26. July 2009 by admin.
Taking the Clutter Out
Generally, planting in July and August is discouraged, unless you are prepared to nurture new plantings with very regular watering until cooler months set in. This summer may be the exception given that July has been exceptionally cool and wet for our region. However, if you wish to err on the side of safety, there are other actins you can take in your garden that will prepare it for the fall planting season.
In many established communities, one of the biggest issues on properties besides water management is overgrown plantings. So many homes were planted ten, or even twenty years ago with spruce, pines, rhododendrons, arborvitaes, with the idea that they might provide screening at low cost (which they did). Unless these screening plants are kept well heeled, they inevitably grow in stature and lose their effectiveness as screen plants. They become spindly trees next to, or between homes that detract from the architecture of the home and diminish the surrounding landscape by creating shade where it is not needed.
Many of us plant lovers cannot bear to take these trees and shrubs down for a number of reasons such as reluctance to kill a living thing, cluelessness as to what might take its place, concern about the expense of making change, etc. Let’s not confuse this with the removal of old wood trees by the way. That is a separate issue altogether. We are talking about ornamental plantings whose original intent was to enhance the architecture and/or provide eye level screening of unwanted people, places, or things.
Gardens are a lot like computers, they have limited space and storage capacity that can only be enhanced so much. The pleasure one derives from either is determined by how much use one gets out of them and how well they flow. They both are dependent on function as well as form. When a computer has too many bulky, rarely used programs running in the background and it becomes difficult to use on a daily basis, your choices range from removing some programs you no longer, or rarely use, adding in some memory, and/or reformatting the machine, or dump the machine, for a new one. Garden space really is not so different. You can sell the house off for one with a better garden space, dig everything up and replant it, remove large bulky plants that no longer serve their function, or add in materials hoping it will work better.
The truth is that when you have a blue spruce growing next to your house that is basically as tall as your house and has little or no foliage on one side because of its proximity to your home, it should probably go. It’s no longer fulfilling its original intent, it is in less than optimal health because there is insufficient space for it, and it is taking up space that could be planted much more fruitfully from both an aesthetic and ecological perspective. The same is true of that fifteen foot rhododendron, the pine tree overshadowing your home, dropping perpetual needles into and clogging your gutters, and so on. Hot months are great months to invoke Kali, Goddess of destruction. Take down those plants that just are not working. Then go creative, add in composted topsoil, prepare the ground for some more fruitful plants. Plants that enhance your architecture and perhaps are native, nurturing local flora and fauna, and whose size can be better managed in the long run.
Posted in Garden Structure | No Comments »
10. May 2009 by admin.
Deep Root Feeding
I was talking to folks at the Junior League’s “There’s No Place Like Pelham” evening event Friday night and was asked about deep root feeding for large, hardwood trees. By the way, this event was a lot of fun and hats off to the Junior league for all their hard work! For those of you who are unaware, deep root feeding is a process where nutrients are pumped directly into the root zone of large trees by means of a metal spike inserted in the ground. This can be done with a larger spike and mechanical pump, and there are also smaller, manual versions of this system available.
The question was is deep root feeding really necessary, particularly at the high rates that some tree companies charge for this service? To answer the question one needs to consider where these trees occur in nature. Generally large trees grow in forests which are enclosed eco-systems of their own. The soil is rich with live organisms and fungi that explicitly nurture these trees. The tree’s roots connect and touch. A forest is literally a community, and through their roots, they communicate with each other chemically, share moisture, and condition the soil to meet their particular needs, as well as support other plants that are beneficial to the community.
Trees in habituated areas lack the support of the forest. This can mean that they are not getting their nutrient and water needs met, particularly if they are surrounded by lawns which have very different needs than shrubs, perennials, and trees. Because many of our lawns are chemically cared for, often the soil around trees in our communities is dead and inert. Trees in these conditions will need supplemental nutrition of some kind, and if they have not been fed in some time, deep root fertilization may be just the thing.
However, in the long run, homeowners can feed their trees themselves and without deep root feeding. Two products I highly recommend are from Plant Health Care. These are PHC 27-9-9 and PHC 11-22-22. Like most fertilizers the numbers refer to Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium levels in the fertilizer. These two products are part of the new line of chemical/biological hybrid or bridge products that are on the market. They contain chemical fertilizers in low enough doses to support the biological agents that they deliver as well. The 27-9-9 product is high in nitrogen and for spring use, the 11-22-22 is much lower and for fall use. The key element in these products is mycorrhizael fungii. Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi that help trees digest nutrients. By applying these products to your trees regularly, you can optimize the health of your trees and reduce or eliminate the need for deep root feeding. Many trees in suburban areas are struggling for nutrients so consider ways to feed these valuable assets today!
