Unfinished projects, part one

Here’s an area that really needs work. I choose this area first because this is going to be the most labor intensive to get under control.

This picture, dated September 2006, was taken two years after we moved in. I did not have a clear plan for the space, other than knowing I did not want this tree and all of its suckers.

When we first moved in this plum tree was a ‘huge’ shrub and I had no idea what it was. I asked the neighbors but they didn't know either. The suckers had grown so tall and thick that the trunk wasn’t visible. For size reference, the fence posts are set ten feet apart and this thing covered the fence from one post to the other.

Within a month of moving in I cut everything down except the main tree, the trunks you see here. After clearing it back a bit I began finding tell-tale ‘fruit’ on the ground that looked like plums. They were a 'dusty' purple and not very well developed (see next photo). I attributed the smallish size of the fruit to the tree not being well-cared for. Perhaps this variety just produces fruit smaller than the standard plum.




I began tossing lawn clippings on the area thinking the decomposition of it would help loosen up the heavy clay soil.

Here is what it looked like in April of this year, before the suckers and bindweed have come up.



I’m still putting grass clippings on it, along with composted steer manure and digging it in. I had come up with a plan to replace the tree with a couple of tall and wide Viburnum. I ordered the Viburnum, one 'Aurora' (white) and a 'Red Wing' thinking they would be tall enough and wide enough to cover this section of fence by next Spring. At that time I would cut down the plum tree and all of its suckers.

Viburnum 'Aurora' before...









and after...









and what it would have looked like if it had survived my ineptitude.








Viburnum 'Red Wing' before...










and after...









and what it would have looked like. Ah well, they would have been beautiful.









I think the lesson here is that just because they are considered 'hardy' shrubs for my area, doesn't mean they don't need to be protected from the hot sun. I did expose them to the sun gradually, following the typical transplanting routine, i.e., a few hours of sun the first day and increasing sun exposure each day for a week before putting them into their permanent place. And I did water them a lot, although on reflection, maybe not often enough.

Another lesson is to pay a little extra to buy larger shrubs that would probably have had a better chance of getting established.

I will buy two more viburnum, the same ones again, and this time they will make it and my plan will have to be adjusted. Such is a gardeners lot.

In the mean time, there are two Lilac's maturing here until they get big enough to move somewhere a little more permanent.



And two squash 'Hybrid Gentry' crook-necked.





And one more plant, Spirea 'Little Princess'.



The open space in the above photo is as of today. I still need to figure out what will look good in front of two large Viburnum. This is the most difficult yet most fun part of gardening, is trying to decide what to plant.

Good garden design says I need to repeat what I already have planted, but there is so much more out there to plant that I just can't bring myself to be limited by what I already have. And I have to consider bloom times so I can have color during every season.

Maybe some Chrysanthemums, Geraniums, Bee Balm, Lilac....

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Rose bloomed!

This is pretty exiting because this rose was 'rescued' from a mistake I made awhile back. It is a 'Honey Perfume' Jackson & Perkins 2004 Floribunda of the Year and this is how it looked the first season after I planted it in 2005.

I planted it the same day as I planted the 'Tuscan Sun' Jackson & Perkins 2005 Floribunda of the Year.

They were both planted in a south facing position against two different buildings, in similar soil. I'm not 100% certain why they turned out so differently but the 'Honey Perfume' was not doing as well as the Tuscan Sun. As you can see the bush only put out two roses and it only grew to just under two feet tall. The Tuscan Sun put out many roses and grew to over three feet tall. This is all in the first year. So I decided to move it next to the 'Tuscan Sun' this spring.

Here are pictures of each one as of this month. This is the Tuscan Sun.

This is the Honey Perfume.

The picture quality is not the best, I really need to learn how to use this camera.

But the difference in size can be easily seen. I have fed and cared for them both in the exact same way, it is just difficult to imagine what went wrong with the Honey Perfume. It bloomed in its original location (only two blooms) while the Tuscan Sun had many. It must be something to do with the soil.

I moved into this house four years ago, and therefore I cannot know what was in the soil before I planted these roses. Hopefully, I got it out in time to save it.

