Mulch Your Garden Beds After the Ground Freezes

What to Know About Houseplants and Your Cat

Gardeners Make Their New Year’s Resolutions

Mulch Your Garden Beds After the Ground Freezes

 Where I live in the northeast the ground is just about frozen. This is my cue to protect the plants in my garden that have shallow roots.  This includes any new plants that have not had a full season to get established.

Why now?  The purpose of winter mulching is to keep the ground around these plants consistently frozen. Without protection the cycle of freezing and thawing which occurs throughout the season in my Zone 5 garden can cause plants to heave out of the ground and expose their roots to the biting cold and wind.

In addition to newly planted plants, some shallow rooted plants are particularly prone to heaving, according to my friend the horticulturist Ruth Clausen.  Included in this group are members of the coral bell clan—heucheras, heucherellas and tiarellas.  Heucheras have become so popular in recent years, and indeed I have lost several to heaving.  I am determined not to let that happen this winter.

What Qualifies as Winter Mulch?   The best ‘mulch’ for your plants is snow, because it keeps the ground consistently frozen and it disappears in the spring, allowing plants to gradually come out of dormancy as temperatures begin to rise. In most parts of the country, however, there is no guarantee the ground will be covered in snow all winter.

Evergreen Boughs.  I use evergreen boughs to protect my garden beds.  We always gather greens from the farm where we get our Christmas tree.  We’ve noticed that people cut down their tree and leave behind  lower branches and other greens, so we sweep them up and bring them home (no charge).  Now that the holidays are over, we can cut the branches off our own tree and use those too.  I’ve also noticed greens along the side of roads (mostly white pine) that dropped during the infamous Halloween snowstorm in the northeast. Most of those are good for the taking too.

The advantage of evergreen boughs layered on your garden bed is that they are easy to gather up in the spring when temperatures begin to rise.  Also, they do not provide a haven for burrowing voles and mice the way leaves or shredded bark can. And they really do shield your plants from the sun, which is what causes thawing.  Evergreen boughs can be prickly to handle, so be sure to wear gloves.

What To Know About Houseplants and Your Cat

Last summer we took in a stray kitten who showed up at our back door. Neither my husband nor I had owned a cat since childhood so we were wading into new territory here. Coincident with this we completed our long planned greenhouse off the back of the house and stationed Scout’s litter box in there.  As the weather turned colder we brought many of our outdoor plants into the greenhouse to overwinter and Scout was suddenly, and happily, surrounded by plants. 

I noticed two types of behavior I didn’t like, and I decided I’d better seek advice. One, she was scratching and digging in the soil of several plants, and kicking the soil onto the floor. Second, she was chewing on some of the plants, and I wondered if this might be unhealthy.

I friend of mine suggested I get in touch with Dr. Lucy Dayton, a retired veterinarian in Helena, Montana, who is also an avid gardener and plantswoman. She immediately appreciated the dilemma I face and she pointed me to a small group of credible websites, steering me clear of the many ‘dubious’ ones on the internet.  Here’s what I learned. (the reputable websites are listed at the end of this article).

Poisonous Houseplants   Lilies top every list of plants that are poisonous to cats. Even a small amount ingested can cause life threatening kidney failure.  If you like Easter lilies keep them away from your cat. While most plants are harmless, there are many plants that are toxic to cats, in varying degrees, and some of them, I learned, are plants that I have in my greenhouse (!), including Amaryllis, Lantana and Begonia.  While Scout has exhibited no signs of illness (typically it includes vomiting or diarrhea) I will make sure to keep them out of her reach, and in fact we have moved Scout’s litter box out of the greenhouse. 

For a list of plants that are poisonous to cats, click here, or consult your veterinarian. There is also a 24-hour hotline for use in an emergency.  The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center is at 888-426-4435. (Have your credit card handy as there may be a charge for this call).

Making Your Plants Less Attractive to Cats   According to the Cornell U. College of Veterinary Medicine website, you can try spraying the leaves with water, then sprinkling them with cayenne pepper.  Commercial pet repellents serve the same purpose. Try laying mothballs on the soil to see if the smell repels your cat.

Cornell U. recommends laying a little aluminum foil over the soil to prevent scratching in the dirt, decreasing the odds your cat will turn to the plant as a treat.  I tried putting down a piece of screen door screening over the soil and that seems to work. It keeps Scout out and lets the sun in. Small stones would also protect the top surface of soil from her scratching.

