A Search for Shade

Still some shade in the McGuane garden

Gardens can change overnight, as many people learned after the great May storm that took down so many large trees.  Those who had treasured their trees for the serene shade they provided, and the cooling they often brought to the house, found themselves in a new situation that could not soon be remedied.

Marty and Jan McGuane’s cool shady garden became a hot sunny garden  less dramatically, but with the same result. “We had a beautiful and very large Star magnolia that we planted on our seventh wedding anniversary. It developed canker a couple of years ago. We pruned off affected parts, but last fall the whole tree had to come down. Then we were on a quest for a new tree,” Jan McGuane said.

“The magnolia provided screening and shade. It is so hot in our yard now,” McGuane said, explaining what they looked for in a new tree. They wanted shade, but they also wanted flowers in the spring and good color in the fall. After discussing many flowering trees they settled on a Japanese Kousa dogwood. Kousas are not susceptible to the diseases that afflict Cornus florida, the familiar dogwood  that blooms early in the spring before the foliage appears.

The Kousa dogwood blooms later than Cornus florida when the tree has already leafed out. The flowers, which are actually long lasting bracts, are pointed instead of being rounded. It has deep reddish fall color and its fruits that resemble raspberries are quickly eaten by birds.

It was a job to take down the large magnolia. McGuane explained that roots are much harder than the rest of the tree and it was another big job to grind them out.. I did not know this about roots, but could see that it made sense. Roots of a large tree need strength to hold that tree in the ground.  This spring the McGuanes planted the six foot Kousa that is doing very well in the same spot.

McGuane's stone wall and path

During the time the tree was failing the McGuanes undertook another project that took two years to complete – the building of a curved stone wall for a ‘raised bed’ and a graceful stone walkway.

Working with six tons of Goshen stone for the walkway was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. At the time Marty was not able to heft the stone because of broken shoulders, but Jan said he had a much better idea of how the stone should be arranged.. “He would chose the stone and indicate how it should be sited in the path. I was the labor, but between the two of us we had a better result than either could have alone. I really like the curves in the garden, the path and the stone wall.”

The curving stone wall is located where there was a small deck.  Last fall planting the garden inside the wall was completed. Bulbs, a variety of sedums and heucheras have settled in nicely. A small shallow metal birdbath ornamented with a dragonfly sits on the wall. “I like ornaments in the garden,” McGuane said. “They are fun, and the dragonfly is a symbol of the Franklin County Hospice; Marty is on the Board.”

There are many curves in the McGuane garden. The back border which started out as a Moon Garden with white plants, curves and draws the eye when they sit out on the deck in evenings. There is a white Cornus florida, honeysuckle and a white Queen of the Prairie (filipendula), scented nicotiana, and pale variegated foliage plants.

There is a round fire pit and round table. “Marty likes to grill and we enjoy sitting out here eating and talking with friends,” McGuane said.

Jan's favorite garden spot

As much as she enjoys the spaces for friends and socializing, she said her favorite spot is in a corner of the garden where she has placed a chair made for her by a friend on a patch of  bluestone she laid herself. She planted a ninebark behind the chair to create a bit of seclusion and included a water bowl as a very small water feature. “I am happy just sitting there,” she said.  We gardeners don’t do enough sitting in our gardens, and we should always provide an enticement that will encourage us to sit and admire the day and our own work.

The McGuane garden is an urban garden, and is relatively small and yet it provides room for solitude and sociability. Sociability will be the order of the day on Saturday,  July 10 from 9 am to 4 pm when the McGuane garden will be one of several private gardens on the Greenfield Garden Club Tour. Tickets and maps for this self guided tour will be available at the Club’s Trap Plain Garden at the intersection of Silver and Federal Streets.

This year the Greenfield Historical Society is participating in the Tour, offering refreshments and opening their exhibits about Mary P. Wells. Wells, the author of the Boy Captive of Deerfield and other historical novels for children, was also the founder of the Greenfield Garden Club!

This tour is one of the major fundraisers for the Garden Club, along with the May plant and garden sale. The Club funds horticultural school projects, town beautification projects, and educational talks, tours, and craft nights as well as a newsletter for its members every month. If you are interested in joining the Club contact President Debran Brocklesby at 413-648-5227.

Between the Rows  July 3, 2010

Don’t forget the Daylily Sales today or the Hawley Garden tour!