Posted in Trees | 1 Comment »
19. April 2009 by admin.
A Blueprint for Feeding Your Lawn and Garden:
Healthy gardens and lawns have one major component in common, that is healthy soil. Healthy soil is soil that breathes, and is alive. Healthy soil has twenty to forty percent organic content (composted material, peat moss, etc). Healthy soil is alive with fungi, microbes, and worms that feed on the organic material and convert it into a form that plant life can absorb. Healthy soil both absorbs moisture and drains once saturated. It is made up of inorganic materials of varying densities ranging from fine particles like clay and silt, to sand, and even some gravel/aggregate (but not too much, and not much denser than 1/8th of an inch.
Though you can engage in extensive and expensive testing to find out exactly what your soil is made up of, including live microbial activity for example, it is simpler to stick with basic soil testing (through the Cornell Co-Operative Extension) to find out how acid/alkaline your soil is and what the ratios of Phosphorous, Nitrogen, and potassium are. The results of this testing will tell you what special amendments you need to add to get the right nutrient balance which is your baseline.
Soil density, organic and microbial content should be amended regularly throughout the year. In a basic program, compost tea (a tea brewed using live compost as the base material) should be applied at least 3 times a year, in April, June, and August. Compost tea is rich in trace minerals, live microbes, and beneficial fungi and will help re-invigorate your soil. The soil should also be fed with corn gluten in March/April to both give it a nitrogen boost and inhibit weeds from germinating. In soil that needs more vigorous attention, compacted soil with low organic content, aeration and addition of composted material is highly recommended. In a lawn this is also an excellent time to over seed, making sure the seed is lightly covered with the composted material.
With the presence of certain weeds, diseases, and insects, it becomes evident that the soil may be low in calcium, or over acidic. Liquid kelp, and/or fish emulsion are very high in calcium and will nurture the soil and the lawn, as well as reduce the occurrence of certain infestations.
Stay away from chemical fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides whenever possible. Though these will yield short term results, in the long run, they kill every living organism in the soil and weaken the root systems of your lawn and plants.
Posted in Organics | No Comments »
5. April 2009 by admin.
Landscape Services in the “New Economy”
Its spring and all of us are shopping for lower prices and better value in the new economy. The question is, in any service you are shopping out, if the price is lower, are you getting better value? Many of us in know approximately what we are paying for landscape services, but are a little fuzzy on what we are receiving.
The bad news about the new economy is money is much tighter than it was not too long ago. The good news is there is a lot more competition. Companies that emphasized service, knowledge, and reliability at a higher price are willing to be much more competitive. Look at any commoditized industry, like automobiles for proof of this, you can get much better value and financing on any car today than you did a year ago. This is certainly true in landscape services as well. The question is are you comparing apples to apples? In a commoditized industry, this is often easier to measure than in a service industry. You can drive an Infinity, for example, and feel the difference between it and another car immediately. In services like landscape, it can be more difficult because a good deal of the experience happens over time.
Here are a few things to look at right off the bat. How easy is it to get a hold of the company and how responsive are they to your needs? When you call during business hours, do you get a person or do you get voicemail? How fast is your call returned and do you feel the people you are talking to really care about your landscape and your needs, or are they gruff and defensive with you? Do they have an office you can walk into and meet with them if need be? When folks come to your property to meet with you, do you feel they are really educated about plants, soil, and ecology? Are they willing to adjust their price to be competitive? If not, are they delivering higher service and/or quality, and can they work with you somewhere else? Are they honest with you about the condition of your property or will they say anything to close the deal? What do their current clients say about them? Is there anything that distinguishes them from the pack in terms of expertise? Do they have training programs and/or certified professionals on staff or do they use day labor of questionable legality? Are they insured and registered with the county? How long have they been in business?
