Yardening Summer 2013

We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1304562/

What have you accomplished and what still needs doing in our yards and gardens?

Here I've been trimming back vines, pulling invasives like garlic mustard. feeding my tropicals, and some perennials.

I've also been fighting bugs. Seems aphids took a liking to a massive trellised sweet autumn Clematis! Trimmed away a third of the most affected leaves and ladybugs and their larva seem to be controlling the rest. Pondering what to put in its place if old vine doesn't make it.

Seems the trimming up and thinning out I did last year has improved the air flow in my garden and there is less powdery milldew to contend with. Still need a whole yard fan though!

Yesterday, I added some rocks and slate to front bed by deck and laid some newsprint down and mulched. Then I cleaned out a raised bed and planted tomatoes. Hoping we are finished with the cold nights.

Nice to have a solid work weekend with cool temps!

Jan, I told Sallyg about your new front of the house bed where you planted some of the goodies you got when we all visited Riva Gardens. Is there anyway you could post a picture or two for us to see?

Did you use all of those newspapers you got from me? Mine will go in veggie garden to conserve moisture and slow down the wire grass. I also tear the papers into long thin strips, fluff them up and put in the bottom of containers to take up space (Some people use packing peanuts). The worms think it is food and crawl in thru drain holes. A little tricky to fluff up enough to not have a big soggy mess of welded wet newsprint!.

I'm sure many of us have some ingenious examples of using what we have on hand in our gardens.

thanks for the new thread-
Spinach is toast, gotta take it out, makes room for a warm season veg.
Fitting new plants in the grand scheme, trying to keep up tags,
Made a faux stone trough project with foam cooler, Quikwall Cement...need to put it on project thread.
In short nothing exciting!

Me too Jan. I know it is nice for the plants that are growing, in stead of the drastic heat, but come on enough is enough..lol Coleup.
I still need to get the rest of my plants I got at the swap in the ground. With my long work hours and then the cold and rain., I still have a few to get down. Off today and had planned to get it done. well not today , thunderstorms in the the forecast, Bah Humbug. Well they are moved out into open to get wet. Maybe tomorrow when I get off work.
I notice that you have your roses crowded also Coleup, I have been trying to get mine more open to get more air also. With my cats controlling the Vole population around here now, I just might have some plants to share at the next swap if I can go.

I have tried, coleup. I don't do a camera. I used to to be able to use icab on my iPad, but it won't let me anymore. I will take a pic though and hopefully get to see you and Sally whilst I am in Annapolis the week of June 10. Then you can see it.

I am thinking next spring I can pot up some of the cranesbill several took cuttings of and that honeysuckle. Also some hakonechloa grass. Thinking swap already.

Jan: The honeysuckle cuttings I took are struggling and I'm not sure they'll root -- there were some aphids on them that I didn't catch, which is likely a good part of the problem. So I might be begging for more! Your plant is stunning!

Jan, I have a question. On that Teepee you had that pretty vine on. Was that other small vine to the right a climbing Hydrangea?

It has aphids? I haven't looked closely.

Yes, Marie. I got a small cutting from venue several years ago. It has not bloomed yet.

Mine took 5 years to bloom. I have one left that I had to remove from the old fence to put up a new one. I have the other one away. I am trying to figure out where to plant it now. Hubby has an idea to let it roam over the old gazebo out back. I would have to create a raised bed though , due to that area having a high water table.

Jan, no aphids on your plants when we took the cuttings... but those are opportunistic bugs!

Yes, Jan, I didn't mean to impugn your honeysuckle! I had put it in a plastic bag, which gave ample time for any opportunistic passengers to procreate!

Whew!!! Heehee.

I got a break between the rain yesterday and got everything planted. Now come the heat for a few days.

I got all the tropicals out of the GH, some I had already staged in the barn corral to adjust them to full sun. The ones that were not out yet I staged in the upper driveway to acclimate them. I also potted all of our cladiums in the GH with bottom heat in an effort to kick start them. They need 50*F at night to start well. I also got a little more planting done on the swap plants. The cannas from Josh's dirt basement finally got home, a little drier than I like. They are also in the shade of the upper drive being rehydrated.

