The Poinsettia: Prissy and Pretty

Well, it’s that time of year again, where we indulge in acts of “sympathetic magic” to celebrate the return of the Light to the world. Many of us use indoor plants to keep green in our lives, and the ubiquitous poinsettia is one of the most popular. A native small tree in Mexico, we grow it for the brilliant reds and greens of its foliage. Did you know that the only true flower is the small yellow clusters (actually called cyathia)? Those large red “petals” are actually a type of leaf called a bract. Regardless of your botanical IQ, we can all enjoy the radiant beauty of these tropical natives.

Yes, they ARE tropical plants. They need warm conditions, high humidity, and bright, indirect light. That can be a challenge in an NC winter, and in a house heated by a forced air furnace. So here are some tips to help you enjoy your plant.

1. Pick a healthy plant. That seems easy enough, but you can’t control a gift plant. A good plant will have moist, not soggy or dry soil, not be in a foil wrap (you can add that later, but I wouldn’t), and a sleeve to protect it would be nice. As you take it home, keep it in the car, not the trunk. Leave the sleeve in place to protect it. And get it inside as soon as you can.

2. Keep it healthy. Find a warm area with plenty of light, and no cold drafts. Poinsettias will tolerate full sun, but you’ll need to water them more often. Speaking of irrigation, take your plants out of the foil wrapper or basket. Water them in the sink, and let them drain completely before you return them to their decorative home. Poinsettias do not like “wet feet”, and keeping them in standing water is a sure path to dropped foliage. Use warm tap water to moisten the soil mix, because even cold water can cause some minor cold damage. If you keep it longer than 30 days, give it a shot of half-strength liquid fertilizer. Let that drain out, too.

3. Don’t worry over it. Poinsettias have a reputation as poisonous plants. That’s no reason to exclude them from your holiday décor. Just keep the plants up out of the reach of small kids and pets, and you should be OK.

4. Enjoy it. A goal of many gardeners is to keep a poinsettia from year to year, and let it “rebloom”. My advice is simple – don’t. That may seem shocking, but after repeated unsuccessful attempts, and some years of professional growing, there are other garden things to do that are a LOT more fun. Add the old plant to the compost pile, recycle the foil or basket, and support a local grower by buying new plants every year.

Let’s not end on a negative note. There’s lots to admire about this plant that adds so much color to our homes at Christmas. You just need to be prepared for its care and feeding. And now, you are.

Remember to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!!

For more info:

• Clemson University has some tips online

• NC State has info on the poisonous (or not) potential of poinsettias.
  
  
  

Landscape Consultations: A Handy Gift for the Gardener You Love

Photo by Charles Lybrand

If you’ve read my blog or taken one of my classes at Renfrow Farm, you know I usually mention landscape or garden consultations. I’ve been doing that for quite a few years, but it might possibly be new to you. In simple terms, a landscape consultation offers you an opportunity to get on-site advice about your lawn, trees & shrubs, your vegetable garden, even your home composter, and your rain barrels. And yes, we should all be composting lawn waste & kitchen scraps. I know there are a lot of good websites that offer excellent information about specific shrubs, trees, and flowers. If you’re more traditional in your approach to research, there are hundreds of books and magazines out there about landscape gardening. They give you lots of good information, too. But your home is a specific micro-climate, not a zone on a USDA map on the Internet. All these things are tools, not decision makers. They can’t be. As good as all of these tools are, and as talented and experienced as the authors are, they’ve never been to your home. They can’t. But I can. Here’s why I can help you.

Over the years, I’ve installed hundreds of gardens and visited hundreds more. I’ve had my hands in all kinds of soil from the sandy land of Carolina Beach to the rocky soils of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve maintained commercial campuses and tiny backyards. All of these landscapes have one thing in common. I wanted to help folks enjoy the time they spend in the garden, whether it’s the busy person that just gets to spend a few minutes on the deck, or the person lucky enough to spend hours in the garden every day. I’m not arrogant enough to tell you that I succeeded every time, because I didn’t. But failure is a chance to learn more and more. Plus, I was fortunate enough to help folks enjoy their gardens most of the time.

