Finally! Summer has arrived in Western Washington. And, although it has been a cool, wet spring and summer so far, believe it or not, your soil may not be all that moist below the surface. Best way to tell if you need to water yet? Stick your finger in the ground. There’s no calender or clock that’s a better at telling you it’s time to water. Touch makes the best sense. So, get out there. Stick your finger in the ground. It’s okay. Dirt washes off with a little soap and water. You and your plants will be glad you checked. Still not sure what to do once you determine whether your root zones are too dry or you see mildew forming on leaves or slime in your water feature? Read on for more ways to help your garden beat the summer heat:
Archive for the ‘Garden Maintenance’ Category
How To Help Your Garden Beat the Heat
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Should Perennials Be Divided in Fall or Spring?
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Moving Winter Bloomers While They're Blooming Isn't Ideal
In Seattle it may be winter, but the weather is feeling and acting as though it were spring. As you evaluate empty areas in your garden, it may be design and cost-effective to divide some of your existing perennials to move to new locations. Certainly location, size and other plant needs need to be considered, but perhaps starting by knowing when to divide what is a good place to start. As well, knowing how to care for the plants and the soil as you do your work is critical.
But, truly, using your own garden as your nursery is a great way to save money over time. As a perennial becomes overgrown in one location, dividing it and spreading your divisions to other areas of the garden helps save money and maintain some forms of repetition (aka consistency) in your garden spaces. Repetition can create calming spaces when done carefully.
Read on for some tips to get you started!
Fall in Spring
Monday, February 22nd, 2010Actually, right now it isn’t technically either spring or fall. It’s still winter, but you’d hardly know it given the brilliant sunshine, warm(ish) temps and budding trees throughout Seattle.
Sword Fern in May Looks Great After an Early Spring Trim
It really feels like spring — even with light frosts sparkling in the early morning sunshine. This kind of weather reminds me to get out and get the garden tidied up ahead of the already arriving spring growth surge.
Over the weekend, I raked up leaves left over winter to protect beds. Getting them up now means less happy slug habitat this spring. I dug and divided hosts, cut back sword fern and epimedium, thinned sedums overtaking patio edges, and I pruned – a lot.
My neighbor invited me to proceed thinning and limbing up a large tree in the northwest corner of her lot. Over the years it was 1) topped about 9 or so years ago and 2) it has been neglected since then. It is a broadleaf evergreen and it has been blocking more and more light into my garden over the years; it overshadows my Southwest corner. So, with freshly sterilized saw and shears in hand, I embarked on removing the dead and broken material on its interior. I thinned multiple leaders that had shot out from prior year topping. In the end, the tree looks like a tree again rather than an overgrown shrub. Light and air are able to pass through its interior, which not only helps my garden but will improve the tree’s health over time. Sadly, my health took a hit when I mis-stepped and took a nasty tumble.
Nope, I didn’t even have a ladder out when I fell. Maybe I was rushing. Maybe I wasn’t really paying enough attention. It all happened so fast, I’m not even sure exactly what happened. One minute I was stepping backward; the next my foot landed wrong on the slight slope, my ankle and knee twisted. I threw my open hand saw away from me and landed hip down on my pocketed hori-hori knife and my holstered hand shears. Today I have some fairly specific bruises relating to those hits. I managed not to break anything or even hit the nearby sidewalk. I’m not sure how I missed it; I definitely tumbled beyond it. And, really, I feel pretty darn lucky that a few sore muscles, a couple of bruises, and some twisted joints are all I’ve got to worry about on the day after.
Pruning can be dangerous. The tools themselves can be a hazard — saws, sharp shears, loppers, even chain saws are often involved. Ladders may seem like passive tools, but I’ve heard any number of stories about careful professionals making a mistake and paying for it with a ladder fall. And, then there’s the reality that we can get hurt for no good reason. A simple misstep can just happen. A loose rock can twist our ankles. A weak branch can give way before we think it should. Life happens in the garden. And, yesterday’s fall was a reminder to slow down, pay more attention, and just take care while working on anything in the garden.
