March 2014 Landscape Artisans Landscape Artisan Spring
Summer Event Planning If you plan on having a summer party, sending invitations and arranging for food is just a start. You should also begin preparing your landscape. The more you can do now, the better your grounds will present themselves when your guests arrive. A lush, green, and firm lawn invites your guests to sit, linger, and play. Lawns No single element of your landscape has a larger visual impact on your landscape s beauty than your lawn. A lush green lawn invites us to sit, run, and, play. It also gives us firm ground on which to stand and set tables and chairs. A patchy, dry lawn, on the other hand, can be quickly trampled into a small dust storm. Worse, an overly damp lawn causes chairs and tables to sink unevenly, muddies guests clothes, and is a slipping hazard. We suggest walking your property with a lawn care professional after the snow has melted and before the growing season has begun. Show them where you plan to have tables and chairs, a jumpy house, and/or a tent. Point out any areas that have traditionally been too dry or too wet. Finally, discuss any strategies for correcting these issues. Developing a plan now will give you time to correct issues before your guests arrive. Well-maintained plant beds impart a sense of harmony to surroundings. Spring 2014 Plant Beds Be sure to weed your plant beds. Not only will your ornamental plants be more noticeable if they aren t surrounded by weeds, they ll look better, too. Weeds rob your shrubs and flowers of the nutrients they need to produce bigger and more abundant blooms. Good news, you don t need to spend your weekends digging in the soil: a 2-3 layer of mulch laid down in your plant beds in the early spring helps control weeds by keeping them from sprouting. You ll also want to fertilize your shrubs and trees. Feeding them early in the season will ensure that they produce abundant and full blooms later throughout the spring and summer. You should also make sure your shrubs and trees are pruned. Tired overgrown shrubs lose the visual impact of a designed and ordered bed, and low hanging or broken tree limbs are a hazard to guests. Be sure to inspect all stones and bricks for loose mortar in your patio to avoid tripping hazards. Patios Clean any mildew or moss that may be on your patio. Mildew is not only unsightly, it can also be a slipping hazard and a source of discomfort for your guests with allergies. You should also repair any crumbling masonry, and broken paving stones or bricks in your patios and walkways. If you have a wooden deck, make sure that rotting boards have been replaced, and you may want to either clean or restain the deck if it is unsightly. Additionally, don t wait to inspect and clean your lawn and patio furniture. continued on page 9 1 2
Late Winter Pruning Skilled pruning is critical to keeping all of your landscape s elements in harmony. By removing diseased, broken, and overgrown limbs, we improve our plants vigor and insure their future viability. But there is a question of when to prune. Here s one argument for performing most of your pruning now. Landscape Artisan There are many reasons why pruning in late winter is beneficial, but the most important pertains to the very nature of pruning. When we prune we actually injure plants in order to elicit a specific response. In some cases, we want to decrease the shape of a plant. In others, we may want the plant to grow more densely. Each desired outcome requires a unique type of cut. But no matter which cut is used, all plants require favorable conditions to heal correctly. The intense growing period of early spring is the ideal period for these conditions, and plants pruned in late winter do not have to bear their wounds for very long before they begin to heal. This isn t to say that all plants should be pruned in late winter. Spring-flowering shrubs and trees should not be pruned until after their flowers have faded. But as a general rule, the spring is the ideal time to prune no matter what your goal is. A well-pruned landscape imparts a sense of order and harmony. When not properly maintained, its individual elements lose their form and function, and consequently the design intent of the whole is diminished. Controlling Shape and Structure Since pruning ends growth in one place, it encourages growth in another. This keeps the plant young and gives us the ability to guide its growth and control its shape, which is more easily done before the plant has produced its leaves in the spring. In the case of deciduous trees that develop double leaders, the winter is a great time to inspect their interior structures and remove the weaker, less desirable limb. Additionally, we can more easily find limbs that cross and rub together. This friction leads to damaged bark, which becomes another entryway for disease and insects. Disease and fungus can also get a foothold in the summer months in plants whose interiors are overgrown. You can see the limb here has grown in such a way that it now rubs against a major leader of this tall shrub. Issues such as these are much easier to address before the plant has leafed out. Mitigating the Effects of Disease With no leaves to obstruct our vision, it s easier to identify broken branches that not only attract insects, but are also doorways for disease. It s also easier to see and remove swelling or lesions on limbs and even insects like caterpillars and moths. All of these should be removed by hand or pruned out to lessen their impact in the spring. Here is another example of limbs that cross and rub, in this case they are part of a Red Twig Dogwood. Remove the one that does not support the shape you want. continued on page 10 8 3 4
Spring 2014 BULBS Plant them in the Fall and enjoy them in the Spring - but plan them now.