Photo by Jeff Rieves

What do I mean when I say “enjoy your garden”? Just that – you really like to spend time on your garden. It can be for any reason. Simply that it looks good to you. It may be tailored to a hobby like a vegetable and fruit garden or herb garden. You may want a place to relax and unwind after a stressful day at work and a long commute. The dreams, and that’s what they are, can be as numerous and varied as the people who dream them. The landscapes around our homes are too often left to others to look after, so they reflect what others dream. Too often we don’t even really live in the place where our home IS. It doesn’t reflect who we are, so we just pass through it as we leave our home and head off to other places where we seem to want to be. We just don’t enjoy our garden or deck or lawn. Or we see it as more work in our busy lives. So we don’t enjoy it. But we should. And we can! And I can help you do that.

Photo by Jeff Rieves

Because of my 30+ years as a horticulturist, farmer, and NC Cooperative Extension agent, I have a lot of experience evaluating home and business landscapes. When I can stand in a yard and feel the Sun on my back, I know the questions to ask to determine if this is a really sunny spot or just a little morning sun. When I take a shovel full of soil and crumble it in my hands, I have pretty good idea of what needs to be added to that soil to grow a beautiful lawn or establish an oak tree for shade. That beautiful old plant that was a part of the Landscape when you bought the house? I can help you identify it. And that weird looking plant that’s so out of place by the foundation? It’s a weed that never got pulled and will take over if you don’t remove it.

I can stand at the street with you and see the view that you’ll see every day as you pull in the drive. We can sit in the living room or at the kitchen table, look out the French doors and visualize the garden you want to look at while you sip your morning coffee or enjoy that glass of wine after supper. That deck or patio you always wanted can be planned while we sit in that spot we picked out. We can lay out the vegetable/flower/herb garden using “The Living Garden” template that I created to help folks feed their bodies as well as their souls naturally.

As I say in my website, “In a one-hour consultation, I can solve problems, identify plants, generate new ideas, and give you more information than you could find on a website or at a garden center. I bring 30+ years of experience as a farmer, landscaper, and NC Extension agent to your home, along with a creative eye for design.”

“That’s all well and good”, I hear you saying, “but I have a limited budget for my landscaping”. Most folks do. And landscaping is a significant investment in time, labor, and money. Part of enjoying your garden is minimizing the troubles you have and optimizing the money you spend. I have seen so many mistakes in planting and hardscapes (and made some, too) that I can help you avoid those mistakes and save you money.

The bottom line is this. I hope you are enjoying your garden. I want everybody to enjoy their time outside as much as I do. If you aren’t, drop me a line, and let’s talk. If we decide that I can help you, then the sooner we get started, the sooner you begin to enjoy your garden. And THAT’S how you become a Successful Gardener!

Photo by Jeff Rieves

Turning a New Leaf

I’ve been “up on the mountain”, as the locals refer to the part of Patrick County, VA, where my mother lives, giving thanks for the gifts in our lives, and helping Ma with some winter lawn and garden chores. One of those tasks is collecting fallen leaves and twigs for compost and mulch.

Leaves are a great source of organic matter and nutrients. According to Texas A & M University, leaves contain 50 to 80 percent of the nutrients a plant extracts from the soil and air during the season. That’s a lot of free fertilizer! In addition, the leaves will provide a lot of food for bacteria, fungi, earthworms and all the other critters that live in the soil. This creates a healthy soil in which your plants will thrive.

Photo courtesy Jeff Rieves

One of the simplest ways to utilize the leaves that fall in your yard is to use them where they fall. Leaves make great mulch for all kinds of plants. One look at a forest floor will tell you that. If the volume of leaves that fall is too great for the area, or if they might smother the plants if left untended, you could rake the leaves into shallow windrows and mow them, blowing them back into the bed or into a pile for later use. Chopping them like this can reduce the volume by 50% or more. A bagger would be handy to collect the shredded leaves for use in other areas. That’s what we’ve done for the last couple of years “on the mountain” with some success, depending on the weather and the mower we have available. Wet weather slows things down, because the leaves tend to stick together and bog down the mower. A dry fall results in a dusty chore, but does make it easier to collect your leaves.