I know some of you are thinking 'get a soil test' and I know I should. I did a home test with one of those home kits and the pH is nearly identical, as far as I can tell. I guess I should talk myself into just getting a real test done.

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One transplant at a time

I love gardening, but my love is tested daily as I attempt to turn these lawn-filled, clay plots into flower-supporting, food-producing, horizontal compost piles. When we moved into this house, several years ago, there were four rose bushes (in sad shape), five evergreen shrubs (dying), five fruit trees (apple, cherry, peach, pear, plum, all in desperate need of pruning), a catalpa tree and a dogwood tree both in need of pruning. And all in desperate need of fertilizer. There was not one bit of mulch to be seen and the soil was hard-brick clay. Talk about your gardening challenge! The joy of having a clean slate to start with was not to be found here. I was faced with first getting what I had cleaned up and healthy before I could consider starting anything new.

I had never gardened in clay before, I had never grown roses or fruit trees either so I began reading, listening to garden talk shows on radio and television and visiting the many garden centers and nurseries surrounding me. I also visited the wonderful public gardens to see what grows here. Thankfully, the knowledge base concerning plants and landscaping has expanded greatly thanks to the internet and the ability to blog. All of the wonderful people who have given advice can only be summed up as golden. Thank-you all very much for sharing your pictures and advice. I wish I could thank each of you by name but given that I can't possibly remember all of you, I have tried to list as many as I can on my blogroll. The sum total of all of this knowledge I have gathered has given me the confidence to expand my gardening abilities and grow with my gardens. And now I want to share my mistakes and successes with all of you in hopes that some new gardener might learn and gain the confidence to start their own gardens.

While attempting to nurse everything back from the throes of death I immersed myself in the fantasy of drawing up plans. Many of you know what I mean, I was filled with the excitement of planning new and glorious flower beds and life-sustaining vegetable plots and sensuous herb gardens. Well, in the meantime, I had to learn what to do to get the clay soil into some usable state. So my hands were full and my ideas were flowing. I love learning new things!

I spent the first full year observing how everything grew here, where the sun and shade fell and taking note of different views from each window in the house. This was essential in order to determine where best to place all of the planned plants and hardscape I was planning. Many plans and bed designs have changed from the originals or should I say I have 'adjusted' them to better fit the reality of a budget and available space. To be modestly honest, my inadequacies and enthusiasm needed to be trimmed a bit.

The second year we added a deck to the back of the house and this provided at least two new corners and ideas for beds, one a shade garden, the other an herb garden.
At this time I began removing lawn to make five beds and began adding as much compost as we could afford. I also began covering the areas with small bark knowing it would help keep the soil cool in the hot summers that is part of Utah living. I was trying to get worms to come up closer to the surface so they could help loosen the soil. I couldn’t resist the urge to add some plantings so I put in a couple of Irises (which are one my favorite flowers), a Plumbago, and a clematis. All of which died by the next year. The clay was still too much for them to survive in. The lesson of patience had been taught and learned so it wasn't a total bust.

Two of the existing rose shrubs had to come out. They were not able to be saved, unfortunately, the other two are now blooming with beautiful red roses and, of course, the not so beautiful typical black-spot, powdery mildew and aphids. But these are getting less and less common because they are slowly getting under control.

The evergreens all had to come out. Neither my wife nor I cared for where they were planted nor did we care to have them in the yard, besides the fact they were mostly brown and not worth the trouble of saving. Sorry evergreen lovers, I just could not do it. Besides, removing them opened up two planned beds.

That Fall I began putting bulbs everywhere, mainly Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinths and the following Spring they all brought much needed color to the otherwise drab landscape. The soil was beginning to loosen up but still needed more work. So, in went more compost and mulch and the worms were beginning to show up for work and have helped greatly.

