Wild about Wildflowers, Part 1

Bluebells at Denver Botanic Gardens, where it’s hard to find the ice cream but easy to find the flower.

This week I had great fun with the Ft. Bend Master Gardeners in Rosenberg, Texas. They wanted to hear about one of my plant passions: wildflowers. (I’m sharing a list of my favorite wildflowers at the end of this post, plus a FREE BOOK for a lucky winner!)

Many Americans alive today were not around to remember when wildflowers were called “weeds.” That transformation in thought is a recent developement. (RECENT if you are an old fart, like me.) The Beautification Act of 1965, championed by then 1st lady-Lady Bird Johnson, brought much deserved appreciation for our natural beauties. (Okay, I wasn’t in school yet when LBJ was president, so maybe I’m not THAT old.)

The entry sign at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX. For more info on the childhood of Lady Bird Johnson, read MISS LADY BIRD’S WILDFLOWERS, by Kathi Appelt with art from Joy Fisher Hein, illustrator of my book, BLOOMIN’ TALES.

For many years, our native wildflowers were sought after as foreign favorites, proven to be hardy additions to European gardens. A prophet in his own land, right? Mrs. Johnson’s love for her Texas roots – and the attached flowers – bloomed into a determination that her fellow Americans were missing the boat. Or at least the wheelbarrow.

So what is a wildflower? “A flower not intentionally planted or seeded,” says Wikipedia. How is that different from a weed? Maybe it’s not. A new friend from Ft. Bend Master Gardeners (thanks, Vic!) says “a weed is a plant that no one has discovered a use for yet.” In my experience, a weed could be a misunderstood wildflower. It’s often a plant that happened to take hold in a spot where it’s unwanted. A wildflower in a flower bed might be okay, but that same plant in the lawn is considered a weed. Why do they seem to thrive in the lawn instead of the well-tended garden? Because most prefer a depleted soil. We take too good of care of them, in other words.

Butterfly weed attracts and feeds the monarchs.

A monarch caterpillar on butterfly weed: if you want butterflies in your garden, give ‘em their favorite food!

There’s some disagreement on whether a plant should be indigenous to an area to be truly considered a wildflower. Insects, animals, and birds probably prefer dining on natives over foreign plants. Most of us are leery of unknown foods, right? In my book, an INVASIVE plant is always a WEED. Intent on crowding out our native plants, gorgeous flowers lull us into a stupor as they plot to take over the world.

Weed or wildflower, here are 10 of my favorites. Next week I’ll share 10 more easy-to-grow wildflowers.

I’d also like to hear and see some of your favorite wildflowers. Share your wildflower stories and shots with me as a comment here to be in the running for a FREE copy of my children’s book BLOOMIN’ TALES, full of legends telling how some of our wildflowers got their names. And if you are in the Austin area next weekend, the illustrator -Joy Hein- and I will be signing copies on Saturday, April 27th, from 1-4 in the Wildflower Center’s bookstore.

• fragrant aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
• beauty berry (Callicarpa americana)
• beebalm (Monarda spp.)
• blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)
• bluebells (Eustoma exaltatum)
• blue sage (Salvia farinacea) (Salvia x ‘Indigo Spires’)
• butterfly weed (Aeslepias tuberosa)
• cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
• Hinkley’s columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinkleyana)
• purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Nurturing nature(al) readers: YOU CAN GROW THAT!

My dad, Dr. Bob Foster, with me at 18 months old.

Watching the nightly news is painful, isn’t it?  I hate it in the same way I hate coming up on a bad car-wreck: I look but I always wish I hadn’t.  From the newscasts, it would seem playing outside is one of the most dangerous things a kid can do. As a child of the 60′s, I played outside a little bit every day and most of the day during summer. Nature called each morning. (Didn’t mean it THAT way….. I was young and had camel bladder!)

There were things to do and my brothers and I answered by doing them. We were in trees, making mud pies, pretending to be on safari (remember “Daktari” on t.v.?),riding bikes through paths or making our own. Imagination and room to roam were in ample supply.  We had a world to conquer, after all.  Either that, or my mom locked the screen door and told us not to return till lunch.  Regardless, I believe playing outside is one of the major influences in my life.  I think it made me a lover of nature.

