Updated Garden Pics, July 2012 - Part 3

Addition room. The rest of the shade garden off to the right along the west foundation wall isn't in tremendous shape and needs some more TLC.

Front yard, looking northeast.

Front porch, with potted hydrangeas. They are between reblooming stages. Plastic deco container and bench container courtesy of Suncast products. They are extremely durable, water-tight, fade and crack resistant. Highly recommended!

Front walk, looking north. Mailbox planting is of purple (rear) and white (front) hardy mums, and Dusty Miller. The right side is Tradition Azaleas and fire/ice Hostas. Mailbox courtesy of Rubbermaid products - the black is fading, but it's nothing that a quick hit of spraypaint can't fix.

Looking toward neighbor's Nikko Blue hydrangeas. Highlights on my side are  F&E Together and Twist N Shout hydrangeas.

East foundation looking north. There is plenty going on here, including red heart Althea, some Lamium, carpetflower, dianthus, beebalm, rudbeckia, gladiolus, and daylilies.

Another closeup. There is almost too much going on here (whoops!)

Updated Garden Pics, July 2012 - Part 2

Middle of rear bed, featuring Annabelle and Bella Anna hydrangeas. I've since added some clearance Nikkos behind them. 

Northeast rear corner. The short walkway through there is the path to the main compost pile. However, I've thrown clay soil and additional compost material behind the entire rear wall of this terraced garden in an effort to shore up the hillside more, as well as prevent weeds and vines from creeping up and overtaking these beds.

Pan View looking west through Blazing Star along the back bed. Just look at that "wall of hydrangeas" I'm putting together! And, the backdrop is a semi-mature forest covered in grapevines - how cool is that! PS: Don't attempt to be slick and cut grapevine trunks - they will come back meaner than ever - just keep them off your plants.

The northwest corner, from the east.

Northwest corner, from the southeast. 

Plantings alongside neighbor's fence and shed. Visible is an upstart Salsa hydrangea, some hostas, blush-satin Althea, Black Knight butterfly bush, and David Ramsey hydrangea.

A lot going on here. The neighbor's euonymus needs a prune but I'll get to that. Showpiece here is Great Star hydrangea (left). Quick Fire (further down) has already turned pink.

Addition room bed. Hydrangeas are Summer Lace, Grayswood, Penny Mac, and Endless Summer, along with a PeeGee hydrangea tree.

Updated Garden Pics, July 2012

What's a blog without the eye candy? Here's some new shots! Once again, I've only been in this home for four years, so everything is still young and there is still a lot of moving things to be done.

The showpiece of my east foundation bed, Summer Storm hardy hibiscus, standing at nearly eight feet tall! Throw in dinner plate-sized flowers and you've really got something. Also in this shot is one of its smaller rosemallow cousins that only grows to 3'. Hydrangeas are Lemmon Daddy and Cityline Venice. Groundcover is Snow on the Mountain, spotted Lamium, and some Vinca vines.

Close-up of Summer Storm hardy hibiscus flower (well above 6' fence height). These are killed to the ground each Winter, but re-sprout these thick stems each May and begin flowering in mid to late Summer.

Limelight Hydrangea with Blazing Star (Liatris), scented Asiatic lilies, butterfly bush, etc.

My young Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, with a slew of other perennials.

This year's WINNER! Little Lime hydrangea. The photo does it NO justice. The foliage and flower color is simply AMAZING, much different than the traditional Limelight. These blooms will at least double in size by August. 

Walkway from backyard up to neighbor's cut-through to our front yards. 

Out Of The Drought! Plus Tips and Tricks To Go With It

Well, after the driest May and June that I can remember as an adult, we've finally rebounded here in SWPA. At this point, it's almost too much of a rebound though, since many low-lying areas have experienced some flash flooding - but luckily no one around here has been killed this year. But the grass is green again, and things that needed to grow are starting to catch up.

