By Lori Chips

Recently, in the wide world of horticulture, there seems to be an explosion of people wanting to walk on their plants. They come to us looking for plants with the express desire to step on them. As a hardworking grower who does her best to produce thriving, pretty plants, this is a perplexing phenomenon.

 

You would think we would all have learned our lesson with grass. Lawns, I mean. We, in New England especially, seem to come from a long line of turf worshippers harking back I'm sure, to the homeland of the pilgrims. England is by nature a damp and misty land of glorious emerald swards. I can actually see why homesick pioneers would want to transplant that aspect of the landscape onto these shores. But just think what it entails. We have acid soil so we apply lime. We walk on the lawn so we must aerate. (Have you seen those sandals for this purpose with spikes on the soles?) We edge, we feed and we water. Boy do we water, and as these plants, these little blades of grass stretch and reach upward, tender young and green, that is the moment we come along and chop their heads off. Well, more accurately, we cut them in half. Not once, but many times over the course of our long, long growing season. Not only that but we keep feeding and watering just to keep cutting the poor things in half. And we use dirty, noisy, smoke-spewing machines to do it. (As a practical aside, and as an "eco plea," cool season grasses will go happily dormant for the duration of the long hot summer. They will revive like magic with the cool autumnal rains.)

 

Cows pondering a ha-ha in England

Back in the British Isles sheep and cows did a lot of the cutting, and a good job of trimming the grass. But these animals didn't stop there. In order to keep the livestock from eating ornamental plants the ha-ha was invented. Or, more specifically, a man named Charles Bridgeman did (according to Horace Walpole.) The ha-ha is a trench in the landscape that functions like a moat protecting part of the garden from the munching teeth of the animals on the other side. One side of the trench is merely sloping, but the other one is so tall and steep that a cow or sheep cannot climb out. Sometimes it incorporates a stone wall.

This trench is almost invisible from the house or garden, sometimes just looking like a little fold in the meadow, if visible at all. They say it was so named because of the reaction of guests at having their walk interrupted by this ingenious folly.

 

In the 1830's a man named Edwin Beard Budding from Stroud, England, invented the first mechanical lawn mower. He worked in a textile mill, which had in use a machine to shear the nap on velvet, which reminded Budding of grass -- and the rest is history. And it seems poetically correct somehow that the lawn mower should have come from Britain, the home of tennis, while Scotland claims golf -- both sporting pastimes intended to happen on grass. The English also cherished their "bowling greens" and games of croquet. I suspect that this was the time period when cultivating plant life, simply to trample it, began.

 

Miniature thyme lines a stone pathway

Here in the twenty-first century people have plenty of grass to abuse, and tiring of that, have been thrashing about looking for another target. They like the idea of beautifully paved surfaces with nice crevices and cracks in which they can plant precious blooming things, so they can invite friends over and have a cocktail party on top of them. They look at a cute, diminutive plant, an alpine for instance, and ask, "How much traffic can it take?" This is indeed a very strange part of my job, explaining to people that miniature plants from the mountains don't prefer high heels, or tables and chairs scraped over their crowns. People, in their turn, are bewildered why this is so. They believe that "plant material" should welcome the repeated pressure of our feet since we are offering them a lovely home. Maybe humans have been living with wall-to-wall carpeting for too long. When my foot comes down on something unexpectedly soft I leap back, fearful that what is beneath me is alive, like a cushion plant or a pet's tail. This built-in reaction of mine seems to be out-of-date.

 

But even worse than this there now appear to be sellers out there who have latched on to this new proclivity of homeowners who want to walk on plants. Anything, it seems, that is cute and small goes on the list, for example, plants that aren't hardy, are brittle or too big, plants that will prove to be invasive, and ones that will squish. Does anybody do a "squish test?" Succulents get slimy once squashed, and sedums and sempervivums turn to jelly if stomped upon. On this list you'll also find Armeria, Draba, Dianthus, Erigeron, Erodium, Gypsophila, Isotoma, Hutchinsia, Leontipodium, Leptinella, Petrohagia, Potentilla, Raoulia, Scutellaria, Trifolium, and Veronica, among many, many more. If you go ahead and imagine any tiny plant in flower subjected to foot traffic, well, it's hard to imagine a blossom surviving.

