Saturday, September 12, 2009

“Planting a jaw-dropping home garden - HamptonRoads.com” plus 4 more

“Planting a jaw-dropping home garden - HamptonRoads.com” plus 4 more

Planting a jaw-dropping home garden - HamptonRoads.com

Posted: 12 Sep 2009 09:31 PM PDT

Devoted gardeners dig and plant and prune and weed season after season, eking out their own little Eden.

But few are as successful in conjuring a paradise as jaw-dropping as the one Paul English has created.

In a modest neighborhood in Chesapeake's Western Branch area, English has created a spectacular Japanese-style garden around a house he bought more than 30 years ago on a street aptly named Mimosa Court.

His garden theme begins at the curb with a low bamboo fence, leads to a tree-shaded waterfall and pond beside the front door and wraps around the house, deep into the back and side yards with curving beds 50 feet long. His garden features a fire pit, greenhouse and a trickling waterfall wall on the garage's exterior.

The elaborate landscape started simply enough.

A couple of years after he moved in - he thinks it was 1979 - the then-novice gardener bought 30 pots of pink coral bell azaleas and put them in the ground behind the house.

They thrived, and English felt more than satisfaction.

"I thought I was big time," he said.

Something within him stirred, planting a passion to grow more.

Then more, and more.

English, who teaches economics and geography at Chesapeake's campus of Tidewater Community College, spent several years living and working in Asia, bringing back home a love of Japanese maples, bamboo, fish ponds and boulders. He calls his gardening style a twist on the real thing, or "Japanese eclectic."

"I have too much color for the style to be truly Oriental," he said. "I like to play with shape and form and color and texture and size."

From the beginning, one of English's biggest challenges was the flatness of his terrain. Water pools and drains poorly after a big rain. So, with an artist's eye, he piled soil in long, undulating berms and bought trees and shrubs and perennials that allowed him to "paint" as well as plant.

A dwarf elm that he keeps pruned to enjoy its structure gives him what he likes even when it's bare.

"I like seeing trunk and branches, " he said.

English also enjoys the movement and texture of mondo grass, the snakelike vine of a wisteria.

He loves the color red, using it again and again in things like a Yaupon holly (ilex vomitoria), that develops electric red berries. Crimson Queen, a lace-leaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum dissectum), is another favorite because of its hue.

And he cherishes black bamboo, even though, he admits, its aggressive habits are a pain. He contains his in an aluminum-lined concrete trough 25 inches deep and 6 inches wide.

For seating, he sprinkled around organic Indonesian root chairs, tables and benches. Some are grouped around a recent addition, a three-boulder bubbling fountain installed near the house.

Boulders and stones are important elements in English's garden. He takes great pains to decide where and how to place them in and around plant beds.

"I read a book, and it said you want to bury your rocks to give them vigor," he said, grinning and tapping one enormous boulder with a foot. "But this one is like an iceberg."

He miscalculated as he dug the basin for the massive rock to rest in and ended up with more of it below ground than he had planned.

English's gardening methods are never simple.

To promote drainage in the raised beds he continues to establish on his flat land, he uses his own planting mix: two yards of pea gravel, two yards of soil, two yards of shredded hardwood mulch and two yards of compost.

As both the garden and English have matured - he is 62 - he has finally begun taking shortcuts here and there.

"I used to mix all that manually, he said. "But now I have it all put in a dump truck, and when it's delivered and it's dumped, it tends to mix it."

The design decisions create tension and harmony in a panorama he and wife, Linda, enjoy regardless of the weather, temperature or season from the large windows of an expansive sun room on the back of their home.

In winter, evergreens and structural plants entertain the eye. In spring, the garden explodes in a confection of bloom. In summer, texture takes over as deciduous and evergreen plants, shiny-leafed and dull, large-leafed and small work in concert to create interest. Fall means another interplay of seasonal color. Rivers of lawn provide a sense of movement and relieve the eye.

"We like the inside/outside feel and the way the garden comes right up to the window," he said.

