Category

gardening

Dec 25
0

Community garden success

By | gardening | No Comments

Sweetgum prologue

Across the street from my building is a strip of lawn, squeezed between a recreation center parking lot and the road. Then, one day, the city of Port Moody planted three sweetgum trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) there. I clearly remember this because the stakes were placed ridiculously far from the trees. They did nothing for the trees; and I fully expected kids to get clotheslined on the arbor tie. My picture of this poor staking job made it into level 1 apprentice courses. Without permission.

Weeks later, the trees went missing!? I never found out where they were moved.

Before the garden: columnar sweetgums with staking removed

A new community garden

Once the city installed raised beds on the lawn, it all made sense. And it was also clear that I was way too slow to get in on the garden lottery. I’m a busy man. But I’m happy to report that every single plot has been well used, mostly by women of a certain age.

Creating a new community garden is a great project anytime but it’s especially important during a pandemic. People can be outside fairly safely and taking care of plants gives them some measure of control, just as things seem to be spinning out of control.

One nice touch are the planted borders between the plots and parking stalls. They’re planted in perennials and add color, something vegetables can’t really do.

The city added a water source, which is critical because I expect summer 2022 to be hot. I’m not sure what happens to the green waste. I imagine the city hauls it away.

Considering the garden’s location, I wondered if some of the harvest would go missing under cover of darkness. Since I haven’t heard anything, I’m assuming the owners got to enjoy their harvests.

When I had a tiny rented plot in Burquitlam years ago, teenagers would stop by to collect apples in broad daylight. Who knows what else went missing.

A great idea

When the City of Port Moody planted sweetgum trees in a lawn across the street, with poorly installed stakes, I shook my head every time I walked by. Then the trees went missing and I shook my head some more. Wasn’t this a waste of money and labor.

Then the city installed community garden plots and life made more sense. The garden is well-used and the buffer zones are planted in perennials. So now we have some color visible from the road and from the recreation center parking lot. It may just brighten up our pandemic life.


Buffer zone Monarda

Dec 24
0

Never dismiss plant ID skills

By | gardening, Plants | No Comments

A crazy confession

“Vas, when you tell me the names of landscape plants, it means nothing to me.” What a shocker from an experienced landscaper and Red Seal candidate. This blog post will make the case for improving your plant identification, and for never dismissing it.

This is what my buddy missed. If he had looked at the bigger picture, he would have realized that everything starts with plant names. You can’t provide proper care and maintenance to plants when you don’t even know what they’re called. Names allow you to dig deeper; or you can let Siri do some of the digging for you. If you like plants, your discoveries might please you. My buddy is missing out.

Plant examples

Fully grown, Acanthus is an imposing plant, but at its baby stage, it could easily be mistaken for a weed. This actually happened to us in the field in a bed with just one specimen.

Since I was able to find out the plant name, we didn’t pull it. I stood my ground and defended it.

One patch of Oxalis wasn’t so lucky. Beautifully spread out under Rhododendrons, it was doing its thing in the shade it loves. Unfortunately, the leaves look like clover to the untrained eye. So, it went missing and the owner quickly noticed. Oops.

Oxalis

The last example is hilarious. Thinking the tree was a lilac (Syringa) the foreman responsible for the site let it grow until his horrified boss arrived to set him straight. The tree was actually a fast-growing cottonwood (Populus) invader. Left alone, it would eventually overwhelm its spot. It had to go once it was clearly identified as a cottonwood tree, not a lilac shrub. Yes, plant identification skills make maintenance easier.

Cottonwood or lilac?

Quotes

After receiving a number of plant name requests through text from another landscape manager, I wondered what was happening. Did she lose access to Google? I sent my answers back and let it go.

Months later I discovered that the plant names were required for a quote. It’s difficult to make a quote without proper plant names. Nurseries require botanical names, otherwise they can’t give you any prices. That makes sense.