Each month, dozens of landscaping professionals gather virtually during the 1st week – usually on the 4th – to share their expertise for an online event called YOU CAN GROW THAT! Although my  contribution typically emerges from gardening questions coming to my blog or from my landscaping clients, this month’s entry celebrates my new children’s book – BLOOMIN’ TALES.  I’ve been designing learning gardens and Schoolyard Habitats for the past twenty years.  I found using wildflower legends helps students and their teachers remember names of the plants in their new garden.  Often the stories also tell about habitat and pollinators necessary for the plants to thrive.  Generations handed down these legends, a tool for their children who were to become stewards of the land after them.

Recently, my friend Linda Lehmusvirta – who also happens to be the producer of Central Texas Gardener on PBS, – asked me to stop by and introduce her audience to some of my favorite BLOOMIN’ TALES and talk about my passion for wildflowers and their stories.  It was fun (and even a little intimidating) to walk into the old AUSTIN CITY LIMITS studio, but the CTG crew soon had me talking about growing up with plants.  Central Texas Gardener on PBS, Austin

So where will children’s love of nature come from if they can’t experience what I did?  While they are a poor substitute, t.v. and books do offer hope for the disaster MY generation created, dropping the baton somehow, leaving our world defenseless except for some slogans and cute animal pictures begging us to save things “before it’s too late.”  I hate to be dramatic, but in my view, if we don’t intentionally emerge kids early in nature, making it a NATURAL part of growing up for them to play outside, it might already be too late.

A special TEXAS edition of BLOOMIN’ TALES is available, too.

By the way, I’ll be giving away a copy of BLOOMIN’ TALES on my website – www.CherieColburn.com – on Friday!

GARDEN DESIGN: Drawing Your Plan

Got a great view? Play it up. A not-so-great view? Put a mirror up instead!

Now that you have a BASIC LANDSCAPE LAYOUT graphed out from last time, you should know where permanent features and plants will be staying.  Time to make final decisions on what goes where for your new do/redo.

HIT: if you know the why, where, and what, PICKING PLANTS should be fun instead of overwhelming

1)  Think about the why of it to determine the where.  Clients tell me they want their summer kitchen in gazebo at the back of the property…..WHY?  Schlepping out to the back forty every time you want burgers isn’t practical. Locate things so they are the most convenient and work for you, not you for them.

2) Pick the right tool for the task.  Is the view from the guy behind you’s 2nd story gameroom YOUR family room?  Shade trees at the fence may seem the best solution, but how long it will take them to grow?  A pergola covered with fast-growing evergreen vines above the windows may be just right to block the view.  Make notes on your decisions.

3) Will it work?  Lay out your proposed new beds, patios, etc. not only on paper, but in your landscape.  Use a water hose, strings, or spray paint to mark things out and live with your new design for a few weeks, if possible.  Bed edges shouldn’t look like a drunk guy designed it – even if he DID.  Lawn areas need to be trial-run to ensure the mower will make the curves okay, too.  How about watering?  Can you get a wheel barrow to an area easily?  Think about maintenance as well as use.

Make your plan simple and easy to read.

Move all this onto a clean piece of graph paper that will be your final plan. Note existing materials and the new stuff, including sizes of items – including plants’ names, or at least sizes and types (15′ TREE vs. 3′ EVERGREEN SHRUB) –  even if you don’t know WHICH plants yet. To make wise plant choices, start by showing your plan to your local independent nurseryman. If you have a plant list or photos, those should go, too. (Remember, you taped those samples to the edge of your bubble diagram a few weeks ago?)  Contact your county extension office and Master Gardener groups. They’ll have lists of appropriate plant materials for your area and often give free classes. (By FREE I mean your tax dollars already paid for them!) I’m also a fan of native plant societies found in most states. They’re a great resource, with online plant lists and often with free classes and plant sales. Garden clubs, the Herb Society, community colleges, and many other groups offer free or inexpensive horticultural education classes, too.  And libraries and independent bookstores often have books and magazines featuring plants perfect for your area.

The best way to get a beautiful landscape? PLAN for it!