Cats Crave Vegetable Matter.  The experts say that it is usually indoor cats who eat houseplants because they crave vegetable matter. Our Scout does go outside, but in the winter there isn’t much vegetable matter for her to chew on. You can get around this by adding lettuce or parsley to her food bowl or switching to a food with higher fiber content. You can also plant oat grass, catnip and catmint in a pot for your cat to enjoy. These are safe for cats.

Recommended website for Information on Cats and Poisonous Plants–

http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants.aspx?plant_toxicity=toxic-to-cats

http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/PetCareArticle.aspx?art_key=655a2b98-fe3f-4162-b9e4-af262ec76c7c

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/DestructiveBehavior.html

Gardeners Make Their New Year’s Resolutions

On New Year’s Eve I committed to be a better person in 2012, but now it’s time to make my Gardening New Year’s Resolutions. That’s much more fun! 

Please send us your New Year’s Resolutions in the comments section below and we will reward our favorites with Womanswork Rose Leather Gauntlet gloves.  All comments must be received by Jan. 31^st.

Here are my 5 Gardening New Year’s Resolutions—

1. Harvest at least one lemon from the lemon tree growing in my greenhouse
2. Grow all of my container annuals for next summer from seed, including Black Eyed Susan vine
3. Memorize the major tree species in our region.(Check back with me in a year on this one)
4. Begin replacing the Pachysandra in our front yard with liriope, one of my favorite evergreen groundcovers.

1. Propagate lots of streptocarpella saxorum plants in  my greenhouse to give as gifts (the parent came from Ruth Clausen and it made a lovely gift!)

• Turn a tuna can into a holiday tray decoration
• What to do with your fall leaves?  The jury is in
• My top holiday gift recommendations for the gardener

A Tuna Can Becomes A Tray Decoration

If you know someone who is homebound over the holidays, this is an idea that will bring a smile to their face. I belong to a garden club and each year at our December meeting we put together little tray ornaments and deliver them to groups such as Meals on Wheels and local hospitals. We make over 300 of these tray ornaments. Here are the supplies you will need:

-1 block of Oasis® floral foam (can be purchased at a florist or garden center)

-1 empty tuna or cat food can

-8” square piece of foil (preferably floral foil that is colored on one side, but regular aluminum foil is acceptable)

-a handful of evergreens cut 4-6” long (from your own yard or purchased at a florist or garden center)

-assorted small decorations like ribbons, bows or mini-Christmas balls (optional)

-a pair of garden gloves if the greens are prickly to handle

And here’s how you make one:

Step 1. Cut the piece of Oasis® floral foam lengthwise so it is just half as thick. After cutting it, it will be exactly as deep as a tuna can.

Step 2. Push your tuna can down into the half-thick Oasis®.  Turn the can over and you have your base for the arrangement.  Each block can turn out 6 tray ornaments.

Step 3. Soak the can with Oasis® in water to keep your greens moist. (Oasis® will stay wet for a week or more)

Step 4. Push sprigs of greens into the Oasis® and make an arrangement. Add ribbons and other ornaments as desired.

Step 5. Set the can in a square of florist foil and crimp the sides. You are ready to deliver your fragrant tray ornament to someone who will really appreciate it!

What to do with your Leaves? The Jury is in

I have always heard that leaving a few leaves on the lawn is a good thing. But when I visited the New York Botanical Garden recently I saw pristine lawns with no leaves in sight. So which is it? Here is the answer.

I asked Kurt Morrell, who is the NY Botanical Garden’s head of landscape operations.  It turns out he is passionate on the topic of leaves because it has become a hot button issue for municipalities around the country.  Recent university studies have looked at the issue of ‘yard waste management’ because of the negative impact on the environment of large piles of leaves and grass clippings in municipal landfills. 

At the NY Botanical Garden Kurt uses a mulching mower for his lawns early in the fall, so that the leaves get chopped up finely and left right on the grass. They are invisible to the eye, especially from a distance.  Later in the fall when the leaf drop is heavier, instead of mulching them he picks them up and transports them to the compost heap.  NYBG produces 1500 yards of compost a year and leaves are an important component of the mix. The following spring that compost is used in a variety of ways in garden beds and tree wells.