When you are comparing the cost of services, make sure you are comparing the same things. For example, basic services are: soil testing (this is vital) and soil development or fertilization (plants need healthy soil to help nurture them), lawn cutting, edging beds and walkways, aeration of lawns, over seeding, weed and insect management, tree, shrub, and perennial care, mulching and weeding, and water management. Additional services may be important to you like landscape design, landscape planting and construction, irrigation and lighting expertise, gutter cleaning and snow removal for example. You may also want to consider the environmental impact of the services you are receiving as well.
It is never too late to reconsider your landscape services and the current economy is ideal for either getting the services you have for a lower price or getting environmentally superior services at a similar or lower price than you have been paying. Even though this is a great time to shop around, remember the adage “you get what you pay for”, meaning make sure you know what you will get for your dollar and be willing to negotiate for what you want whether it be better services or lower prices.
Posted in Service Providers | No Comments »
8. March 2009 by admin.
The Basis of Organic Garden Care
Many Westchester county residents are turning away from chemicals in their daily landscape care as concerns about continued exposure to children and animals, as well as issues regarding chemical run off into local bodies of water come to the fore. However, stopping the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides alone will not gain you healthier happy plants and grass. Local soils need to be rejuvenated and brought back to life for the health of the garden to revive.
In a natural setting with little or no human intervention, soil processes organic material and turns it into a form that plants can digest. Soil acts as the intestines of the plant world, and very much like human intestines, does this with microbial activity. Most soil in populated areas has less “live stuff” in it than one would find in a forest for example, due to stripping of topsoil in construction etc. If the soil has been treated repeatedly with chemical fertilizer and other chemicals, there is probably little or nothing left in the soil that will aid in the digestion of organics since chemical fertilizer, used at the recommended rates, feeds plants directly at the expense of killing microbial activity in the soil.
In order to create or lawn or garden that can digest organic material more effectively, it is necessary to re-introduce microbial activity. One sure fire way to do this is through regular addition of composted material, and compost tea.
Partially composted material will draw nitrogen from the soil and briefly drain plant material of nutrients so beware. Composted materials, like leaves, mulch, and green waste from the kitchen, must be composted down to the point where you can’t tell where it came from. At this point it is rich in nutrients and microbial activity. Compost tea is made from fully composted material. Basically, as the name implies, a tea is brewed from mixing composted material with water. This tea can be applied to the soil to re-introduce active microbes into it as well as nutrients and trace minerals. Gradually, the ability of the soil to process organic material will increase and plants will be healthier and deeper rooted as long as organic material and active microbes are added to it, very much like eating yogurt adds active enzymes to the human intestines.
Posted in Organics | No Comments »
15. February 2009 by admin.
Poison ivy, oak and sumac can be very hard to get rid of. The three choices are mechanical remove (by hand), use of an herbicide, or suffocation .
Interestingly, these plants are native plants, and therefore considered desirable by many environmentalists. By native, I mean they and the local ecosystem are very well adapted to each other and support each other. Removing these plants altogether from the region would actually disturb the ecosystem and limit bio-diversity! (more on this on the Garden Web forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/natives/msg051448464442.html )That said, I myself am highly allergic to all three of these plants and will not tolerate them around my property (1/3 of an acre). Let them have the woods, but please not in my back yard.
Though highly allergic, I will physically remove poison ivy in the winter and summer when it is least virulent. Of course, covering yourself with long pants, long sleeve shirt, elbow length gloves, and possible a bandanna over your nose and mouth help a lot as well if you are allergic. Remembering to immediately removal all these accoutrements (wash them), and wash your arms and face thoroughly with Tech-Nu (a great product for preventing allergic reaction to these plants) limits the chance of an outbreak thereafter. These plants are at their strongest in higher growth periods like spring and fall, so avoid them completely in these seasons. You can hire one of the non-allergic elite to do this for you, but studies show that repeated exposure will lead to the development of the allergy over time.
Though most herbicides are designed and proven to break down within 24 hours of exposure to light and air, they not only kill plants, but also kill live soil bacteria. However, if applied selectively, on a plant by plant basis, the environmental damage is minimal as long as you avoid getting the herbicide on the soil or surrounding plants (more on this at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-218.pdf). This is a trade off of course, some folks are plain anti-chemical (except when it comes to termites, roaches and rodents). Other folks will stretch it to poisonous plants. For myself, I believe that careful, selective use of herbicides is a tolerable risk. In my mind, herbacides which kill the plant through the root zone, are more reliable than mechanical removal wherein if you don’t get all the roots, the plant comes back and one may have risked another rash for nothing. If the plant comes back, hit it again until it does not. As long as you are working composted material into your soil on a regular basis, you will counteract any damage that a very limited quantity of “round-up” or “brush be gone” might have done.