Spring 2014 A lthough we may plant flowering bulbs in the fall and early winter, the spring is the best time to decide where to plant those bulbs and which colors to plant. Document the colors and locations of your existing flowering trees and shrubs (and any bulbs you ve already planted!), and plan to install bulb varieties and colors that will harmonize accordingly. Bulbs come in so many varieties, colors and sizes you will never run out of material to work with. Bulbs can be used as part of your foundation planting, as a border planting, in rock gardens or in perennial beds. Some varieties of low height can even be planted in your existing ground covers. Since bulbs derive their greatest visual impact from massed groupings, plant them in large random arrangements. Plant at least twelve of the same variety in asymmetrical groups. Small, ordered groups lack visual impact and can actually make spaces look smaller. A technique used by many gardeners is to dig a large area to the proper planting depth and then scatter the bulbs in the hole, letting them grow where they lie. Don t be afraid to mix varieties of bulbs as long as you mix them with other spring flowers. Inter-mixing bulbs with pansies, for example, can be effective as long as you group bulbs of at least twelve of the same variety. If you enjoy potted bulbs inside your home, here is a tip: plant bulbs in pots and containers in the early winter and sink these into the ground or place them in an outdoor shed. Doing so will insure the bulbs get the cold conditioning they ll need to bloom. In the Spring, when they show signs of sprouting, you can bring them inside. Plant Narcissus bulbs. You are probably already familiar with the most common varieties: Jonquils, Daffodils, and Paperwhites. You really can t go wrong with this hardy pleaser. Although most are white or yellow, there are literally hundreds of varieties and colors. And since Narcissus bloom for two weeks and come in late- and early-flowering varieties, by staggering your plant times, you could have 4 weeks of beautiful bulbs coloring your property. Only plant bulbs that are big and firm. Soft bulbs won t thrive, and small bulbs just won t provide the big impact you want from a bulb display. Most bulbs thrive best in areas that receive full sun (at least six hours a day) and in well-drained soil. As a general rule, place the bulb in a hole two to three times deeper than the bulb s height. If you have a 3-inch-tall bulb, dig its hole 6 to 9 inches deep. Also, be sure that the pointed end of the bulb points up. If it s hard to tell which end should go up, look for roots: that end should point down. Finally, although bulbs are planted late in the fall, they ll still need water. A good drink will not only help them start rooting but will also eliminate air pockets in the soil that can cause bulbs to dry. 7 8
Summer Event Planning (continued from page 2) There are many environmentally safe cleaners on the market today that you can use to clean seat frames and cushions, but cleaning these items can involve some physical effort and they ll need ample time to dry, too. Additionally, if you re having a night party, you ll need to think about lighting. Tiki torches are popular, but the smoke they emit has a tendency not only to drive away mosquitoes, but also your guests. If you do use them, place them around the perimeter of your property away from where your guests will gather. Firepits are another option, and there are a variety of styles. Portable pits can be placed almost anywhere, and some brick or stone pits can be built into existing patios. Firepits provide not only a nice focal point, but also warmth, something you may want to think about if your party is in the spring when nights are still cool. Not all containers must be square or or urn shaped. The short rectangular container used here is perfect for adding color to this entryway. Containing only low-growing material, this pot adds color and splash while obstructing neither the door nor window. Color Lastly, after all your preparation, you may still want