Are chopped up leaves bad for your lawn? Many home owners (including myself) wonder whether there are long term negative effects of leaving leaf mulch on the lawn.  The recent university studies, conducted over several years, have enough data to show that there are no negatives, and in fact there are some positives. What they found is that overall soil quality improves, with no substantial buildup of leaf mat, regardless of what types of trees you have (pine needles excepted).  The increase in microbial activity breaks down the chopped up leaves and improves aeration, water infiltration and even weed management. The key is to chop up the leaves finely with a mulching mower.

Is Doing Nothing an Option? — I like the look of a clean lawn, so it wouldn’t occur to me to leave my lawn full of leaves. That’s a good thing, because turf grass specialists told me unshredded tree leaves can smother the grass and kill a lawn. Even a thin layer can rob your lawn of access to the sun and increase the chances of snow mold in the winter.

Leaf Shredder –  One of my horticulturist friends, Ruth Rogers Clausen, loves her leaf shredder.  She throws armfuls of leaves down the shoot and into a kangaroo bag, then layers them on her garden beds for the winter.  In the spring she takes a pitchfork and pokes it into the top 2-3 inches of her garden beds, gives it a twist, and fluffs up her soil.

Leaves for Compost  — Pound-for-pound, leaves have twice as many minerals as manure, according to the plant specialist at the New York Botanical Garden who answers a consumer call in line. Leaves provide much needed carbon, which complements the nitrogen found in grass clippings and other compost greens.  If you can shred the leaves first

My Top Holiday Gift Recommendations for the Gardener

1) Membership to a botanical garden—There are hundreds of botanical gardens and arboreta around the country and they need the public’s support. The benefits of membership usually include free admission for 2, discounts at the shop and free parking—for a whole year.  A membership makes a nice gift.

2) Gardening books—I have 4 book recommendations for gardeners, all very different from each other:

-“Food Rules” by Michael Pollan has just been re-released with illustrations by Maira Kalman, who is one of my favorite illustrators/artists/commentators on life.

- “Founding Gardeners” by Andrea Wulf is a great read for someone on your list who likes history and botany. It tells the story of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison) and their passion for plants.

-“Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden  by Page Dickey, one of my favorite garden writers. I have every book she has published.

-“Pushing Up Daisies” is a novel by Rosemary Harris, a master gardener and mystery writer. It’s a fun read for mystery lovers who are gardeners. Available in paperback for $7.

3) Handmade Gift—My daughter Eve discovered a designer on Etsy.com who makes plantable seed paper with garden markers. Check out Alison Cecil’s “Seed Paper Herb Kits” for Basil and Dill. (Also available on the Anthropologie website.)  They’re handmade in the USA and start at $12.

4) Eco Watering Spouts—Transform your empty plastic bottles into watering cans with these patented twist on bottle adaptors in three designer colors. Priced at $5 each or 3/$15.

5) Dramm Water Wand—Not all gifts for the gardener have to be gift-y, so to speak. As an avid gardener I would like nothing more than to receive a fan nozzle spray gun or rain wand from Dramm under the Christmas tree. Dramm products are available at most garden centers.  I won’t use my watering wand until spring, but boy will I use it then!

6) Garden gloves—We humbly submit that we think Womanswork garden gloves make great gifts. Visit the Womanswork website to see all of the choices we offer for the female gardener in your life, along with gift boxes and gift cards. Prices for our gloves range from $8.50 to $38.

7)  Fabrics by Felicity Miller— I discovered Felicity Miller’s colorful fabrics this year and fell in love with her designs. If you like to sew, or the gardener in your life likes to sew, you can view this up-and-coming designer’s collection online at http://www.felicitymiller.com/. To order yardage of her fabric send Felicity an email at felicitykatemiller@gmail.com.  Her designs would be great for a gardener’s apron, a quilt or garden bag.

Subscription to a gardening magazine—My favorite garden magazine is Horticulture and I will be giving subscriptions to some of my gardening friends this year.

In this issue:

• Love your holiday paperwhites even more
• Host A Farm-To-Table Thanksgiving
• Discover the Legacy of the first World Trade Center

Love your holiday paperwhites even more–I love growing pure white narcissus paperwhite bulbs for holiday decorations and gifts, but I wish they wouldn’t get so leggy that they flop over as soon as they start blooming. I talked to Fred Van Bourgondien, 7^th generation member of the K Van Bourgondien & Sons family, and he said that I am not the only one with this issue. He told me the bulb industry, with Cornell University, has a solution for people like me.