In this case, the quote couldn’t be written up without proper plant names. No quote, no project and no extra income. There you go buddy. Now you know.

Expert on call

No, you’ll never know all plants but strata landscape plants tend to repeat so you have a great shot at becoming an expert. And your clients will likely approach you for help. So get ready.

If my buddy becomes a Red Seal landscape horticulturist with poor plant identification skills, he won’t be able to deliver great value to his employer. Personally, I love plants, so I work on my plant identification all the time. It’s an important skill. Trust me. So work on it.

Dec 06
0

Proper herbaceous perennial cutback

By | gardening, Tips | No Comments

Rudbeckia stubs

Rudbeckia


Every fall I shake my head at landscapers rushing perennial cutback by using power shears. To avoid shredding all of the green foliage, they cut the flower stems high, leaving a nasty stub. And because they use power shears, they have to go in and clean up, which means they didn’t save any time at all. (Don’t even get me started on air and noise pollution.)

Instead, I wish they would slow down and enjoy the cutback with hand snips; this allows you to grab a hold of the stems, cut them back close to the ground, leave the green foliage unmolested, and there is no further clean up. Just dispose of the stems you’re holding in your hand.

I find this quite relaxing, even when I have to cutback a large mass of Black eyed Susans (Rudbeckias). Just make sure you can see your fingers at all times as you do the cutback.

Long stubs I detest.

Cutback low.

Enter Christopher Lloyd

There is more to add to my rant. Early into Christopher Lloyd‘s book “The well tempered garden“, he writes about herbaceous perennials and how gardeners cut them back by leaving nasty stubs. They do this so they can remember the plant locations later when not much of the plants remains.

And Lloyd, the late famous English gardener, abhors this practice. That was a nice surprise because I do, too. Too bad I will never meet Mr. Lloyd. I suspect he could be my friend.

Lloyd argues that herbaceous perennials should either be cut right down level with the ground or left standing. Even dead perennials can look awesome covered in frost. See my blog post from December 4.

The problem with stubs

What’s wrong with leaving stubs? Lloyd gives us a nice list. Stubs look awful, they become hard and hollow; and they become a refuge for earwigs and woodlice. They also obstruct new growth in spring. But by far the worst is when people collecting cut flowers hit the hard stubs and stab themselves. (p.16, The well tempered garden by Christopher Lloyd)

Now you know. Start cutting back your herbaceous perennials right down without leaving nasty stubs. Use hand snips and enjoy your time in the garden. Leave your power shears in the shed.

Dec 05
0

Gunnera: late season step

By | gardening, Plants | No Comments
Gunnera

In your face plant

I love Gunneras. They almost make me laugh because they’re so big and imposing with their huge umbrella-like leaves. I happened to run into a few specimens at a garden in Morgan Creek, Surrey, last week but the show was clearly over.

Many of the spent leaves, now completely brown, were drooping into the pond. And this is already a hint: Gunneras require moist soil conditions.

They also need space and shelter. So, whoever designed this large water feature garden knew what she was doing. I found the plants at the pond edge, under deciduous trees where they have shade or semi-shade conditions. They all had plenty of space.

Gunneras work best as specimen plants. Fully grown, they’re hard to miss.

Last step

Gunnera buds are tightly packed around the crown. So, remember this one last step: cut back the leaves and stack them over top of the crown to protect it from frost.

I remember seeing a pile of giant Gunnera leaves stacked high by a creek at Como Lake, in Coquitlam. My first reaction was that someone forgot to clear away the debris. Now I know better, years later. The giant leaves protect the crown from frost.

Because Gunnera require lots of space, we don’t get to cut them back very often. Most strata (multi-family) complexes don’t have large gardens that would fit Gunnera specimens. This one does, so we had some fun cutting it back.

You can tell from the rough leaf piles that we need more practice. Twelve months from now, we’ll try to stack the leaves nicely. I always tell my apprentices to do everything in the field; and experience as many new things as possible. This was one such experience. Now they can file away Gunnera and remember the one critical late season step.

