YOU CAN GROW THAT! POTATOES

Don't let taters-gone-native go to waste!

I can be lazy.

While that statement sounds very much like I AM lazy, the distinction is an important one.  For most of my life, it’s been difficult for me to even sit still, much less completely veg out.  Those days are over. Has my personality morphed, choleric gone phlegmatic?  Probably not.  When it comes to continuous, never-ending chores – such as house or yard work – my conscience has simply relaxed at the expense of years.  It seems my friend Brenda Beust Smith, the self-proclaimed LAZY GARDENER, must have arrived at the prescribed age of ease-allowance before I did, robbing me of the title.

Combine my newfound laissez-faire chore blinders, an obnoxious obsession for recycling (stemming more from being cheap AND creative than any environmental crusade), and a desire to buck time-tested gardening rules and what do you get?

The sum is often disaster. Last week’s discovery, however, will be dinner tomorrow night: plenty of yummy new potatoes.

Suppertime spuds? DIG IT!

HIT: sprouted potatoes beg to be planted!

Seed potatoes should be bought and then planted early in spring, according to the rules here in my part of Texas. My version?  Smelled something funny in the pantry after returning from vacation in October, my nose leading me to a bag of organic new potatoes pushed behind a cereal box. They weren’t so new anymore.  Already sprouted, I tucked them – untreated and uncut – into my garden after yanking my frost-bitten tomatoes out.  So here it is, 1st week of March, and my potatoes are faster food than a crowded drive-through at dinner-time.  Just pop them into a few cups of boiling water in my pressure cooker, top with a bit of olive oil, sea salt and rosemary sprigs and serve.  Sounds even lazier than a trip under the golden arches, huh?  Just sit and wait for the timer to go off!

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!

Landscape Design-WHERE DO I BEGIN?

We just bought a house and the “landscape” consists of a few trees and a weird assortment of shrubs here and there.  Where should we start?

HIT: plan before you buy to save bucks and backs!

All of us long for a yard out of Southern Living or Architectural Digest.  In reality, most of us inherit something between The Jungle Book and Grapes of Wrath, so let’s do an overview of how to start a home landscape plan.

Don't make a trip to the nursery without a list of what you need....THINK ABOUT IT 1st!

DESIGN PROCESS  Unless you already know the principles of design or have a plan in your hand, visiting the nursery with your pocketbook instead of your notebook is an exercise in frustration. Even if you have the luxury of a local, independent nursery with appropriate plant materials for your area AND great advice on how to use them, hold off on going there.  Nurseries sell gazing balls, not crystal ones. The answers to “how many” and “which kind” can’t be answered by anyone till you know what the purpose of each plant will be in your landscape.

• 1st STEP     Section your home’s landscape into three parts: PUBLIC (street side, or accessible to passersby), PRIVATE (often the backyard, but any area invited guests will see), and SERVICE (where you keep things you need but don’t want others to see).  Sometimes necessity dictates locating service items in the public or private areas, but don’t add to a utility box’s obviousness by planting geraniums around it!
• 2ND STEP     Look honestly at each of these spaces and note anything you can move to better segregate items into their designated areas.  Will bringing the fence three feet forward hide the trash can?  Is the 1′ turquoise tile birdbath from your mother-in-law a good fit in front of your 3-story Cape Cod home or better in the rose garden out back? Take into consideration style, size/scale, and purpose to decide where items should be placed, or if they should be in your landscape at all.  You’ll be surprised the immediate difference a few small changes will make.
  

  MYTH: never enough chotchkies. Know when to say NO!

• 3RD STEP     Take a personal inventory of what you need to make your landscape more usable year round.  Do you need sit-down dining for 10 or will a couple of comfortable chairs and a side table be sufficient?  How about something to bring in wildlife, or keep it away?  Would you like a beautiful view out of specific windows or to erase the vision of your neighbor’s car on blocks?  Write your wish list down and rate them as to what’s most important.
  

  Considering seating? Cushioned chairs are more comfortable - but often more MAINTENANCE - than a bench.

We’ll go over the steps to drawing up a landscape plan that fits any budget, but feel free to COMMENT or SEND PHOTOS with specific questions about your home landscape plan in the meantime. And if you’re in the Houston area, come see me at the SUGAR LAND HOME AND GARDEN SHOW on Saturday, January 21st where I’ll show you how to revive your DROUGHT-STRICKEN yard!