Give them a nip of alcohol.  It turns out that alcohol, diluted with water, is what shortens the narcissus stems. If you follow our instructions below, the stems will be 1/3 to 1/2 shorter with the same-sized flowers.  Caution: if you give them too much alcohol it could be toxic to the plant.

Be sure to allow 4 weeks between the time you pot up your bulbs and the time you want them to bloom. Then, follow these instructions for shorter, sturdier paperwhite stems that won’t flop over.  Note: If you want the longer, leggier paperwhites, just leave out the alcohol.

Step 1. Select a container for growing your paperwhite bulbs.  If the container does not have drainage holes in the bottom, then use stones as your planting medium instead of potting soil, or the bulbs may rot before they have a chance to bloom. If your container has drainage holes then fill it with potting soil. For a bulb and container source, check the Womanswork website. We buy our bulbs from Fred Van Bourgondien.

Step 2. Press bulbs nose up into the soil or stones, with the tops sticking out (I usually leave at least ½ the top of the bulb sticking out).

Step 3. Water well.  If using stones, fill container so that the bulbs are just touching the water. If using soil, keep soil damp but not soaking wet.

Step 4. Keep at room temperature in a well-lighted area (after shoots emerge, keep out of the direct sun or the foliage will ‘stretch’ towards the sun)

Step 5. Begin watering with a dilute solution of 4-6% alcohol when shoots are about 1 -2” above the top of the bulbs (solution should not exceed 10%!) Rubbing alcohol as well as distilled spirits such as gin, vodka, whiskey, rum and tequila, are all fine. Beer and wine are not fine because of the sugar. To determine the correct dilute solution, take the % of alcohol on the label and divide by 5. (Example 1: a bottle of gin says 40% alcohol.  40 divided by 5 = 8.  I need an 8-fold dilution to yield 5% alcohol, so I will mix my solution 7 parts water to 1 part gin.) (Example 2: rubbing alcohol is 70% alcohol. 70 divided by 5 = 14.  I need a 14-fold dilution to yield 5% alcohol, so I will mix 13 parts water to 1 part rubbing alcohol.)

Extending Bloom Time of your paperwhites

As with most flowers, a warm environment can cause paperwhite blossoms to fade faster.  Move them to a cooler room at night if you want them to keep their blooms longer.

Start soon if you want to force indoor bulbs for next Spring

Fred Van Bourgendien reminded me that if I want to force indoor bulbs in the early spring, I need to put the bulbs in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks first. So, soon I will be purchasing some of the following: crocus, muscari, hyacinth, daffodil and tulips (‘Single Early’ and ‘Triumph’), which are all bulbs that are good for forcing indoors.

Host A Farm-To-Table Thanksgiving– We’ve all witnessed the growth in farmers markets, but the latest trend is indoor, year round farmers markets. When I heard this I decided to host my first farm-to-table Thanksgiving.  I located a website that tells me where the closest market is to me at this time of year.  Our Pawling Farmers Market is a summer-only open air market , but there is one two towns away that stays open through Thanksgiving.  Click here to go to the website I visited.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns, NY

Keep It Simple: Start A Tradition– If you’re buying your sweet potatoes, parsnip and orchard fruits at a farmers market, or harvesting them from your own garden, you don’t need fancy recipes to bring out their flavor. One chef I talked to said that Thanksgiving is not the time to go crazy with new recipes.  Just roast all your vegetables together in a little olive oil and sea salt and you have a very tasty seasonal dish.  I like the idea of creating one special dish using fresh ingredients that could become part of our Thanksgiving tradition for years to come. 

Procuring the Turkey– Find a source for locally raised turkey through word of mouth or by researching on the internet. Then, the key is to find out how that turkey was raised. Here are the questions you want to ask: were the turkeys raised in confinement or outdoors in a pasture?  How much time do they spend outdoors? (some are let outside 10 minutes a day. That’s not enough). What do they eat and are they given antibiotics? Growth enhancers?  If necessary, speak with the farmer directly.

Leftovers– Blue Hill’s chef de cuisine, Trevor Kunk (shown right), makes tasty leftovers at home: “Turkey sandwiches with pickled red onions, roasted broccoli rabe, goat cheese, chopped capers, cornichons, herbs, lemon, poached breast and roasted thigh on focaccia”, he told an interviewer from Williams Sonoma last month.  Reading this, I almost want to skip the main meal and go right to the leftovers (To learn how to pickle, stay tuned to “The Curious Gardener”)

• Be Safe—The Society of American Hand Therapists recently announced that wearing gardening gloves was at the top of their list for preventing gardening injuries. Womanswork has a pair to suit every hand, task and season. In this month’s Martha Stewart Living, she features the Womanswork Goatskin Glove as one of her “Finds” for fall cleanup in the garden.
  

