I moved into my new (for me) home in the fall, and now I am confronted with a not so clean slate to work with.

Assets in my new home:
-mature trees and flowering shrubs in the front
-a back patio
-a lovely mature crepe myrtle and ‘Little Gem’ Magnolia in the back
-a Carolina jessamine that is presently blooming its head off.

Problems that came with the house:
-two half-dead ornamental pear trees (strategically placed so that not only did the magnolia have to lean away from them, but also so that no other trees could be planted in that half of the backyard)
-no late-summer thru winter interest at all in the front
-the patio is just a scoootch to small
-a bed full of over-grown yet half defoliated hybrid tea roses that needed to be dodged by the kids whenever they wanted to access the rest of the back yard.

Problems at least partially solved:
-the ornamental pear trees are gone: in their place I managed to squeeze in 5 fruit trees, none of which will interfere with the magnolia (I tried endless combinations on graft paper until I found the optimal solution while still taking into account mature sizes). I’m also planning on using the branches and twigs from the trees to build a play shelter for the kids.
-most of the HT rose were dug up and given to a friend who loves them. I kept two, and have temporarily filled in the rest of the bed with perennials that are ‘butterfly plants’ to amuse the kids while I decide what to do with the bed and how far I’m going to extend the patio.

Yes, I have a problem…
I just referred to ‘perennials’ as ‘temporary’!!!
Of course, they aren’t, I’ll just transplant them.
You know you have a serious gardening addiction if you plant something intending to transplant it later!

How exactly do we live lightly on the Earth?

Sometimes, things get a bit confusing.

I have a new (used) house. With a backyard full of St. Augustine grass, decorative pear trees, hybrid tea roses, and some wax-leaf ligustrum.
As an environmentally-concious gardener and mother, I can’t let this go on.
I know I’ll garden organically, but what will I garden?

Do I plant all natives? Is this the most eco-friendly option?
Do I garden for wildlife? Is this the most eco-friendly option?
Do I try to grow my own food? Is this the most eco-friendly option?
(more…)

Technorati Tags: 100 mile diet, fruit trees, Garden, grass to food, kids, local food, native plants, organic, vegetable gardening

Everyone loves flowers. But not everyone loves to garden. It takes a certain personality to love digging and weeding and transplanting. Most garden experts cannot fathom this, and as a result, give the beginning gardener all sorts of advice about different types of fertilizers and plants, when all the person really wants is some flowers outside to look at.

Easy Flowers
The “easiest” flowers to grow are on shrubs and bulbs. Some perennials are easy, and can be used with the other two. Drive around your area and take pictures of what you like. If they grow well in your area, then they should be easy.

Many flowering shrubs only bloom in the spring or summer. That’s fine: just make sure you have different types that bloom different times of the year. Some shrub roses bloom throughout the year. Be careful when selecting roses! “Hybrid Tea” roses are NOT easy and require lots of care. If you want roses, choose easy-care shrub roses like Knockout and Belinda’s Dream.

Bulbs are the easiest flowers, and quite satisfying for the beginning gardener. You dig a hole, drop them in, cover them up with dirt, and then they later appear like magic! There are types that bloom at different times of the year. Choose at least one type that blooms in the early spring, late spring, summer, and fall.

Perennial flowers are so-called because they return year after year. That means you only have to plant them once, and that is what makes them easy. Like roses, there are fussy ones and easy ones. Different flowers do well in different areas, so what is fussy in my area may be easy in yours. Taking a look at what does well in all the neighbors’ yards will help you determine which to plant. Also, ask for advice at a small nursery where the workers know about plants.

Buying the Flowers
If you intend to buy plants at a big box store or large nursery you must know your zone, whether the bed tends to be wet or dry, and if it is sunny or shady. If you go to a small nursery that has helpful employees, all you need to know is if the bed is sunny or shady. At large nurseries and big box stores, the workers tend to be less knowledgeable and less likely to be able to answer your questions. And national chains stock plants that do well nation-wide, but not necessarily where you live!

Bring the pictures you took of the flowering shrubs and perennials you liked. Even at a big box store, someone should be able to point you towards the plant. Realize that most plants are only available at certain times of the year. Flowering shrubs and perennials tend to be in the stores when they are in bloom, so you will need to buy your spring bloomers in the spring and your summer bloomers in the summer. Read the labels, and select ones that will not get too big for your flower bed. Also pay attention to wet/dry, sunny/shady, and zone (this tells you whether the plant can stand the coldest weather where you live.) Most flowering plants prefer sun, but if your flower bed has to be placed where it is mostly shady, there are many flowering shrubs that do well in shade.

Bulbs are not available when they bloom, because they need to be planted a couple months ahead. Spring blooming bulbs are available in the fall, fall bloomers in the spring, and summer bloomers in the spring or fall. The package should have a picture of the flower, and information: bloom time, shady or sunny, wet or dry, and zones. Select bulbs that will do well in your flower bed.