If you want to apply slow-release fertilizer to plants and shrubs, NOW is the second and FINAL time I recommend doing this (the first time being in Spring immediately after last frost).  Also, do not apply as much as you did in Spring.This gives the plants vigor to continue growing and blooming, but also will allow them time to properly wind down growth and go dormant in the Fall when freezes start hitting again. Also remember, if in prolonged drought conditions, do not fertilize. With overly dry conditions and scorching sun every day, fertilizing will do more harm than good. The only additional fertilizing to be done this year would be your lawn, which should be done around early October, using any granular type of your choosing.

During episodes like these where there is heavy rain every few days, it's a great time to move plants and shrubs around as everything is moist, easy to work, and provides less of a shock to the transplanted specimens. Also, as usual, check your drainage and irrigation systems. If there are washouts or standing water, you may want to look into channeling the flow of rain water in different ways. Spreading water evenly through/over and away from plants is key to their health and survival, and of course key to preserving any hard labor you have put into your landscaping.

It's safe to say we've had almost enough rain to get us through almost another month without it. And with 30-60% chance of rain every few days, that should be *enough* probability to have this timeline extended, and should give us the confidence not feel the need to walk around like an idiot watering all day (believe me, I certainly felt like one after a certain point in the drought). Heck, we might have to cut the grass more than once a month!

Ultimately I'm proud that I kept up the watering enough to keep plants growing enough in size to help them make it through harsh seasonal conditions that we experience here. Since my gardens are centered around hydrangeas, watering was of the utmost importance! They really are great plants, and well worth the effort of keeping up with them. Overwintered specimens here only really need a good covering when late Spring frosts hit, and in-ground moisture from Winter is normally enough to get the plants growing and looking healthy through mid-June, even when dry conditions exist. And, even in the most severe heat and drought, they only need to be watered about once every other day (misting the leaves and blooms is not required but it can help with wilting and scorching a bit).

New Hydrangeas Available Locally

This week, Lowe's has begun carrying 'new' selections of hydrangea from Kurt Weiss Greenhouses. At the forefront, are picotee-leaved specimens "Midnight Salsa" and "Sandy Summer". Sandy Summer most closely resembles Forever & Ever's Peppermint variety. Lowe's also has been selling various traditional florist hydrangeas from KW, however be careful since all of them have been categorized as wither Merritt's Supreme or Blue Danube; but there are many different breeds - see KW's catalog below to identify yours.

For more info, please visit KW's new website: http://www.hydrangeas.com . There, you will find a video highlighting their growing, and a PDF catalog that parallels the video.

Here is the Midnight Salsa I picked up. It most closely resembles H. serrata "Preziosa" in appearance.

Pics From My Garden, June 5, 2012 - Part 3

This is the front of my home.

This is the east foundation wall bed.

This is the west foundation wall bed.

Pics From My Garden, June 5, 2012 Part 2

This is the north bed, a 10x50' rectangle with a rear terrace wall! The general location is where the property begins to slope off into a series of deep valleys leading down to the Allegheny River. The woods are deeply shaded, mature, and uninhabited, except by some deer.When I moved in, this bed was all brush, thorns and weeds. It has since been primed for a nice load of trees, shrubs, and perennials! Click to enlarge the pics. They were taken at 7pm in cloudy conditions.

Hostas, Shasta Daisy, Zagreb Coreopsis, Roses of Sharon, Dwarf Barberry, Stella d'Oro daylilies, Spirea, Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea, PeeGee Pink Hydrangea (baby), Autumn Joy Sedum, May Night Salvia, Blazing Star, and more!

Red Knockout Rose, Little Lime Hydrangea, Zagreb Coreopsis, misc daylilies, and more!

Jane Magnolia (in yard, foreground), misc daylilies, Moje Hammarberg Rose, Mandarin Rose, Let's Dance Big Easy Hydrangea, Hydrangea Mariesii Variegata, Spruce tree, and more!

Close-up of Big Easy Hydrangea and Mariesii Variegata.

Annabelle and Bella Anna Hydrangeas, Liriope, Dooley Hydrangeas, PJM Rhododendron, and more!

