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!

Lawn laments

What do you do when ‘take all patch’ keeps attacking your St. Augustine even after you have diligently applied fungus control, fertilizer, appropriate water, etc?   Skip

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY______?” begins most conversations pointed in my direction anyway, but  this year folks seem particularly desperate to find a prescription for landscaping woes.  While turf is not my real expertise (as soon as I move into a new house, I start working on ways to get rid of all lawn before the boxes are even opened!), hopefully I can point you in the right direction.  But 1st, let’s make sure the diagnosis is correct.  

Several grass ailments resemble one another.  Texas A&M University is my go-to place and their “Diagnostics Flow Chart” is a great place to begin the search.  (Many other universities throughout the U.S. have resources as well, but I’m an Aggie, so that’s where I usually start. I receive no compensation from Texas A&M.  In fact, our honor-grad daughter – a 3rd generation Aggie – did not even receive scholarships from them! However, I’ve found universities’ research programs to be cutting edge, although I check to see if specific companies are sponsoring the research…..)  

Go next to Aggie Turf’s Answers4You/diseases page to see the broad range of things that CAN go wrong (which is why I opt out of turf in principle).   

If you are unable to determine if the issue is fungal or an insect, you might want to send in a sample to get the proper diagnosis from a turfgrass lab such as the one at Texas A&M.  My friend SKIP RICHTER shows you how to do this. 

HIT: diagnosing turf grass ailments is easier than ever

Assuming you have determined take-all root rot (TARR) is your grass’ ailment, let me warn you: this fungal disease can be a nightmare to eliminate.  Effecting most warm season grasses, the only way your lawn can be “taken” is if there is already a problem.  In my case, this year’s drought highlighted the lack of water delivered to a part of my lawn from the automatic sprinkler system.  (I’m saving up my $$$ for a pool, so YES, I still have a sliver of turfgrass.)  As an organic gardener, I’ll not use prescribed fungicides.  They’ve not proven terribly effective in any case for take-all.  

MYTH: big problems require BIGGER drugs!

New research out shows a simple pH remedy on the area of infection one of the best solutions.  Peat moss.  Yep.  In another YouTube video from SKIP RICHTER, you  see step-by-step exactly how to manage your patient and the dosage of peat moss needed to encourage your turf back to good health.  I’ll be following the doctor’s orders today and will let you know how it works at my house.  Love to hear other folks results, too.  

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!