I hope you do, too.

Gunnera crowns

Cut back leaves stacked over the top of the crowns.
Dec 04
0

Fun with early frost

By | gardening, Plants | No Comments

Prerequisite

Yes, you can have some fun with early frost but, first, you have to leave some of your perennials and ornamental grasses standing. If you cut them back too early, you’ll lose out on seeing magic in your garden.

One good example are Sedums. Right now their flowers are still standing and they wear early frost quite well. Also, take a good look and you’ll see new growth at the base, waiting to push out in spring 2022.

If the flowers aren’t looking great or you find them broken up, then cut them back. We can’t do much about that. See one example below.

This Sedum is ready for cutback.

Sedum

Ornamental grasses

Ornamental grasses covered in frost look even better than Sedums. Unfortunately, people cut them back too soon. As soon as one stalk looks amiss, the entire plant gets cut down. And that’s too bad because many ornamental grasses flower in the fall; and, covered in frost, the flower heads look awesome.

Don’t be afraid to experiment by letting your ornamental grasses stand all winter. I have one potted specimen of Calamagrostis on the patio, and it looks fine.

Shrubs and trees

In December we don’t have to do much to our shrubs and evergreen trees, unless they’re in the way. Just watch for early frost and enjoy the show. Like I did recently at a strata complex we service.

Walk into your morning garden and observe it for a few minutes. If you work at a strata property, steal a bit of company time to enjoy the show. Azaleas and dwarf evergreen trees looked fantastic covered in light frost.

Azalea

Frost magic

I love seeing plants covered in light frost. It gives them a new look in late fall. If you want to enjoy the show in your own garden, cutback your plants later or wait until spring.

And don’t forget to share your own pictures.

Apr 17
0

Who was Karl Foerster?

By | Education, gardening, Species | No Comments

One stunning grass

I first learned about the Feather reed grass when I worked for the City of Coquitlam. My then gardener-boss was a fantastic teacher and, luckily, the gardens we maintained contained many Feather reed grasses.

Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) is a beautiful ornamental grass. I love the way the large seed heads sway in the wind; and I have one specimen in a pot on my humble patio. I rescued it from a work project which would have horrified Mr. Foerster; the grass that bears his name, unwanted!

Calamagrostis is a clump forming perennial grass, it’s hardy and fast growing. Its soft feathery green plumes mature into wheat-colored spikes. Poor Mr. Foerster would be horrified if he saw the way his grass gets machine gunned by landscapers in early fall into lifeless mounds. It’s as if the grass reminded them of wheat harvests. I leave my patio specimen alone and it’s totally fine.

Not too long ago, while reading a UK gardening magazine, I came across an obvious question: who was Karl Foerster? (See Blade Runner, The English Garden, March 2021, p.81) That’s what so fascinating about many plants: they have their own stories. But to get there, you must know the botanical name. Feather reed grass alone would never let you discover Karl Foerster. Always learn botanical names.

Who was Karl Foerster?

Karl Foerster (1874-1970) discovered the Feather reed grass hybrid species along a railway line in Germany in the 1930s. He ran his parents’ plant nursery which specialized in hardy perennials. He also lectured and wrote about hardy perennials.

He bred close to 370 crosses, mainly clumping grasses, Delphiniums and Phlox.

His key contributions to garden design were:

  1. popularizing the use of grasses
  2. using plants as the most important element in the garden
  3. seeing plants as individuals, not something to dispose of with the seasons

Check out these two beauties from my picture collection.

The specimen below looks great but I question its placement. At its best, the Feather reed grass covers up a laurel and obscures a sign. That’s all the excuse landscapers need to cut it down.

The grass is great but I question the placement.

Conclusion

I love grasses. They’re low maintenance and usually perennial; and they look awesome when they sway in gentle breezes. Thanks Karl!

