Category: Gardens

Grandmother_Garden_Layout

Plants Purchased – (from Wavside Catalog)

• Delphinium – Pacific Giant – Blue/Purple (1 dozen)
• Holly Hocks – Country Garden Mix (1 dozen)
• Honey Suckle – John Clayton
• Mock Orange – White Philadelphia

Seeds Purchased (from Parkseed Catalog)

• Dianthus – Arctic Fire (2 packets)
• Foxglove – mix of color (2 packets)
• Phlox – Unique Mix, Dramandi (1 packet)
• Stock – Cinderella Mix (2 packets)
• Sweet Pea – Matucana (1 packet)

Purchased at a local greenhouse

• Snapdragons
• Johnny Jump-ups
• Mums (in autumn)
• Pansy (Whiteford Greenhouse)

Wish list – will ask Herb Society members

• Ferns – one or two Forget-me-not
• Lambs Ear
• Lily of the Valley
• Peony – intense pink color, the old-fashioned type
• Rhubarb
• Viola Odorata or Violets, sweet smelling
• Lilac – 1 bush
• Oriental Poppy
• Tiger Lily

Existing Plants – will leave in current location or relocate

• Autumn Clematis
• Autumn Sedum
• Black-eyed Susan
• Bleeding Heart
• Butterfly Bush
• Columbine
• Forsythia
• Hosta
• Iris
• Rugosa Rose
• Shasta Daisy
• Veronica or Penstemons
• Vibernum

Seasonal Maintenance for Roses

1. Take care not to let fertilizer fall on the base of the plant as this may cause scorching.
2. Hoe the soil lightly; remove weeds and improve soil condition – sometimes called a dust mulch.
3. May use a mulch of peat or pulverized bark. Apply when the soil is damp.
4. When spraying make sure your applicator reaches under the foliage. This is as important as covering the top surfaces. Always follow manufacturer instructions.
5. A jagged cut when pruning means pruning shears are not sharp. Damaged wood will create a haven for insects.
6. Never cut a rose plant when wood is frozen or during a hot, dry spell.
7. Prune above an outside bud. Allowing the branch to grow outward. Buds growing inward towards the center produce an unattractive bush.
8. In tying a Climbing Rose – slowly flex cane tip to a horizontal position. They are at their most flexible in spring.

Climbing Roses

Illusion on Pillar and New Dawn on Arch

1. Remove covers as above.
2. Treat mound of soil as above.
3. Don’t prune climbers except deadwood for first 2-3 years.
4. Shape while dormant – don’t take as much wood from everbloomers.
5. Apply fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season, after each bloom cycle
   and ( 6 weeks before last bloom cycle to discourage new growth & winter freeze).
6. Keep faded flowers plucked off everblooming roses. Do not take foliage since repeat blooms are produced from top leaves immediately under the old flower cluster.
7. Cover base of plant with mulch.
8. Tie branches horizontally – this creates stress & results in more blooms. Canes growing straight up produce flowers only at their tips.
9. Always use soft natural string as ties.
10. Check for soil moisture – water if necessary.

This section is essentially overtaken by events. Because there is only a skeleton crew maintaining the herb gardens, the decision was made to give up on the roses, as they are the most labor-intensive of the plants in the gardens.

Along Fence

1. Remove covers – burlap and straw as weather becomes more moderate.
2. Leave mound of soil until new growth is 1″-2” long and all danger of frost is past.
3. Gradually acclimate the plant by washing away an inch or two of the mound a day.

Pruning Shrub Roses

Never cut a rose plant when the wood is frozen.

1. Use sharp clean pruners.
2. Cut on a slant 1/4 inch from outside bud.
3. Paint the cut with glue or nail polish.
4. Cut out old wood, weak shouts – never use your best pruning shears to cut out dead wood as it will ruin the cutting edge.
5. Reduce the remaining wood by 2/3. Cut back the branch to an outside eye – a dormant bud growing outwards.
6. Leave a good framwork of strong wood. Remove canes growing toward center. Remove suckers.
7. Fertilize after pruning and foliage starts to appear.
8. Mulch 2-4” around plants – leaving a circle of bare soil.

If time allows:

1. Rake around gardens and place the debris from trees in dumpster or over in area where we throw the rock (outside fence beyond compost bins) East.
2. Haul dirt from accross the road (playground side) behind the barn on pavement.
3. Clean and rake outside gardens.
4. Prune Butterfly bushes to 1 ft. above the ground.
5. Prune the fall blooming Clematis behind out-house to about 3 ft. to encourage new growth.
6. Fill in holes under plants with soil (Holes made by our resident ground hogs)
7. Remove dead and weak wood from ivy along walk.
8. Add compost to all outside gardens. Use middle bin of compost.
9. Fertilize evergreen trees and add compost.

Seeds to Plant

1. Globe Thistle
2. Globe Amaranth
3. Strawflowers
4. Annual Statice
5. German Statice
6. Opal Basil
7. Bay Tree 9. Impatients
8. Violas or Pansies
9. Hostas-from whatever we can beg, borrow, or steal.
10. Saffron Crocus – to be planted in August.