Another way to use your leaves is in the compost pile. Leaves are a great source of nutrients for the decomposers that create compost for your garden. Shredding them is not necessary, but will reduce the volume and speed up the creating of your homegrown fertilizer. A simple wire cage at least 3 feet high and as wide as you can handle will contain the leaves and keep them from blowing around your yard all winter. Adding a little “green” (nitrogen bearing material) will heat the pile up, as the critters in your pile do their best to provide you with a great soil building product.

You can build a garden “from the ground up” by using an old method that has become new again. “Lasagna Gardening” is a method that uses leaves that are simply piled on the ground and left to rot. This is technically called sheet composting, but it allows you to build your beds by placing the leaves wherever you need or want a new flower/vegetable bed. Many gardeners use newspapers or cardboard to smother any weeds that might sprout through the leaf bed. Leave the organic material in place over a period of time (usually 3-6 months) and the newspaper/cardboard/leaf mixture will have decomposed enough to plant into. If you are in a hurry, you can create pockets of soil in the mix and plant directly into that.

So this fall, turn over a new leaf and keep all your leaves instead of bagging them up for curb collection. You (and your plants) will be glad you did!

How to Read a Garden

On a rainy afternoon just like this one, I ran across this quote from the Roman Stoic philosopher Cicero.

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

Being both a gardener and a writer, as well as a librarian in a past life, I fully agree with this sentiment. Being also a bit of a skeptic when it comes to internet quotes, I did a little research into these words. The general agreement is that Cicero did write these words in a letter to a friend. The literal translation is, “If you have a garden in your library, you have everything you need”. Many, if not most, homes of wealthier Romans had inner outdoor courtyards with a garden. So in this context, the literal translation may be the correct one.  

In my case, the literal translation may also be the more apt one. Most of my Life has been spent with books and gardens. Even my career has revolved around the the worlds of plants and words. They have informed each other, shaped how I see the world, and helped make me who I am today.

Gardens and libraries are both repositories of information. The written, spoken, and filmed words you find in today’s libraries bring the world’s knowledge to anywhere there are people seeking to learn. A garden brings the experiential version of much of that knowledge. Let’s call it an interactive library of science and art. So the two concepts support one another. You may experience some natural or man-made phenomena in a garden, and go to the library to find out about it. Or you may read about/hear about/see some amazing garden at the library, and then go and see it or try to recreate that effect. However the approach, the effect will be some wisdom gained.

And knowledge gained and applied, multiplied by the experience of using that knowledge, is in fact, a type of wealth. The designer and philosopher Buckminster Fuller offered this idea as a definition of wealth. We are always learning more and experiencing more. As we apply this knowledge and experience to our lives through our actions, we become more wealthy.

That’s certainly been my experience. Through my time spent in libraries and gardens, I have learned how to feed myself by growing, cooking, and eating lots of fresh food, how to heal myself by growing and using all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, how to construct shelters using plants and soil, how to provide money for myself by growing food/flower/fuel/fiber plants for others, and how to heal local and planetary environments by growing/planting/using plants. The biological processes alone could keep you busy learning, teaching, and doing your entire life!

Add to that the artistic and spiritual knowledge and experience you’ll find in a garden. I often say that gardens don't just feed our bodies; they feed our souls as well. We’ve all experienced the restful coolness of a forested garden. The riot of color in most flower gardens stimulates us and lifts our spirits. As we gain the confidence to create our own gardens, we have the opportunity to indulge our inner artist. Our creative nature is engaged, and new parts of the brain may even be activated.

Just as a well-loved book will have worn, stained pages, a well-loved garden will have worn paths to certain areas, often stained with the blood, sweat and tears of the gardener. Special sections of both books and gardens will be easy to find. That's where the most attention goes. Follow the most often used trail in any garden to see what the gardener enjoys most. Find the most dog-earred pages in a book to discovered the most treasured passages. In either case, the  knowledge is where the wealth is, because that’s where the Love is.