Top 3 House Plants To Improve Indoor Air Quality

Feel free to mix plants with similar needs in one pot. (This one came as a gift and I'll have to remove the beautiful moss covering the soil to help keep mold from hiding.)

When you walk into a beauty salon, do your eyes begin to water?  How about the perfume counter at Macy’s….do you see double for a few minutes after passing by it or a man with a bit too much foo-foo water, as my grandmother used to call scented after-shave?  When you put in new carpet, paint, or exterminate your home, does your spouse/child develop a horrible headache? Chances are pretty good those symptoms signal a chemical bomb attacking your system.  Whether it is the combination of gases or a personal sensitivity to a specific one, a strong reaction might be your body’s way of sending up a white flag in surrender to something it fears.

HIT: Many houseplants are environmentally friendly HOUSECLEANERS!

Sometimes the reaction is too subtle to notice.  Or we blame an exterior source such as ragweed or pollen instead of the actual culprit.  Over time the reaction may become more severe.   If you note a correlation between a PLACE and an allergy related SYMPTOM – like itchy eyes, runny or congested nose or sneezing, skin rash, headache, sore throat – you might want to look into the root cause.  Other reactions that can be a result of poor air quality are nausea, depression and drowsiness.  And while we can’t completely avoid indoor air pollution, it is possible to lessen the impact with houseplants in your home.  Both NASA and the Soviet space program found plants invaluable for cleaning an airtight room. Recent studies from India have isolated the top THREE PLANTS  at mitigating a “sick building” so YOU don’t become the one ill. (Watch this short TED video of the Top 3 Houseplants for Removing Toxic Air in India and which room to put each in for best results or use this website to see how many/where/which plants to use.)

GOLDEN POTHOS/POTHOS IVY/MONEY PLANT: super easy, even under artificial lighting; trails, so either give it support or locate it on top of a bookshelf;

MOTHER-IN-LAW TONGUE: another super easy; great architectural, grass-like form to it for a more contemporary setting;

ARECA/CANE PALM: this one’s a little trickier for me because it needs good sunlight and takes up quite a bit of space, but great tropical feel.

A few more of my favorites are:

CORN PLANT: more tree-ish, but very easy with enough natural light, like an east or west facing window

SPIDER PLANT:  this is another one that does well on a shelf, but it needs a more direct light source than the ivy; also a variegated form

peace lily

PEACE LILY: this the mascot of my office (thanks to my friend Brenda Dickinson!) with southeastern light coming in from the atrium; nice white flower and upright, even when large it stays relatively compact

Moss may look nice, but it can mean a not-so-fun-guy on the soil of houseplants....

Mold is a killer for my allergies and indoor plants in soggy soil can be a huge source.  I try to set my plants into the bathtub once a week or so for a nice long drink, then put them back into their water-proof tray afterwards.  There are specific household products that will curtail mold growth, but I just try not to use anything like that. A periodical bath outside works great, too.  DO NOT cover the plant’s base with moss since it will encourage fungal growth.  Plants like pothos ivy and airplane are quite happy growing in WATER and might be a better choice.

Also be aware that some houseplants are poisonous to pets or when munched on by toddlers.

MYTH: All plants are GOOD for us....beware of plants that might be toxic to toddlers or pets.

If you’d like more info on growing any of these plants, check out this article on Dave’s Garden and this one, too if you send up a white flag because of your brown thumb!

Rake Those Leaves, or Leaf It Alone?

It’s beginning to look a lot like…..well, like AUTUMN here in South Texas.  But, I don’t dread leaves on the ground anymore.

lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia) leaves quickly decompose because of their diminutive size

HIT: leave the leaves for a more nutritious meal!

Winter officially begins today, December 21st, even if my sister in Denver begs to differ.  Storms here sent leaves scurrying, as per schedule this week.  So, what should be done about that?  (The leaves, I mean.  Only way to deal with cold is LEAF yourself.)  Many communities follow a Don’t Bag It! program in response to a GROWING problem:  landscape waste in landfills.  Some estimates say 20-30% of trash headed to landfills is yard debris and of that, 40-50% is leaves.  While we can say, “leaves break down anyway,” the costs hauling them to a landfill are astronomical.  Then the resulting decomposed black gold – compost full of nutrients for which our lawns beg anyway – is left to fertilize trash.  In fact, leaves contain up to 80% of gathered nutrients from the growing season, according to Texas A&M University. Seeing a vicious cycle here?  Fertilize the plants, gather the waste, cart it off, fertilize the plants, gather the waste, cart it off…..