One major enemy I have to deal with through all of this, and the prospects are good that I will be dealing with this for a very long time, is field bindweed. If you don’t have to fight this very prolific weed then you are indeed a lucky gardener. Not that there aren’t many other weeds to deal with, but this one has roots that can travel thirty feet! When you pull them they break off easily and come up again. If you don’t throw away what you did manage to pull up (in the trash can, not the compost pile!) they will sprout and start anew. If you till and break them each into ten separate pieces they will grow ten separate new plants. Whole articles have been written on just how to kill these things. Some articles say you will never completely get rid of it. Others offer more hope but lean more towards just surviving with it as opposed to completely eradicating it. To control it is basically a matter of timing. The only time spraying is effective is during Summer when they flower and on into the Fall as they store energy to make it through Winter. Glysophate (there are over 200 name brands that use this as their main ingredient, with the most notable being Round-Up) is probably the safest for humans. The smallest drop of it will kill any plant. So extreme caution is advised. But it breaks down within seven days of use and when it hits the soil it becomes inert. So, all in all not bad for an herbicide.

One local Master Gardener I heard of feeds the plant into plastic bottles without breaking them off and allows them to grow there. In June, as they begin flowering, he cuts the bottom of the bottle open and sprays Glysophate on them until they are completely soaked. This is the time of year they take the Glysophate down into the roots and die. They are so prolific that he will be doing this every year, but at least there is some hope of getting it under control. Of course, you can always count on neighbors who don’t garden and don’t care if it survives in their yards. This means that it will always come back.

This year, in January, I decided to buy one of those ‘complete’ gardens you see in catalogs to put in one of my full-sun beds. It is a butterfly/hummingbird garden. So when Spring came around I covered the bed with composted steer manure and more compost and an all-purpose fertilizer and then tilled it all in. When the plants arrived about a month later the plot was fairly easy to dig and so I planted all 51 plants. This planting took place just three days ago and the weather has been pretty much perfect for it. 50s to 60s daytime and down into upper 30s to lower 40s at night. Occasional rain. Mostly overcast.

I am keeping my fingers crossed and getting the irrigation system prepared because I think this Summer is going to be hotter and dryer than usual. Our snow pack in the Wasatch Mountains is below normal so water will definitely become a problem towards the end of Summer.

I love life, and gardening is such a wonderful expression of ‘love of life’. When we can spread hope in this way it shows that we are doing more than just taking up space on this planet.

So, I hope you join me in my journey deeper into gardening as I try to tame the clay and beautify our world one transplant at a time.

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Roto tiller blues

Yesterday, I borrowed my neighbors roto-tiller. Some people might think how lucky that he can borrow one. Or, how lucky that he got to roto-till instead of using a pitch fork. I'm here to tell you that I do not consider myself lucky at being able to use this particular roto-tiller.

This thing is a beast! It is big and clunky, there is no reverse, it literally beat me up trying to turn it around. The controls to put the tines into the ground actually fight back! My body is more beat up than the ground I was trying to till.

If all roto-tillers behave as this thing does I will never do it again!

What little bit of soil I was able to till (in a straight line) turned out to more closely match my dream soil than anything I could ever do with just a pitch fork. Two sides of the one bed I used this thing on is bordered by chain link fence. I got caught up against that fence more than once.

Please, somebody reassure me that not everyone goes through this kind of disgrace in trying to till their garden.

I guess I pictured something that would 'turn on a dime' for tight corners. And, something that would back up so I could erase the foot prints and holes I dug into the soil with my feet as I tried to maneuver this monster around.

I know I probably sound ungrateful, after all he did let me borrow it, but OMG I am a physical wreck right now. I need to take a day off to recuperate!

I sure hope my plants appreciate this torture I just went through.

Okay, now that I have gotten my whine out of the way, I found plans for a water tower to put in one of the perennial beds. I think I will make one and if it works well I'll build one for each of the other beds. Also, I found a plan for a Tower Trellis in an old issue of Birds & Bloom that looks pretty nice so I will make one of those as well for my cherry tomatoes.

I dumped some composted steer manure and top soil along north fence where the sunflowers will go.

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Continuing soil improvement

In my effort to combat the clay and improve drainage in my perennial beds I have tilled in: 7 cu ft of Clay buster (compost mix), 8 cu ft Composted Steer Manure, 2 cu ft, Supersoil Potting mix (potting soil with fertilizer).

To this, I have added 12 lbs (14 cups), All-purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer and 1 lb blood meal.

All of this went into two unplanted beds, total 400 sq feet.

I will need to add more but will let this 'break down' and 'work in' a little first. After adding all of this I water area really well and leave it sit.