  Martha Stewart Living October Issue with Womanswork Gloves

• Don’t let Jack Frost catch you off guard—I bookmark a handy website that tells me when I can expect my first and last frost date, based on my zip code. Usually it happens sometime around late Sept. to early October in my Hudson Valley, NY garden. Once I hear the first frost is on its way I harvest the tender annuals and perennials that will go into shock or place them safely indoors. The Womanswork Herb and Vegetable Garden Wheels, priced at $8 each, tell you which plants are least or most tolerant of the cold.
•  Recycle your leaves – Fall leaves are plentiful in my yard. My friend the famous horticulturist, Ruth Rogers Clausen, recommends a leaf shredder for harnessing this source of rich nutrients to add to your compost heap or place right on top of your garden beds in the Fall. Womanswork “Digger” Gardening gloves that feature a longer cuff with Velcro closure that keep soil and debris out of gloves are ideal for this chore. “Digger Gloves” sell for $19.
• Preserve your crops – Preserving fruits and vegetables for winter has been a valued homemaking skill for centuries and now with the renewed interest in edible gardening this skill is having a renaissance. Many cookbooks and Web sites offer detailed instructions on how to make sure your preserved foods are safe and delicious. Whip up some pesto from your basil crop or consider alternative pestos using arugula or other herbs. Check out this link for a recipe for arugula pesto: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/arugula-pesto-recipe/index.html.   Mmmmmmm….. 

Recipe for Arugula Pesto

• 

  Womanswork Team after making dinner at The Lunch Box

  Remember the hungry– September is the month when our nationwide network of food banks asks Americans to support ending hunger in our country. Womanswork supports our local ‘soup kitchen’ by making dinner for those in need of a hot meal. You can also help by donating a portion of your harvest to your local food pantry. For a list of food pantries near you, click here: http://www.ampleharvest.org/find-pantry.php  (Food banks are regional and they supply local food pantries). 

• Plant Your Garlic– Garlic is one of the most used herbs in our kitchen.  We planted our first crop last fall and then harvested them in the late summer.  When you plant your garlic be sure to mark where you planted it because the  garlic won’t show any signs of growth in early spring. Womanswork has plant labels for just this purpose.  Priced at just $5 and $8, depending on the size, they are an essential and inexpensive gardening aid and make a thoughtful gift for your gardener friends. For more details on growing and harvesting garlic, consult “The Vegetable Garden Wheel”.
  

  Garlic in my Garden with Plant Labels

  

  Vegetable Garden Wheel

The cottage by the sea

One of the things we love about our little island in Maine is that seemingly nothing ever changes. And yet things do change– in subtle, positive ways. For instance it was always difficult to purchase good produce on the island because there is only one market and they tend to bring in produce that travels well, such as iceburg lettuce.   This summer we enjoyed a floating farmers market, which motored into the boatyard every Saturday morning carrying fresh vegetables and berries, as well as seafood, meat and baked goods. It was heavenly.

Floating Farmers Market

Flowers picked at Second Wind Farm

Collecting Lupine seeds

Now that we have a greenhouse at home I am interested in seeds and seed collecting. The timing was right for plucking the seedheads of the lupine plants in the cottage garden in front of the house. I saved the seeds and will try propagating them this winter for planting out next spring. Here’s a link with more information about collecting lupine seeds: http://www.ehow.com/how_453678?5_save-lupine-seeds.html

Fresh seaweed in the garden

Seaweed in the garden– Every time we walked up from the beach we carried a few handfuls of seaweed for the garden beds. Seaweed grows so fast, and is considered a nuisance to people who like white sandy beaches (those people usually do not go to Maine for vacation), so nobody minds when you remove some seaweed from the beach. Seaweed can act like a mulch in that it helps the soil retain moisture and suppresses weed growth. But it also has nutrients and hormones which are very good for plants. Here is a link with more information on the subject: http://ventnorpermaculture?.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/?using-seaweed-in-the-garde?n/

 

My sister-in-law Monica is a gardener and wears Womanswork garden gloves and sun protection hats so well, so we organized a shoot in her front yard for the holiday catalog. She is wearing our raffia hat with brim down, and also a pair of our High Performance gloves in red  (a new color available this holiday season).                                                                    

Pruning cottage roses

For pruning the thorny cottage roses growing up the side of the house and trellises my mother put on a pair of Womanswork leather rose gauntlet gloves. They protected her hands well and they’re breathable so are not hot.