WHY do people still rake, then?  And what happens to the grass if you refrain from de-leafing?  My theory is the yard guys need something to do after mowing season, or maybe the pressure is on when our neighbors do it, making us look like lazy bums with a messy yard if we don’t.  It’s great exercise to rake leaves and tons of fun to play in them.  And don’t leaves left in beds blow everywhere?  Won’t they smother the lawn?  The answer is yes, and no.

MYTH: leaves leave you looking like a bum!

Flower/shrub beds benefit greatly from a warm blanket of leaves in winter. If you don’t want your natural mulch to go airborne with a strong wind, run a mower over leaves on the lawn, putting the shredded leaves on top of the whole ones that have fallen in the bed.  The new leaves will mat together.  Lawngrass prefers chopped salad over large bites anyway.  Smaller pieces add nutrients back into the soil, where they need to go, with a bonus of fewer bare spots for winter weeds to take hold.

Still expect the stigma of bum-on-the-block if you leave the leaves where they lie?  Then gather them up and put them into a compost bin or barrel instead of a trashbag.  They’ll rot into fertilizer in no time.  Here’s a video from my friend P. Allen Smith showing exactly how to compost the leaves from your yard.

So, let your landscape have its mulch and eat it, too.  Might make you look forward to watching the leaves rain down next year.

Best Time to (TRANS)Plant Trees…AND KIDS!

When should trees be transplanted? Leslie in Texas

When our girls were young, we found traveling at night while they were asleep was a great way to avoid the not-so-fun ordeal of toddlers/teens (is there a difference other than SIZE?) on road trips.

HIT: trees (and kids) transplant whine-free while dormant!

What does that have to do with TREES?  Our precious little ones seemed in a constant state of need when strapped in and unoccupied, just as baby or even grown plants can be when we mess with their roots.  Plants like change even less than people do.  So moving them when they are asleep, or in botanical terms DORMANT, makes it easier on everyone.  That being said, let’s talk about how you know if a plant is dormant and an exception to the rule.  (Don’t our kids always make liars out us?)

"Root prune" mature trees a few months before transplanting, if possible and trim large plants if needed to handle them easier. (illustration from City of Vancouver, eh?)

Trees and shrubs, called “woody plants,” can be lumped into two categories: evergreen and deciduous.  While this may seem self-explanatory, even THAT can be confusing because evergreen plants lose and gain leaves, too.  They just don’t normally lose their leaves all at one time; they slough continuously, often with a big turnover in spring.  Think of it like our skin cells, dropping with little fanfare.  Deciduous plants suddenly look completely bare – or even dead – sometime in autumn.  (I get lots of “all my plants died when the freeze hit” e-mails every year.  Nope.  That’s just how they hibernate.) THIS is when they should be moved. Like our kids, a road trip while they’re sleeping means you shouldn’t hear a peep out of ‘em.

Okay, so what’s the exception?  Tropicals.  They often ARE dead, or at least the branches are; some will come back from the roots.  DO NOT trim tropicals during cold weather!  The mushy or brittle stuff adds protection from the next cold front moving through town.  And transplanting a tropical in winter is the kiss of death, period.  Spring – or after any chance of frosty temps – keeps tropicals from feeling the cold shoulder.

MYTH: plants don’t have iCal….

Need to see how it should be done? This is a great video on transplanting trees from Growing Wisdom.com‘s Dave Epstein.  Follow these steps and your plants will be less likely to whine about their trip.  Sorry, though.  Couldn’t find a how-to on transplanting the kids to grandma’s for Christmas, but did find THIS one that makes me thankful my own children drive themselves there now!

How To Succeed With Seedling Trees

I have 75 tree saplings coming from the Arbor Day Foundation.   What’s the best way to ensure their survival?

HIT: saplings are the most economical way to add multiple trees to your landscape!

Saplings, arriving bare root – meaning not in a bucket with soil – are especially cost effective but, like a newborn as compared to a toddler, require more intensive care.  At shipping in the fall or winter, saplings are in a dormant state, their frail roots exposed and often flattened.  A few simple steps taken will give your new trees a better chance of survival.

