Rant from the road: resort horticulture by Elizabeth Licata

Mirbeau

Vacations are always busmens’ holidays for gardeners. Whether it’s a tropical paradise, a stateside resort, or a European capital, gardeners can’t help but notice what’s planted, where it’s planted, and how well it’s designed. We don’t actually work on the gardens where we stay, but we’re doing it in our heads.

Over the past week, I’ve been on holiday in New York state: Skaneateles, Clayton (1000 Islands), Lake Placid, Saratoga Springs, and Geneva, on a more-or-less circular itinerary. And what a beautiful set of localities they are. We’ve visited a few of these places before, and I have to say the plantings (and other amenities) just get better and better.

Number #1 is the Mirbeau property in Skaneateles. The buildings (meant to resemble French country architecture and succeeding remarkably well) surround a large lily pond, filled with koi. All of the areas between the buildings and the pond are thickly planted. Though the inspiration is (loosely) Monet’s gardens, hence all the waterlilies, the surrounding perennials are mostly native plants, including Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Eutrochium, and (my favorite) magnificent stands of Vernonia (ironweed). There were other natives, as well as hosta, hellebore, and hemerocallis. The thing I love most is that very little effort seems to have been made to maintain the ordered beds one usually sees at resorts, such as those found at a later stop in Lake Placid, the Inn at Mirror Lake. At Mirbeau, the plants run riot, as one of the gardeners we spoke to readily admitted, with some compunction. (There are about 4 maintaining the roughly 2.5 acre property.)

Ironweed

Elsewhere we saw goofy heart-shaped beds of annuals (at the creepy but magnificent) Boldt Castle, wild native lilies (along the roadside) and everywhere, gigantic hydrangea. This is the biggest hydrangea season I’ve seen in many years. And I don’t want to diss ordered beds: Mirror Lake does a great job on theirs. With a gorgeous lake right there, surrounded by mountains, it’s not necessary to compete too strenuously.

Inn at Mirror Lake

New York state has been looking pretty good to me these days.

Rant from the road: resort horticulture originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 17, 2017.

from Garden Rant http://ift.tt/2x7Yukj

5 Best Options for Fall Lawn Renovation

When is the ideal time for lawn renovation and seeding? If you answered Fall, you are correct! Although we may get more excited than most about this topic, getting your lawn in tip-top shape for next season starts in the fall. Proper seeding and a soil test now will pay dividends next year. Without further ado, here are 5 options and proper expectations for Fall Lawn Renovations:

1. Aeration & Seeding

One of the most popular services in the fall is aeration and over seeding for your lawn. Aeration alone is a beneficial practice that can be done every year but adding newer and stronger seed to the project can only benefit your lawn. While there is no grass type resistant to every insect or disease, many lawn and landscape companies have started to introduce varieties of turf type tall fescue that can better withstand our harsh PA summers. Other grass types that are still popular in the area for fall seeding are perennial ryegrass and kentucky bluegrass.

Aeration involves pulling small cores of soil out of the lawn to help relieve compaction and allow more oxygen to the root zone of the plant. Lawns become compacted with normal traffic and if less air space is available in the plants root system, more stress is put on the lawn. A healthy root system requires oxygen for respiration to support the plant above. Aeration helps create more air space in the soil and in return promotes deeper rooting.

Aeration & Seeding Expectations

We often get the question, “What should I expect to see after you aerate and seed my lawn?” If the lawn is properly irrigated, you can expect about 30% seed germination with an aeration/over-seeding project. Seed germination cannot be guaranteed so watering is an essential part of a successful lawn. Aeration and seeding is for fairly established lawns that need minor improvement. Don’t expect those softball size or larger bare areas to fill in completely; if your lawn is in need of more help than aeration and over-seeding can provide, slice seeding might be the next best option.

2. Slice Seeding

Slice seeding is often recommended to improve areas of the lawn that are damaged or have many bare areas. Often times we spray to kill a very weak lawn and start over by slice seeding it entirely. A slice seeder machine cuts grooves into the soil while inserting seed below the surface. At Tomlinson Bomberger, a double pass slice seeding is completed to help increase germination in the lawn (more grooves + more seedlings = more germination)! Slice seeding, unlike aeration and seeding, is a very good option for lawns that have a lot of bare areas or have cultivars of grass that are not doing well. Many times, slice seeding is combined with aeration for better results.

Slice Seeding Expectations

With proper irrigation, slice seeding will warrant much better results than aeration and seeding but again, no seeding can be guaranteed. If slice seeding is not for you, or you are impatient like me, maybe one of the next two options will suffice.

3. Sodding

Installing sod will warrant immediate results for a lawn. Unlike aeration and slice seeding, new sod allows for a new lawn right from the start. However, installing it will always be more costly than any other option you choose. Preparation is needed before a sod job such as proper grading of the lawn area, tilling of the existing soil and potential addition of new soil. The best thing about sod is it can be installed anytime during the year especially in early to late winter which is not necessarily the best time for seeding.