 

I once had a customer insist on a low-growing plant to fill a very shady and rarely used path. Apparently grass would not even grow there. After going over and exhausting countless options he suddenly latched onto the idea of English Ivy. It turned out though, that twice a week he needed to drive his riding mower through there. It took me a little while to explain why wheels and vines are not compatible. I told him he may have to be content with bluestone paving. He pondered that for a moment, then came back with, "How thick would the bluestone have to be, to handle the weight of my riding mower and me?" Not knowing the weight of his mower or him, and not having taken any classes on the tolerances of bluestone paving, I had to admit I had no idea.

 

Lysimachia japonica 'Minutissima'

For better or for worse I know of two plants that do fairly well with a limited amount of traffic on or near them. For full sun, it is the tinier thymes. If bees make you nervous there's just nothing to be done about that. For shade, part shade, and even mostly sun, Lysimachia japonica 'Minutissima' cannot be beat. It covers itself with tiny lemon flowers, is perfectly flat and tight, and will seed about, helping to fill in the cracks. It has one drawback that is sometimes a deal breaker for people. It greens up relatively late in the spring. Just when everything else has been bursting with exuberance and growth this ground cover remains obstinately brown. It stays brown just long enough to convince you that you have completely lost it. Then it surges forward. You will simply need a little patience for that moment in time.

Against my better judgment, here's a trick when planting path and patio crevices. If you position the plants so that their crowns are below the level of the paving then the full weight of a footstep will not be landing on the crown. The foliage will still progress in the cracks and spill over onto stones, so the latter will remain vulnerable to heavy trampling. But this way the core of the plants will remain relatively unscathed. When you plant so that the crowns are at or above pavement level they will be forced to bear the full brunt of damage. Another little fact worth mentioning is that plants grown in full sun will probably be sturdier. They will stay tighter and denser compared to plants growing in a shady or half-shade environment, which will tend to become etiolated, and thus more tender and vulnerable to squashing.

 

A couple other candidates, not necessarily for walking on except perhaps by accident now and then are Arabis x sturrii, Dianthus freynii, Stachys densiflora 'Alba', and Veronica allionii. These are reliable, sturdy, uncomplaining little groundcovers that are very attractive all season long, in flower and out.

 

You see, I do actually understand the desire to have plants ad pressed to rocks and picturesquely filling in crevices. I am a rock gardener, after all. But this appetite for bending living things to our designing needs smacks to me of the worst kind of consumerism. Like someone ordering stain-resistant fabric or washable paint. We share the planet with living things and they deserve our respect. Far from accepting our footsteps, many rare plants only some of the time agree to cohabitate with us, and that, after much bending and accommodating on our parts to meet their requirements.

 

And something else, what if we did live in a "perfect world" where everything lovely could be stepped on? What would that say about our ability to appreciate beauty? Funny, I receive practically no calls from people who want to sit on their shrubs. Why should so many want to stand on their alpines?

 

© 2013 Lori Chips     

  

  

There's nothing like late blooming perennials to breathe life into a spent garden. But late color requires planning and often these plants appear on the retail benches when many gardeners are done planting for the season. We carry a number of late bloomers for fabulous fall color. Let's take a look at three of them: for shade Rabdosia longituba and Leucoseptrum, and Caryopteris divaricata for sun.

Rabdosia longituba (Trumpet Spur Flower) is a very late, October to November, bloomer. Many have already started to take their gardens down when this five-foot-plus woodland member of the salvia family starts to bloom. Masses of one-foot long minty sprays of purple-blue flowers explode from the plant creating an amazing effect when the low autumn sun backlights this plant. Some see its clump-forming and open habit as "weedy" or "a waste of garden space" as they can't see it doing much for the garden before September. But gardeners who covet this plant for its masses of late color and deer resistance, place it at the back of the border or mass it at the edge of a woodland where it harkens the end of summer, and brilliantly reminds them why they bought the plant in the first place. The white form of the species, Rabdosia longituba 'Tube Socks,' is well named and rewards the patient shade gardener with sprays of bright white tubular flowers that persist until frost.