Mexican Primrose, Butterfly Bush, PeeGee Hydrangea tree, Hollyhock, Zagreb, Rose of Sharon, Lilac.

Now for the east fence bed, paralleling my other neighbor's fence.

Butterfly Bushes, Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, Limelight Hydrangea, Red Prince Weigela, Blazing Star, and more!

Wine & Roses Weigela, Liriope, Pinky Winky Hydrangea, Fantasia - Brestenburg - Merritt's Supreme Hydrangea.

Pics From My Garden, June 5, 2012

I've finally gotten around to using the camera on my smartphone, so I will now share the latest pics of my garden!

North-facing addition room bed. This wraps around the addition room at the rear of my house and proceeds  to follow my neighbors fence north toward the northeast corner of my property.

Penny Mac - Endless Summer - Merritt's Supreme hydrangeas, Mexican Primrose, Purple Coneflower, Burning Bush,,,

View of the wraparound walkway. Roses are off to the right as well as Great Star and Little Lamb Hydrangeas.

Addition room bed looking toward the front of the house. You can see Japonica, Mariesii  Perfecta and Zorro Hydrangeas, and tons more!

The following are of my west fence bed. This borders on my neighbors yard. She has a nice shed and decorative wooden well. Once again, I didn't picture the whole thing but it's loaded with hydrangeas, roses, hostas etc.

Big hydrangeas! David Ramsey on either side of Pink N Pretty, with some hostas.  The PnP will not bloom this year because of late Spring frosts.

Hostas, CL Blaze rose, Amber and Scarlet Carpet Rose, Quickfire hydrangea, and more!

Cooler Weather Doth Prevail!

So after my last post, it proceeded to rain some, and then cool off! If it's going to be dry, it might as well be cool. Make sure to keep your beds watered though, as dry, sunny, breezy days will dehydrate plants quicker than you might think. Only mist if you have to; these dewy mornings take care of that for the most part.

This would also be a good time for people out there to trim back evergreens, trees, vines, and get some more weeding done. I'm saying this for a couple of reasons. First, things have indeed had the chance to get quite large and expansive this Spring. By trimming these things back now, you can save a lot of trouble later in the summer, when things begin become crowded or tangled. Secondly, it's easy to do when it's cool out!

All this said, this is looking like the last chance to plant before Summer, as next week it's supposed to shoot back up near 90 degrees again! Make sure to keep your plants well-watered, or you will lose them when the heat hits.

We Need RAIN - badly!

Okay, so we've only had one day of good rainy weather in the past month. It's actually not been that bad of a Spring considering this, plus the fact that we had those late damaging freezes after our plants broke dormancy. But, I'd really hate to think about what things are going to look like if this keeps up all the way through September. My water bill is going to be sky-high if I need to keep watering like I have been. People with rain barrels will be having no luck, either. This brings to mind years like 1988 where we had stretches like this - not very enjoyable for anyone, let alone gardeners.

So I will now warn people - SPRING PLANTING SEASON IS PRETTY MUCH OVER. It will be difficult to plant much of anything (unless  you wait until next week when it's going to be cooler and hope for the best). If you decide to plant anything, water and mulch it heavily to help get it started. I wouldn't go past June 1 as a general rule.

Due to this dry climate we've shifted into in western PA in recent years, I'm also going to go ahead and say that it is NOT a good idea to try and re-seed your lawn in Spring. The seed I put down has grown weakly and has gotten no where near enough water to take off. That said, there's barely been enough rain to keep mature grass growing - and even the weeds are suffering right now!

So best of luck to everyone this Summer. Large trees will be your friend, as the shade will help save your plants.

Everywhere, It Is Now: HANGING BASKET TIME!

If you're looking for this year's hanging baskets of choice for your property, NOW is the time to get them. They are arriving in full force at major retailers and independent nurseries & garden centers. They will get picked over quickly, and there are seldom any quality "clearance" baskets.

You can expect to pay about $12 and up for any kind of decent basket. Walmarts may charge less, but I find the soil used in them dries quicker, so you will gradually see your plants wither and diminish throughout the summer, no matter how fast you chase them with water.