As English has had more ideas and craved more space, his handiwork oozed into neighboring properties so his garden can grow unimpeded, eating up square footage like rambling kudzu vine.

Now he owns five properties and three houses, one that he and his wife live in and two that he rents out. The entire estate takes in 3 acres.

And he's not done.

"I come out here and drink and think," he joked.

Close study doesn't guarantee instant success: "I always overdo it. I'll make the same mistake a hundred times. Open space is just as important as planted space in Japanese gardening, and I always forget that.

"I read a ton of books. I go to a lot of botanical gardens. I plant stuff - and kill a lot of stuff. The hardest thing is knowing what a plant looks like during each part of the year."

He says that every time he begins designing another bed, it takes two or three years for things to fill in and "look right."

Pacing off the flat lowlands that make up his garden, he called out the names of established beds as he passed them: Mr. Dodd's bed, Herb's bed, Linda Pinkham's bed. Betty Jo's bed was named after a friend who requested a spot.

"Everybody here's a tough cookie," English said, indicating the non-irrigated plants in Betty Jo and revealing a charming habit in which he often refers to a plant as "this guy," as if it were human.

"I wanted to see if people could live out here," he said, throwing an arm toward a particular flat area of his yard that still collects water in heavy rain.

"People" can. Everyone in that raised bed is thriving.

However, another bed at the very back of his acreage full of burgundy-leafed loropetalum, dogwood saplings, verbena and camellias is not a favorite. It is called J.J.'s bed or, on bad days, "the bed from Hell."

"This is a bed I get depressed about when I come over here because it's so weedy," he said, noticing with displeasure that poison ivy had recently taken root. "I never make it over here. I run out of time and energy, and I procrastinate."

He paused for a moment near the resting place of Moon Dancer, a beloved cat, listening to the wind hiss through the loblollies overhead.

"The pine forest is not mine," he said ruefully, looking toward a neighboring house in a clearing beyond the trees. "I covet it, and they know it."

English and his wife always traveled quite a bit. But they've cut down on far-flung vacations, he said, because they like being home the best.

Staying home lets English garden constantly, in sun or rain. Since he works at home, he is inside and out all day. English's renters are beyond delighted that he plants and mulches and weeds their yards, and he entertains neighbors by always changing their views. Friends come over frequently to enjoy the ambience.

English is happy that his wife seems to enjoy helping with the weeding. Even so, maintaining what he has created takes time. Wet weather brings on weeds with a vengeance, despite pine straw laid so thick that walking on it feels like treading on a mattress. This past spring he spread 500 bales. Last year it was 350.

He also manages six sets of compost piles.

"I think composting is close to godliness," he said, leaving some doubt about whether he was joking.

This summer English won the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council's Notable Yards Contest, and his garden has been open during the state's Historic Garden Week.

The couple welcomes many casual visitors. Some call. Some spy the view from the street, pop in and ask for a look.

On their strolls they might see the empty space at the back of the garden or an unplanted area to the side.

English just smiles.

"Well, I have plans."

Krys Stefansky, (757) 446-2732, krys.stefansky@pilotonline.com

 



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Garden Calendar - Miami Herald

Posted: 12 Sep 2009 10:13 PM PDT

EVENTS

A.D. Barnes Park Bird Walk: Gigi Pardo leads birders through park; 7:30 a.m. Sunday; 3401 SW 72nd Ave., West Miami-Dade. www.tropicalaudubon.org.

Adopt a Tree: Miami-Dade residents can adopt two trees from a variety of fruit trees. Participants picking up trees for a family member who is the property owner must present their ID plus a photocopy of the property owner's ID and written authorization from the property owner; 9 a.m.-noon Saturday; J.C. Bermudez Park, 3000 NW 87th Ave., Doral; RSVP by 5 p.m. Wednesday by calling DERM and speaking with Jennifer L. Rodero at 305-372-6999 or Pam Chin at 305-372-6784. www.miamidade.gov. 305-372-6784.