I got a plant at a plant exchange (not a DG one) -- it was labeled as an aster with a lilac eye. But as I look at it, it doesn't look like a conventional aster -- maybe a wood aster? I'd really appreciate it if any of you have any guesses. I posted it on Plant ID yesterday but got no takers. Here's the link: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1315039/

Do greenhouses count coleup? Finished inventory and have one tropical "Star Jasmine" to take cuttings when it stops blooming. Then I sit and wait until people decide they want houseplants. The Tea Rose Begonia is in full bloom and as beautiful as ever. I have about a dozen of those ready to sell. I was amazed I have so many different varieties this year in the Holiday Cactus. We will see.

Actually my gardens are so few and simple I hesitate to call them gardens. We have more like landscape plants. Rodies, lilacs that sort of shrubs. I have to dead head the Pink Lilac so it blooms again. Love it but it is now too hot to do the three bushes. I can't win. The rest of the gardens are finished since there is not much to do with Iris and peonies. The red dwarf lilies I bought from Brecks are finally coming up. 12 out of 20 so I have no idea what happened there. I hope they are as pretty as their picture. I am going to feed my Golden Vicary when I finish here. I took some cuttings and must give it some feed and then watch it be pretty. LOL. Other than that, nothing exciting. Waiting for the heatwave so I can complain. Have a great day.

Today I've definitely decided to put into pots (Coleup style, YAAAYYEEEE) the huge number of remaining plants. iI've been wandering around wondering what to do with them. NOW I have my answer! I have a spot where the vinca has grown crazy all over the place and very tall. My pots will look really good hidden in there because what I have left is mostly the simple nursery type planters.

Rose, I love my container gardening. I started that when I came here because of lack of old fashion garden space and I think it is great since you can move the pots to whereever you want. Great idea and hope you get them done before it gets too hot. Only problem watering is a pain.

I will be mixing up new soil for our window boxes as soon as I get home. We usually change it out every 2-3 years, using the old for my tater containers and adding it to various beds that have depleted their organic materials. I usually just amend ProMixB for the boxes to keep them lighter. Since we amend our soil so much this is an ongoing chore, that's how we use such a large compost. The only thing I do to the compost is screen it and add a 4" pot of lime per bushel.

Well done Marie Wow, everything planted isn't even on my event horizon! Where did you decide to plant your climbing hydargea?

Yes, JB, greenhouses count!

Ric are you using that garden cart/trailer you welded up for any of the staging and move abouts?

Yea Roses going containers on us! Is your vinca the green and white variegated? After it hides your containers for the season, cut it back to keep it more inbounds (I have lawnmower acess and use highest setting,,used to do by hand with shears just like liriope) It will put on just as much new growth in Spring as you have now but won't spread so far afield. It will also 'invate' your containersdrain holes and even root in the tops. Not a big problem. but just so you know.

As far as watering, I find I do have to water each pot and that invariably I miss one or two. A sprinkler is a poor second choice. So, I tend to group my plants by their water needs.

My waterloving tropicals who don't mind wet feet live in containers without drainage as I can just fill them up if a long dry spell is forcast or tip them over to drain some water if rainfall plenty or a deluge. I'm talking mostly Elephant Ears here. I find they drink up about two inches of water a day in containers in summers heat. I rarely overhead water. I do let them dry outonce a week or so.

Good grief Ric, I have so many pots and boxes that need grow mix upgrades! Amazing how many plants just keep growing and performing while they wait on me.

Judy

Figured I would post my 'gardens', mostly containers. Have all the plants that I kept from the swap planted as well as more from Home Depot. Here's hoping they all grow.

Looks great Catbird!

I've been "rejuvenating" the potting soil in my containers by pouring a mix of Aggrands "4-3-4, 0-12-0 and 0-0-8 into the pots a few times before I start planting in them. Seems to nourish the plants very well so far.

I was sitting here by the computer, too hot out still at 6pm, I saw they Asiatic lily's moving back and forth. Since there is not as much as a whisper of a breeze, I watched more closely. Next I see a brown head pop up with two brown arms to grab the top of a lily and pull it down. The evil beast was eating the tops off of the plants and has previously eaten half a flat of marigolds. He's also been visiting my garden out front. Since efforts to dissuade the beast have failed I can report he has suffered an acute case of lead poisoning.

It is warm and the animals must be all hungry. I was on the tractor mower today around noon, nice breeze but really hot as blazes and as I was going along being miserable and trying to think positive a big hawk came swooping down just above my head with several birds right after him and they were very upset. They were robins too. I ducked because I honestly did not see it coming as it came from the rear and it scared the dickens out of me.

What do you suppose the evil beast is considering rabbits do not eat marigolds? or do they? Is it deer that does not eat marigolds. ????? Groundhog?