Leucosceptrum (Japanese Shrub Mint) is the genus for a somewhat hard-to-find subshrub from Japan that is primarily grown for its foliage. Although a perennial, its shrub-like scale and habit belie the garden. You can't miss this plant in our display garden. It lurks quietly but boldly all season long, customers often asking after it and wondering why we let it take up so much real estate. But those who see it in autumn, when it's covered in masses of unusual four-sided buds, followed by bottlebrush-like flowers, want one for their shade garden.

Two cultivars worth mentioning are Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Golden Angel', a stunning gold-leaved form that holds up the shade garden all summer and can reach 3feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. It's covered in creamy white flowers in September and October when most other perennials are going dormant.

Leucosceptrum stellipilum 'October Moon' stays in a tidy 18-inch wide clump, sending out 3-foot long, upright, woody stems. Foliage is toothed, fuzzy, and its green quilted leaves are edged in chartreuse gold. In autumn, each stem is topped with fuzzy pink flowers.

All leucosceptrum are easy to grow and deer resistant. They prefer partial shade (morning sun is ideal) and soil with good drainage. Although their stems become quite woody, treat leucosceptrum like a perennial and cut it back in late autumn or early spring.

Finally, for sun, there's nothing like Caryopteris divaricata 'Blue Butterflies' to jolt a waning garden back to life. This plant's stealth-like demeanor changes abruptly when it reaches nearly 6 feet tall in August and then bursts forth covered with hundreds of small round, blue buds that open to flowers resembling blue butterflies. It blooms way into October and, being deer resistant, is highly suitable for a mass planting in waves or on a south-facing woodland edge, as long as the soil is well-drained.

The time to think about where these plants might work in your garden is now, so look around and imagine where you want great fall color this time next year. Put them on your "wish list" and let us know, so when these plants are available, we'll have them here for you.

Happily, the 2013 hurricane season was a bust here in the northeast. After hurricanes Irene and Sandy, our battered shoreline deserved a much-needed break. This past season at the nursery, we were inundated (pardon the pun) with questions from customers who lost plantings to super storm Sandy. Many were looking for plants that could withstand flooding and salt spray.

Recently, The University of Connecticut's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources launched a new website, "Coastal Riparian Landscaping Guide for Long Island Sound," so we paid the site a visit. Well designed and well organized, the site provides readers with valuable information on the riparian borders and corridors which overlay Long Island Sound. Three excellent fact sheets are available:

• Coastal Riparian Corridors for Long Island Sound -- discusses the importance of these areas and their uses from filtering storm runoff and providing wildlife habits.

• Preparing a Long Island Sound Coastal Riparian Area for Planting -- focuses on the methods used to prepare a coastal area for installation of a riparian buffer planting.

• Planting and Aftercare for Establishing Long Island Sound Coastal Riparian Plantings -- discusses proper planting methods to increase survival rate.

Cross-section drawings illustrate the water to beach to riparian buffer depending on levels of flooding, salt spray, and slope. Drawing, © UCONN.

Upon answering three simple questions about their property users are presented with landscaping diagrams that include both plan views and cross-section drawings. Plan views indicate how water access, views and lawn can be retained with a riparian buffer.

UCONN has also developed three, easy to use tables that list native Connecticut plants depending on salt tolerance. The list includes both botanical and common plant names, required sun to shade exposure, soil preference, availability and wildlife value. Zone 1 plants, for example, can tolerate direct salt spray and some saltwater overwash; Zone 2 plants tolerate moderate levels of salt spray; and Zone 3 plants are the least salt tolerant.

For homeowners looking for information on building a riparian border on their property, the UCONN website is a great place to start. And a great place to come and discover native plants is Oliver Nurseries. We carry most of the plants listed on the UCONN site, from widely available trees and shrubs to those with limited availability from specialty growers.