On the last day of our vacation we picked wild raspberries from bushes growing along the side of the road, and added other fruit from the fridge, such as peaches, pears and apples, and I made a fruit tart. The tart pan was purchased for $2 just days earlier at the island’s weekly flea market at the Island Grange. The tart was a delicious addition to our lobster dinner, and was a high note to leave the island on the next day.

High Performance gloves in red (a new color)

Wild Raspberries fresh picked

Here’s the recipe for my fruit tart. For the crust I found an old edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and followed this recipe. Crust: 1 cup flour, 1/4 tspn salt, 6 tblsp cold butter cut into small pieces, 1 egg yolk, 1-1/2 tblsp sugar (optional).Mix flour, salt and sugar in bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender. Whisk egg yolk and 2 tblsp water together in another bowl. Add to flour mixture, blend until smooth. Form into ball. Wrap in foil or plastic and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Roll it out or press by hand into tart pan. Prick bottom and bake for 12 minutes at 425 degrees. After baking the crust I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes at my daughter Eve’s suggestion. (She is a talented baker).

For a 10-1/2" tart pan like this, I made the crust recipe twice and combined the two balls.

Filling: I put the fresh-picked raspberries in a bowl and added slices of other fruits from our fridge, including apples (thinly sliced), pears and a couple of peaches. I gently mixed in about 1/4 cup of sugar, a little salt and a tblsp of flour. I filled the prebaked tart with the fruit mixture and baked for about 35 minutes at 375 degrees (individual ovens may vary). It was delicious!

White Flower Farm, Litchfield County, CT

Earlier this week Ruth Rogers Clausen met my mother and me at White Flower Farm in Litchfield County, CT. I wanted to catch up with Ruth on the topic of her new book, coming out in June (Timber Press). The title is 50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants, and I thought our visit to White Flower Farm provided a good opportunity to ask her what some of her favorite deer resistant plants are.  Ruth and I both live in areas with lots of deer.  Click here to hear Ruth talk about some of her favorite deer resistant plants in a video we made that day.

Dorian "interviews" Ruth in the video about her favorite plants

Ruth checking out Hakonechloa, a plant that deer don’t like

One way to keep deer away from a plant that they do like is to protect the plant by planting the things they don’t like all around it.  In her book Ruth talks about combinations of plants that are culturally similar and can work as a tag team in that way. She also touches on design elements that can discourage deer from entering your garden. They will never jump into a small space where they will feel cornered, such as a small fenced in area. 

After our lovely and educational tour of  White Flower Farm the three of us went into town for a glass of wine and a nice lunch.  It’s always a treat for my mother and me to spend an afternoon with Ruth.

Before Pruning, A Tangle of Dead Leaves

I worked my way up from the bottom, clipping off dead wood right next to emerging buds. I was wearing my Womanswork “Digger” garden gloves  in teal blue.

Pruning next to new buds

When working with a tangle of vines and leaves and side shoots, it’s easy to make the mistake of cutting vines that you wish you hadn’t. I know because I did it one year. This time I was careful to detangle the long vines to separate them from the little side shoots that attach themselves to them. Some of the side shoots that wrap their tendrils around the longer vines are worth keeping because they provide support.

Vines are anchored to the house with teacup hooks

Separating the long vines to be sure I don't cut any by mistake

After I finish my pruning it looks much neater and the buds will have more air and light to help them grow. There is nothing more for me to do but wait until June to see their beautiful purple flowers.

Vines have been cleaned up and the buds can continue to grow with more light and air than before

Forsythia has a graceful habit which should be respected

No other shrub personifies the brash exuberance of spring like forsythia. At this time of year it is blooming in almost every garden as hedges, clipped and unclipped, along roadways, and even on the edge of woods. Sometimes it looks wonderful, but at other times it is obviously a case of wrong plant, wrong place.

Forsythia shrubs have a beautiful, naturally elegant habit that is destroyed by formal clipping, but so often is sheared within an inch of its life as a trimmed hedge or rounded blob in front of a house.

