Category Archives: gardening tips

gardening tips

Garden Tasks for early February -Santa Cruz Mts

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What to do in the garden in early February

Do cut back woody shrubs  To stimulate lush new growth on plants like Mexican bush sage, artemisia and butterfly bush cut back to within a few inches of the ground. Don’t use this approach on lavender or ceanothus, though, only lightly prune them after blooming.  Prune fuchsias back by a third and remove dead, crossing branches and interior twiggy growth. Container fuchsias can be cut back to the pot rim.

Do Cut back hydrangeas if you haven’t already done so and apply a soil acidifier if you want the flowers blue. Although sulfur is the traditional favorite for quickly acidifying soil it is not as kind to many beneficial soil microorganisms. Coffee grounds, pine needles, peat moss and cottonseed meal are kinder to your soil.

Don’t cut back grasses yet if you get frost in the area where they grow.
Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs and trees like lilacs, Flowering cherries, plums and crabapples,  rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, weigela or spirea until after they flower.
Wait to prune back perennials that may have their new foliage damaged in a late frost.
Prune frost  damaged shrubs if you can tell how far down the die back goes, otherwise wait until growth starts in the spring.
   

gardening tips, trees

Saving Trees by Removing Ivy & other tips

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Well, it’s that time of year again when all things seem possible. Hope springs eternal –  the spring will be warm and the veggies will get off to a good start this year. That torrential rains won’t knock off the fruit blossoms and that all will be right with creatures big and small.  The narcissus are blooming already signaling the start of the new season.

An important thing to remember is that garden is a verb as well as a noun. It’s the act of gardening that’s important not so much what your garden looks like. So relax a little and enjoy it. With that in mind here are some tips to improve the health of your garden.

I received an email from a reader asking that I please advise people to save the life of their trees, including redwoods and oaks, by removing the ivy that grows up the trunk. Ivy can kill trees by tightening its hold on the trunk while both of them grow and can eventually stop the supply of nutrients and water from the roots to the branches. Trees supporting heavy ivy growth can be uprooted or broken by wind. The environment ivy creates is also harmful to trees. It keeps moisture against the bark of the trunk, creating a state of constant wetness which attracts insects. It covers up any developing problems with the tree. Many tree diseases and decay became major problems because they were hidden by ivy growth.

If you have a tree with a lot of ivy coverage, there are a few simple steps you can take to remove the ivy. Go around the tree and cut out a vertical section of ivy about 1-2 feet wide around the entire tree. A large screwdriver or forked garden tool can be used to pry and snap the cut section away from the trunk. The lower portion of ivy will need to be pulled and cut off periodically to prevent further growth from the base. The upper ivy will die on its own and can be removed much later when it’s easier to pull.

What else should we be doing to enjoy our gardens more?
    Use plants that bloom over a long season, have colorful leaves and attractive bark and berries.

    Garden on a small scale using containers and small, easy to manage plots for organic vegetables, flowers     and herbs.

    Add low voltage, LED or solar lighting so you can use the garden after dark.

    Furnish your patio during the warm season with pots, furniture,a fire pit and a patio heater.

    Add water to your garden with a small recirculating fountain or pondless waterfall.
gold, chartreuse, variegated or burgundy colored foliage in the     garden. Abelia Kaleidescope paired with Purple Smoke tree is one of my favorite combinations.  A combo     to try for the shadier parts of the garden is Black mondo grass with white variegated Jack Frost brunnera.     Look at your garden as a series of small vignettes and pair new plants together you haven’t tried before.
    Go through one of your seed catalogs and see what’s being offered in these tones.

Remember that garden is a verb as well as a noun. It’s the act of gardening that’s important not so much what your garden looks like so don’t sweat the small stuff.    
   
 

flowering shrubs, gardening tips

What Works in your Garden?

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I’m vacationing next week in southern Mexico traveling east from the state of Chiapas to the Yucatan peninsula.  In addition to exploring ruins, waterfalls, cenotes and flamingo breeding grounds  I’ll be especially interested in the local plants which vary from  hardwood forests of mahogany and cedar to tropical.  I always study how people landscape around their own homes whenever I travel.  You can get some great ideas this way.  I’ll be sharing all that I discover in next week’s column. 

Around here this is a good time to pull plants that have been struggling now that we’ve had some rain to soften the soil a bit. Pay careful attention to and which aren’t. Be realistic about plants that don’t suit the conditions you have to offer. Replace them with plants that have proven themselves adaptable and well suited to your own garden. Thoughtful editing and repetition are the key to a successful garden.  Such self-sufficient plants require far less work, water, fertilizer and pruning.

Your own personal palette of good plants for your yard are the ones that look most at home planted right where they are. They do best in the soil, sun, wind and weather your garden offers and the maintenance is a snap. These plants don’t have to be the kind of dull and monotonous shrubs that you see around some freeway ramps. They might be the shade-loving native Western swordfern for year round interest.  Planted in masses these ferns aren’t water hogs and look like nature planted them.  Or how about the easy-peasy bergenia cordifolia which will be blooming soon planted as groundcover under the trees? Large, heart shaped leaves grow to 12 across and turn beautiful bronze color in the fall. Pink to rose-red flowers on red stalks appear in late winter.

Camellia sasanqua, with glossy evergeen leaves and showy flowers in fall and winter, can be grown as a shrub or espaliered against a wall. Camellias are easy to grow and an established shrub requires only a deep watering every 10 days or so in the growing season.

Elfin thyme is the perfect groundcover between cracks in pavers paths or other areas that get light foot traffic. And if you want any planting to look better, just pop in a black mondo grass and you’ll have instant sophistication.  Not all "go-to" plants are quite so glamorous, though. Modest, fuzzy little lamb’s ears are high on my list because they grow happily in sun or shade and any kind of soil. Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ grows only 12" tall, blooms with purple flowers and spreads to make a beautiful edging or low border

The key to preserving both our backs and the earth’s resources is to choose the right plant for the right place. Keep the plants that are thriving and replace the unhappy plants with a smaller palette of plants that have proven themselves successful in your own garden. Whether these are California natives or plants from other regions that perform well, you’ll be happy you got rid of the malingerers.