1. Soak the roots in a bucket of water for several hours to re-hydrate after unpacking, keeping them moist till planted.
2.  Make sure the variety of tree you received fits the criteria for that area you’re planning to plant and if it does not, DO NOT PLANT IT THERE!  Calling a foundation repair company to undo the damage of a shade tree planted 8 foot from your home offsets any $$$ you saved in purchasing seedlings. (Look for TREE SELECTION in a later post of GardenDishes.)
   

   diagram courtesy Utah State Extension Service

3. Dig the hole 3′ wide to soften the perimeter area, but dig just deep enough to bury to the root collar, or trunk “flare,” as seen on this diagram.  Return the original soil to the hole.  Adding enriched soil sounds like a great idea, but it can cause the roots to stay in the good stuff, circling around and around until the tree eventually strangles itself, called “girdling“.
4. Build a low dam around the perimeter of the hole creating tree well to hold water.
5. Water well and mulch with shredded bark.  Go back periodically to make sure the soil/mulch are not washed away from the roots, but also do not cover the tree’s trunk, which can cause fungal infection.  And don’t forget to water your tree often during the 1st couple of years since it will take that long for it to develop sufficient feeder roots.
   

   MYTH: a large containered tree grows faster than a small one

For a detailed video of these steps, go to The Arbor Day Foundation’s site.

Feature image courtesy Gunther Home Inspections. 

Tree Trimming for Dummies

MYTH: tis the season for tree trimming....

The Christmas season has everyone talking about trimming trees.  Oh.  Not that kind?  What if you have trees than need pruning, though?  Can that be done NOW?  HOW?

Since Edward Scissorhands wasn’t available (his blades were full), here are my quick tips on pruning trees and shrubs.

WHEN? There are several reasons to trim woody plants and a corresponding season to do it.  My memory sucks, so I’ve come up with ways to remember based on those seasons.

Fall’s for the fallen.  Spring’s sprung anew.

If you have dead branches, autumn is a great time to get them off the plant so it doesn’t have to carry that dead weight into winter.  Literally.  Cold weather means most insects that would harm exposed cuts are gone, too.  Take this opportunity to trim away any obviously lifeless limbs.  (If you don’t know how to tell what’s good wood and what’s not, check out my previous post on trees.)  Wait until spring before pruning trees for shape or size.  Cutting can send a signal to the tree that causes new growth, which is not a good thing going into winter since tender new shoots are susceptible to injury in freezing temps.  The addendum to this rule regards blooming trees and shrubs.  They should usually be trimmed just after they finish blooming so you don’t miss out on seeing the flowers.

HOW? The go-to guy for prunology is plant pathologist Dr. Alex Shigo.  Texas A&M’s website goes into big-time detail for you anal type, but for me, a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s his diagram for where to trim branches depending on whether they’re living or deceased.

HIT: trim your trees for the right reasons in the right seasons by watching a how-to video from The Garden Girl @ http://youtu.be/1vTkaRc-C6M

So while the ladder is still out, channel your inner Edward and whack away those dead branches.  It’s a  gift to your trees that will come full circle by giving you a healthier landscape.

Is My Tree Dead, or Just Playin’ Possum?

Several months ago a friend asked if she should cut down her dead tree or wait to see if the leaves come back out in the spring……  When I repeated her question, as any good therapist would do, she recognized what she’d said was not what she’d really meant.  Her real question: IS MY TREE DEAD, or is it just playin’ possum?

While viewing the change in season is enjoyable, seeing a change in LIFE of a favorite shade tree can be devastating.  The most severe drought our area of Texas has possibly ever experienced has pushed plants to their limit with many dead, dying, or distressed.  Record flooding in other areas of the country can be just as detrimental.  So how do you know if a tree is dead?  Can it be resurrected if it’s had a near-death experience?  Here are a few things to look for if you suspect your tree is on its last…um….trunk and the steps to take if you want to keep it from becoming firewood.

green is good! (photo from blog by April Demes at CandianGardening.com)

TEST IT:  Arborists are trained to help keep your tree alive.  But if it is already dead, no reason to pay them to give you the bad news.  Where the problems appear can tell you a lot.  When there’s thinning on top like a middle-aged guy, the problem could be severe.  However, if just a few lower branches show distress, your patient might still make it.  Try to break one or two twigs off.  When the twig gives way easily with a “crack,” it is dead.  You might do this in several spots in the crown, breaking twigs progressing up to branches until you find a live one.  If you don’t have luck after a number of tries, use a sharp implement to scrape away an area on the trunk.  Don’t cut deep, but gouge till you see greenish tissue.  Brown or tan dry pulp, no matter how far you stab, means the tree’s most likely a goner.

