Tag Archives: perennials

Design trends

What to Do in the Garden in September

If you want your perennial garden to look like this next year start seeds now.

Now that you’ve treated yourself to a few new un-thirsty perennials that bloom late in the season it’s time to start working on that list of early fall gardens chores. Here are some that might apply to your own garden.

Spider mites are especially prolific during hot, dry weather. Sometimes you don’t even know how bad the infestation is until all your leaves are pale with stippling. Periodically rinse dust and dirt off leaves with water. Spray the infected leaves with organics like insecticidal soap switching to neem oil if they build up a resistance to one of the pesticides.

Plant cool season veggie starts like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, spinach, brussels sprouts, onions and leeks in soil enriched with 4-6 inches of compost as summer vegetable crops will have used up much of your soil’s nutrients.

You can sow seeds of beets, carrots, radishes, spinach, arugula, mustard and peas directly in the ground.
If you aren’t going to grow vegetables in the garden this fall consider planting a cover crop like crimson clover after you’ve harvested your summer vegetables.

Another thing to do while out in the garden this month is to cut back berries vines that have produced fruit. Canes of the current season should be trained in their place.

This is also the time to start perennial flowers seeds so that they’ll be mature enough to bloom next year. Now through October, divide summer blooming perennials like agapanthus, coreopsis, daylily and penstemon that are overgrown and not flowering well. You can also divide spring blooming perennials like candytuft, columbine, astilbe, bergenia and bleeding heart but sometimes they don’t bloom the first spring afterwards due to the energy they use re-establishing themselves.

Deadhead annuals like this zinnia and perennials for more blooms.

Deadhead flowering annuals and perennials as often as you possibly can. Annuals like zinnias and cosmos will stop blooming if you allow them to go to seed. The same is true of repeat blooming perennials like dahlia, scabiosa, echinacea and lantana. Santa Barbara daisies will bloom late into winter if cut back now.

Fertilize shrubs lightly one last time if you haven’t already done so last month. All shrubs, especially broad-leaved evergreens such as rhododendron, pieris, camellia, hebe, need to calm down, stop growing and harden off to get ready for the winter cold. Some plants have already set next year’s buds.

Roses especially appreciate a bit of fertilizer now, encouraging them to bloom another round in October. To keep them blooming make a habit of pinching and pruning off old flowers. Always cut back to an outward facing branchlet with five leaves. There are hormones there that will cause a new rose to grow much sooner than if you cut to one with only three leaves. You can always cut lower on the stem if you need to control height.

One last to do: Make a journal entry celebrating the best things about your garden this year.

Design trends

Enjoy Fall in the Garden

Bearded iris can be divided when they become crowded and unproductive

Fall is a favorite season for many people. The heat of summer is just about over and our gardens can breathe a sigh of relief. Well, actually I?ve never heard any plants sigh but I know they can communicate with one another. For us up here in the Santa Cruz mountains, this is one of the best times to be outside. Here are tips for early fall in the garden.

Late fall is not a good time for major pruning so if you have some shrubs that need a tune-up do it soon. Wounds heal slowly later in the fall, leaving them more susceptible to disease. As a general rule, don’t prune when leaves are falling or forming. Wait to prune most trees until late in the dormant season or in late spring after leaves and needles form. To avoid sap flow on birches and maples, prune after leaves mature. Fruit tree summer pruning should have already been done when growth ceased.

Refresh perennials, such as butterfly bush, salvia and yarrow by cutting a third to half of their growth later in the fall.

Rake leaves- compost or put in your green can. If large leaves are left in place they will mat down and set up fungal problems come spring.

Remove dead and diseased leaves from under camellias, rhododendrons and roses.

Divide perennials like alstroemeria in the fall

Now through October, divide summer blooming perennials that are overgrown and not flowering well. Alstroemeria, agapanthus, coreopsis, iris, daylily, yarrow, rudbeckia, calla lily, aster and penstemon fall into this category. You can also divide spring blooming perennials like candytuft, columbine, astilbe, bergenia and bleeding heart although they don’t always bloom the first spring afterwards due to the energy they use re-establishing themselves. If you’re on a roll out in the garden, though, go for it now. You never know what other projects you may be working on next spring.