Growing Amaryllis– Amaryllis bulbs have the most gorgeous blossoms and will rebloom next year if you follow a few simple instructions (see below) . When planting in potting mix use a container with drainage holes. Leave part of the bulb exposed at the top and water about once a week. The soil should never be completely dry, but you don’t want your bulb sitting in water or it will rot. When planting in stones, select a container without drainage. When watering keep the water level just below the bulb so it reaches the roots only.

Reblooming Next Year– After flower fades cut down the flower stalk and continue to water. Fertilize once a month. You can plant the pot and bulb in the garden during the summer months. In September bring the pot and bulb indoors and start withholding water. Let foliage dry. Store in a cool dark place with no water or fertilizer for 8-10 weeks. In mid November add some fresh soil and start re-watering.

Growing Paperwhites–  I usually plant mine in a glass container filled with stones.  Press your bulbs into the stones nose up, and leave some of the top of the bulb exposed above the stones.  When planting in stones use a container without drainage holes, otherwise the water will drain out immediately and won’t provide a benefit to the roots. Fill the container with water just up to the base of the bulb. The roots will grow into the water. When planting in potting soil use a container with drainage so the roots won’t rot. Keep soil moist. Put in a well-lighted area but not in direct sunlight. Paperwhites are much more difficult to get to rebloom next year, and most people don’t bother trying (myself included).

Stunting Growth with Alcohol  If you are like me and you prefer less “leggy” paperwhites, you may want to follow this recipe for stunting their growth with a nip of alcohol.  For the recipe, which I have tried and it works, go to this site gardening.about.com. Instead of having paperwhites that are 16-18″ tall, they will grow to be 8-10″ tall.

Each Paperwhite bulb will produce a set of blooms like these

This year for the first time we are selling holiday bulbs on the Womanswork website and in our catalog. They come wrapped in tissue paper inside a handmade burlap bag  tied with a ribbon, suitable for giving as a gardening gift. Complete growing instructions, as well as a coco disk used for planting medium, come with it.

You see? We are indeed more than a garden glove company!

Paperwhites in their burlap bag tied with a ribbon. Only from Womanswork

Berm in Mid-Summer

In my case I was trying to create visual interest in a part of my yard that was dominated by two spruce trees that have been struggling to become established since I planted them 3 years ago. In addition, the trees sit in a low area of our yard and lots of weeds and even poisin ivy had started to take over. Rather than clear out the bad, I decided to bury it under a nice big pile of wood chips.

First truckload of wood chips and future berm

First I called my local supplier of mulch and top soil and asked them if they would deliver a truckload of woodchips, which they did. They were able to drop it right on the spot where I needed it. After grabbing my landscaper’s rake and putting on my favorite pair of leather garden gloves, I spread it evenly across the area (what a workout!) and realized I needed another truckload. After that was delivered I had enough chips to create a 2′ high berm over an area of approximately 20′ X 30′.  I piled them in front of the trees and left the ground around the trunks undisturbed. Since the ground was low in that spot some of the chips just helped level the ground.

After spreading 2 truckloads of wood chips

A more sensible approach is to use top soil because it is more stable than wood chips. The problem with a pile of wood chips is they are full of air and they will settle and sink, lowering the height of your berm. But wood chips are much easier to move around and I wanted to try different shapes to see what would look best from a few different vantage points. Next Spring I will probably have more wood chips (or top soil) delivered and shore up my berm again.

Berm garden from the side with early plantings

Once I had the shape in place I started planting a few shrubs and perennials. I selected 2 flowering weigela and a red chokeberry shrub to plant in front of my two spruces. As they get larger I will probably transplant them to another location, but this year they were the perfect screen to hide the thinnish lower branches of my spruces, while not blocking the sun which spruces need. In front of the shrubs I planted catmint nepata and basket of gold (aurinia) with its silvery leaves and bright yellow blossoms; and baptisia carolina which did not bloom this year. We have some lovely large rocks that form a gentle slope along one side of the berm and I uncovered them and swept them off with my little bonsai broom so they would become a focal point of the berm also.

Large boulders rise along one edge of the berm

Rocks in our garden provide slope and natural interest

I left several hosta and ferns along the lower, shadier side of the mound. Left undisturbed, they thrived. 

And since I own a garden glove company, I am always looking for projects that will give my gloves a workout. This was a good one!

Hosta and Ferns were left on the low shady side of the berm

Berm in context of yard in midsummer