New Project…culture shock No.2

The Planting shown here is the north planting and is one of two in the front of the property. The plantings are mirror-images of each other. If you just pick this up, as a sheet of clear material, and turn it over you will have the south planting. If you have read the earlier posts on this project it will be clear to you I’m sure. This is pretty simple stuff but it will change the feel of this property. And really: it is a “feel” thing. The way a garden feels is very important. The gardens here, if you would call them that at all, had no feel to them in my opinion, except confusion. Just a few things thrown about, no ideas, no continuity, no plan (except to throw a bunch of annuals in every summer), no personality, no vitality, no life, just yuk. Anyway, with a new planter, new plants, new mulch, you’ll forget instantly how boring it was. Hey, I hope my client never reads this blog about his gardens. They don’t even answer my e-mails, I doubt they’ll read this stuff. Often as a gardener you have to work on some really terrible stuff that others find attractive. I like these people and they seem to be willing to change a few things so I will stick with them for a while. Not only that but they pay really fast. So, why don’t I stop my bitchin’, huh? I will…. I promise.

So, we’re going to move the old plants–Variegated Vinca, some Ice Plant, a few Phlox–out and transplant them somewhere, anywhere but here. We’ll clean up the soil to get some of the naturalized Snapdragon and Kentucky Blue Grass that keeps trying to take over by creeping under the old concrete borders out. Then I’ll beef up the soil mix with some good fresh organic garden mix a friend of mine manufactures. The old soil is basically dead, inert, no nutrients are left in it because it’s always been cleaned to the point of sterility. No mulches have been used to retain moisture or to build-up the soil over the seasons by de-composing. The Spruces in the centers of the planting areas selfishly suck up everything worthwhile and so, bad news, can’t really get any worse than this. Usually Vinca is un-controllable but here, even Vinca straggles along not having enough energy to bloom. The Ice plant just sits there, lonely little mounds no larger than when they were planted seasons ago. The Phlox didn’t stand a chance even though this last season was one of the best for Phlox I’ve seen in years.

You can click on the drawing to enlarge it. I’m not using many plants here in these two small areas. You don’t have too. The plants I’m using will spread and if all goes well, and I’m sure it will, these areas will be packed out with beautiful foliage and wonderful, persistent blooms within two season. As everywhere, I try to use what works, and works well. My clients do not see each others gardens and will never know that I use many of the same plants when I can. The hardest part often is trying to kindly let a client know that what they want probably will not work or it may work but it’s going to cost you in maintenance. Anyway, I’m going to use the Monrovia “carpet roses” again here. They do very well in sub-standard soils and seem to be selfish also about searching out and capturing resources. I’m using the red where I have more light and I’m tucking the whites into the shady parts of the planters. These guys crank. About the middle of June they begin blooming and don’t quit until September. So, I’m using 3 reds and 3 whites in each planter, the reds are tagged no.1, the whites no.2.

I like to use a lot of Lavender around roses not only because it looks so good but because aphids don’t like to be around Lavender. The aphid problems we experience here are worse in May/June. Of course I use a systemic pesticide to fight them also but in a mild year the Lavender usually offends them so much they go somewhere else. The later flushes are not much of a problem because most of the aphids have already worked their way through their normal life-cycle and are not around. I use the systemic when I feed which is usually every time I visit, maybe once a month. Some say that is too much food but I beg to differ. The clients want blooms. I help to make sure they have them. If the life-cycle of the plant is harmed, well so be it, I’ll plant some new ones. I have roses here that are 25 to 30 years old so, I’m not that concerned. So, lots of Lavender. I’m using the ‘Hidcote Superior’. It performs well in sun and partial shade which I’ll have here as the day progresses. It likes superior drainage which I’ll have here, and it is very drought-tolerant. Beautiful blooms from late spring to Autumn and a great seed-head for the winter months. I’m using 4 plants in each planter, it is a good spreader and I’ll probably be moving some of it out within 4 years. These plants are tagged no.3.

Last, but not least, just to keep all of this tied together, the glue of the planting if you will, I’m using a Primrose (Oenothera speciosus). her name is ‘Rosea’; she is a wonderful pink, with a white interior about 10″ x 20″, a perfect size for lying around the Lavender. It’s aggressive, especially in poor soil and so I’ll get some good coverage fast and just be able to pull it out where needed if she gets in the way. A perfect plant. I’ve seen these plants bloom from early summer until frost. They’ll begin blooming earlier if the temperatures go high fast which is common here. We can easily have 90 degree days here in Colorado in early June. She is tagged no.4.

So, that’s it for these two front planters. The next entry will be for the changes we are planning in the back gardens. Please comment if you will. If you have questions use the comment section and I’ll get back quick. Funny, this next week a friend and I are scheduled to do some tree pruning on this property. We need to do some corrective stuff on a couple of Ashes that had been abused by someone who shouldn’t be pruning valuable plant material, in fact, shouldn’t be pruning anything. We’ll also be working through the Aspen stand that you can see in the pictures from the first or second entries.