to add some color and splash to your property. Flower containers are an easy and effective way to place color wherever you want: on lawns and patios, along walkways, around pools, even inside your home. On your patio, flower pots soften hard corners and provide a visual impact. Along walk- or driveways, containers help direct your guests to designated areas. Flower containers placed around pools can help bring color to areas that tend to be monochrome. Placing containers along the edge of pool coping creates a visual boundary as well as a visual impact. Placing a tall centerpiece in the container aids in the sense of a natural barrier or fence. By being placed on the wall, these colorful and over-flowing containers soften it while not taking vaulable space away from the patio. And by not using a tall centerpiece, guests lines of sight are not obstructed. Late Winter Pruning (continued from page 4) To insure strong air circulation during high humidity, dense plants should be thinned, preferably in late winter. Ensuring Abundant Blooms As we discussed earlier, springflowering trees and shrubs such as Rhododendron and Lilac should not be pruned until after they have bloomed. Shrubs like Red Twig Dogwood and Viburnum and ornamental trees that bloom in summer such as Crape Myrtles, Vitex, Smoke Tree, and Rose of Sharon, however, will respond to late winter pruning with vigorous and abundant new growth. Fruit trees flower on growth from the previous season, but pruning should be done when the tree is dormant, consequently there will be some flower and fruit loss. The good news is that pruning promotes vigorous growth and larger, better tasting fruits. Each type of fruit tree has some special requirements, so do some research before you begin cutting. Don t Worry Lastly, remember that poor pruning, as bad as it may make a plant look and bloom, won t kill the plant. With enough time and TLC, almost any plant can recover from a botched pruning job. Spring 2014 Many people advocate not pruning Hydrangea, but proper pruning is necessary to keep these from crowding out the lilies along this walkway. These pear trees also need to be addressed to keep them from over-hanging the walkway. Pruning Guidelines Prune on a mild dry day after the coldest weather of winter has passed. Start small. Don t try to remove more than 1/3 of a plant at any one time. Be sure to make as clean a cut as possible. Remember, pruning injures the plant - the less damaging the cut, the easier the plant can heal from it. Cut branches and limbs at the point at which one attaches to another. Cuts made too close to a bud can cause the bud to die. Cuts made too far from a bud, however, can cause the remaining stub to rot. Usually a ¼ above the bud is a good rule of thumb. When cutting a limb that has inward and outward facing buds, remove those that face inward. 9 10
June 2014 Landscape Artisan Spring 2014 A Closer Look Asian Longhorned Beetle, ALB (Anoplophora glabripennis) Prefers Maples (Acer spp.), although it has been found on other hosts. A complete list has not yet been determined. Repeated attacks lead to dieback of the tree crown and eventually to the tree s death. Look for perfectly round exit holes in the trunks of trees the size of a #2 pencil that indicate that the adult beetle has bored its way out of the tree. Currently, the only effective means to eliminate ALB is to remove infested trees and either chip or burn them. Quarantines have also been used to avoid transporting infested trees and branches. Early detection is crucial. If you suspect an ALB infestation, please call ALB hotine at 866-702-9938 or your landscape professional. In the next issue: Landscape Artisans Landscape Artisan Summer An Introduction to Green Walls New Trends in Container Design Weed Management Landscape Artisans Published by: The Schumacher Companies, Inc. Corporate Address: 392 Pleasant Street West Bridgewater, MA 02379 Cape Cod Address: 93 Stony Hill Road Chatham, MA 02633 www.dschumacher.com info@dschumacher.com tel: 508-427-7707 fax: 508-427-7714 2014 - All Rights Reserved