For the shade I find you can use almost anything, but for the sun I recommend New Guinea Impatiens. They take just about all the sun you can throw at them - just be sure the soil in their pots is heavy enough to retain decent amounts of water. Kmart in particular currently has new shipments of these, and they are $11.99 apiece. I also recommend Kmart for all of your New Guinea Impatiens needs!

HOW TO: Properly Planting a Root Ball Using Entirely Native Soil.

A major challenge in PA gardening is properly planting trees, shrubs, and perennials when the most of the soil around here is tightly packed hard clay that cannot be broken up and is consequently of no use to the plant roots. You can easily dig a hole through the clay, minus a few rocks or roots that can be dug/cut out and removed with some additional effort. But what's the best thing to use as backfill around the rootball once you have planted it? I will now share what works pretty good for this area and will yield healthy plants - this is only using naturally occurring materials you should already have access to. Step by step, it is as follows (please read thoroughly before following, the steps are co-dependent):

1. Choose a time to work that suits, e.g. early morning or late evening, and preferably a dry day or two after it has last rained. Otherwise, you may find yourself hot, overexerted, soaked, or muddy. Dig your hole, using normal procedures (make it deep enough so the crown of the plant is level with the surrounding terrain, dig hole twice the diameter of the root ball). Remove any roots or rocks. If the debris is too many or too large, consider more serious excavation (saws, digger bars, back-hoes, augers) or a different plant location. Discard roots as far away from your garden as possible, or at the far end of a compost pile (where you throw sticks, etc). Lots of rocks around here make fine garden accents or pathway  stones, so you may decide to keep any rocks for future use. Beats hauling it somewhere else, right?

2. Don't discard your excavated soil! Shovel into empty pots or containers for "processing." You may find that the top few inches of what you dug is richer in organic matter. Shovel that into one 3-gallon pot, and shovel the heavier clay (from the bottom of the hole) into a different pot. You will be reusing the good soil.

3. Set your plant / rootball into the hole and make sure the crown is level with the surrounding terrain. You may have it 1-2 inches higher, but NEVER lower. Make sure the plant is oriented in the center of the hole, and there is enough room to get a few inches of backfill all the way around the roots. Also, make sure the body of the plant is in an attractive or productive position - you don't want to dig and replant later because you decided you don't like which way the plant is facing!

4. Process what you have dug. The pot containing the richer soil will be *some* of the backfill for the hole, around the rootball and up to 3 inches from the crown. Using hands or a trowel, break it up into the finest consistency, and backfill. Press the soil firmly into the space around the bottom of the ball. Then add some water to it all, to the point where you can *just barely* see a standing water puddle that looks like a moat.

5. Now here's what could be but shouldn't be a challenge. Find an area of your property, or a communal area rich in soil directly from composted vegetation, e.g. one where you know people have dumped materials for the purpose of composting. Dig down just to where you get into soft black or brown compost, which should have the appearance of coffee grounds, and have a neutral or lack of smell. A funky smell could signify stagnant water, in which case you should select a different compost area. Fill an empty 3-gal pot 2/3 full and carry it back to your work site.

6. Use your pot of compost to fill the remaining 3 inches of "moat" around the roots all the way up to the crown, packing firmly with your hands as you go. Then, water it down with no more than 2 quarts of water, and pack down again later after the water has settled. Place a light coating of mulch atop the area where the hole was dug.

7. Take your pot of heavy clay, carry it to the compost heap, and break it up with your shovel. As it dries, it will become part of future usable compost! If you have your own compost heaps, periodically work them with a shovel, rake or pitchfork to speed up the composting process.

Need Roses? McTighe's Garden Center = a winner!!

For some reason, McTighe's Garden Center on Route 8 (Butler Street) in the Glenshaw/Shaler area was one of my last places to visit in 2012, BUT it was certainly one of the best in many ways.

In short, they have a HUGE selection, are packed-full with stock, decent pricing, and a sizeable staff. And if you need Rose shrubs, look NO further - McTighe's carries the largest selection I have ever seen, a.k.a. the most brands and colors - I counted at least 50 different. To boot, no single rose price seemed to exceed $25, which is phenomenal.