Last of all is the pond liner solution. This works for any plant by the way. Get some heavy epdm pond liner and put it on top of the plant for three to four weeks in active seasons, or as much as seven weeks in the winter. This will suffocate the plant and anything else under the pond liner. It also suffocates the soil with the same repercussions to topsoil as herbicides.
Note: NEVER BURN THESE PLANTS. Inhaling the fumes will cause outbreak in unimaginable places!
Posted in Pesky plants | 2 Comments »
1. February 2009 by admin.
Managing Snow:
There are three types of snow people in the world; those who shovel, those who use a snow thrower, and those who just pay others because its easier and they don’t like the cold much.
Myself, I am a shoveler. There is a Zen to shoveling snow if you like to use your body and you like being outside. There are four basic tools in my arsenal. A chipper for ice, a square headed garden shovel for wet, icy, heavy snow, a plastic headed plow shovel with which I can push the snow off my walk or driveway, and an ergonomic snow shovel for lifting and tossing snow. I can clear snow as fast as a snow thrower, burn some calories, and work out some of those problems that always float around in the back of the brain while I’m at it. However, I have to confess that as I age, becoming a convert to the snow thrower looks more and more attractive. So here is what I have learned as I consider the prospect of purchasing a snow thrower:
There are a lot of different kinds of snow throwers or blowers and they are suited to different situations. In order to select the right machine, an assessment of needs must be performed first. How long is your driveway? How much snow do you anticipate receiving each year? How heavy is the snow? How wide a space does your snow removal needs cover?
Most urban and sub-urban dwellers, have just a driveway and a sidewalk to clear off. A single stage gas blower will do the trick for this sized job. These types of snow blowers will touch the ground, so be aware of the area you are clearing. Most single stage gas snow blowers retail for $300 to $900. However, if you find that you get a lot of snow, or have a larger area to clear, a two stage gas blower will save you time and help avoid further back aches. These types of snow blowers have wide augers to clear off larger areas, while throwing the snow further. Depending on the type of two stage gas snow blower you are looking at, prices can range from $600 to over $2000 according to Consumer Reports.
If you have a gravel driveway, you’ll want to ensure that the auger doesn’t touch the ground (thus picking up rocks which can be hard on the snowblower, and cause harm if to items near the path of the blowing snow. Most two stage blowers are perfect for gravel driveways. If you find that you only get a few inches per snowfall, or have a relatively small area to clear, you may find that a single stage electric blower will take care of your needs. Electric snow throwers range between $100 and $300 and will clear an area of about 11-18inches.
Posted in Winter Gardening | No Comments »
11. January 2009 by admin.
Salt Alternatives
Weather predictions for our area for the next week (two weeks as I write this column) call for icy days and more temperatures below freezing. Ice is one of the most dangerous outcomes of winter, making going out onto walks, roads, and platforms a risk for the most sure footed. The popular way to manage ice is with salt, an effective tool for decades. However, studies show that salts can have many detrimental effects on the environment.
Salt destroys soil structure by killing some soil bacteria. This allows more soil to erode into streams, taking the salt with it. Salt erosion contaminates drinking water to levels that exceed public consumption standards. It doesn’t evaporate, or otherwise get removed once applied, so it remains a persistent risk to aquatic ecosystems and to water quality.
Salt can change water chemistry, causing minerals to leach out of the soil, and it increases the acidity of water, according to Dr. Stephen Norton, a professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Maine. Salt acts like a desiccant and will dry out and crack animal paw pads - house pets are particularly susceptible. Additionally it corrodes metals like automobile brake linings, frames, and bumpers, and can cause cosmetic corrosion.
California and Nevada restrict road-salt use in certain areas to reduce damage to roadside vegetation. Massachusetts is using alternative de-icers like calcium magnesium acetate and potassium acetate to prevent contamination of drinking water.They are much more expensive than road salt, but if you factor in the loss of wildlife, soil erosion, water quality and corrosion, these alternatives start to look like a real bargain. New York State is considering doing the same to protect New York City’s watershed. Canada is considering classifying conventional de-icers as toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
For home use, there are many alternatives with varying degrees of environmental safety. Urea is often used for de-icing as it melts ice and is not corrosive. Alfalfa meal is a natural fertilizer that actually melts the ice, provides traction and won’t harm the environment. It is different than pelletized alfalfa sold in feed stores. Look for meal in.