Start perennial flowers seeds now so that they will be mature enough to bloom next year.

Fertilize shrubs lightly one last time with an all-purpose organic fertilizer or layer of compost. Use compost only on California natives.

Plant cool season veggie starts like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, spinach, brussell sprouts, onions and leeks in soil enriched with 4-6 inches of compost as summer vegetable crops will have used up much of your soil’s nutrients.You can sow seeds of beets, carrots, radishes, spinach, arugula, mustard and peas directly in the ground. Planting early ensures your plants get a good start before cold weather sets in and growth mostly stops until spring. You?ll be able to start harvesting in just a couple months if you start now that the weather has started to cool.

If you aren’t going to grow vegetables in the garden this fall consider planting a cover crop like bell beans, fava beans and vetch after you’ve harvested your summer vegetables. Next month I’ll talk about how to go about doing this and how this benefits your soil.

Cut back berry vines that have produced fruit. Canes of the current season should be trained in their place.

Spider mites and thrips are especially prolific during early fall. If some of the leaves on your plants are pale with stippling, spray the undersides of infected leaves with organics like insecticidal soap switching off with neem oil as they build up a resistance to one of the pesticides. Plan to spray with a horticultural oil in the winter to kill overwintering eggs.

February in the garden, perennials, pruning fruit trees, pruning grasses, pruning hydrangeas, pruning tips

February in the Garden

I?m waiting patiently for the buds on my pink flowering currant to start lengthening a bit more. I wasn’t counting on the recent snow and cold snap but the buds are showing color and are doing fine. Although still small at this stage I?ve assured my hummingbird population that they?re on their way. When I was out pruning last week I didn?t touch this plant otherwise I?d have cut off all those potential flower clusters loaded with nectar. This is what I did do in my garden.

To stimulate new growth I trimmed woody evergreen shrubs like abelia and loropetalum. The Mexican bush sage and artemisia were cut to within a few inches of the ground. I don’t use this approach on lavender or ceanothus, though. Lightly prune those after blooming later in the season and don’t cut back to bare wood inside the plant.

Between rain storms I?ll prune my fuchsias back by a third and remove dead, crossing branches and interior twiggy growth. The hanging fuchsias will be cut back to the pot rim. Fuchsias bloom on new wood so even if your plants didn?t lose all their leaves cut them back.

I cut back all the hydrangeas stems that bloomed last year and will apply a soil acidifier soon as I want the flowers as blue as I can get. Although aluminum sulfate is the traditional favorite for quickly acidifying soil it?s not as kind to beneficial soil microorganisms. Coffee grounds, pine needles, peat moss and cottonseed meal are better for your soil.

Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs like lilac, weigela and spirea or flowering trees such as cherry, plum and crabapple now. These and plants with buds like rhododendron, azalea and camellia should be pruned after they flower. You can cut some branches while they are blooming to bring into the house for bouquets.

Even if you have already pruned your roses be sure to remove old leaves still clinging to the plant. Those will most likely develop fungal spots and diseases later if you don?t. Rake up any debris beneath the plant and discard to eliminate overwintering fungus spores

Roses are super forgiving and you can trim them up again using the following guidelines. The goal is to produce lots of roses not just a few of exhibition size. Aim for a vase-shaped bush with an open center.

Prune old garden roses that bloom once in the spring after flowering. Climbing roses require little pruning. Cut out extra stems if there are too many and also cut back long established canes to about the place where they are slightly thicker than a pencil. Then cut each side stem down to several inches. This will cause the cane to flower along its complete length for a beautiful spring display.

Wait to prune back perennials that may have their new foliage damaged in a late frost. Same goes for shrubs that might have gotten hit by frost. That damaged foliage can protect the plant from further frost damage. Mid-March is the estimated date of hard frost in our area or at least it used to be. We gardeners are always betting Mother Nature will go our way and our efforts will not have gone in vain.

Prune fruit, nut, shade trees and deciduous vines like clematis.

Cut back ornamental grasses if you live where you rarely get frost. I?m pruning California fuchsia, salvia ?Bee?s Bliss? and hummingbird sage now. They look okay but I want the encourage new, compact growth.

And now I?m making myself a cup of tea and watching the chipmunk action in my garden. All of nature is getting ready for spring.