When you arrive, parking is angled off-street along the front of the property. You DO have room to back out of your space without potruding into Route 8. Whether you're starting from the north end (Roses) or the south (shrubs/perennials) you'll be aghast at how long it takes to make your way from one end to the other. You can't spend less than 20 minutes here unless you've already been before and know what you're looking for.

Now, onto the nitty-gritty. Their selection is highly intuitive, as their perennial selection in particular is honed in specifically on cant-go-wrong / no fuss specimens. In other words, perennials you buy here SHOULD perform year after year as long as you provide the most basic of garden maintenance. The pot size that impressed me the most were one-gallons, which are only running in the $7 range. There are a few places that sell cheaper, but can you get 2-foot tall astilbes at this size/price anywhere else? Probably not.

McTighe's annual and vegetable selection is also top-notch. Their hanging baskets and containers are competitively priced, and you can spend from $15 all the way up to $100 on single containers if you want to get real fancy.

The only personal disappointment for me was the lack of hydrangeas. Being a collector and all, I'm always looking for new specimens to add. But aside from some Dooley's and basic Proven Winners paniculatas, they did not have anything else to tickle my fancy. But once again, McTighe's leans toward the least finicky of plants (which hydrangeas aren't), so at least they are true to form.

Rain, Rain... Thank You, Mother Nature! (Plus, last freeze date has now passed!)

So we've had record-setting rains here in the Pittsburgh region the last day or two. But welcome it is, since we've had a mostly dry Spring, which combined with late freezes has gotten plant growth off to a slow start. Now the ground is saturated, and we shouldn't have to worry about much of any watering for another week or so!

This has also been a good time to check and see if your drainage and irrigation systems are working properly. In the garden, these are usually successfully accomplished by cutting shallow trenches along the fronts of borders, and making slopes by mounding garden soil to one side or another. In the end you want everything to a) get watered, and b) drain so that standing water does not accumulate for too long of a time. Now, with this heavy rain you may still notice washouts and irregular buildups of mulch, silt, or other organic matter. These must be cleared! If not, these buildups will cause you more headaches later in the season, such as drainage problems in the garden or the erosion of pathways and lawn edging. There's also the possibility of water going other places you don't want it to, such as garages, basements, foundations, and adjacent properties.

But I will put in a few more words about the last Spring freeze. Ever want to know the best way to tell this in southwestern PA? Listen for the call of Baltimore Orioles. They are migratory birds and distantly related to robins. Each Spring from April to May they return here, staking out positions high in the treetops to start their yearly mating rituals. My mother once told me "Whenever you hear an Oriole, you know it's safe to plant (annuals)". And uncannily true this turned out to be, as the DAY after our last Spring freeze of 2012, I heard one out back!

Visited: Michael Bros. Nursery in Russelton, PA

Yesterday, I decided to visit Michael Bros. Nursery in Russelton, PA. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and you have no idea where this is, it's more or less located just northeast of the Route 910 corridor out of Harmar Twp and Cheswick borough. You can hit (47) Michael Rd from Saxonburg Blvd or Rich Hill Rd. It's set in a mostly still-rural area dotted with farms and small towns, but also has new high-end housing plans popping up. You can't miss the property, as their large annual greenhouses come right up to the roadway. Their sign is a painted wooden one that stands about 8' tall. From the road, there is a packed gravel drive that leads to a sizeable gravel lot that can hold about 20 cars. From the lot looking north, the annuals, veggies and herbs are to the left along with the shop. Directly ahead is the perennials greenhouse (about 50x150' in size). And to the right is mainly the tree and shrub area. There are also some perennials in long hoophouses (about eight in total) of the tree and shrub area.

I'd like to start by saying that for the pot sizes they carry, their prices on plants blows lots of other nurseries' prices out of the water! The selection is what you'd call traditional or "expected", but is also very large, with large quantities of a wide range of specimens that are hardy to PA. For these reasons, both novices and experts can easily find things to suit their needs.