The evil beast was a groundhog, now he's an angel or being reincarnated, I hope as a gardener. They eat everything, cabbage family, beets, beans, everything, except maybe gladiolus. I've seen crows swarm on a hawk, usually, I'm told because he raided a nest. I guess robins could do the same, safety in numbers.

My resident groundhog lives under the shed.

We have neighbors who sometimes ask me "Did you see that ground hog that lives under your shed?" or "Do you see that army of skunks that crosses from one side of your property to the next?". My answer is always "NO!!". Their answers are always the same as Ric's.

We use to trap and move them to a nice area with fields, water and no gardens for them to get into trouble with. But last year we couldn't get them into traps and Ric finally resorted to as he puts it lead poisoning. They are such cute things but so very destructive.

Donner that was a great article. Reading about the squirrels reminded me of Josh. He built a big beautiful box that hangs off his second floor porch. Lot of work in the building and installing not to mention the amount of soil he bucketed up there to fill it. He planted it with Ornamental Sweet Potatoes that they grew from a potato they saved last year. They went away for a weekend and came back an all the plants were chewed off. Had to be either squirrels or chippes, I don't think birds would have done it more eaten than pulled out.

This is the first year I have not seen signs of my resident groundhog. She was so big and lived under my small feed barn, she had babies there for years and they would come out and eat the bird seed and the veggies I recycled from the house flock. She also had a place made under the fence to go eat in the meadow next door. This year she is not there, but Lucky, my one barn cat uses that as an escape chamber from my dog Charle because he is too fat to fit in the holes that go under the barn. Maybe the cat is the answer to no groundhog. I hope so. I worry about the holes they make in the pastures. I have seen horses get nasty injuries from stepping in a hog hole.

Sweet potato foliage is used as a green vegetable in some places so it probably tastes OK to the critters.
Something (probably groundhog) at all the leaves off a young pumpkin vine here one year.

Ornamental sweet potatoes are so beautiful in planters, but do not grow them any more because deer just eat them all :o(

I have a question about maple trees. The 'Autumn Flame' maple in the picture was planted in April 2011. It survived the hot summer and the winter last year. It leafed out ok this year, but all the leaves suddenly turned brown about 2 weeks ago. Has anybody had a similar experience with maple trees? Is the tree dead? The tree is not a tiny one. It is about 10' in height.

How bizarre. No -- I have no clue. Have you inspected for insects? Cicadas are supposed to be tough on new shrubs, but I wouldn't expect plants to show Cicada damage for a week or two.

Donner, you could try asking the University of Maryland extension service -- their web site has an "ask the gardener" section: http://extension.umd.edu/learn/ask-gardening .

Donner, that is so sad. The Japanese Maple forum here on Dave's is an invaluable resource for some whys and what to do's. The key is 'suddenly wilting' My guess is either drowning or a disease like fusarium or verticillium wilt. And, yes it has happened to me with the JMs I grow in containers.

If you scratch the bark on a twig or branch and it it green, the tree is still alive.

I ended up unpotting two trees (8 - 10 feet Bloodgoods) and carefully replacing as much soil as I could to improve drainage and remove f. or v. wilts which live in soils and effect roots so they can't transport moisture up to leaves (vascular system). Lost one tree and other was fine last year but dying on one side this year.

Make sure the surface roots can breathe and entire tree is not sitting in wet or 'perched water' It may have been initially planted too deep and is now suffering. Maples in general do not do well when their crowns are below soil surface. Can't just plant them at same level they were in container or balled and burlapped. Must find crown and go by that. Also, much burlap now will impede root growth and not 'rot away'.

In general, do not feed a stressed plant.

One other thought, some of my JM's 'wilt' when suddenly weather goes from cool to HOT. Misting the canopy for cooling helps a bit, but be careful not to over water.

It took about three weeks for the leaves on mine to go 'crispy' And I did my resoiling work in August I believe, so far from dormancy or breaking dormancy.

Hope yours makes a full recovery with the cooler weather this week.

Judy

Judy, thank you. Yes, the tree was properly planted. It looked perfectly healthy the weekend before (the very cold weekend), and the leaves were all brown when I got back 5 days later (the very windy Memorial weekend). I don't remember a lot of rain or heat in that week. Very weird :o(.

Anyway, I have sent a question to University of Maryland as suggested by Happy. Thank you very much for the link, Happy. I will bookmark it.