Mar 20
0

Celebrate small wins!

By | gardening, health and safety, Landscaping | No Comments

Celebrating in tough times

As the pandemic continues, it’s important to celebrate small wins. I find that I need to improve my mental health and reading newspapers doesn’t help. I didn’t find anything up-lifting in either The Globe and Mail or the Sunday New York Times today.

So, why not celebrate small, simple wins? It’s good for my own mental health and it might inspire you to celebrate your own personal wins.

Small wins

Carex

I scored small wins with sedges (Carex). In both cases I plugged up empty spaces that would otherwise go weedy. In one case, the plants were free. I salvaged them from another work project. In the other case, the owner paid hefty nursery charges. But in both cases, the sedges are thriving and expanding in their new homes! It’s a win.

Before

After

Cedars

Many B&B (ball and burlap) cedars (Thuja occidentalis) don’t do well long-term in the landscape and people get frustrated. That’s because it costs money to buy and install the cedars; and often, the owners are looking for a privacy screen. Green preferably.

Growers are finding that B&B trees don’t have great roots and some are refusing to purchase them.

This may not look like much, but I planted these two cedars when they were just six feet tall. Except here the owner cares. She waters well and frequently which is exactly what the trees need to establish well in their first year.

Often, cedars don’t get the required watering because people are busy and landscapers aren’t really paid to water new installs. Except, of course, on the day of installation.

This is a huge win.

Rhodos

Rhododendron

This Rhododendron was huge last year. So huge it towered over the rocks. Until my desperate friends called me for help. Now, with rhodos this big, there aren’t any obvious junctions to cut to so you need faith.

Faith in latent buds, that is. Rhododendrons, especially rough barked, have latent buds which pop and produce new foliage. You can see them in the picture because they’re lighter green. Smooth barked Rhododendrons may not respond as well.

I shot this picture last week and it was nice to see the new growth. I’d hate to kill my friend’s shrubs. Another win!

Herbs

This last win is close to home. My teenage daughter loves to cook but she hates touching soil and seeing bugs. That doesn’t sound like a landscaper’s daughter.

But when we got herb seeds she happily planted them on our patio. And it wasn’t just for show. She actually used parsley and cilantro in her dishes. This was another small but significant win.

Balcony herbs

I hope 2021 is going well for you! Leave comments about your own wins. I hope you score many this year.

Feb 26
0

When your client moves

By | gardening | No Comments

Embrace change

I hate losing clients. Especially, during a pandemic but I only take care of private clients part-time because I have a full-time job as a landscape manager. Plus, I have other projects on the go, like blogging and developing online courses. But, still, it hurts to see old clients sell their house and move. Change is inevitable but I always struggle to embrace it.

The residence is special because there aren’t any lawns to cut. Since the owners are nice, successful people who travel a lot, it didn’t make sense for them to have lawns. It was bad enough last year, when they spent most of their time with family in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, and I maintained their garden.

This is why they decided to sell and move. The price was right and, with COVID-19 still raging, it made sense to stick with family.

Features

I love the design: Heuchera and Thyme cover most of the front garden. The Heucheras flower nicely and look great with their dark purples; the Thyme forms a soft bed which gets covered, absolutely covered, with insects in summer. My job was to make sure weeds and bamboo didn’t take over. And in the fall, I picked up the leaves. Nothing super special.

The bamboo forms a sort of wall between the garden and the neighbors; and the neighbor’s Persian ironwood (Parottia persica) provides great fall color.

In the back is a pool with one flowering dogwood (Cornus), Hibiscus syriacus, and my favorite, the Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), the only palm that survives in our colder climate. Grape vines cover the wall.

Trachycarpus fortunei, Rudbeckia and grapes

2021

While I’ve asked the owners to kindly introduce me to the new owners, I’m not holding my breath. It wasn’t a huge money-maker for me; more like a bi-monthly maintenance visit. Since I have other clients on the same street, I will get to see the house periodically. I would love to continue my work there but, as we know, change is inevitable. It might be time to pick-up new clients somewhere else.

