I've been out in the vegetable and rose garden today prepping the soil getting ready to
turn it over, fertilize and have it ready for the cool weather plants that I'll be putting in this week.

Plants such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce - all the cool weather plants - can go in now here in Illinois, but our warm weather ones are still a few weeks away. Our last freeze date here technically is May 15, so don't rush the tomatoes or you'll just have to plant them again!

It's important to know your USDA plant hardiness zone and know your last frost date before you put in your warm weather vegetables.

Keep your eyes open for garlic mustard as Spring evolves! With a diligent hands-on approach of removing it, you may keep it from invading your gardens. It is INVASIVE and can choke out other plants. Garlic mustard is difficult to eradicate because seeds can lie dormant for years, so don't allow it to go to seed in your garden.

Starting to get busy!

Of late I've been raking up the leaves and mulching them so they're ready for compost and adding them to the gardens. Been working on a new compost bin. Also been doing maintenance for other people and coming across ornamental grasses that have not been cut yet. It's getting right to the end of cutting the ornamental grasses. They should be down 6-8" because they're starting to shoot new growth. So if you haven't done your ornamental grasses yet, now is the time.

This week I'll be going around fertilizing all the evergreens to green them up. They've had plenty of moisture this year because we had a record-breaking snowfall, but we're a little short on chelated iron in the plants around the pond. So I'll be adding an evergreen fertilizer to add the supplements ammonia sulfide and chelated iron and things that keep to them nice and green and promote growth.

I'm also going to get ready to fertilize the shrubs now - the spring blooming ones, lilacs - and I'll probably fertilize the hydrangeas and other things too so they're ready for the summer along with any of the other shrubs that look like they might need a boost. So spring is coming in!

I've also been going out and dividing some of the plants. Now's a good time for division just as they're breaking ground and popping. If you can get out there and divide them they won't go into too much of a shock because of the cool nights and plenty of moisture to help them to promote root growth. I'm glad spring is here and I hope you're looking forward to a productive spring as you add plants, divide, multiply, or re-create your gardens with a design that's more suitable for you're area. Enjoy your gardening!

Spring Is Near!

Finches roosting outside our window.

As our record-breaking snowy winter comes to an end, all the trees, shrubs and perennials are pleased with the additional water to start the spring season. However, in Illinois the unexpected drastic fluctuations in March temperatures can still hurt plants. The worst scenario is a day in the 60's-70's followed by a heavy freeze. That harms buds in flowering trees and may cause crown rot in perennial flowers.

The crown is the point where stems are about to emerge just above the root system. When the crown has been exposed to thaw/freeze conditions, the crown gets up heaved and exposed, making it susceptible to rot.

Do not pull away any mulch protection completely or too soon. From now until the end of April you may have to keep an eye on your beds. Warm weather and then deep freeze is brutal on plants in Spring.

If you see signs of a heavy freeze after the temperature went below 25̊F and there was ½" to 1" of ice at the base of the plant, cover the bed or plant crowns with mulch. When temperatures warm again, pull the mulch back from the crown to avoid having plants rot from too much moisture.

Signs of frost on trees and shrubs will be noticeable on the buds where the moisture turned to ice when the buds were just ready to emerge. On the plant you will see emerging buds turning dark brown to black , thus stunting growth for the season or decreasing blooms on flowering trees and shrubs.

Parenting a flower means a constant observation of preparation for weather changes - much like making sure your child has gloves on a snowy day! Spring is drawing near for as I walk my gardens I see buds on trees and shrubs that almost speak to me, saying, “Be patient, I’m almost ready!”

Happy New Year 2008!

Robert and Rachel hiking in Colorado late Dec. 2007

I just had a reminder of the awe and the wonder of nature, as stepson Robert and I went to hike up the Denny Creek Trail in Colorado, of the beauty of the mountains, the beauty of the trees, the snow glistening and what it reminded me of is all seasons are beautiful.

Winter has a beauty of its own as the skeletal of the trees come alive, so when planning a garden or a landscape one has to keep in mind the shape of the trees, the shape of the shrubs, what they'll look like in the winter when the perennial flowers go dormant, when the shrubs have their buds sitting and waiting for the next season.

So remember winter, it's a forgotten season, but remember the beauty and the awesome skeletal look - the winterscape. At this point and time right now, being January 1st, it's time to start planning again for laying out a new garden or laying out the perimeters for a garden. So plan your garden with heights and textures that include the winter glory.

Late Fall 2007

Forgot to add this blog entry...!


Building the arbor in Door County

Well, the last week in Oct. we headed up to Door County, WI to create a little bit of landscape wonder. Put in an acre and a half of tall prairie - had 1700 plugs to plant. Did a 12'x12' arbor that you can sit and look out on to the prairie. We also put the plugs in for a short meadow and then started a woodland wonder.

Drove back home and did a small job in Stillman Valley, IL - did a courtyard - then turned back around and went back to Door County. The weather was nice up there - it was in the 40's and 50's which is great for putting in the plugs. They'll go dormant until springtime and then take off. We also over-seeded with 8000 sq.ft. in the prairie of seeding and about 4000 sq.ft. of over-seeding in the meadow. And the weather was okay... it was in the 30's in the morning but warm enough to work during the day.