Sodding Expectations

The best benefit of sodding is you can enjoy an immediate lawn! Because the lawn is fully mature from the start, it does not mean less irrigation is needed. In fact, sod will need more watering efforts to keep it alive. Often times watering between 2-4 hours, twice a day about 4-5 times per week is the recommendation. Remember, the water must not only keep the sod wet, but needs to soak into the soil about 2 inches below. Lastly, aeration is a good practice about a year after sod is installed.

4. Grading & Seeding

If a lawn needs a complete overhaul and sod installation is too costly, grading & seeding is the best option. Usually the cost of grading & seeding is less than sod installation, but if a lot of soil needs to be added, it could be just as costly. This method of lawn renovation usually includes a non-selective herbicide treatment to the entire lawn or lawn area to kill the existing grass before work can begin. A mini-excavator is typically used to break up the lawn areas and rake off the debris. Then soil is added to the lawn — which can range from a few yards to several truck loads depending on the situation — and the property is regraded. A seed mixture and starter fertilizer are then applied, along with a limestone application. Finally, straw, penn-mulch, or futerra matting are installed to cover areas to reduce erosion and promote better germination.

Grading & Seeding Expectations

With this method of lawn renovation, watering the new seed is of utmost importance. This will keep the top ½” – 1” of soil moist. Two key things to remember about seeding and watering:

• Before Germination = Less Water/Lots of Time (approximately 25 minutes, twice a day). The goal is to keep the top ½” – 1” of soil moist.
• After Germination = Lots of Water/Less Time (approximately 60 minutes, 3 times a week), and getting the moisture down 2”-3” is the goal.

With any seeding job, there is no guarantee of growth but with proper irrigation, you will typically see 80% or more germination. Finally, expect to need spot seeding after a total lawn renovation, which can run from $300 and up. Or simply ask for seed at the time of the job and your service technician will gladly leave some behind for you to spot seed at a later date.

5. Topdressing

Topdressing has been a staple for athletic fields and golf courses for decades; it’s one of the secrets to their year-round success. This process involves applying a soil and compost mixture to the surface of the lawn to help improve soil conditions and lawn health.

Here are our top 4 reasons to have topdressing done to your lawn:

• Improve soil conditions – an ideal lawn will have between 6”-12” of soil rich in organic matter. Topdressing for multiple years will accomplish this.
• Increasing Microbial Activity – these micro-organisms help with nutrient uptake and to break down thatch layers in the lawn.
• Improving Lawn Color – organic matter in the soil and compost mix will add nitrogen to the lawn and allow for a better green up.
• Enhancing Seed Germination – add topdressing following a core aeration and over seeding and you will help germination be enhanced. It helps to retain moisture in the soil and provides great soil to seed contact for the new grass seedlings to root.

 

Topdressing Expectations

Topdressing will initially cause the lawn to appear “dirty” as you will see the thin layer of soil and compost over the lawn. Eventually it will settle into the lawn with irrigation. Although you may not see immediate results, topdressing over a few years will drastically improve the soil condition and allow for a healthier lawn for years to come.

Schedule a Fall Lawn Renovation

If you are struggling with your lawn, consider contacting us about how one of these options might be the best solution for your property this fall. Meeting with one of our skilled Account Managers is always at no cost to you.

About the Author – Greg Tomlinson
Marketing Coordinator & Account Manager

ISA Certified Arborist, Landscape Industry Certified Landscape Technician, Landscape Industry Certified Lawn Care Technician, NPMA QualityPro Certified, Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator

Since 1999, Greg has been involved in the family-owned business when he began working part-time as a Lawn Care Technician and Landscape Crew Leader. After graduating from the University of Scranton with a degree in Human Resource Management and a minor in Business, Greg began working full-time with the Landscape team. He then moved into the Pest Control side of the business where he spent several years. More recently Greg served as a Residential Account Manager and is now the Marketing Coordinator. As he learns more about the business, what he enjoys most is interacting and serving both clients and coworkers alike. Greg appreciates all of the great relationships he has established with his clients and is grateful to the many people who have helped him grow personally and professionally. Greg resides in Manheim Township with his wife Juliana and their dog Arthur.

from Tomlinson Bomberger http://ift.tt/2wMmNoA

John Oliver Discovers the One and Only Ciscoe Morris by Susan Harris

I love this! So does the Seattle Times.

John Oliver Discovers the One and Only Ciscoe Morris originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 15, 2017.

from Garden Rant http://ift.tt/2wMfVHN

Welcome Home, Boxwood

My last two posts about this project might make you suspect that my primary interest in this landscape has to do with hard structures. Not so. The hard structures just need to be installed first, as they set the grade and determine the location of all of the plantings to come. I can move a [...]

from Dirt Simple http://ift.tt/2w6Qh3j

Corner Makeover: Before and One Year Later by Susan Harris

Readers may have noticed I’m an obsessive-compulsive garden-maker, not happy with making and tending just the townhouse garden I now own.  I showed you one example recently – the town center garden I adopted in May of this year. Boy, did it need some love.