New Project…Slopes No. 3

So, we’re down to the specific plants that we are going to use on this project. Again, these are all woody perennials, most very drought tolerant, adaptable to clayey soils, and attractive. They all can also thrive in pure rock mulch settings because they don’t spread much at the root crown. Again we will be using a modified drip system which will use Maxi-Jet stack risers that atomize water flow and cover a much wider area on the surface than common drip-emitters.

The only tree forms we are using will be multi-stemmed aspen (P. tremuloides) one on the lower shelf (ground-level) and two on the second shelf. These are beautiful trees if they are maintained well. This neighborhood is upper-middle-class and most of the properties are cared for by professionals. If there is a problem here it is the use of too many pesticides. Welcome to our Post-Modern world, huh? So, I feel safe planting the aspen here even though they are known to be prone to at least five common problems down here at 5000′. We won’t go into that here; you will get a feel for aspen and their unique problems when I relate next years maintenance program daily in this blog.

The most attractive characteristic of aspen is their white bark with the brown to black limb drop and pruning scars: almost leopard like. In a good season, if the cold frosts don’t arrive early they do have a splendid Autumn foliage color which is gold/yellow. I’ll probably buy these trees in containers for easier planting and transportation. I can buy locally in a #20 container for about $150.00. Containers are a safer bet than B&B because the root systems have been able to develop–if they have been in the container for at least a season. New B&B aspen are all recently dug and have lost 90% of their important feeding roots and can fail quickly if conditions are not “just right”. Of course “just right” conditions are those from which they have been dug which is pretty hard to imitate down here in the foot-hills.

The Hancock Coralberry (S. x chenaultii) is a wonderful low branching semi-evergreen shrub that I use almost as much as some use Spireas. At most its height never exceeds 15-20 inches before it –from sheer weight– begins to gracefully go horizontal. It is one of the most elegant plants I know with small ovate deep green/blue leaves, a slender arching red/brown stem, and wonderful small berry-like blooms in late-Summer early Autumn. I usually leave at least 4′ from the center of the plant to the adjacent plants. It is an easy plant to keep up, needs little water after 2 to 3 years, does very well in clayey soils and seems to be O.K. in full sun or partial. One of my favorite plants, don’t tell anyone about this plant, its gorgeous.

The ‘Blue Rug’ Juniper (J. horizontalis, ‘Wiltionii’) we are using is one of the very few that love to trail over walls and down slopes. If pruned properly it will also keep up a good healthy “mop” on top. Often people don’t force growth from the root crown with gentle pruning which results in bare stems trailing down slopes, and over walls with weak, scraggly foliage. Minimal pruning will solve this problem–it does not have to look like that.  It is indeed very blue in the warmer seasons and turns a dull purple in the cold. It has a distinctive blue berry that generally persists into winter. This plant will dominate the planting overall and will high-light the other plants with-out diminishing their fine points. It is, like the others, very drought tolerant, good in clayey soils, likes full afternoon sun, and needs very little pruning.

So, last but not least, the roses. I take care of a lot of roses. People call them “pig plants” because they feel that they need more care and attention than other plants. I don’t mind at all, I love em, they are worth the effort and deliver more pleasure than any other plant I work with, so, roses, yes, lots of em. The foremost eye-catcher in this application will be the (8) red Knock-Outs surrounding the Aspen at the tri-angle where the planting begins. I’ll probably use ‘Radtko’ or ‘Radazz’. You can see ‘Radazz’ below. ‘Radtko’ is a double ever-bloomer, bright red, and is usually 3×3 in clayey soils, full sun of course and relatively drought-tolerant. The Knock-Outs will be in a flat area so the drainage won’t be so extreme coming off the slope that they will dry out. These Knock-Outs have to be kept clean with good air-flow: they need to be open and outward. This is a beautiful bloomer, almost classic.

For the slopes we’re using Monrovia ‘Carpet’ Roses. I have not found any small spreaders as reliable as these especially if they are planted in extremely tough environments, and this one may be pretty  tough on them. I’m planting the reds and the whites. The reds get a little taller, about 3′. maybe 2′ for the whites. The reds also move around more and are much harder to keep clean on the inside. They are really beautiful when planted together. They are very drought-tolerant everbloomers from late-spring, require less feeding, no pests that I have seen. Of course, unlike this slope planting I usually plant at least two Lavenders for every rose to control aphids. We’ll see how it goes here. I think they’ll be fine because there is excellent air-flow and hot afternoon sun on the slopes. These roses are really hard to de-bloom. Usually it is easy to pull spent blooms from most roses but you will play hard to just caually remove these blooms, just a warning. 

So, that’s pretty much it for now. I’ll present this to the client and see if they send me any money. If they don’t someone else will. The first deposit in gets the job done first. I don’t get excited at this point and don’t really worry one way or the other about getting these jobs, the clients ask–I present–it’s up to them. Of course I spend a lot of time putting all of this stuff together for them often free. But, I look at it this way; the time, effort, and designs are mine to use now or later and will work anywhere in this area, so, it is time well spent. Over-all I usually do about half of the work I draw up and plan. Frankly, with the maintenance schedule the way it is, I can’t do more without hiring and training. Is it worth it to hire and train, most often, no. What a blessing to be a gardener.