TRIM IT:  Trees don’t do comb-overs.  Never seen a man who can sport one effectively either, for that matter…. If you’ve found signs of life somewhere on your tree, prune away the dead weight.  Branches that are not actively helping are hurting the plant, so relieving your stressed tree will allow it to concentrate on getting well.  Insects should not be a problem if the temperatures stay cool, thus pruning paint is unnecessary.

TREAT IT:  Winter is when tree roots are active, not top growth.  Use this time to pamper the roots so they can better support the rest of the tree when the leaves return in spring.  A good drink in autumn – whether from a soaking rain or a soaker hose – is advised if your gauge or weatherman says you’re still behind in rainfall.   As tempting as it might be, do NOT fertilize unless you are using something for the roots only.  That means anything that puts nitrogen (the 1st number in the 3 digit ratio on the bag) into the soil will put additional stress on the tree.  The best thing we can do for a declining plant is give it a warm blanket.  A mulch blanket, that is.

HIT: blanket your tree with love, and nothing shows love like a blanket of mulch for the winter!

MYTH: trees don't need a human touch.

Trees, like mothers, give us benefits we often do not realize until they are gone.  A little TLC to return the favor is not too much to ask, is it?  Take the time to get your trees healthy and generations to come will thank you for your generosity.

  

What’s NEW in landscaping, or WHAT THE HECK IS AN HEIRLOOM PLANT? (Part 1)

In the last couple of months, I’ve done several talks on the topic “7STEPS to a KNOCK-OUT LANDSCAPE,” which basically walks listeners through what I do when I design a garden.  While landscaping, as in any art, goes through phases of specific items or design styles being popular, the principles remain.  However, there are “new” trends that come and go.

Granny shows us HER garden!

Remember when we saw wooden cut-outs in folks’ yards?  Did anyone think Granny was really bent over, showing her undies?

The trend for the last several years, I believe, is one that will last.  In fact, it’s lasted already.  It is using HEIRLOOM PLANTS.  So what exactly IS an heirloom plant?  In general, heirloom plants are considered 1) those introduced before the mid-1940′s and  2) handed down from a past generation.  Now let the confusion begin.

ABOUT THE DATE:  Not everyone is a stickler on precise dates to qualify a plant to be an heirloom, although some horticultural groups only place plants in the HEIRLOOM category that can point to a precise linage, sort of like provenance for a piece of artwork.  Vegetables and fruits might be considered heirloom if they’ve been around since the end of World War II mainly because that’s about the time industrialized agriculture began.  Another school of thought puts the date at 1950 since the year 1951 brought introduction of hybrid varieties of plants on a broad scale from seed producers.  These hybrids, which are the love children of two different varieties (or even SPECIES), may have great taste or beautiful color or some other characteristic that is desirable, but they cannot necessarily make NEW love children.  They are often sterile.  Just like two mules – which are a cross between a horse and a donkey – are fruitless in their own way, so these hybrid plants might be.  Those with the ability to reproduce are a crap shoot, harkening back to one of the parents rather than the variety you originally purchased.

early "truck" farmers in Jacksonville, Texas

I come from a family of tomato farmers near Jacksonville, Texas.  The farm where my dad was raised – which belonged to his aunt and uncle – grew tomatoes commercially. It was called a “truck farm.”  They took their tomatoes to the train depot on a certain day each week in wooden crates (then bushel baskets) hoping they’d go home with an empty pick-up truck and a full pocket.   To sell a tomato to a wholesaler who in turn sold it to a tomato RE-seller, often grocery stores or restaurants, that tomato had to first look good, then it must travel well.  Taste did not necessarily SELL a tomato, although it might mean getting to sell to the same customer again.  So these truck farms began to grow plants that they knew to be dependable in their looks (uniform) and long-lasting (not rot before they reached their destination).  The taste or nutritional value was secondary, at best. Many of these tomatoes were hybrids BRED to have these specific traits by seed growers and then sold to the farmers.  The plants were unable to reproduce, which meant the farmers must buy new seeds every year from the seed company.  That is a cost of business they were willing to spend in order to compete, the COST of having tomatoes that looked good for a long time. So while the hybrid tomatoes might have traits you’d want to see over and over, the process to get them over and over was to buy the seeds over and over.

Which gets us to the next feature of an heirloom plant: the ability to pass it on, which I’ll discuss in part deux of WHAT’S NEW IN LANDSCAPING?  (An unadulterated personal plug here: if you are in the Houston area, I’ll be speaking on HEIRLOOM PLANTS at Cornelius Nursery on Friday… http://www.calloways.com/meet-authors)