Everything Orchids: Martin Motes, owner of Motes Orchids in Homestead, presents an Introduction to Orchid Growing. Vendors create tabletop arrangements to be auctioned off to benefit the garden. Lectures include Basic Orchid Care, Mounting Orchids and Care of Cattleyas; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday; Mounts Botanical Garden, 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach; $5, free for members. www.mounts.org.

Flamingo's Grandparents Day: Grandchildren color a free Happy Grandparents Day card. Features 10-2 Gimme Sound DJs with music from the '30s through '60s. Grandparents get free admission and others get in for half price. Includes a tour of the garden; 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday; Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S. Flamingo Rd., Davie; half-price admission is $8.50 for ages 12 and older, $4.25 kids 4-11, free for kids 3 and younger. www.flamingogardens.org.

Gardening Made Easy on Miami-Dade Cooperative Extension's Website: Website helps people learn how to put vacant lots to use and take the hassle out of growing vegetables. Go to miami-dade.ifas.ufl.

edu/lawn_and_garden/communitygarden.shtml for community gardening and learn how others got started. Go to miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/home_gardening.shtml#veggarden for vegetable gardening and see what types of vegetables grow best in a particular area and how to care for them.

Plant Show and Sale: Presented by the International Aroid Society; 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday through Sept. 20; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables; 305-667-1651, ext. 3322, or www.fairchildgarden.org.

A Shady Affair: Features vendors with begonias, bromeliads, orchids, ferns, hoyas and aroids. Includes lectures and demonstrations about care and implementation of shade-loving plants; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday; Mounts Botanical Garden, 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach; $5, free for members. 561-233-1757 or www.mounts.org.

MEETINGS & CLASSES

Creating a Keyhole Garden: Melissa Contreras, special events associate at Fairchild, speaks. Registration deadline Monday; class 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables; $40, $30 FTBG members. 305.667.1651, ext. 3322, or www.fairchildgarden.org.

Easy Orchids: Betty Eber, teacher at Fairchild, demonstrates division and repotting of orchids at 10 a.m.-noon Sept. 25; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables; $35, $25 members, register by the close of business hours on Sept. 22. www.fairchildgarden.org.

Members' Day Pre-sale Tour: Christie Jones Leiva, horticulture supervisor at Fairchild, talks on Sept. 25 about the conditions plants need to grow. Also, a sneak peek at plants for sale; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables; $15, free for members, register by the close of business hours on Sept. 24. www.fairchildgarden.org.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Geri Parlin: There’s nothing like raspberries from your garden - La Crosse Tribune

Posted: 12 Sep 2009 09:45 PM PDT

I'm not much for growing vegetables.

Part of the problem is that I'm not much for eating vegetables. While others contemplate the merits of the various tomato varieties, I just avoid all of them.

No peppers for me, and that goes double for eggplant, broccoli and cauliflower.

But I understand the value of growing your own food, and it was brought home to me last week while I visited with John and Jodi Hoscheit (read about them next Sunday in the Home section) in their produce garden on Brice Prairie.

As I was getting into my car for the drive back to my produce-deprived garden, John and Jodi were discussing what they should pick for that night's dinner table. There were tomatoes and peppers and raspberries along with kale and eggplant and beans.

It wasn't a problem finding enough for supper - the trouble was in deciding what would be for supper.

But I bet I know what they had for dessert - raspberries. Lots and lots of raspberries.

I know a thing or two about raspberries. OK, I just know one thing. Once they're established they are the greatest thing you can have in your garden.

I have just enough raspberry canes to assure me a bowl of berries at lunch every day. Are they sweeter because they grew in my own yard or am I just imagining that?

I'm probably imaging that because the rasp-berries I snacked on in the Hoscheits' garden were among the juiciest I've ever inhaled - both the reds and the goldens.

So, yes, I have something in common with the Hoscheits. We both grow raspberries.