Stay safe and healthy!

Feb 18
0

Weeding vindication

By | gardening, weeds | No Comments

The problem

I need to write this blog post but I have to do it gently, without starting a war. Now, landscape maintenance is populated by many all-stars like me: certified, experienced and opinionated individuals. And while I’m always ready to learn, there are limits. I’m only human.

One such limit is weeding. Weeding should be done with tools, not with fingers. Unless, of course, you’re picking huge trophy weeds.

It was only a matter of time before someone disagreed with me. I’ve seen and heard those people. They happily sit down to hand weed and pick away until their fingers are bruised and bleeding; or, more often than not, until they delegate this unpopular task to someone else.

A gift even Santa can’t match

Just last week, I received a huge gift. Something even Santa can’t bring.

Picture a large bed full of weeds, slightly compacted and muddy. A newly promoted working manager dropped to his knees to weed and inside one minute realized it would take him forever to hand-pick all of the weeds. So, he quickly got up and walked away.

To do what exactly?

Vindication 101

Did you get it? He brought a cultivator (A Dutch hoe to be precise: because it’s sharp and ideal for this situation) and ran it through the bed. Then he raked up the weedy mess and disposed of it. Like a pro.

He stayed on his feet, it was much quicker, the weeds got uprooted and the bed looked fluffy. Don’t forget the bonuses: his fingers didn’t hurt and the bed will stay nice longer!

(One major drawback of hand-picking weeds is that the roots often go undisturbed.)

That’s how you handle weedy patches. With tools. Like a pro. I know that some will still disagree. That’s fine. Those people will leave nasty comments before moving to other blog sites. Let them go, quietly.

Quiz

Study the picture and answer the question.

The best way to weed this bed quickly and efficiently is by…

A. line trimming the weeds and having a window repair service on speed dial

B. sitting down and using your arthritic, bruised fingers only

C. delegating this task to the most junior staff

D. using a small hand tool or a combination of cultivator and rake

Conclusion

Weeding isn’t going away, ever. So, use tools for weeding. It will save you time and your finesse work will shine. Yes, you can tell people Red Seal Vas trained you.

Feb 15
0

Mulch tactics

By | gardening, Mulch | No Comments

Here we go again

I love mulch. It keeps moisture in your beds, deprives weeds of sunlight and it gives your beds an instant sharp look. Of course, it does break down so you might have to top it up once in a while.

Just last week, I did some clean-ups at a new site my day-job employer took over from another landscape contractor. While the pruning looked OK, I could tell the previous dudes didn’t care for finesse work much. And yet, it’s finesse work that gives your site a sharp look.

Running a line trimmer through your planted beds doesn’t qualify as finesse work. It’s extremely dangerous and desperate. If you somehow manage not to blow out windows, you will likely injure the plants. Never do this. Allegedly, the previous contractors did this all the time. Which is why they lost the site.

Don’t go cheap with thin mulch

Here I had to gently uproot the weeds and get rid of them without removing the mulch. It would be difficult to line trim the weeds into oblivion.

But this isn’t how mulch works. At a depth of 2-3″, it should keep moisture in the bed, block sunlight from reaching any weeds and give us a sharp look.

Of course, over time the mulch degrades and requires top-up. But I also find that many homeowners try to go cheap by applying a thin layer. Which is a huge mistake.

I learned why from Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, my mentor. I knew mulch kept moisture in the bed and prevented sunlight from reaching weeds. What I didn’t know was that a thin layer of mulch made everything very cozy for weeds. It helped retain moisture in the bed without depriving the weeds of sunlight. That’s how we get beds like the one pictured above.

Now that it’s nicely weeded, it needs more mulch to replenish it and make it work and look the way it was supposed to. So, remember, don’t go cheap with mulch. Apply at least 2-3 inches and keep it topped up.