Most 3-gallon shrubs run around $24, which is an excellent price and is competitive with even the big box stores. I got a Wine & Roses Weigela at this price, which was three times as tall as the same plant at Lowe's, which have all been pruned down to 12" and go for $27. Some other noteworthy things I saw included 5-gallon magnolia trees, for which they charge $40-60, where most other places charge from $80-120.

I'd recommend Michael Bros. to anyone who doesn't mind making the short trip. Their staff is friendly, knowledgeable and present, just as advertised on their website. You can learn more about them at www.michaelbrosnursery.com

Patching Bare Spots on Your Lawn the Economical Way

When you shop around or read tutorials, you always see either oversimplified or somewhat complicated methods of patching bare spots in your lawn. What I'm about to share is my simple and easy way of getting this done! Now keep in mind, you may have to do at least a little bit of this at the start of each Spring, but by properly fertilizing your lawn with weed and crabgrass preventers at regular intervals, you won't need to patch bare spots quite as much.

Here is my procedure:

1. Have a bag of mid-grade potting soil handy, e.g. Scott's Hyponex. Fill a 5gal pot with it and loosen it up with your hands to the finest possible consistency.

2. Get a decent size bag of grass seed. I used Pennington "Ultimate" seed, "grows anywhere". $9 treats 750 square feet, which amounts to a lot when you are patching bare or thin spots. This seed is lightly coated with starter fertilizer, so you don't need to add any third party products.

3. Locate bare spots by where there is little to no grass, which can be bare soil but in PA this is often substituted with other matter such as dead grass, weeds,  seed pods, leaves, etc. Grab a hand rake and get this loose material out of there, while at the same time loosening just the surface of the soil beneath.

4. Grab and sprinkle small amounts of seed with your first four fingers at about 5 seeds per square inch.

5. Grab handfuls of the potting soil and work an even coating of soil up to 3/8 of an inch over the bare spots containing the seed you sprinkled. Flatten it down with your hand. This is now the mulch that the seed will begin to grow in. A decent enough quality soil (such as Hyponex) will have plenty of nutrients to get the grass growing.

6. Lightly shower water until the patches are completely moist and appear flat. This should only take a second or two for each area you work. Do not overwater! You don't want to wash away the products you just laid down. You should see little if no seed at the surface.

You should see new light green shoots appear in just a few days, with thick grass coming in full within a week! I find that my method works much faster than products like "patch mixes" and certainly faster than trying to rake seed into the soil after you've laid it. Remember, you should only patch your lawn in early Spring or mid-Fall. There simply is not enough coolness or moisture to do this in the Summer.

This Blog is Now Live!

After over a year and a half writing in MS Word, my blog is now live! Older posts have been backdated, and range in simplicity since they written mainly to document doings in my garden. I hope to even go to the extent of backfilling the posts with pictures to more clearly explain the work I have done.

Once again, I hope to use my own experiences to help others negotiate common issues found in southwestern PA's environments.

Spring Freezes Stink

We’re stuck in a trough in the jet stream right now, which is unfortunate because most of the US is above freezing, whereas the central Atlantic region has been under freeze watches and warnings every few days or so. We had one hard freeze about a week ago, that thwarted much new growth on the macrophylla hydrangeas as well as butterfly bushes, to name a few. We’ve yet to see if the flower buds will survive, as some leaves have dried to a crisp. 

Winter 2012 Results

To say the least, it was a mild winter… This was to the point where the USDA released a new zone hardiness map where it moved my region from 6A to 6B! This said, the colder weather broke around the second week of the month, forcing almost everything out of dormancy. To boot, daffodils and the like had sprouted shoots as early as mid-January!

I had decided to winter-protect my macrophylla hydrangeas, which went for not since most of the winter was actually above freezing. As I recall, the lowest temperature was about 7 degrees and there was no cold snap that lasted longer than a day or two.

Warmer temps also led to me moving a few things around, such as daylilies, many of which were donated from Carol who had her side garden tilled.