Okay, don’t get frustrated.  I’ve spent the last 20+ years doing this, so don’t expect to become an expert overnight.  You don’t have to know it all; you just have to know where to get help. And one of the spots you can get it is HERE.  Just send me a note and I’ll try to direct you down the right path.  Or even help you create the right one!

“I Don’t Like Spiders and Snakes…”

“Any natural organic way to keep snakes out of the yard? I am not opposed to killing them, but would rather annoy them so much they go off and bother someone else.  Thinking specifically copperheads and garden snakes.”

This year’s record drought in some areas of the country and record rains in others are bringing varmints that used to live in holes out where we can see them.  Many folks do not like this.  I actually want these creatures in my yard since they are voracious eaters of other things I prefer not to have there.  I don’t even mind SEEING them.  It is NOT unreasonable, in my opinion, that I don’t want an up close and personal relationship.  At six years old, a spider bite nearly rotted two fingers off my right hand.  And even God tells us not to like snakes, doesn’t he?   I have a slinky friend that lives in my yard.  He’s not my pet and doesn’t have a name, nor does he “sit” or “roll-over.”  I’ve found him quite trainable, though.  He responds appropriately when I say, “get-the-heck-away-from-me-if-you-wanna-stay-alive!”

Non-poinsonous Gulf Coast ribbon snake in my yard

Unlike Joan in the  Hormel commercial who doesn’t shave under her arms and keeps a goat on the roof, my dear friend Diane Cabiness is a real naturalist.  In fact, she’s a certified Texas Master Naturalist and the one I go to when I have a native plant question. She’s also the number on my cell phone’s speed dial for critter queries.  She rehabilitates injured snakes and spiders and then takes them to visit school children, which to me is cruel but the kids LOVE ‘em.  Nerds get a chance to be cool kids when they let things crawl around on them without screaming or peeing their pants.  Diane’s cool even without her reptile and arachnid collection.  She has an authentic love of creatures, which is not the vibe I get from hairy goat gal who appears lazy instead of an embracer of nature. So I asked Diane what constitutes a yard where snakes would not be happy.  Her answer?  1)  no food, 2) no water, and 3) no cover.  That simple.  Since snakes snack on small mammals like mice, getting rid of wood stacks, brush piles and similar vermin friendly habitats could remove their food source.  (Those are favorite spider hang-outs, too, by the way.)  In dry conditions, use less water and make sure you don’t have leaky outside faucets.  If you have shrubs, ground-cover, or a thick mulch (more than 3″) around the house, you’ve also inadvertently created a cozy snake spot.  

HIT: snakes and spiders are free, NATURAL pest controls for the garden

MYTH: effective snakes REPELLANT, or snake OIL?

As far as repellants, moth balls and sulphur/sulfur – often the ingredients in products touted as SNAKE REPELLANTS - might make the small mammals that are known snake treats scarse, but are ineffective for keeping away snakes themselves.  Their awful scent more likely keeps YOU out of your garden so you don’t see the snakes there.  Beware using both, which are dangerous to mammals.  (“Mustard gas” is made with sulphur.)   I’ve planted pungent herbs such as rosemary and onions surrounding my roses and veggies where I’m puttering around a lot, often with bare hands.  Mint under the hose bibs, too.  The deer are less likely to browse where these plants are present and I’d heard snakes don’t like them either.  I’ve not seen any snakes anywhere near the rosemary….yet.

Keep snakes at bay with a SNAKE-PROOF FENCE....

SNAKE-PROOF FENCING can be installed where small children or pets need to be protected, but cost prohibitive in a large area.  Check out the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management for more information.

While death is natural and organic, the North Carolina Extension Service lumps things into “lethal” and “non-lethal” when it comes to snake control and, like my friend Diane, prefer the non-lethal controls.  (Not sure “decapitation-by-hoe” is considered a death by natural cause, anyway.) They also amen Diane’s suggestions about what works best to keep snakes at bay near homes.  Then they talk about snakes IN the home.

Close cracks and crevices in buildings and around pipes

and utility connections with 1/4-inch mesh hardware cloth,

mortar or sheet metal. All doors and windows should have

tightly fitting screens.  

(http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/snakecontrol.htm) 

 

Thanks, guys.  I’d never even thought about them coming inside…..till now!