Unlike the Hoscheits, I tend to throw most of my energy toward flowers - irises, daffodils, tulips, zinnias, cosmos, asters, lilies, columbines, hostas, coreopsis, dianthus, rock cress, stonecrop, sedums, thrift, sea holly, hardy geraniums, campanulas, astilbe, phlox, veronica and delphinium.

I guess I'm growing food for my soul.

But a raspberry now and then doesn't hurt, either.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Take the strawberry challenge and reap sweet rewards - Tampa Bay Online

Posted: 12 Sep 2009 09:09 PM PDT

By CRAIG CHANDLER

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 13, 2009

West Central Florida - particularly the area around Plant City - is one of the most important winter strawberry growing areas in the world. But although farmers produce berries by the bushel, they also have a lot of sophisticated tools for dealing with problems.

Growing strawberries in the home garden can be a challenge, but it's not impossible. If you're up for giving it a try, here are some tips to help ensure your efforts bear fruit.

Varieties

"Sweet Charlie" and "Festival" were developed at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Hillsborough County and are well-adapted to the climate of the Tampa Bay area. These varieties produce attractive, flavorful berries and are capable of producing 1 to 2 pints of fruit per plant over the season.

Sweet Charlie is available from Lewis Nursery in North Carolina, (910) 675-2394. Their minimum order is 100 plants, which cost $40 plus shipping and handling. Festival should be available at Parkesdale Farm Market in Plant City, (813) 754-2704, starting in October. Parkesdale sells plants in bundles of 25 for $5.98. Some local nurseries and the big box garden centers may have strawberry plants for sale this fall, but be aware that they could be selling a variety that is not well adapted to our climate.

For a list of nurseries specializing in strawberry plants visit www.ncstraw berry.org/docs/2009Plant SourceList.pdf.

Planting

For the best combination of fruit quality and yield, plant in mid-October.

Strawberry plants need at least eight hours of direct sunlight a day. If a full sun location isn't available, try to choose a spot that's sunny during the morning and early afternoon. The soil should be well drained and slightly acidic (pH 5.5-6.5).

Most strawberry plants grown in Florida are planted in double rows, with plants spaced 12 to 15 inches apart. Strawberry plants also can be grown in planter boxes, strawberry pots, hanging baskets, and other types of containers. Mulch around the plants helps to control weeds and keeps the fruit cleaner than if it were lying directly on the soil.

Bare-root plants are the most common type of transplant available. Those with leaves on them generally produce greater December yield than those without leaves. The former, however, require frequent sprinkler irrigation from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first one to two weeks.

Another type of transplant is the plug, available in plastic trays or in small pots. It requires very little sprinkler irrigation to establish.

Regardless of the type of transplant used, it's important not to set the plant too deep - covering the crown - or too shallow, leaving roots exposed.

Once the plants are established, apply 2 pounds of 10-10-10 (or equivalent) garden fertilizer with micronutrients (including boron) per 10 feet of row. About half of the nitrogen in the fertilizer should be a slow release form, such as a sulfur- or resin-coated material. Place it in a narrow trench about an inch deep between the two rows of plants. An alternative is to periodically apply liquid fertilizer.

Problems

Strawberry flowers and fruit can be damaged when the temperature drops below freezing. Protect the flowers by covering the plants with old sheets or a commercial polypropylene row cover during the afternoon before the expected freeze. Anchor the covering so it doesn't blow off.

Pests are another threat, and a key to managing them is to start with healthy transplants - plants free of leaf diseases, spider mites and nematodes. The odds are better for plants purchased from a reputable nursery or garden center.

To control most fungal diseases on leaves, flowers, and fruit, apply captan or thiram weekly, starting as soon as plants are established. Removing old, diseased leaves may help reduce future leaf and fruit infections. Powdery mildew, a fungal disease that results in leaf distortion and powdery white patches on the underside of leaves, is usually controlled with several applications of sulfur. Apply only when it's cooler than 80 degrees so the leaves and fruit won't burn.

The type of pests feeding on strawberry plants changes as the season progresses. In October and November, various caterpillars ("worms") are often found feeding on crown, leaf, or young flower tissue. Applications of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticide such as Dipel are usually effective.