Hydrangeas Love Water

Hydrangea 'Mothlight'

Yesterday the Toronto gardeners and sisters Helen and Sarah Battersby, reminded me that hydrangeas like a lot of water.  ”Hydra” is right there in its name so it shouldn’t be too hard to remember.  Fortunately, my ‘Mothlight’ hydrangea purchased a number of years ago from Nasami Farm (before it belonged to the New England Wildflower Society )  was planted where I do some watering. The bush itself got much bigger than I expected!

'Mothlight' blossom

I bought ‘Mothlight’ because I like the airiness of the blossom. I am not sure that it qualifies as as a lacecap, but the flower does not have the density of the mopheads.

Oakleaf hydrangea 6-30

Last summer I bought the native oakleaf hydrangea (shown above) from Nasami Farm. It is still hardly more than a foot tall, but you can see it beginning to blossom. I later bought a ‘Limelight’ hydrangea from Shelburne Farm and Garden. Their purchase, and planting behind the peonies was part of my lawn eradication project.  I expect both of these bushes to reach substantial size, not only tall, but more importantly for my purposes, they will have a wide spread.  My plan is that ultimately the hydrangeas will nearly fill the space between the peonies and the road.  Last summer was very rainy and even if I had been thinking about how thirsty hydrangeas are I wouldn’t have needed to water them.  However they are planted in a spot that drains very well and is quite dry.  This spring I added a ‘Pinky Winky’.  Water is essential for good bloom  I  will water all three well today.

Rain Drenched Pink

Guan Yin Mian tree peony

This  is the day I wait for every year – the first tree peony blossoms. I bought this one because of the name which translates as Guan Yin’s face. Guan Yin is the goddess of compassion and I am sure her face is as beautiful as this blossom. Tree peony flowers look fragile, but the plants are extremely hardy.

I vaguely remember buying a bag of pink tulip bulbs last fall, and then sticking them in any old where – and promptly forgot about them.  They were a wonderful surprise when they came up this spring. Maybe if I look through my Journal I’ll be able to find their name.  All the plants loved the inch of rain we had all day yesterday.

Beauty of Moscow lilac

The fat pink buds of Beauty of Moscow have very slowly been opening because the weather has been so cool, but I think today’s promised heat will bring an explosion of bloom.

How to Plant a Shrub

A $50 hole

In the olden days planting wisdom said you needed a $5 hole for a fifty cent plant.  Inflation is everywhere. Now when I guy my $35 Proven Winners Pinky Winky hydrangea I know I need at least a $50 hole. This was a lesson I gave my daughter last weekend when I learned she was much given to taking out a shovelful of soil, sticking a plant in and considering the job done.  My $50 hole is 24 inches square.  And it is none too big at that.

I couldn’t show the depth graphically, but this hole is 15 inches deep.

Compost

Having a $50 hole means you have room to fill in with good compost that has a little lime added to it. I also always add a handful of rock phosphate and greensand on general principles when I plant.

I mixed the compost with some of the soil and refilled the hole sufficiently so that when I put in the hydrangea the soil level in the pot is just slightly below the soil level in the lawn.   Sometimes it will be necessary to loosen the roots of your plant, but this time the roots were not pot bound at all.

As I fill in the enriched soil and tamp it down, I also water well.  You’ll notice that I did think ahead and put out a piece of plastic to hold the soil I removed from the hole so that I wouldn’t leave too much of a mess on the lawn.

Pinky Winky Hydrangea

All done. Pinky Winky joins the oak leaf hydrangea and Limelight that I planted last year. As they mature they will make a 25 foot long hedge of sorts.  I am slowly eliminating the lawn around these shrubs so that ultimately they will be underplanted with groundcovers. At the moment I have a swath of barren strawberry that is coming along.  Spring bulbs will come up through the ground cover.

Barren strawberry

Barren strawberry, Waldsteinia, has yellow strawberry-like flowers in May but the foliage is attractive all year long. I bought these native plants at Nasami Farm in Whately which is open Thursday through Sunday into early June.