“Low-maintenance garden”… an oxymoron?

We just bought a vacation home and need ideas on what types of low-maintenance flowers, bushes, landscaping we can plant. There is no watering system, so the yard and beds must thrive on natural rainfall except for our quarterly visits. Also, how do you prevent ‘stick-tites’ or kill existing ones?  Jeri in Missouri

tools for a low-maintenance landscape

Maintenance problems in the landscape are often the result of lack of planning.  You are ahead of the game spending time looking at how you will use your vacation home before you spend $$$.  Here are some principles that apply to anyone wanting to relax in their garden instead of just making it another entry on the to-do list.

1. MAKE A REAL CHOICE:  How will you use the space?  Think about your property like you do your home, designating areas for specific activities.  Do you need a dining room, or just an eat-in kitchen?   If a playroom’s on your list, do you need a spot for horseshoes or a soft-ball field?  How about a living area?  How many will you need to seat?  Do these spaces connect to one another?  Be realistic and consider your lifestyle, year-round outdoor conditions and how many people will usually be in the spaces.
   

   HIT: create a 1 year, 5 year and forever plan for your landscape

2. MAKE A REAL PLAN:  Using graph paper, lay out the property showing existing plants that will remain.  Note topographic highlights of your yard, including low spots and berms, great views and not-so-great, then add in your wish list of garden rooms and where they’ll best fit into your landscape and your life.  Don’t forget to leave space for utility items, such as trashcans/recycling bins and lawn equipment.  (cherie’s tip: Make spaces convenient to one another and to your home or you won’t use them!)
   

   plan for success in your landscape

3. MAKE YOUR PLAN REAL:  How will you maintain the property?  Even if it’s your primary residence, a busy schedule might require your landscape still be low-maintenance.  If you can’t constantly keep your eye on it, consider hiring someone to do that for you.  If that’s not feasible, maybe “naturalizing” the property with only the designated spaces as maintained areas will better suit your lifestyle.  Add paths to get from one “room” to the next, but pick not only your plant materials but also your hardscape materials intentionally to avoid high maintenance.  A path or patio can be of many different materials, from bark mulch to lawn to pavers to concrete. Mulch and grass will require weekly or monthly maintenance; pavers and concrete will not.  When it comes to plant materials, look around you at what is native.  Contact the local agricultural extension  or state-wide native plant society for a list of appropriate plants, then keep them mulched well.  Use rainwater efficiently by grouping like-minded plants with low-water plants in the high spots and more-water plants in the low spots.  Check to see if a rain-water harvesting system would work in your area, too.
   

   MYTH: NO-maintenance landscapes

As far as getting rid of grass-burs or stick-tights or any other pest plant, organic methods abound with some more effective than others.  Several websites offer proven ways including the old-fashioned way:  hand-pulling.  But weeds are opportunists.   Bare spots, dry spots and wet spots are all accidents waiting to weed.  If this is a turf area, you might look at installing a native grass and allow it to grow to mature height, crowding and shading out warm-season weeds.

Whether part-time, full-time or all-time, your home’s landscape can be a labor and cost intensive proposition.  Even a little cabin in the woods begs for extra planning on the front end to ensure a low-maintenance garden, giving you the time to vacation wherever you are.

Vines to Cover a Multitude of Sins (Part 2)

This post’s title should really be “IDEAS to cover a multitude of sins….” in the landscape, anyway.  Vines can be great cover-ups for an old fence, but one of the SINS of an old fence is that it is OLD!

MYTH: vines are magic (only if you have seeds for Jack's beanstalk!)

Old does not always infer decrepid and unstable (and remember: we ARE talking FENCES here), but if replacing your fence is on the to-do list at your house already, the additional weight of a thriving, healthy vine might be the last straw.

old fence builders vs old fences: train watermelon vines for a great summertime LIVING wall! (not sure the old fence builders are trainable....)

If your fence is still serving its purpose –  to keep things either IN or OUT –  here are some creative solutions to hide or enhance it and even ideas about what to put in its place when your boundary line is out of bounds.

evergreen crossvine on a cedar trellis

new heights for veggies

attached trellis & 'Cecile Brunner' climbing rose (from (Linda Lehmusvirta - at Central Texas Gardener)

a "pallet garden" can be stand-alone or attached to the fence (courtesy http://www.ShawnaCoronado.com)

STAND-ALONE OR ATTACHED TRELLIS? A rickety fence may just need a face-lift, not a tear-down.