Later in the season, aphids and flower thrips may cause damage to developing fruit. Malathion can be used to control these, although, given enough time, natural predators and parasites will usually take care of the problem.

Spider mites - tiny arthropods that suck juices from plant leaves - are a more persistent pest on strawberries in Florida than are insects. Start examining plants for spider mites in early December, looking for plants with pale yellowish-green leaves. A magnifying glass can be used to see the mites moving about on the underside of leaves. Several miticides are labeled for use on strawberries in Florida, including fenbutatin-oxide (Vendex) and dicofol (Kelthane). They're most effective when applied twice, about five days apart. When using miticides or any other pesticides, be sure to read and follow all label directions.

Parasitic nematodes (microscopic round worms) and certain soil diseases can cause problems if strawberry plants are set in the same area year after year. Avoid planting strawberries in areas where you have just grown tomatoes, peppers, potatoes or eggplant. Sweet corn is a good crop to plant between strawberry crops. Solarizing the soil during the summer before planting can also help cut down on soil-borne pests.

Your fruit is ready for harvest when three-quarters of it is red. The fruit starts to deteriorate soon after it has become totally red, so it's best to harvest every two to four days.

Craig Chandler is a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in southern Hillsborough County.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Restoring a garden home - Orange County Register

Posted: 08 Sep 2009 04:56 PM PDT

Lots of couples consider divorce when they remodel a home. But Tom and Lynn Ash thought it was the most fun they'd had in a long time. The couple had survived small remodels in the past and bought two new homes together. But they had never tackled a vintage project that many would call a teardown.

The Ashes live in Newport Heights where the streets are unusually wide and the trees have enjoyed a half century of luxurious growth. The landscapes are mature and well-tended and the homes are tidy and well-kept.

"We love the location. It's family-oriented with schools all around, lots of walking and dog walking and bicycles are the preferred modes of transportation," Tom said.

With Tom's horticulture background and Lynn's eye for design, the couple got everything they wanted, and more.

"We wanted to see outside from every angle," Tom said.

Cape-cod like in its symmetry Tom said that the house is actually a barracks style home built when the military lived in the area in the 1940s. The first task they agreed on, and there were many, was to take out the interior walls.

"We removed five," he said.

The hardwood floors are original, keeping their condition by being covered under carpet and laminate floors. Lynn insisted on restoring the original windows to compliment the integrity of the home.

But the main feature of the house is its views. Views the Ashes created for themselves. The west-facing dining room window, in particular, looks out on a greenhouse built by Tom by stacking glass doors. The Ashes can watch their tropicals, orchids and other steamy plants grow year round, while Tom gets to hone his horticultural skills on another class of plants.

"Side yards are usually where people put their trash cans. To me, it was a waste of space. The greenhouse not only provides us something to look at, it also blocks the view of the house next door. It is not heated or air conditioned, but my Vandas bloom just fine," Tom said.

The light is what everybody notices when they walk in the door. Not only can you see out to the garden on all sides, but all the west-facing windows spill soft light into the deepest interior spaces.

Raising the ceiling also offered a sense of spaciousness to the three-bedroom home as well as adding French doors where it was practical. The back of the house overflows onto a large deck.

"It is seamless that way stepping out onto the deck," Tom said. "We use it as extra living space."

Ferns, dahlias, ginger, calla and cannas provide fresh flowers almost year round. Tom grows sweet peas in the alley.

Even though the landscape feels lush, Tom is an expert on low water use. As a horticulturist for various water districts in Orange County and now a landscape consultant with Weathertrak Smart Water Management systems, his plants are zoned according to their water needs.

"I'm a Newport Beach kid so naturally I am attracted to tropicals. But Lynn convinced me to landscape in a cottage style in keeping with the architecture of the house," he said.

In fall, Tom starts digging into the garden again, getting it ready for another season of garden views. "The price of water is going up so I am going to remove the back lawn," he said.

We think it is the typical gardener's excuse to make room for more plants.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)