Remember to enjoy your garden (and your library), because THAT’S what makes you a successful gardener.

The Successful Gardener Says: Go Forth and Multiply

The process is simple enough: Dig a clump of plants, then pull, cut or break the sections apart into the size you want, then replant.

This Old Testament admonition to the children of Israel is a call to action for gardeners in the Fall. While more gardeners are always welcome, in this instance, we are multiplying the plants in our garden. Many perennial plants can be divided into several new clumps of plants. “Wait a minute”, I can hear you say, “you said we were to go forth and multiply. Now you’re saying we have to divide! I know there’s new math, but I’m pretty sure multiplication and division are two different functions.” In math, that is true. But this is a post about gardening, so I can use the terms literally, not arithmetically.

Seriously, Fall is a great time to divide perennial plants of all kinds. The process is simple enough. Dig a clump of plants, making sure you have adequate root system in the clump. Then pull, cut or break the sections apart into the size you want to plant. This could be a simple division into two pieces, or multiple divisions into individual plantlets. The first divisions can be quite hard, especially if you’ve let the plant increase for several years without division. Some plants are naturally difficult to divide, like Siberian Iris. I’ve had to use a pick and an axe to dig and divide them. But as you loosen the root ball (which is rarely ball-shaped, BTW), the individual plantlets will loosen their grip, and it gets easier.

Plants will bloom more profusely when divided. Irises of all kinds give you more blooms after division.

Why do we divide plants, if it’s so much work? There are “multiple” reasons, of course. First, we all want more plants, and why not create our own? For some plants, division is the preferred method of propagation. If we want a specific hosta cultivar, that’s how we get one. Many plants grow better over time if they are divided occasionally. Shasta daisy, one of the premiere plants in The Living Garden, will decline over the seasons if not multiplied ever few years. Plants will bloom more profusely when divided. Irises of all kinds give you more blooms after division. And if you have a very vigorous plant, division is an easy way to keep it in bounds.

I’ve written earlier about multiplier and walking onions. If you haven’t harvested, divided, eaten (some of them, anyway), and replanted some of these perennial vegetables, it’s time! Asparagus, however, will be much easier to divide once all of the foliage has died back.

You can wait a bit on other plants, too. Hostas, irises, and daylilies are a bit easier to divide once the foliage has gone dormant. You can, of course, go ahead and divide them now, if you want, but it will put more stress on the plant.

One more tip for you. Make sure that you get roots and crown with each division. If you can get some “eyes” or buds for stem growth the following season, though these aren’t always visible. In making sure you get all parts of a plant, you will have a much better chance of success in your planting.

Get out there and divide some of your plants in order to multiply the opportunities to enjoy your garden. It’s that enjoyment that makes you a Successful Gardener!!!

Article and photos by Jeff Rieves

Dealing with Ol’ Jack Frost

*Author’s note: This was written Sunday, 10/21/18. Matthews did have some spotty patches of frost, but as of Tuesday morning, no damage had been reported to me.

For those of you who have taken my Successful Gardener classes, you know that our “first” frost (of the Fall) usually occurs around Halloween. So if we have frost in the Matthews area this week, does that mean we’ve been wrong about that date? Not at all. You see, the dates for both “first” and “last” frost are determined by average dates over several years. So a “first” frost of 10/22 is close enough to the average that gardeners should be on the alert for cold weather. Since we spend so much time outside in our gardens and landscapes, we should be aware that it’s cooling off anyway. Yes, it has been unusually warm this Fall, but until I see a definite change in weather patterns, I’m still going to look for frost in late October. And if you’ve spent any time out in the open, you should have noticed that while the Sun was still warm, the air temps are cooler than a few weeks ago. So what does all this mean?

First, any tender annual flowers, herbs, or vegetables might get burned or killed by the frost. You can sometimes cover your plants with old sheets or plant bed floating row covers to protect them. Covers will usually give you an extra 2-5 degrees of protection. That may be enough to get them through the night without damage. It’s worth noting that frost often appears just after sunrise before the Sun has had a chance to warm things up. Don’t be in a hurry to uncover things in your rush to schools and offices.