A trellis built in front of the fence adds no additional weight so might save your view and your fence.  But if yours is beyond repair, you might want to replace it completey.  How about a GOOD NEIGHBOR FENCE that can “produce” friends, too?

HIT: employee garden enjoyed from both sides in the parking lot at Twisted Limb Paper

Vines to Cover a Multitude of Sins (Part 1)

Our old wooden fence is in full sun and about 6′ tall, but ugly so I’d like to cover it.  I’m afraid wisteria would be too heavy and tear the whole fence down.  What are some other vines to use? Jo, Oklahoma

evergreen native crossvine

A wooden fence covered with any vine could spell disaster.  Let’s look at some options for vines first (Part 1), but then check out ideas of ways to “cover” the fence without destroying it (Part 2).

CHOOSE A VINE:  What is the vine’s purpose?  Do you want the area covered all the time?  If it is an ugly fence you are trying to hide, it won’t be any more attractive in the winter, so an EVERGREEN vine is the way to go.  In the case of an arbor or pergola, you might want sun to shine in to warm the space in the winter months (or to allow more sun into your home’s windows, if the structure is attached to the house or just outside it).  For that circumstance, DECIDUOUS (looses its leaves) plants might be more appropriate.  Also look at whether the climber is PERENNIAL (continues growing all year or comes back from the roots in spring) or ANNUAL (lives its life in a season and must be replanted).  Will you need it to climb of its own accord and wits, or can you provide a helping hand? Here are a few of my favorites to cover your part of the country with beauty.

HIT: vines can cover a multitude of sins in the landscape

trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) – *native plant; sun or part shade; red blooming perennial, evergreen or semi-evergreen native in much of North America;  favorite of hummingbirds; also look for yellow blooming ‘John Clayton’ selection; requires support (CHERIE’S NOTE: I also use this one at my house as a lovely ground cover in a raised bed.  Just be sure it doesn’t have anything in the bed to climb, because it WILL!)

fragrant and vigorous evergreen wisteria

evergreen wisteria (Millettia reticulata) - sun or part shade; maroon blooming tender perennial or annual, semi-evergreen; requires support (CHERIE’S NOTE: This gorgeous, fragrant vine hangs above a fountain in my front entryway and I have a constant stream of admirers when it is in bloom, which is much of the time.)

crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) – *native plant; sun or shade; brownish-red throated with gold or orange-to-red blooming evergreen perennial; hummers love it; climbs on its own with sticky tendrils; cultivated varieties include ‘Tangerine Beauty’ (CHERIE’S NOTE:  Initially, I started growing crossvine against the brick of my home to fill a niche and get some heat off the house.  It soon had gone past the brick and began twining its way into the attic!  By laying it down and installing a wooden trellis for it to climb, we are getting along famously.)

climbing rose (various Rosa species) – sun to part sun; mostly pink, red or white blooming perennial deciduous or semi-evergreen (CHERIE’S NOTE:  One of my favorites is the native climbing prairie rose - Rosa setigera - admittedly as much for its beauty as the wonderful legend behind how it got here!  But the thornless, evergreen Lady Banks rose in either yellow or white is a must have for any Southern garden, as far as I’m concerned.  In Oklahoma and other areas where the temps dip below freezing, use the Lady Banks only in a well-protected area.)

cypress vine

cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) – sun or part shade; red, sometimes pink or white blooming annual vine; great climber, but needs support; hummingbird food (CHERIE’S NOTE:  I always have a pot of cypress vine growing near my kitchen window to watch the hummers attack it.  It grows easily – TOO EASILY – from seed, so having it in a pot where I can control it is the only way I can use it in my area because it becomes invasive.)

MYTH: "I can control that invasive plant"....remember the kudzu!

In the next installment, you’ll see supporting roles for vines that won’t have you climbing the wall!

Hot plants for hot spots: plants that THRIVE instead of just SURVIVE the heat!