Next up, another highly visible bit of city-owned land that looked even worse. So bad, in fact, that I couldn’t resist the temptation to transform it, with donated plants and at least a year of hard labor. I went to sleep dreaming about before/after photo montages, and now I have some!

Above, a streetside view of the jungle as it looked last summer. Less visible in this shot are the fallen branches being covered by an assortment of thuggish vines. Poison ivy was rampant throughout.

But voila! This year it’s starting to look like a garden, and seen from a distance or from moving cars, gardens had better have color, right? For that I planted daffodils and Rudbeckia, our state flower, and left some of the existing Daylilies. Large sedges and ornamental grasses are filling out nicely.

Not looking like much yet but destined for greatness here are some flowering shrubs, a central feature in this Low-Maintenance Demonstration Garden. In the shot above you see an ‘Ogon’ Spirea, perhaps my favorite of all the Spireas, its chartreuse leaves creating a focal point from very early to very late season. Smaller and less noticeable this year are a Weigela and a Ninebark, and I’ll be adding more of them this fall, thanks to give-aways from a trial-garden visit.

Far left in this pano shot you see the weed shrubs that used to impede driver visibility.

See, better!

Another perennials I planted here en masse is this unidentified Sedum. Its blooms are now transitioning from a cream to a pinkish cream, and either way, they’re almost invisible to the eye. Especially if the eye is passing by in a car.

I’ll be replacing them with more Rudbeckias and maybe some Garden Phlox – anything that’s more colorful than these insipid-looking things and that I can find for free in sufficient quantity.

Anyone know which Sedum it is?

The Dangers of Clearing Brush 

Last October, as I was clearing the bulk of the mess, I disturbed a ground nest of some tiny insects that I never did see but that collectively stung me eight times. Particularly painful stings, I might add. Since that traumatic event I’m still nervous about digging and yanking in the area, though gradually less so.

Of course I also contracted poison ivy a couple of times, since my efforts at prevention weren’t exactly stringent. But I’ll take PI any day over swarms of angry bees and the poison they inject into my bare skin and through two layers of clothes, no less. Horrors!

Corner Makeover: Before and One Year Later originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 11, 2017.

from Garden Rant http://ift.tt/2vpzNSh

An annual philosophy by Elizabeth Licata

Some of my elephant ear stands alone; some is planted in dense container groupings.

Certain plants exude a message of “Don’t worry, be happy.” Others continually whine, “Maintain me!” In my garden, the easiest plants I grow are the tropical or semitropicals. They require virtually nothing, much like their brethren in my office. Once in a while, I’ll cut down a dead leaf from one of the colocasia or alocasia, but other than that, given the same watering schedule as the rest of the garden, my tropical plants (mainly elephant ear, but some bananas and others) provide wow-factor from the time I plant them/bring them outdoors to the time I compost them/bring them indoors.

Given their long seasons (all year if they’re happy inside), I’m amazed that more gardeners don’t use these plants. During the GWA conference a few days ago, reps from a Florida-based tropical plant nursery (sorry, names are escaping me) told me their conference presentation would largely focus on using tropical as annuals if necessary, in order to enjoy their long seasons of interest even if the means to store them over the winter were not available.

I couldn’t agree with this advice more. In the north, we hear a lot of talk about banana plants that will overwinter, but I’ve never tried it. I just drag the pot inside where it does fine until the following May, with minimal watering. I have a big alocasia that I bring into the same room, where it continues growing, albeit more slowly. But I also compost a lot of my tropicals at the end of the season. Given what they provide, the cost of replacement is reasonable. Nonetheless, the question I am most asked about these during Garden Walk is “Do you bring this in?” In fact, that’s a question I get about many annuals, including coleus and strobilanthes (Persian Shield). Do I cut off branches and root them over the winter. Uh, no. These plants are pretty cheap and I’d rather just buy new ones in the spring than fuss about with windowsill rooting. Is this wasteful? I suppose it is, though if the plants go into the compost, they’re still contributing. But I’m also supporting my local nurseries and the mail order houses I order from, many of which are modest, family-run businesses. I feel fine about it.

What is this urge to save everything? I guess gardeners just can’t bear to see a plant die or be discarded. I get that. But I’ve learned to see every loss as an opportunity.

An annual philosophy originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 10, 2017.

from Garden Rant http://ift.tt/2vSjxdp

The Stonework

Once the pool construction detailed in my last post was in a reasonably finished state, a substantial amount of stonework would be required to finish terracing this steeply sloping yard. The drop from the pool terrace to the lower terrace is about 5.5 feet, meaning stairs would be necessary to access the lower level. A [...]

from Dirt Simple http://ift.tt/2hL6vsQ