I don’t know why i even bother to trim this–I lose more skin than it loses branches!
Realize, this rose was brought home in a one gal. pot less than three years ago. It doesn’t get sprayed, fertilized, or weeded–just whacked back occasionally with the hedge trimmers and a long-handled saw. That’s an 8 ft.fence behind it!
Look at my Mutabilis rose!

Small home atriums often end up as eyesores: designing a small atrium garden for these homes can be difficult. Problems with light and drainage seem simple compared to deciding what to do with the space. The key to creating a pleasant atrium garden space is to keep in mind which rooms face the atrium and to work with the home’s architecture and the homeowner’s decorating style.

Most homes with an atrium are of a modern style; however, Asian or classically styled homes can also have atriums. Atriums in two-story homes are harder to design because less light penetrates into the space. When designing the space, investigate the light and drainage conditions in the atrium. Drainage problems in an atrium can adversely effect a home’s foundation, so any problems must be fixed before any designing or gardening begins.

Small atrium gardens can actually be designed with few or no plant materials. A gravel-filled space with favorite sculptures and a small bench provides good drainage, an interesting view from the home’s interior, and a protected spot to sit on fair days. Atriums can be paved to create a courtyard, as long as drainage is provided.

With a little light, plants can thrive in an atrium garden. Choosing shade-loving plants is required for an atrium garden, but there is a huge variety to choose from. If a homeowner wants greenery and sculptures, consider installing topiary frames and training shade-loving vines over them. A single large “structural” shade plant such as a small understory tree can provide four seasons of interest. Consider a deciduous tree holly (Possumhaw) or a dogwood for an atrium garden. Interesting shade-loving shrubs such as Oakleaf Hydrangea, American Beautyberry, or azaleas can be planted around a small bench. A single sculpture or seating area in an atrium surrounded by a groundcover such as a shade-loving vine is simple an effective: try a deciduous vine like Boston ivy or Virginia creeper. Mondo grass makes a nice groundcover for an atrium garden, as do annuals such as coleus.
(more…)

There is a new trend among homeowners. In an effort to decrease maintenance while utilizing their entire landscape, homeowners are replacing their backyards with patios and edging the patio with low care shrubbery. (see MSN’s Tired of mowing the lawn? Pave it over.) Similar to the “grass-to-garden” trend, this is the “grass-to-concrete” trend. Replacing the grass is especially appealing to those getting older and others who don’t have the time or ability to care for a lawn. Baby Boomers are looking for ways to make their aging easier, and are finding solutions such as these.

But a patio may not be the correct choice for an elderly person. Yes, there is little-to-no-maintenance, and concrete or brick provides an even surface to walk on, but that much concrete has it’s own problems. For starters, if you are worried about falling, you do not want to fall on concrete. It’s hard. Brick and other paving surfaces buckle and become tripping hazards. Then there are problems with heat reflection and drainage. Instead, install a surface with more “give,” like decking.

Decking can be constructed of wood, or of new composite lumber such as Trex, which does not have to be stained and will not warp or fade. There is almost no upkeep with a composite decking and while it will not last as long as concrete, if you are worried about your age it will probably out-last you. It does tend to cost more that concrete, but if the idea is to make the space safe and comfortable, choose a deck. Besides, a deck adds more resale appeal to a home than a slab of concrete.

What about steps? With a concrete patio, you would have to step down onto it. An “on-grade” deck is built just above the ground, so you could have the deck at the same level as your inside floor. Then there would be no steps to worry about: just walk into your new outside room the same way you would into any room in your house.

Let’s move on to the greenery. Lawns are hard work, and use too much water, fertilizer, and, let’s face it, money. Not many people will be sad to see them reduced in size. In your own backyard, unless you need a place to play sports you do not really use them. But just because the grass is gone doesn’t mean creating some sort of barren, gravel-filled solution.

Shrubs and small trees provide beauty and shelter, and add comfort and ambience to your outdoor room. The trick with selecting your plants is to make sure of two things: one, how big it will ultimately get, and two, if it is suitable for the spot you want to put it. Picking plants that will not get too big is of primary importance if you do not want to have to trim them constantly. Resist the urge to buy tiny, cheap, fast-growing shrubs-they will soon outgrow their place. Instead, spend a little money and buy mature shrubs that will fill out the shrub border the day you put them in, and will not try to eat your deck. Buying plants that are happy in your climate, and are resistant to bugs and diseases saves you time and money. Also be careful about sun and water requirements: if you put a plant that likes a sunny dry place in a shady wet one, it will always look bad, or worse, die.

Selecting the right plants for your yard may seem like a lot of trouble, but a little trouble now will save you a lot of trouble down the road. Even if you hire a landscaper, have them tell you what plants they have selected: a simple internet search on the plant name will tell you if they have picked a twelve-foot shrub for your four-foot border. Sometimes people pick fast-growing plants for cheap instant impact, but if you want a no-maintenance yard, you do not want to have to trim those shrubs constantly.

Trees provide shelter, beauty, and a “ceiling” for your outdoor room. Take as much care in selecting your trees as you do your shrubs. Try to find ones described as “small ornamental” or “patio tree.” These will be the correct size-you do not want them to eat your deck either. Add them to your shrub border, or make “cut-outs” in your deck to accommodate them if your deck is large. Benches can circle a tree, creating a nice feature and extra seating. Deciduous trees provide shade in the summer and allow the sunshine through to warm your outdoor room in the winter.

