ARE YOU CREATING BUSY WORK IN THE GARDEN? - CAN'T EAT IT? PLANT IT! - MEA CULPA, MERCER!
by BRENDA BEUST SMITH
Pretty little garden, isn't this?
But what I really see is a gardener who doesn't mind creating a lot of unnecessary busy work.
How many "Lazy Gardening No-No!" examples can you spot?
I count five.
1. No border. That grass isn't crazy. It's going to grow right into that garden where, one must assume, the gardener has put in really good fertile soil or at least is fertilizing and watering regularly.
2. Plant choice. There's nothing wrong with tulips and hyacinths. They are gorgeous. But . . .
a. both must be refrigerated at least four to six weeks before planting in a Texas Gulf Coast garden. Some nurseries sell "pre-chilled" bulbs. But if it doesn't say that, you must do it* or all you'll get will be short green stalks and no flowers.
b. these are spring blooming annual bulbs in this area. That means almost this entire garden is going to have to be replaced as soon as these blooms die. They won't return to bloom again.
3. I saw this garden and I know that mulch is very fine and the soil is quite visible through it. That means weeds will pop up easily. A layer of newspaper under the mulch, right on top the soil around the plant will help stop weeds from sprouting.
4. Plants are flush against the tree. This may trigger tree problems in the future. Always leave an open "collar" around the tree. Lots of vital microbacterial action takes place at the point where bark touches soil. Good air circulation is vital.
5. Might or might not be a problem. Again, I know this garden is on flat ground. If it were on a slope or in an extremely well drained area, this wouldn't be a problem. But most of Houston is flat. Soil under ground-level gardens often stays way too wet during our spring and fall rains.
Local gardeners would have been well advised to raise this bed, which would have been easier to do if some type of border material had been used around the edge.
On the other hand, raising the garden would have posed a problem for the tree. That "collar" mentioned earlier really should be at least a foot wide at this point.
But, in truth, it's not really that big a problem.
As that tree grows, its trunk is going to widen and probably the roots it sends out will kill all those plants anyway!
* Tulips, hyacinths, muscari and crocus are Holland
bulbs that require cold for the bulbs to fully develop and
trigger blooms. Put the bulbs in a paper sack and set in
the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks before planting. New
Year's Day is a traditional day for planting these, so hurry.
If you're a couple of weeks late, it probably won't matter. Remember, these bulbs NEED cold winter soil.
If you want to pot tulips, place one row of tulip bulbs
with flat sides facing outward. That way, the leaves will
form a nice outer "wreath of green." Set the pot outside
in the garage on the concrete floor. Cover with a
cardboard box. When you see green shoots, take
the box off.
CAN'T EAT IT? PLANT IT!
As regular readers know, I love gardeners who march
to their own drummers. So often they open our eyes to so
many new options.
Heard recently from a Klein gardener who definitely qualifies
as an "own drummer." When she discovered some
too-old-to-eat sweet potatoes, rather than throw them out,
she planted them. That was just the beginning. From that
one semi-rotted sweet potato she harvest about 13 lbs.
This year when she wound up with some past-their-prime red
and white potatoes, she planted those. She feels safest, she says, starting with potatoes from her local grocery store, since she feels sure they're safe to eat.
That's not to say our nurseries don't carry perfectly edible potato starts. But, it does save on gas - just making one trip for your kitchen and garden both!
Thrilled by her success, this Klein gardener has branched out into planting other not-so-fresh-looking veggies into the ground:
"The top slice of a yellow onion was growing sprouts, some green onions were too slimy. Into the ground they went. They grew with no baby-ing. The red potatoes and brown potatoes either rotted or just grew tiny babies, not worth doing them again." Not all her plants are inground
. Multiple past-prime-time sweet potatoes in a 12-inch pot did great too. She noted these grew in funny shapes (pictured above) that she really enjoyed.
She has better luck, she says, with a mixture of peat moss and sand than she does with expensive store-bought potting soil.
I'M SO SORRY, MERCER!My cyber-challenged photographic abilities resulted in sub-par pictures last week of the
beautiful flowers in bloom at Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Garden and the captions were even less clear. So I'm going to run them again this week. Mercer is such a treasure for us, a living library, I don't want to pass up another opportunity to encourage everyone to visit . . . especially in this cooler weather which is so great for walking!
Blooming at Mercer in early November were these usual spring beauties: l to r, bluebonnets (in a tall rock "container" for excellent drainage) and camellias by Storey Lake. Azaleas, of course, now bloom spring and fall but it's still awesome to see them on the Azalea Trail. Right above, fall-blooming Japanese anemone 'Alice Staub', named for one of Houston's best known horticulturists. So glad Alice came into my life.
Your fall garden, too, should now be a'glow with natives vital to butterflies, hummingbirds and other birds, especially migrating species: l to r, American beautyberry, cassia, purple coneflowers, Spathoglottis x 'Groovy Grape.' I found some real exciting surprises at Mercer. For example, I'd never seen a white Philippine violet (barlaria) or, a yellow cape honeysuckle. This barlaria has been evergreen through recent winters. And certainly have never seen such lush plantings of the shade-loving purple Persian Shield and the exotic toadlilies
Take the kiddos along when you go. Not only is the walk a healthy-but-easily manageable one, they'll be as delighted as you are when they get to l to r, see flowering banana trees, smell the incredible fragrant butterfly gingers, and delight in fun wildlife like turtles and lizards.
Delights of our walk ranged from beautiful orange and red/white Mexican zinnias and spectacular
Celosia spicata spikes.
I'm dying for a gigantic crinum (left). Always an eye-catcher is this fantastic bromeliad,
Aechmea blanchetiana, along with multiple shade-lovers including yellow ligularia and red firespike, which did my heart good. Mercer's aren't blooming any better this year than mine are!
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