Now back home, I'm putting my gardens to rest - mulching the leaves - giving them a nice bed - 2-3" of leaf compost, which is Mother Nature's way of fertilizing and taking care of the woodland plants - esp. around the amelanchiers and viburnums. The hydrangeas are appreciating the good thick bed of leaf mulch also since they need the nitrogen to keep their blooms.

We had an unfortunate accident in the pond. It looked like a wild critter - most likely a raccoon - had knocked a big rock in the pond which is approx. about a 3000 gal. pond, but they put a slice in the liner, so we're going to have to replace the liner and work on the waterfall. But, whatever I do I will try to keep it as natural as I can because the birds and the wildlife love to use it as a water source and I don't like the sterile ponds, so as much effort as it takes we will move the rocks and limestone to re-create as much as I can a natural pond for the birds and for the wildlife to enjoy - including our cats, who like to go out and take a drink and a sip.

As I put my beds to rest I will transplant and move things around if need be or create curves which makes maintenance and cleaning a whole lot easier. I will clean out the beds of any dead debris but try to keep it as natural as I can because the birds do need some of the dead wood just to create a home and live in.

It is nice to put the beds to rest and look forward to the renewal in the springtime. Trying to create my big shrub rugosa roses into an arch that I can walk through. Might take a little work to convince them which way to grow, but I will do my best. My arch out in front has grown over now as an entryway as I've arched living trees to create a living arch. So hoping to do the same with the roses. And going to go today and continue picking up leaves - should be getting near to the end of it soon.

Filling in the holes

New plants going in where the black walnut was

Sunday night we had a pleasant rain. Everything needed it - we were getting a little short for September, so was glad to see a long steady rain to water in the plants and getting them ready for the transition into winter.

Today I'm going to continue to work on the lawn. I have to repair the lawn from when the tree was taken down so this'll be a good time for getting the seed started. And I was glad to see the finches landing on the brand new arbor I put up for the climbing hydrangea. So it was a dual purpose - an arbor and an arch for the entryway into our pond area for the climbing hydrangea, but also the finches have found it for a resting place. So October is here and it is getting closer to fall clean up.

Yesterday I built another arch for a climbing hydrangea that's been taking 2-3 yrs to grow.. going to give it something to go over. Also working again today on an arbor on the entryway to the pond that I started yesterday.

It's the one that was unfortunately knocked down when the black walnut branches were falling. I'm going to accent it with a pyramidal yew, and then in the background I'll use a global arborvitae. I'll try to scrounge and plant some ferns and woodland phlox in that area if I can, and maybe a hydrangea.

I have to re-create a garden that was destroyed when the black walnut came down. I'm going to go around today and try to get the beds to rest the best I can. Start to edge & transplant a little bit before I go off to do another landscape site analysis & a little bit of work for somebody else.

Rainy August

Huge black walnut limb that fell into pond


Another day, another limb - broke my arbor!

We had unusual amounts of rain in August - 14 inches, which was way above the normal and causes plenty of problems for my yard and everybody else's yard. We had rust on the lawns and fungus and blackspot on many of the plants making it necessary to clean them out and let them dry out. So mother nature gave us too much. Everybody needs a balance and the plants can tell you when they have too much.

The rain also caused our black walnut tree to be heavy and overladen with nuts. We had 2 and 3 inch branches fall. They knocked down my one arbor and a lot of it landed in the pond which caused an acidic problem we had to take care of. So because of that we've had our 83 yr old black walnut tree taken down. It's kinda sad to take an old, old tree like that down, but it was a necessity. The wood is going to be used and recycled into furniture which makes us feel a little bit better that the tree is still serving a purpose. I will have to rebuild my arbor and also the garden that was behind it. So just one more project in hand.

It's getting close to putting the gardens to rest. I've been called and asked to give a garden talk all about putting beds to rest. September's here - time to think about letting everything go to sleep for the winter. I've enjoyed a couple of installations using ornamental grasses, which are becoming real popular. Looking forward to writing a book and doing some lectures this fall. I hope your garden beds are looking good for now with the fall color. Let's start thinking about putting them to rest.

Garden Feelings

[+]click photos to enlarge

Prairie Garden July 2007


Butterfly - Hummingbird Garden July 2007

As I walk our gardens I am pleased with the feel generated about me. The butterfly - hummingbird garden is a splash of color. It is filled with pinks of phlox paniculata while the heliopsis stands tall in its summer yellow. The many colors of the hemerocalis make the garden have the effect that someone had splattered color here and there.

Whenever I walk thru our prairie garden I feel a comfort with nature. A feeling that nature's natural beauty has a soothing effect, yet provides a food source for the many birds and animals that visit regularly.

This past week I created some natural gardens with winding paths thru them for owners to enjoy on their lakeside home. While on their boat to view the gardens I pondered the thought, "which is the front door?" When creating curb appeal is the dock another form of a curb to their home?

Our pond on the 17th had a crash unexpectedly when a large branch from a walnut tree was blown loose. Crack, crash and ka-boom - landing right in our pond between an arbor and bench! I cut up the branches and pulled them out of the pond when I arrived home. Janet next day cleaned up the mess left all about and in our pond. She is a conscientious caretaker of our pond, and our koi appreciate all her matronly efforts.

Yesterday I started the layout of a memorial garden being installed for reflection of two loved ones. Of course stripping sod for the future courtyard fountain and bench in midst of colorful perennials is tedious and not one of my favorite chores. Yet I just think to myself the beauty being created with each section cleared.

May you find beauty and serenity as rewards to your labor in your gardens.