Frost also brings an unofficial end to the “growing season”, that period between last and first frosts when most folks do the bulk of their vegetable and flower growing. I have to note here that in the Southern Piedmont, we can grow all kinds of great plants nearly all year long. We just have to be aware of the best conditions for each of them. Cooler temps and shorter days, along with regular cloudy conditions, do slow down the growth of many plants, even the hardiest ones. So it’s good to know the last and first frost dates in your area. I’ve already mentioned Halloween as our first frost date. The last frost in the Southern Piedmont is an equally scary date; April 15, otherwise known as “Tax Day”. Again, these dates are averages, so we may have frost events before or after these days.

Cooler weather also brings with it the opportunity to extend our seasons past those dates. I’ve already mentioned the covers you can use for some protection. There are others you can use, as well. I expect all of us have used plastic milk jugs or over-turned flower pots to protect plants overnight. I stopped using those after chasing after and/or collecting them after even a light breeze. You can build a cold frame from lumber or PVC and cover it in a clear (preferably UV resistant) plastic. You can use glass, or even recycled windows or doors. This economical structure offers more protection from the elements. There are lots of plans for these season extenders, and you can find a link to several of them on my website.

“Tunnel growing” is becoming more popular, and there are low and high versions. Essentially unheated greenhouses, they offer even more protection. Used mostly on commercial farms and greenhouse ranges, I think they have use in a home garden, too. You can easily grow lettuce and greens in a tunnel for most of the winter. They have some extra challenges compared to a simple plant bed cover. They can easily overheat on a sunny day, so you’ll need some way to vent excess heat and humidity. Also, snow or ice can collapse a tunnel if the load gets too heavy. But fresh greens are worth it, I think.

Greenhouse growing is, of course, the ultimate in-season extension. It’s also a subject much too detailed for this short review. Be on the lookout for greenhouse information in a future post. Just be aware that frost brings with it new and interesting opportunities to learn new things.

Remember to enjoy your garden, because THAT is what makes you a Successful Gardener!!!

Join the Alliuminati

Onions and garlic are easy to grow,

overwinter in our mild climate,

and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing.

This time of year is a really good time to plant lots of perennial plants, everything from trees to shrubs to flowers and vegetable plants. Planting in this cooler season gives your plants weeks of root growing before the warming temperatures bring on the riot of growth that is Spring. So cool-season planting is the start of your 2019 garden!

Let’s start that planting with onions and garlic! These plants are easy to grow, overwinter in our mild climate, and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing. There are several types and varieties to choose from, as well.

Garlic is a member of the Allium family, as are all onions. While there are several types of garlic, most of what is grown in the Southern Piedmont is called soft neck garlic. This refers to the lack of a central flower scape coming from the bulb. That scape makes the neck “hard”. If you cook with garlic, you know it forms a bulb of several individual cloves. These cloves are separated for use in cooking, and you separate them for planting as well. Plant them unpeeled, root end down. Plant them about 1” deep, and about 6-8” apart. Rows should be at least 12” apart, but I usually make my rows 18”-24” to make it easier to cultivate and weed. Needing loamy, well-drained soils, raised beds or raised rows with lots of compost are a great place to plant garlic. Fall planted garlic gets a light mulch to protect it from the wide variations in temperature that we often experience in winter. Normally I use leaves, but wheat straw is OK, too. Before you ask, pine needles will work, but I personally don’t like using them. (That’s another subject I’ll cover some other time.) let them grow on through the winter, with harvest next Spring. Elephant garlic is a different type, with a bigger, milder tasting clove. Plant it a little farther apart (9-10”) and stay with the 18-24” row spacing.

