure a healthy plant. Care for your soil and the plant will take care of itself, pretty much. If your soil needs amending add organic material, like compost, when preparing the bed. Fall is a good time to do this – the amendments will have time to settle in before you plant in the spring. 

Plant in a hole that is big enough to accept the spread of the plant’s roots. Add a little fertilizer to give the plant a boost of nutrients and plant the crown of the plant at soil level. Then water. Keep watering regularly for the first week or two, after which you can ease off and establish a regular watering routine. It’s helpful to cut or pinch back a plant with heavy top growth so that its energy goes into the roots rather than the foliage. Perennials don’t necessarily look great when they’re first planted. They grow to look better the second year and get better after that.

Transplanting
In general, the best time to transplant a perennial is after it has finished blooming, either in the spring or the fall. Don’t transplant too late into the fall or the plant may not have time to settle into its new home before the cold of winter hits.

Garden Maintenance
Plants need water either from you or nature so make sure they are getting it. The other tasks include deadheading, pinching, pruning and cutting back. These all make the plant look nicer and help it put energy into root growth and new bushy upper growth. You may need to stake tall plants like boltonia.

Keep the garden weed free – they compete for everything – nutrients, water, air, space. 

A late-fall cleanup of the garden makes it look tidy and makes less work in the spring. Removing debris ensures a clean garden which cuts down on conditions conducive to pests and diseases.

Keep records of what you planted when, and where.

There is nothing more fun than seeing perennials peek through in the spring. You feel the garden come alive. There may be sad moments when your favorite dianthus doesn’t appear, but then you see your new cranesbill (Geranium) beginning to show. Perennials just keep on giving if you treat them right.

Great Perennials for Rhode Island
Daffodil (Narcissus), yellow

Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), white

Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis), deep pink

Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), chartreuse and green

Ornamental onion (Allium aflatunense), purple           

Cornflower (Centaurea), blue

Catnip (Nepeta mussini), lavender and gray

Meadow sage (Salvia x superba), blue

Queen-of-the-prairie (Filipendula rubra), lavender

Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), white

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Written by Barbara Gee

Fresh herbs bring so much pleasure all year. We grow them for a number of uses all of which are to make you feel good. You can eat them, drink them, smell them, smooth them into your skin, heal yourself with them, or use them as a dye. You can also simply grow different herbs in different rooms to create a specific mood – lavender in the bedroom to soothe and calm you, spearmint in the bathroom to perk you up, scented geranium in the office to make your work day a little more pleasant, and a sweet basil in the kitchen to inspire the culinary imagination… 

 You can start herbs indoors any time of the year and then move them out to plant in the garden when the temperature allows. Growing them indoors has any number of virtues not the least of which is the delicious fragrance wafting through the house.

While many herbs are edible this does not mean that you can grab a bunch of leaves as you pass by and start munching. Each plant has different properties and extracting them may involve infusing the leaves, steeping the bark or roots, or cooking and crushing the berries.

Probably the most common reason for growing herbs is to have a constant source of fresh herbs for cooking. Tom Vanicek, a Rhode Island nurseryman, devotes so much of his life to growing plants for other people that he grows none at his Portsmouth home except herbs. “I love to cook and there’s nothing better than fresh herbs for the smell and the taste,” he says. “I always have some in the house in the winter and in the garden later on.”

SOWING THE SEEDS
If you are sowing herb seeds in order to plant them outside time your sowing based on the projected last frost date. Simply work back the correct number of weeks for germination to take place and for the plant to be strong and healthy enough to be planted outside at the right time. The seed packets will have this information. If you want herbs all year indoors then it doesn’t matter when you sow them.  

Most seeds should be sown at a depth equal to three times their diameter. Plant in a good seed-starting mix moistened. Some seeds need darkness to germinate, some need light. In the first case cover the seeds with the seed mix and cover the pots with a dark cover, or put them in a warm, dark cupboard with a transparent cover. If they need light to germinate don’t cover the seeds with the mix just press them in lightly and cover the pots with a transparent cover and place them in good light. You want to create moist and warm conditions to encourage germination. Lift the cover if it is too moist inside.

When the plants sprout remove the cover and place them in a good light. A very sunny windowsill can work if you turn the pots every day but a “grow-light” set-up is more reliable. These fluorescent lights should be left on for up to 18 hours a day and should be set about 6-12 inches above the plants at all times. Water very gently or from the bottom so you don’t disturb the seedlings.

When you see the first two true leaves you can bring them out into the “real world” of your house still maintaining a good light source. Locate your herbs in the place in your home where they will thrive. Just as you would follow the dictate “right plant, right place” outdoors so you have to adhere to this indoors.  Most commonly used culinary herbs like basil, need at least six hours of strong light a day, so a sunny windowsill on the south side of the house would be ideal. Bear in mind, however, that window glass does cut down on available light, and winter sunlight is often weak and short-lived. Turn your plants every day if you can, or move them around the house to bring them to the light. You may even want to consider supplementing with artificial light.

CARING FOR THE PLANTS
If you like the look of the herbs all in the same container don’t “plant” them in the soil – keep them in their own pots and place in a container. Heavily harvested herbs begin to look unsightly and it will be easier to replace them without disturbing the other plants. To improve the appearance of this type of container Barbara Chaves of Chaves’ Gardens & Florist in Middletown recommends putting florist’s sheet moss around the top. “It looks pretty and pulls it all together visually,” she says. “You would never know the herbs were not planted and the moss also helps retain moisture.”

Plants have differing needs in terms of temperature, humidity, watering, light and feeding so read up on each plant and don’t assume that they will all grow well in the same location and conditions. Most herbs generally prefer warm temperatures: 60-70°F during the day with about a 10 degree drop at night. They do not respond well to sudden drops in temperature or draughts which can stress them.

When watering it’s better to err slightly on the side of too little. Plants will spring back with some water if a touch dry but may rot or develop diseases if too wet. Water in the morning and make sure the plants drain well and are not left standing in water.

To keep the plants healthy fertilize lightly once a month preferably with an organic or herbal fertilizer. Home air can be dry so mist them occasionally or, says Chaves, “take them to the sink once a month and hose them down gently.” This will knock off any insects and clean off household dust which prevents the leaves from breathing.

If you see a problem do not use a chemical spray – these are edible plants. Either remove the blemished part of the plant, or discard the entire plant and replace with a new one.

When spring arrives you’ll have a head start on your herb garden by taking your indoor plants outdoors. But don’t forget that indoor plants have become used to the good soft life so get them adjusted to the outside gently by “hardening” them off. This simply means getting them adjusted to outside conditions gradually over a few days moving them out in the morning and in at night when the temperature drops. In a few days you can plant them outside in the garden or a container.

HARVESTING HERBS
When harvesting herbs for use snip off what you need from the bottom of the plant – this not only keeps the plant looking attractive but encourages new growth.

MOST COMMONLY-USED CULINARY HERBS 

Basil (Ocimum)

Parsley (Petroselinum)

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Oregano (Origanum vulgare)

Dill (Anethum graveolens)

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Thyme (Thymus)

Marjoram (Origanum majorana)

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Parsley (Petroselinum)

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Oregano (Origanum vulgare)

Dill (Anethum graveolens)

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Thyme (Thymus)

Marjoram (Origanum majorana)

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com