Sand is not a de-icer, but it does offer traction on ice. Sand adds to sedimentation in streams if it isn’t cleaned off the roads, but on our walks it might even be a welcome addition to our local compacted soils. Kitty litter, gravel and ash don’t actually melt ice, but they do provide traction, but have similar impact on streams and waterways as sand.
Posted in Winter Gardening | 1 Comment »
5. January 2009 by admin.
January Tips for the Unrepressed Gardener
With temperatures projected to be around freezing in the week of January 11th, there is still work that can be done for the gardener who is a little cold hardy. For myself, if I don’t get out into the sun a few times a week, I get just a little depressed, so when the weather is reasonably warm like it will be this week, getting out and about really helps limit the Seasonal Affect Disorder!
If there is anything you were hesitant to prune this fall because cutting stimulates growth, this is a good week to cut away. Shrubs and trees are dormant at this time and so will not respond to pruning. If you have a hydrangea that got out of hand, cut it to a height 3 feet below where you would like it to be. I have hydrangea that I cut to the ground every year, these shrubs are incredibly resistant.
This is a great week to work on taking dead wood out of your privet hedge as well. Privet, a classic, and very shapeable hedge material, needs regular thinning and cutting at the right time to keep it looking crisp and wall like. Many of us wait until our privet has grown in to shape it and work on it, wasting growth and making it harder to clean out old dead wood. In the winter, when the shrub is dormant and defoliated, it is a lot easier to find dead wood and remove it. Also, it is as good a time as any to think about what shape your wall of green will take in the spring and perhaps give it a little encouragement.
The same is true for low ornamental trees. This is an excellent time for removing crossing branches (branches that rub against each other), dead branches, and branches that are taking away from the natural shape of the tree. Cutting back wisteria and other aggressive vines can be done at this time. Avoid cutting early spring blooming shrubs like forsythia as their blooms have set for the spring. Cutting them now will reduce the spring blooms with every snip.
If you are looking to have this work done, local landscapers may be willing to perform these tasks at discounted rates as they are much slower in January than they are in June, giving you more time to hit the slopes.
Posted in Winter Gardening | No Comments »
15. December 2008 by admin.
Looking at the Sustainable Sites document (www.sustainablesites.org) the thrust is to install local, low maintenance plantings. For those of us who have been practitioners of eco-friendly landscape design for soome time now, this is not a big eye opener. Conservation of resources and preservation of pre-existing natural relationships has been the groundwork of what we do for a decade now. The problem we have all experienced, and no doubt the folks at sustainabale sites will come up against, is the natural tendency of human beings to use their immediate landscape as a means of distinguishing themselves.
People like to have clean looking, manicured properties that stand out. Of course you would not alwasye know that when you see house after house of grass, azaleas, and rhododendrons, or whatever your local version of the “lawnscaped” garden is, execept that even the sameness of those gardens represents a desire to have a certain look. Moving people from that to the Sustainabloe Sites utopian garden will be a stretch, and we submit, and impossible one.
Inevitably we will end up somewhere in the middle. The Southern Nevada Water Authority recognized this years ago. Las Vegas, completely dependent on Colorado river water, did not attempt to wipe out lawns in their region, but instead recognized that lawns are desirable to most residents, and do have ecological value. Instead, they gave people money to reduce their lawns by planting xeriscape gardens and installing drip irrigation. Incidentally, this involved very few native plants, since the deserts of Nevada are clearly not abundent in plants like other regions are.
By taking this tack, SWNA has reduced water usage and incidentally maintenance substantially, as well as created an environement where there can be more development. Las Vegas has limited water resources and can only grow if every citizen uses less water, than more water becomes available for new residents to move to las Vegas.
What makes the program effective, is the spirit of compromise, and the fact that the municipality is paying money directly to the consumer so that they can afford to make their property more eco-friendly. This pays off in reduced water use, new development, and ultimately a larger tax base for the city of Las Vegas and allows lawncare, landscape, and irrigation proifessionals to continue to grow and thrive as well.
Posted in Sustainable Gardening | No Comments »