Ask John
Q&A
is by John O'Connell, President of O'Connell Landscape.
Q: “My privet hedge has seen its better days. How can I replace it?”
A: My answer may surprise you. I don’t think you should replace it at all, but rather keep it and plant a beautiful vine to twine through it’s branches. I discovered how vines and hedges can go together by accident when a client wanted me to remove a clematis vine that had left its intended space and had traveled to a nearby hedge. The hedge never looked better! What a wonderful combination — a green hedge to set off the brightly colored clematis vine. Even though clematis only blooms in May and June, what a sight while it lasts. If the privet is planted in full sun, the vine can be put in behind it in the shade produced by the hedge or shrub. When planted as a shrub, the clematis needs very little care. My favorites are the fragrant varieties, such as ‘Nelly Moser’, pink flowers in spring and early summer.
Q: How do I know whether a rose that is recommended is easy to care for? I don’t want to fertilize and spray all the time.
A: The American Rose Society has a ten-point system that it uses to grade roses. For example, the rose I recommended, ‘Mme Hardy’, is a white rose rated 9.0. Highly rated roses are the easiest to grow, the most disease-resistant, and also the most beautiful. Anything with a rating of 7.5 or higher is considered an excellent choice. I like the old roses and the fragrant ones. Imagine a rose that requires minimum maintenance, is resistant to pests and diseases, flowers all over the place for a long period, and even looks good when it is not flowering. And fragrant, too!
Q: I haven’t had much luck with plants in hanging baskets. They always
turn yellow, then die. Am I not watering enough, watering too much, or am I
using the wrong kind of fertilizer? Do you have any hints or ideas on how to
keep them alive and looking good?
A: I sure do. Recently, I took a trip to Washington D.C., and I picked up a great pamphlet from the U.S. Botanical Garden that I thought had some excellent tips for growing plants in hanging baskets. Here are some of them.
Wire Baskets
I like to use wire baskets because they have the following advantages:
· the sides and bottom of the container can be planted
· there is always a constant supply of oxygen to the roots
· plants in wire baskets rarely suffer problems caused by over-watering
· moss lined baskets have an attractive natural appearance
One major disadvantage of wire baskets, though, is that they drip for hours
after they have been watered.
Wire Baskets should be lined with unshredded sphagnum moss which has been well moistened by placing them in a plastic garbage can and adding water. The baskets should then filled with a potting medium, such as the one below.
Mix
1 part Peat Moss
1 part packaged potting soil
1 part horticultural perlite
2 tablespoons dolomitic lime
(per 12” pot)
Some Recommended Plants for Container Growing
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Q: As a landscaper, what is your favorite flower?
A: For appearance, variety and ease of growth, my favorite flower is the Dahlia. Few flowering plants bloom in such an abundance of colors. With a minimum of care, dahlias will continue to bloom in a sunny location throughout the spring, summer and fall with a multitude of flowering heads at any given time. Dahlias are wonderful in pots, in flower beds, or as background borders. Dwarf varieties will stay relatively small and shapely (12 to 14 inches tall). The larger varieties, however, can reach 5 feet in height and make a wonderful backdrop to any landscape. Both varieties are easy to grow and will bloom the first year.
Dahlias are frequently included in O'Connel’s customer flower beds. Dahlia bulbs can be planted in early spring for summer and fall bloom. Four-inch pots or six-packs from the nursery can be planted any time after the danger of frost has passed. These will bloom in the spring, and keep up their display into the fall.
Q: Our bearded irises have overtaken an entire garden area, but with diminishing returns each year. What can we do to renew their blossoms using less garden space?
A: In soil, bearded irises develop rhizomes which are tuberous underground stems that function as storage organs for the plant and give rise to both roots and leaves. These rhizomes increase each season until they eventually become overcrowded and starved for nutrients. If you divide clumps of iris and replant the rhizomes separately in fresh soil, you can refresh the plants and enable them to gather the needed energy to produce abundant blossoms the next year.
I have been asked this question repeatedly as people tend to plan now for spring blooming bulbs. If irises are divided now, however, they probably will not bloom for you until the following spring. We recommend that you divide irises during the fall.
In our mild climate, this project is best put off until September and October which not only protects the iris from extreme summer heat during transplanting, but also allows the iris enough time to settle in before the winter frosts. Should you choose to divide your irises now, there are four basic steps which can be summarized as follows:
1. Dig up the clump. Loosen the soil under and around the clump and lift the entire clump out of the ground. Shake off excess soil clinging to the rhizomes and roots.
2. Make Divisions. The clumps will contain older spongy rhizomes and lighter-colored young ones growing from their sides. Cut the young rhizomes from the older ones with a sharp knife; discard all but the young and healthy. Each rhizome will have a fan of healthy leaves; trim the leaves to about a third of their original height to reduce moisture loss.
3. Replant the Divisions. Plant the bearded iris in a sunny location with good drainage. If replanting in the same bed, remove some of the old soil and replace with as much compost and fresh soil as you can fit. Also give the plants a light application of 5-10-10 fertilizer (use half the amount recommended on the label).
Space the rhizomes 12 to 18 inches apart. Dig a shallow hole for each, and form a low mound in the center on which to set the rhizome. Drape the roots down each side of the mound and firm the soil around them. Cover only lightly with soil; if planted too deep, they are more susceptible to borers and rot.
4. Care. Water immediately to settle the soil around roots. If planting during the fall and the weather is warm and sunny, temporarily shade iris by placing a shingle on their south side. Irrigate every 10 days while weather is warm, and then let nature take over during the winter.
Information for this article was obtained from “Dividing Bearded Irises” by Janet H. Sanchez, Horticulture Magazine, August/September 1992, page 56-57.
Q: "I've heard of something called 'Polymers' that you add to the soil to retain moisture. What are they exactly, and how do you use them?
A: Super-absorbent soil poly-mers are sugar-like granules which are added to the soil at planting, or they can be placed in holes dug around an existing plan- They are made either from natural starch materials or are 'manufactured from plastic, an dare said to be harm less to insects and people* Polymers can absorb 200-400 times their weight in water. When hy-drated, polymers become a gel-like substance and slowly release water and nutrients from fertilizers into the plants.
The main function of polymers
is to keep water more evenly available, eliminating wide fluctuations in moisture
content between waterings. They are
especially useful for plants contained in flower boxes and pots which tend to
dry rapidly.
Many polymers are added to the soil, it will be several weeks before the plant roots attach themselves to the gel and waterings may be slowed down. However, polymers are be-lieved to last more than one year in the soil, and they are relatively inexpensive to pur-chase. For potted plants, they are definitely worth trying.
* We would not recommend using polymers around fruits and vegetables intended for consumption.
Q: "I've
noticed a foamy substance in some of the plants near the walkways. What is causing
this?"
A: Warm spring weather brings many insects to the landscape. The foamy substance you noticed is created by the "spittle bug". Spittle bugs are small green insects that feed on plant sap inside the foamy secretions. Moderate numbers of these bugs do little real damage, and are probably not worth spraying for control. I haven't noticed any real dense populations locally, but if you do, please let me know and we will take a look.
Another bug that is around this time of year is the "sow" or "pill bug". They live in the soil, feeding mostly on decaying organic matter. But, if they build up into larger numbers, they can cause damage to your plant roots. Dry mulch applied around plants is supposed to help prevent damage and elimi-nate the need to use pesticide granules.