Planting the Flowers (more…)

As we were speeding by on the highway, we passed a section of “forest” that was behind iron fencing. My daughter remarked that that wasn’t very “friendly” of them to keep all those trees for themselves behind a fence. We then passed a subdivision entrance that was planted with sweeping lawn and trimmed shrubbery. This looks much more friendly. But is it really?

What is a “friendly” landscape? One that looks inviting, or one that actually is?

No one can actually use the expanse of lawn at the entrance to that upscale subdivision. If they did, I’m sure the police would ask them what they thought they were doing and how they got there. No sidewalks lead to it. Bound on one side by a freeway, on another by a major thoroughfare, and on the third by one of those decorative walls, it is completely inaccessible to pedestrians. Perfectly manicured lawn and exotic plants are of no use to wildlife. No butterflies pause there, no animals find shelter. And the chemicals used on that bit of “inviting landscape” no doubt kill birds and butterflies galore!

The fence bound “forest” can actually be used. It is home to many little wild critters and birds. And it can be accessed on the other side by people. No one needs to access it from the freeway: it isn’t as though there are any pedestrians there! So as unfriendly as it looks, it is in reality the real inviting landscape!

When we design a space, such as our own yard, we need to think about whether it is a “friendly” space. A front yard needs to look inviting, yes, but more importantly it needs to be inviting.

The house next door was empty for a couple months before it was sold. It’s a pretty house, and though a bit overgrown, the yard had some beautiful roses in it. The young couple who bought it asked the Realtor to “clean up the yard” before they bought the house.

A ‘mow and blow’ crew was hired, and boy did they ‘clean it up.’ They left lawn, trees, mulch, and an evergreen hedge (trimmed into a perfect rectangle of course.) Everything else was yanked, shredded, and bagged. My neighbor across the street and I were sick: if we had been home, we would’ve claimed the roses before they were chopped into little pieces. It wasn’t as if they weren’t recognizable as roses: they were blooming and Hybrid Teas!

When the young couple arrived at their new home, they stood on the curb, utterly shocked.

The new trend in real estate is to try to make the house look “new.” New carpet, fine. New kitchen, expensive but sometimes worth it. All new landscaping? Hmm…too young trees, tiny shrubs and large expanses of mulch are OK for a new home…but only because it’s expensive to do better.

The best thing about an older home is it’s mature landscape. Yes, you should trim and mulch. But please do NOT ruin the landscaping by removing trees (!), limbing up trees (especially pines) so that they look like paintbrushes, yanking out mature perennials, and any other effort to make it look “new.”

If the front of the house needs anything new, make it a new coat of paint.

Also see the rest of my articles on Home Staging to sell your home.

Technorati Tags: curb appeal, Home Staging, landscap

I’m moving
(in case all of you missed my series of articles on Home Staging.)

That means that I will soon be saying goodbye to yet another garden.

This time, I think I will take some bulbs, but only because they were shared with me and have since spread. No one will notice if I thin them a bit—they should have been thinned last Fall anyways. It hasn’t been that way in every home.

I remember fondly a Queen Elizabeth rose in Dallas. It thrived in full shade, put there by a previous inhabitant.
The palms in Montrose.
And the Austin rose garden I built from the ground up (have to raise those beds in Austin!)

Some plants we have carried from home to home. Like the fig trees, dubbed “Adam” and “Eve” that started off on a third-story apartment balcony and were carted through homes in two cities. One died, one is planted in the corner of my current yard. I will miss it.

So, the first thing I’m doing when I move is planting a plant. I don’t know what kind, probably, a fruit tree, a rose, or a native. But it will be mine, and I will watch it grow.

When we see a beautiful flower, we put our nose to it. When we see a beautiful garden, we close our eyes and inhale. By creating a fragrant garden, we fulfill these expectations and create an olfactory as well as visual sensory delight.

Design
When designing a fragrant garden, consider how the garden will be used. Is the garden an entrance garden that people will move through? Does the garden have a seating area or place to linger? Will the garden primarily be seen (and smelled) through the window or from a screened-in porch? The placement of the fragrant plants depends on how the garden will be seen and used.

If the garden is situated around a path, then the plants need to be placed in such a way as to be enjoyed by people who are moving through the garden. Foliage that is fragrant when someone brushes against it is ideal for these situations. Herbal groundcovers, like thyme, will release their fragrance when they are stepped on. Place any fragrant blooms near the path, and consider covering parts of the path with arches and training flowering vines over the arches.

In a garden with a seating area, plants with wonderful but subtle smells can be enjoyed. Plant an arbor or gazebo with fragrant vines. Surround a patio with fragrant shrubs and perennials. Place containers with flowering annuals on a deck. Since people will linger, there is more opportunity to move close to enjoy an elusive scent. If you have a favorite fragrant plant, but one that whose scent is not strong, place it near an outdoor seating area.

Gardens that are enjoyed from afar can still be fragrant gardens. Pick plants whose fragrance wafts. Honeysuckle, jasmine, and some old garden roses are ideal. Any fragrance that knocks you over will find a home here. Frame the window or porch with fragrant vines and plant fragrant flowers under a window in order to maximize the experience and let the garden come inside.

Plant choices (more…)