logo
January 17, 2012
Vol 1, Issue 2
Down The Garden Path
with Joanne Shaw 
Greetings!
Joanne ShawWelcome to 2012! Even though I am a gardener and love spending time in my garden (as well as yours) I have to admit that with the 2011 gardening season and holiday season behind me, I love the non-gardening month of January. This month lets me really enjoy the gardening reading and planning that I don't have time for during the season as well as a time to improve my skills on things like pruning and grading. I find I can never know enough about these topics.

As I mentioned last month, our gardens are never done.  I hope you can take a moment to look at your garden this January (even take a photo) and see what the winter landscape looks like at the front of your house or what your winter focal point is in the back yard. This will help you make any changes or additions in the spring when the gardening bug strikes and when we tend to forget about the 4th season in our all season garden goals!

I hope you enjoy what "Down the Garden Path" has to offer this month and if you know of anyone who would appreciate receiving my newsletter, click the 'Forward to a Friend' button below to pass this email on to them.

Warm regards,

Joanne Shaw
Landscape Designer
Down2Earth Landscape Design
[email protected]



Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter




 
In This Issue
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
FEATURE ARTICLE
A LOOK THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE
Q AND A
How Does Your Garden Grow?

snakeplantBring the garden indoors this month!  One of my favorite and easy houseplants is Sansevieria or Snake Plant. I like the vertical form of the plant so it looks good in a small or large size pot.  It is happiest with moderate light but I have grown it successfully in low light. It also likes to dry out between waterings. While purifying the air for you inside, it can also be moved into an outdoor container in the summer... very versatile!

**********************************
For more gardening tips and informative articles, visit my Newsletter Archives page!

 

To Burlap Or Not To Burlap... That Is The Question!
burlap1I feel strongly that evergreens are an integral part of every garden. As a landscape designer I use evergreens in many ways, to provide structure in a garden with a hedge or to provide a focal point at the corner of the garden to name a few but in all situations the most important thing about the evergreens I use is that they are in fact ....EVERGREEN!

So it really breaks my heart to see gardens everywhere scattered with burlap. 

Winter damage
Winter damage
The thinking behind this popular practice is to protect the evergreens from winter sun and drying winter winds. This can sometimes be an important thing to do for young evergreens, especially ones planted late in the season but it should only be done for the first season. Also in many cases it's not necessarily the winter wind but the evergreens inability to draw water from the frozen ground. The winter landscape can replicate desert conditions making the plants susceptible to winterburn. Properly watering the evergreens in the fall and all the way up to the ground freezing will help prevent the winterburn from happening.

Wrapped with twine
Wrapped with twine
Another reason many burlap evergreens, especially cedars, is to prevent the winter snow and ice from splitting them as any branches bent by snow and ice will not return to normal in the spring. The best way to prevent that from happening is to wrap the cedars with twine (see photo) or I prefer fishing line. It's almost invisible, keeps the evergreen tight to prevent the snow from weighing on the branches and allows you to still have winter interest.

Waterfall Japanese MapleEvergreens aside, the one ornamental tree that should be protected with burlap in the winter is the  Japanese Maple. The best way to protect this tender tree is to water well into the fall and after its leaves have dropped, put 4 wooden stakes in the ground around the perimeter of the tree and then wrap the stakes with burlap to create a screen. The stakes should be about 1.5' to 2' away from the trunk.  Kudos to my customer Kevin from Pickering for doing such a good job protecting his Waterfall Japanese Maple (pictured left)!

We still want the tree to get the snow cover but want to protect the tree from the winter wind until it is established. This should only be done for the first 2 years until the tree is established. Another case where location matters due to the winter wind patterns. I am still sad that I cannot have a Japanese Maple in my front yard due to its North East exposure. Note I have yews planted instead of cedars for that very same reason.

Simply put, plant the right tree in the right spot, water well into December and use fishing line to wrap evergreens.  All my secrets to a burlap free garden!
A look through the garden gate...

Winter Garden


See how with just a little snow you can notice the different forms and textures in the garden?
Some of the plants to note are a small ornamental weeping white pine, the winter interest of Karl Foerstor Ornamental grass, a large mature blue spruce is in the background. These are some plants to look for when thinking of winter interest.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the nice contrast of the hydrangea flower and yew hedge.
Q and A
question mark

Q: 
With this unseasonal weather, buds are forming on my peonies and bulbs are starting to poke through the ground. Is there anything I should do?
 
 A:  Well as much as I have enjoyed spending this winter so far wearing a sweater and no coat, our gardens would probably be happier if they had a nice snowy blanket to cover them. Snow actually works as an insulating blanket to protect the plants from the fluctuating temperatures.  No snow and some intermittent 'warmer' sunny days can actually confuse plants to thinking spring is here. The best answer I can give you is to let nature take its course. If your garden has a layer of mulch then it already has a light blanket protecting it. In some cases this may toughen up the plant and in others, like the budding peony, a hard cold snap may nip the buds and prevent them from opening in the spring. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have a gardening question you would like answered in a future newsletter?  I invite you to simply hit 'reply' and send me your questions!

 

Joanne Shaw is the owner and operator of Down2Earth Landscape Design. A graduate of Ryerson University in Landscape Design, Joanne has 15 years experience in designing gardens and a decade in landscape and related business, both for her own clientele and established local nurseries.

Joanne Shaw
Landscape Designer
Down2Earth Landscape Design
[email protected]
www.down2earth.ca
905.839.1597
905.903.2597