Frost Damage Discovered

When we were at Betsy’s house yesterday we looked at some shrubs that we all thought were dead. The leaves were twisted, curled and brown. We were having trouble identifying what the shrubs were until we found one that had a few undamaged leaves. Oh yes, Betsy said. Magnolias.  Well, the shrubs aren’t dead, they were hit with frost, and with luck they will recover. At our house we realized that the kiwi on the shed was also frosted. The vines closest to the shed wall are OK, as are the vines farthest away from the corner of the building where the wind is the least fierce.  The kiwi has never been damaged by frost before.  Like Betsy’s magnolias it will recover. I was going to try and give it a good pruning anyway.  The hard frost last week didn’t bother most of our plants; and inexplicably hurt a plant we never considered particularly tender.  Sometimes Mother Nature seems unpredictable

Gardening There – and Here

Betsy and me in The Secret Garden

If there is anything more enjoyable than an afternoon working in one’s own garden, it is spending an afternoon working with a daughter in her garden.  Yesterday we visited Betsy for a garden consultation, nursery shopping and planting day. Betsy has done some landscaping around her house which is built on sand that hides many many stones. In fact the house is directly across the road from a granite quarry whose boulders form a major element of the landscaping. However,  she has not really been a gardener. That is changing. We went to Mahoney’s huge nursery, which is overwhelming, but between us we picked out an array of plants that she likes – and that are suitable for different areas of the property.

Betsy - finished with planting

This little sunny garden is not visible from the house and Betsy calls it her Secret Garden. It is filled with spring bloomers, Siberian and bearded iris, creeping phlox and ajuga. Quoting The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-step Guide to Smart Plant Choices and Four Season Designs by Stephanie Cohen and Jennifer Benner, I helped Betsy choose plants that would extend her bloom season. I was so happy when I saw her light up at the sight of a pot of daisies. “I love daisies!” she said.  We bought daisies and pink echinacea, and a bargain pot of coreopsis, and a red bee balm I brought from my own garden.

Roadside garden

One of the appeals and challenges of Betsy’s property is the little woodland. It provides privacy for the house – and is home to a number of pink lady slippers!  Betsy is planting the western edge of the woods with shade lovers, like hostas and now a new bleeding heart with golden foliage, but the area between the woods and the busy road has been a bit of a desert wasteland. The soil is sand and stone in equal measure. The area gets shade from the quarry on the other side of the road and the woods. It only gets sun until about 1 in the afternoon at this time of the year.  With Henry hard at work digging $50 holes, we planted a pink mountain laurel, a big pink astilbe and Walker’s Low nepeta. The lesson for Betsy was stressing the importance of $50 holes for planting, loosening the tight roots of the potted plants, and  using a mixture of  two parts composted cow manure, 1 part peat moss and 1 part of the removed sandy soil around the plants. Unfortunately, Betsy couldn’t find any commercial compost makers in her area and has to make do with bags of composted cow manure – and we used a lot!  The final part of the lesson was deep watering and an admonition to keep watering these plants while they settle in and get established. This is especially important considering her sandy soil.

Rory, waterer and mouse hunter

Our grandson Rory, 13, was the major waterer. He doesn’t like spiders, but he was fascinated by the mouse that he found living in the hose reel. He also helped moving loads with the lawn tractor. There was work for us all.

We left Betsy to plant her new herbs. She was delighted and amazed to learn that some herbs are perennials. She bought peppermint, sage, marjoram and thyme. And a pot of Italian parsley. I left her with two big clumps of forget me nots from my garden. It was a memorable day.

Naturally I could not go to Mahoney’s without buying something for myself. Today I plant a healthy looking Pinky Winky hydrangea from Proven Winners. This will finish my hydrangea hedge. It will take a while to fill out, of course, but the oakleaf hydrangea, Limelight and Pinky Winky will make a 25 foot long hedge, underplanted with barren strawberry and daffodils. The daffodils are already there and the barren strawberry is slowly moving across the area.

So it’s been a busy week with the purchase of astrantia, echinacea, heucharella, baptisia and astilbe for my own garden as well as the gift of Pocahontas, Excel and Maiden’s Blush lilacs from my friend Jerry. I am planting and weeding and fertilizing. It’s spring!  More plant shopping at the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale on Saturday, May 22 in Shelburne Falls!  And more shopping at the Greenfield Garden Club Extravaganza on May 29.  There is always room for more plants.

A Celebratory Bloom Day

Poeticus

These late daffodils have just started to bloom, but all the others are pretty well done.  And I am celebrating having more than bulbs to declare on this Bloom Day. I do still have a few grape hyacinths blooming, as well.