Replacing your backyard with a deck and shrub border creates a beautiful and useable space that you can enjoy well into your golden years. Prettier than a patio and less work than a garden, decking your backyard eliminates lawn maintenance and adds value to your home. Go ahead: build your own backyard room.

For the gardener, composting provides a frugal way to feed their soil. But the importance of composting and recycling extends beyond the garden. By composting, a gardener reduces the amount of material in the landfill, and a gardener who uses compost does not need to use potentially damaging chemicals to feed the soil.

Driving through an American neighborhood in the fall, one often sees bags of leaves stacked neatly on the curbside in front of every house. These homeowners are being good neighbors by keeping their yard neat, and may be helping their grass keep from being smothered.** Is there anything wrong with this picture? Nothing, as long as the community is composting these leaves and not dumping them in the landfill.

Compost is partially decomposed plant matter which, when added to the soil, can improve the soil structure and add nutrients to the soil. Heavy clay soils become lighter with the addition of compost. Sandy soils retain water better after compost is added. Poor soils gain nutrients and plants begin to thrive when compost is added to them. The importance of composting becomes clear when its benefits are explained. By recycling organic material, we give back to the soils that created the organic material in the first place.

Not all organic material is suitable to compost. Animal products and wastes should not be put in a compost pile. Composting can seem difficult, but it can be simple. If someone likes complicated processes, they can certainly make composting a complicated process. There are numerous products, structures, and how-to books that cover the composting process. For the rest of us, dumping in kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and other yard waste (including those leaves!) starts the process just fine. Turning the pile speeds up the process, but is not absolutely necessary.

Composting is important not only because it reuses what is already on hand, but also because it keeps us from using what we do not need. Chemical high-nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are damaging the environment. It works like this: these fertilizers run off into the waterways, and over-fertilize the algae living there. The algae growth explodes, and chokes out the streams and rivers: out-competing, smothering, and killing everything else in the stream, including vertebrates such as amphibians and fish. By composting instead of using chemical fertilizers, a gardener ensures that entire eco-systems stay healthy.

Composting and recycling waste in the garden is important because it creates healthy soils, reduces the stress on landfills, and reduces pollution in our waterways. Composting is easy and rewards the gardener with thriving plants for no monetary investment. The importance of composting and recycling in the garden extends beyond the single garden and encompasses the entire local and neighboring eco-systems.

**(The effectiveness of raking leaves in order to promote a healthy lawn depends entirely on the type of grass, and the type and amount of leaves. Some leaves, when run over with a mulching lawn mower and left on the lawn, actually feed the lawn and make it healthier than raking.)

There are many ways to prevent and treat rose diseases and pests.

The first step is to be careful when you buy the rose. Pick disease-resistant roses such as Earthkind roses. (These roses were tested by Texas A&M’s horticultural department.) Whatever rose you select, inspect it thoroughly. If you bring home a rose with pests or a fungal disease, these problems can spread to your other roses, so be careful. Learn the signs of rose-mosaic virus and avoid roses with these symptoms. (The most obvious symptom of Rose Mosaic Virus is yellow lines on the leaves, often in a wavy or fern-like pattern.)

Use care when pruning: sterilize your tools between plants. Remove spent leaves from the ground, because many diseases can re-infect your rose after over-wintering in dead leaves. Use preventative products such as natural repellents, dormant oil sprays, and soapy water sprays with baking soda. Consider releasing Preying Mantises and Ladybugs in your garden. (But if you release beneficial insects, then spray with a broad-spectrum insect killer, you’ve just wasted your money!)

For Individual Diseases and Pests:

Rose Mosaic Virus: This will probably not spread to your other roses, (since roses are infected by grafting with a diseased rose) but a rose infected with RMV will never thrive. Be careful to sterilize your tools after pruning a diseased rose. You might want to replace a rose infected with RMV.

Blackspot, Powdery Mildew, Rust, and other Fungal Diseases: Make sure there is “breathing room” around your roses. Good air circulation can prevent many Fungal diseases. Remove leaves that have fallen on the ground-many spores hide here and can re-infect your rose. Treat infected roses with Potassium bicarbonate products such as Remedy, or with Neem oil products. Or try a homemade spray: mix baking soda with soapy water (the soap helps it “stick” to the plant.)

Rose canker: This shows up as discolored spots on canes. Use a dormant-oil spray after pruning to prevent this. Unfortunately, the only way to treat this is by removing the infected cane, although you can try to just cut it off far below the canker.

Aphids: Horticultural oil and soap are a great deterrent. Spraying with a soapy water works well, too. To make a Soapy Water spray: mix non-scented, non-antibacterial dish soap with water. Let dandelions grow as a “trap-crop”–aphids would rather eat a dandelion than a rose any day.

Thrips: If you have a problem with these insects, then you might want to grow darker roses. For those of you with the double hedge of Iceburg roses lining your driveway, I have a couple tips. Repellents work better on thrips than poisons, because by the time they die, they’ve already ruined your blooms. Good bug repellents for roses include garlic or pepper sprays, or cedar-based products such as Cedarcide.

Japanese Beetles: The best way to get rid of them is hand-picking. Or put out beer or fermented fruit-juice in a steep-sided container and let them drown. Applying repellent might be worth your time also. Try garlic or pepper sprays, or cedar-based products. Treat the soil for grubs.

Cane Borers: Cut off the cane below the borer. Seal up the cut, and seal all cuts made whenever you prune roses if you have a problem with this type of pest.

Scale, Spider mites, Leaf Rollers, Rose Chafers, and other pests: Use horticultural oil, a soapy-water spray, or a general insect-repellent to discourage these pests.