The 2010 January Seattle Winter Garden
Thursday, January 21st, 2010Today, at the end of January, we’re having a week to remember. Record high daytime temperatures even, on a few days, under clear sunny skies. After wrapping up my handouts and PowerPoint presentation on Ornamedibles for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in February, I got out in the garden to get caught up on a few chores. I certainly have many more to complete before Spring really arrives, but for now, here are a few things you might try to accomplish while the days are warm and dry and your plants are still dormant:
Dwarf Laceleaf Japanese Maple in Fall
Pruning: Yep, now is a fantastic time to get out and prune your woody plants. Without leaves in place, it is easy to see any broken, crossing, downward-facing, or rubbing branches. In my own garden, I dropped a few crotches off my Acer triflorum to create new leaders, encouraging the plant to grow in directions away from the utility lines it is early reaching these days. As well, I trimmed out some crossing and rubbing branches on my dwarf Japanese Maple and my Heptacodium. And, I pruned out some Viburnum carlesii branches that were growing toward the house (yes, I’m giving up some lovely blooms that will shortly open, but I had the time and the access, so cut I did!).
Cut back Perennials: If you didn’t get it done in fall, now is a good time to walk through your beds and cut down the bits and pieces of perennials that have died back. On warm dry days your beds are less likely to become compacted by your footsteps. When the ground is frozen or soggy, your good clean up works may detrimentally impact your planting beds. Today in my garden I cut a couple of Miscanthus to the ground, chopped down spent lily and Phygelius stalks, and cut back the more withered semi-evergreen fern fronds.
Miscanthus in Autumn
Raking & Mulching: Honestly, I didn’t get to this today. Since I didn’t have mulch on hand, I held off on doing a full raking of all my leaves. It may be warm now, but it is still January and another freeze could happen. I did rake up some materials, but I left leaf duff in place to continue to deter weed growth while also adding nutrients to the soil, protecting soil microbia habitat, and protecting roots. When I do find the time to load up my truck with mulch, I’ll start really raking those leaves up, pulling weeds and protecting my cleaned beds with a fresh layer of composted organic mulch material.
Pull weeds: This is another work item I noted but didn’t do today. Most of my beds are fairly well protected with leaf duff or mulch, so not too many weed seedlings are showing up yet. Still, I did see quite a few rosettes of shotweed popping up here and there. Soon, if this weather keeps up, I won’t be able to continue to ignore them.
Breath deeply: Or at least pay attention to what’s in bloom. My own Witchhazel is beginning to fade just this week — the weather is a bit too warm for it. Hellebores are starting to really show their stuff. Camellia sasanqua are still popping open here and there. Sarcococca is almost too much to take each time I open the back door, but it still smells like spring is almost here. And, it may not be fully blooming yet, but I noticed a petticoat of yellow on my Azara, promising chocolate fragrance is soon to be wafting through the garden.
Step carefully: Bulbs are coming up. Tender perennials are sending up shoots. The garden is coming to life. Mark your bulb locations when you find them and tread lightly so you don’t damage tender new growth.
More than anything, if you’re in Seattle, find the time to get outside right now. If you’re an office worker, take the time to walk in a park at lunch. Or heck, just ditch. Life’s too short to miss spring-time in midwinter!
Is Your Garden Ready for a Freeze?
Friday, November 13th, 2009The cold wind blowing and the churning furnace pouring out warm air woke me early this November morning. Rain is hammering out of the sky, blown in circles by heavy winds near the planet surface driving it noisily into window panes.
Frozen Branches
And, weather reporters are warning snow may follow the morning downpours. Although I doubt we’ll see snow in the city, these reports — coupled with the ice we’re seeing on early-morning windshields — reminds me to get a few last minute freeze-proofing chores done this morning.
Hopefully, these tips will help you get ready as well. Who knows? Now that I said I doubt it will snow, it probably will send down a few flurries around town just to prove me wrong. (more…)