I’m looking for plants for the west side of the house.  I have already planted some variegated boxwoods and I’m looking to fill in the rest of the beds with something that would spread (groundcover?) and hopefully give white flowers.  I tried Azaleas, and only 2 out of 20 survived.  (I also realize now that Azaleas do not spread outward.)  The white flowers are not a requisite, but I would prefer them.  Do you have any suggestions for me?  Thank you!       Mrs. Palmer, Houston

me@8 in my Easter dress in front of 'Pride of Mobil' azaleas on the north side of our home in Athens, TX

Sounds like you learned your lesson quickly and jumped off that expensive merry-go-round of planting the right plant in the wrong spot.  You are wise to re-evaluate and take another tack.  While azaleas remain the icon shrub of the Deep South, if not OVER-used, they are at least  MIS-used and AB-used.  Like any other plant, azaleas have specific requirements and, depending on the variety, will usually require lots of water and lots of afternoon shade.  A western exposure location in Houston will most likely be an inhospitable home unless you have shade trees or you choose an azalea that specifically enjoys hot summer sun.   Few do.  If foregoing them completely smacks of being listed as a Dixie-ppointment, check the Azalea Society’s website for the best variety to tuck a token azalea into your landscape.

MYTH: any plant for any place....

Making a house call by email, I’ll go on your suggestion that a groundcover is a better solution to fill in under the variegated boxwoods.  Whether you choose white blooms to blend in with the striking white in the shrubs or a contrasting color, you’ll probably want a different shape for your new plants to show-off the rounded boxwood. Technically a purple blooming shrub, prostrate rosemary‘s grayish evergreen foliage will bring out the white variagation in your boxwood.  As an added plus, you can use it in the kitchen all year.  

A native, perennial color plant might be an even better choice to get white blooms and low growth habit beneath your boxwoods.  Here are a few of the best for your area.

HIT: use native plants that THRIVE instead of just SURVIVE!

• white trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis alba):  listed as a TEXAS SUPERSTAR and can remain evergreen in Houston; deer don’t seem to bother it either, although when they are hungry, their tastes broaden like a college student’s
• gaura (Gaura lindheimeri):  nicknamed twirling butterflies, they bloom sporadically spring through fall
• white blue sage (Salvia farinacea ‘White Porcelain’):  stands up to  heat with spikey blooms
• rain lily (Zephyranthes candida):  evergreen beauties that love low spots, but also shine anywhere they receive regular irrigation
• blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum): gorgeous, prolific daisy-like little white blooms make this one of my personal favorites; perfect in pots also

The right plant for the right place prevents money and time wasted replacing deadbeats in your landscape.   Do your homework, pick the plant that will be happy in the conditions offered, and then watch everyone THRIVE instead of just SURVIVE their place in the sun!

rain lily blooms peak above the grassy evergreen foliage

For the birds: keeping squirrels out of birdfood and birds out of people food!

How do I keep squirrels out of birdfeeders?  I don’t mind feeding both, but can’t keep the feeders full because the pesky varmints keeping raiding my feeders!   Bob

I’m fed up with my tomatoes getting pecked by birds just as they start to ripen. HELP!  Sarah

A multi-pronged approach at my house seems the best remedy for feeding the birds without their main food source becoming squirrel lunch or MY lunch.

HIT: hot pepper + birdfood = NO SQUIRRELS

birds love it, squirrels... not so much

For bird-food, I’ve found pepper suet the best solution for the feeder outside my kitchen window. The woodpeckers adore it, but any mammal that comes close gets a big whiff and does a backflip.  (Not a pretty sight until I learned gloves and glasses prevented the unprecedented HEAT WAVE not seen since my pre-hormone therapy days!)  You can make it yourself, but I buy mine at my local Ace Hardware because I almost always have a coupon in my inbox.

Another trick I’ve found useful is the recycled bird cage rescued from a landscaping job I did a few years ago.  (I’m not sure what the original owners kept in the PINK cage, but the bottom was intact so I guess it held very large birds, not chicks.)

my anti-squirrel cage

I promptly sprayed it black with a non-toxic paint and removed the door.  Where the perch hung before, my feeder dangles now full of an inexpensive songbird mix.  I’ll often find the birdcage loaded with everything from cardinals and red-winged blackbirds to indigo buntings and chickadees to cooing doves grazing on the seed knocked below.  A squirrel DID find his way in once, but his trauma undoubtedly convinced all others there must be a better way to make a living.