Barren Strawberry

Barren strawberry, Waldsteinia, is one of my successes. I bought this native groundcover at Nasami Farm spring 2009 and it is spreading nicely. They did so well I bought more in the fall. This is part of my effort to do away with lawn.  More plants will go in this spring.

Boule de neige rhododendron

Because I wasn’t paying attention I was amazed to see that Boule de neige has its first blossom, with buds showing color, as are the Rangoon buds, in a rich red. The rhodies are coming into bloom a little more than a week earlier than last year.

Lilac

It is lilac season. This is an ancient tall, very tall, white lilac that was here when we bought our house. Although so many things are a week or more early, the lilacs are opening very very slowly.

Beauty of Moscow

As you can see Beauty of Moscow is just barely opening. Ludwig Spathe is even more reluctant to open to the slightly warmer spring days.

Once again there are quince-like coral blossoms on the cotoneaster, name lost, and the apple trees are losing their blossoms. The Sargent crab is no longer a pink cloud. Many less glamorous plants are in bloom: chives, horseradish, blueberries, a lone primrose, violets, johnny jump ups, dandelions and ajuga in the grass. Buds are fattening. This will be a fantastic wisteria year, but not yet.

Thank you Carol at May Dreams Gardens for letting us share the progress of the seasons across the  country.

Rain Gardens for Earth Day

The term rain gardens sounds kind of romantic. I imagine something vaguely tropical with exotic blossoms amid rain drenched foliage viewed from a wicker chair on a veranda.  In reality a rain garden can have colorful blossoms, not necessarily exotic, but when the foliage is rain drenched the rain garden is doing its work of infiltration. Infiltration is not a romantic term.

I have heard the term rain garden and seen Master Gardener work sheets on building a rain garden, but until I heard Ed Himlan, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition (www.commonwaters.org), speak at the Greenfield Public Library last week, I  had no idea of how important rain gardens could be to a community’s department of public works,  the health of our waterways, and our own health.

Statistics can be boring, but the numbers that Himlan brought to the meeting were riveting. He said that 90% of the pollution of our waterways, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers, comes from stormwater runoff. How? By carrying sediment, oxygen depleting materials like leaves,  toxic chemicals from pesticides, herbicides and insecticides, heavy metals like zinc, lead and mercury, and bacteria from pet waste.

Pollution of our waterways is evident to those who use them for recreation. Fishermen will tell you that brook trout are gone. And many of us have been disappointed from time to time that we cannot swim or go boating because the water is too polluted.

In our urban and suburban neighborhoods where there is so much paving, of roads, sidewalks, parking lots, malls and other buildings, there is no place for storm water runoff to go except into the streets and inadequate drainage systems which discharge all these pollutants into local streams and rivers.

Himlan also gave a corresponding positive statistic. He said that rain gardens can keep 96 % or more of stormwater runoff on site, keeping it from polluting waterways, and letting it infiltrate and recharge groundwater supplies. The rain garden will filter and clean the water that will ultimately make its way to local streams.

We who live amid large lawns may think we have done our duty in capturing rainwater, but turf grasses are only about 30% permeable. They form a hard surface that rain penetrates with difficulty.

Those who want to see a rain garden in action can visit the rain garden that was created and planted behind Greenfield Library last year. The process is not complicated.

Remove the sod and dig a hole up to about 18 inches deep – of whatever size you wish. Any flower bed should be of substantial enough size to allow for the planting of shrubs, or even trees as well as perennials.

The depression can first be filled about halfway with coarse sand or small gravel.  Then add a layer of leaf compost, and finally a smaller layer of soil. It is important to leave a sufficient depression, five or six inches, where rain can collect, puddle and slowly sink into the ground. Mosquitoes are not a problem because they thrive in standing water, but a rain garden drains within just a few hours.

Native plants are a good choice for rain gardens because they will also attract indigenous birds and butterflies. It is not hard to find lists of plants suitable for rain gardens on the Internet. Some of my favorites are daylilies, cardinal flower, Joe Pye weed, turtlehead, Queen of the Prairie, sensitive fern and baptisia whose roots grow 25 feet into the ground, leading water deep into the soil.

Some of the trees or shrubs that can be added to a rain garden include river birch, elderberry, winterberry, and summersweet. When you choose plants they should not only tolerate the wet, but be chosen for the amount of sun or shade your site gets.