I shouldn't have to feed anything once I have planted in for about 3-4 months.

I also prepared a long bed, about 70 feet long and 18" wide along my north fence to put sunflowers and a couple of vines in. I tilled the area with composted steer manure and clay buster.

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Planting pansies

This has become one of my most anticipated Spring 'chores'. It has been, the last two years, my first trip to the nursery after the long winter months. I go, ostensibly, to purchase Pansies. But the real reason is to be able to walk among all of the beautiful greenery and colorful flowers that provide the proof I need that Spring has indeed arrived. Nothing rejuvenates me more. I think my wife is in on this little guilty pleasure of mine because she lets me go by myself so I am not 'pressured' with the need to hurry. I get lost in all of the choices of everything there is to offer. I haven't yet ventured into anything other than Pansies but I am certain that, in the future, after all of my plots are finally up to snuff and able to provide the support these plants need, I will be tempted to bring home something I had not gone to the nursery planning to buy.

Oh happy day when I can finally place that crabapple tree and the crepe myrtle I have been eying. The Hydrangea will certainly be one of the first shrubs to go into the perfect spot I have picked out for the perennial bed in the back yard next to the deck.

For now I have to be satisfied with the few beds that are already growing plants.

You see, I have been building up three perennial beds in the back yard and two in the front yard for two years (2007 is the third year) and have a few plants here and there as 'testers'. Sort of the 'canary in the coal mine' if you will.

I'm not sure if I have put enough compost into these plots to over come the clay. I have been frightened by the horror stories of how water-logged clay soil kills plants. I have been keeping careful records of how much compost I have added to these plots to combat the clay and if these plants survive then I will feel more confident in buying more expensive plants.

Last winter I bit the bullet and bought a starter Butterfly garden from Bluestone Perennials. Every plant I have purchased from them in the past has survived and arrived looking healthy enough that I feel confident I can plant the 51 plants that will arrive next month.

I must admit that I am a bit apprehensive and nervous about having to put that many plants in at one time, but I have at least gotten to the point to where I believe I have a reasonable chance to make it work.

The soil was really easy to dig in this Spring in the few plots I have been building up so I added a little more just to be certain.

So, with Pansies and trowel at the ready, I come home to plant that one perfect 'welcome mat' to what will most assuredly be the best gardening season ever.

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Today's theme is soil improvement

With clay soil, this theme will be repeated over and over, every year, for a very long time.

First, the easy part, I plan on starting a routine spreading of Nutri-Mulch into every bed. This is actually Turkey manure. Utah has a very large number of Turkey farms about 50 miles south of where I live. I like buying locally so this works out real well. the NPK rating is 1.75-1.0-1.25 and it is loaded with trace minerals that all plants need.



I'm starting with the four raised beds, which measure 4' by 4' and are 10" deep so I'll add about 1 cu ft each and mix in well.
I built these beds in March 2005 for vegetables. The soil stayed loose over the winter without being covered and is very nice and workable. I'm thinking of making row covers and a cold frame to extend the season in spring and into winter.

The perennial beds pose a different challenge. I spread Nutri-mulch into the front two beds, F1 (100 sq ft) and F3 (64 sq ft), as well as one of the three in the backyard, B3 (262 sq ft), about 2 cu ft. The beds still need much more but this all I have on hand.

The large Wood Hyacinths are beginning to come up. I put these in last Fall and it is a welcome site for something to start showing.

I moved the floribunda Rose 'Honey Perfume' from its place in the backyard, in front of the shed, to a similar location in the front yard in front of the house.



I had planted this rose, in the backyard, the same day I planted the floribunda Rose 'Tuscan Sun', in the front yard but the 'Honey Perfume' did not like its home nearly as well. I think maybe the micro climate it was a little drier in front of the shed even though both locations are south facing, against vinyl siding and get full sun.

I probably need to incorporate a little more organic matter to the bed in front of the shed. There's that mantra again, 'more organic matter'. You can never have too much!

Tore out the Salvia Plumosa from the front perennial bed in F3 and threw it away. This photo was taken last July. By the end of the year it had gotten ratty looking and not very healthy. I liked it at first but I don't think I could give it enough room to spread like it wants to do.

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