The plants I’ve chosen to use in my landscape are feeders in themselves.  Natives that boast lots of berries, seeds and nuts keep everyone fed, even when I’m out of town and can’t supplement it for them.

As far as keeping the birds from munching the plants I grow for my family to eat, I’ve found netting to be an effective deterrent. I don’t cut it off the roll, though.

A net keeps the plants IN and the birds OUT!

I pull off the needed amount of netting for that part of the garden (most of my fruiting plants are grouped since that’s really the only part of my yard that gets sufficient sun) and lay it atop metal fence posts so that the plants continue to get good air circulation.    Don’t forget to give the birds a CLEAN water source, too.  Often when they peck a hole in fruit such as a peach or tomato, they are actually looking for something to drink, not eat.

We love watching the wildlife that live around us.  What are some of your tips for keeping it from getting TOO WILD at your house?

MYTH: feeders are the best feeders. Not true...native plants were feeding the birds long before we came along!

Trees Need Extra Love in a Drought

We just bought a new house and it was empty for some time.  I use my irrigation system a couple of times a week, but should I water my mature trees more than that this summer? (pecans, oaks)  We haven’t had much rain for the last 6 months.   Anthony S.

Most of the nation seems to be in feast (flood) or famine (drought) mode, doesn’t it?  While hard on people, too little or too much water is devastating for plants that cannot escape their environment.

If you have a rain gauge – which I STRONGLY RECOMMEND – you’ll know exactly how much natural rainfall has occurred and whether or not supplemental water is warranted.  Depending on the tree’s age/size and variety,  you might need to apply more water several times during the growing season to keep it healthy.  If the drought continues, consider a regular schedule for watering your trees.  Texas A&M University offers insight into tree care through their EARTHKIND® website, giving a number of tools to both prevent and curtail damage to your landscape due to lack of rain.  Here are some of their suggestions, along with some of my own.

1. Look to your trees to tell you they are thirsty.  Premature foliage yellowing and/or leaf loss over the whole tree, leaf margin (outside edge) burns and curling, and eventually loss of canopy beginning with the inner, lower branches.  How do you save a dead tree?  You don’t, so watch for early cries for help.

   

   Drought-stressed elm tree (from Austin American Statesman)

2. Remove grass and weeds under trees –  which compete for available water – and replace with mulch.

3. Do NOT use fertilizer on drought stressed plants.  Encouraging new growth is the last thing they need.  And NEVER use weed ‘n’ feed products near trees.  (I suggest there is no reason to use these products at all!)

4. Know what kind of trees you have and then treat them according to their needs.  (The Smithsonian released a NEW APP for that – LEAFSNAP. Don’t depend on it, though.  It is still a work in progress….) Just as with people, each variety of tree has specific requirements.  Your mature pecan will require a significant amount of water, but certain oak trees (like bur oak) need less than others (like water oaks).

   

   HIT: 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter for each watering. Measure trunk diameter at knee height. General formula: Tree Diameter x 5 minutes = Total Watering Time. from City of Boulder, CO

5. A soaker hose set out under the ENTIRE canopy of the your mature trees is the most efficient way to water deeply.  Watering only at the trunk not only doesn’t help, it could HURT your tree, encouraging a fungal infection where the water sits.  (I’d add you might want to see exactly how much water is coming out of the hose. Put a tuna can under a section …..how long does it take to get an inch of water standing in the can?  For you engineer types, here is a WEBSITE that helps you convert the inches to gallons, the most common measurement.)

   6.  If you are planting a new tree in your landscape, GO NATIVE!  You will save precious resources – including water and YOUR TIME – if you install a variety that already will feel at home at yours.
   Whether a plethora of patio plants in pots, an oversized orchard or a standard suburban site, know what plants you have and what their preferences are in order to help them THRIVE in any weather.  Plants are integral to OUR health, but they depend on YOU to keep them healthy!

   

   

   MYTH: SOAK YOUR TREE’S TRUNK – against the trunk only, a soaker hose can cause more harm than good!