It is amazing how much water can sheet off a roof during a storm. A good place for a rain garden is where the rain comes off the roof or from a downspout. To protect the house it should be located at least ten feet away from the foundation. If you have drainspouts, additional pipe can be added to direct water into the rain garden.

Clean potable water is taking its proper place as a priority concern. We all need water to maintain life, and to maintain the lives of the plants, animals and fish that make up our diet, as well as the beauties that feed our souls. We need to use a multitude of ways to encourage rain infiltration on site. We can increase the permeable surfaces in our own landscapes by including groundcovers, trees and shrubs as well as flowers and lawn. We can use rainbarrels, although it must be noted that a 55 gallon barrel fills quickly. We can use permeable materials for our driveways and patios.

Himlan is working with his town of Leominster to install rain gardens at municipal sites as well as encouraging their creation on residential properties.

Michigan, Vermont and other states are encouraging the creation of rain gardens. There are now rules for Low Impact Development (LID) where there is new building that will emphasize permeable surfaces – and rain gardens.

Ed Himlan was invited by Ed Gorecki, a Greenfield Public Library Trustee, and the talk was co-sponsored by Greening Greenfield. The large audience was filled with gardeners. I think the town can look forward to some new rain gardens. I’d like to hear about them. If you are planning a rain garden, please email me at commonweeder@gmail.com.

Between the Rows  April 17, 2010

Bloom Day April 2010

Scillas

A walk through the blooming garden does not take very long this month.  I do love the scillas reflecting the blue of this morning’s sky. They have increased and increased and even seeded themselves in unlikely places. Last fall’s moderate temperatures lasted so long, that we gave up mowing the lawn before the lawn had stopped growing.

Glory-of-the-snow

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa) shares this area at the end of the  Rose Walk with the scillas. I planted them at the same time, but the glories didn’t seem to do much for a couple of years, and then, all of a sudden, a beautiful early patch of flowers.

The snowdrops have all gone by, but the experiment of moving them “in the green” and in bloom has gone well. Two clumps are now ripening in the Herb Bed in front of the house, where they will be easier to admire early next spring.

The antique Van Sion daffodills began blooming more than a week ago, but now other daffodils are coming into their season. I have moved nearly all of them out of the main lawn to the roadside strip where I am trying to eradicate lawn with groundcovers.  Although I loved the idea of a lawn full of naturalized daffodils, the reality was that I had varieties for a long season and could not mow the lawn until just before The Rose Viewing at the end of June.  That meant the lawn looked even more raggedy than usual and it was not a very inviting place to walk when called by the Peony Hedge that is still in good bloom at The Rose Viewing.

Recalcitrant forsythia

I guess you can say my forsythia is blooming, better than usual actually. These bushes were here when we moved in 30 years ago and they rarely produce this much bloom. Usually the buds are blasted by frost at a critical moment. I would remove them except they are such an entrenched tangle it would take enormous effort – and I have better things on my list that would take enormous effort.  One reader I suggested that I cut the whole area down and let it renew itself. That I will try. There is nothing to lose, and possibly a shower of gold to gain.

To see what else is blooming here and there, and give thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens who hosts this virtual garden party click here.

Earth Day is nearly upon us and celebrations are beginning everywhere. Tomorrow on April 16 there is a benefit family concert at All Soul’s Church in Greenfield featuring Jim Scott and Sarah Pirtle, both know for their music and environmental work. A light supper at 5:30 and the music at 7 pm. Sliding scale admission $5-10 for children and $7-25 for adults.

Two Beautiful Sights

Forsythia

Yesterday I went to Greenfield to hear a talk by the charming Ed Himlan of the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition talk about rain gardens, but we didn’t have to stand out in the rain to enjoy it and learn. Did you know that the major cause of pollution in our waterways is from rainwater runoff?  More on that later.

During my drive about town I admired the forsythia in bloom everywhere. It hurts me to see bushes pruned severely into tight little hedges, but I love the glory of gracefully arching branches and exuberant tangles. What a beautiful sight!

My own forsythia is not blooming yet (it usually doesn’t) but the flat of seedlings that I planted a week ago is another beautiful sight.  Every morning I check progress and pour water into the tray to be absorbed by osmosis into the cell packs.  You will notice that the parsley has not yet sprouted.  There is a saying that parsley has to travel down to the devil and back three times before it sprouts.  I don’t know why, I only know it can take three weeks for parsley seed to germinate, even on a heat mat.