There are a few types of perennial/multiplier onions that are hardy old varieties that your parents and grandparents may have planted. Potato onions, walking onions, bunching onions, and shallots all multiply from a single set, or bulb. You’ll need to separate the individual onion bulbs in order to plant them. Like all the Alliums, they thrive in raised beds/rows with lots of compost. Plant the individual bulbs in mid-late Fall, spacing them 10-12” apart. If you are planting in long rows, give yourself plenty of room to weed and cultivate. Depending on the method of cultivation, I’d stick with 18-24” between rows. Bunching onions are grown from seed, and are great mild onions to use in salads and raw recipes.  

Most of you will be more familiar with onion sets, or small onion plants that have been grown out and harvested for later planting. Usually available in red, white, or yellow varieties, they can be planted in both Fall and Spring. I’d recommend doing both to give yourself a longer harvest. Plant your sets in those compost-rich beds or rows on much tighter spacing, even 3-4” apart. As they grow, you can pull every other one and use it in your cooking. Run your rows 18-24” for ease of cultivation. I usually give these onions a bit of slow-release fertilizer as they are starting to grow again in the Spring. They seem to need a little more water during the growing season, too.

Plants and seeds are available for onions, too. I prefer to plant those in the Spring. They seem to do better if you avoid the cold temps. Growing and Spacing for most of them is the same as the other onions, but seeded onions can be planted closely, and the thinnings used in salads.

I mentioned early on that onions are very nutritious. While some amazing claims are made, some basic facts are onions are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber. That pungent flavor works with lots of other foods, from veggies to red meats. They are used in all kinds of cultures, and can be adapted for almost any dish. For cooks on a budget, a little onion can go a long way.

Even if you don’t want to plant anything else this year, you can still get started on next spring’s plantings with some onions and garlic.  Give some of them a try!

Jeff Rieves reminds you to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!

Join the Alliuminati

Onions and garlic are easy to grow,

overwinter in our mild climate,

and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing.

This time of year is a really good time to plant lots of perennial plants, everything from trees to shrubs to flowers and vegetable plants. Planting in this cooler season gives your plants weeks of root growing before the warming temperatures bring on the riot of growth that is Spring. So cool-season planting is the start of your 2019 garden!

Let’s start that planting with onions and garlic! These plants are easy to grow, overwinter in our mild climate, and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing. There are several types and varieties to choose from, as well.

Garlic is a member of the Allium family, as are all onions. While there are several types of garlic, most of what is grown in the Southern Piedmont is called soft neck garlic. This refers to the lack of a central flower scape coming from the bulb. That scape makes the neck “hard”. If you cook with garlic, you know it forms a bulb of several individual cloves. These cloves are separated for use in cooking, and you separate them for planting as well. Plant them unpeeled, root end down. Plant them about 1” deep, and about 6-8” apart. Rows should be at least 12” apart, but I usually make my rows 18”-24” to make it easier to cultivate and weed. Needing loamy, well-drained soils, raised beds or raised rows with lots of compost are a great place to plant garlic. Fall planted garlic gets a light mulch to protect it from the wide variations in temperature that we often experience in winter. Normally I use leaves, but wheat straw is OK, too. Before you ask, pine needles will work, but I personally don’t like using them. (That’s another subject I’ll cover some other time.) let them grow on through the winter, with harvest next Spring. Elephant garlic is a different type, with a bigger, milder tasting clove. Plant it a little farther apart (9-10”) and stay with the 18-24” row spacing.

There are a few types of perennial/multiplier onions that are hardy old varieties that your parents and grandparents may have planted. Potato onions, walking onions, bunching onions, and shallots all multiply from a single set, or bulb. You’ll need to separate the individual onion bulbs in order to plant them. Like all the Alliums, they thrive in raised beds/rows with lots of compost. Plant the individual bulbs in mid-late Fall, spacing them 10-12” apart. If you are planting in long rows, give yourself plenty of room to weed and cultivate. Depending on the method of cultivation, I’d stick with 18-24” between rows. Bunching onions are grown from seed, and are great mild onions to use in salads and raw recipes.  

Most of you will be more familiar with onion sets, or small onion plants that have been grown out and harvested for later planting. Usually available in red, white, or yellow varieties, they can be planted in both Fall and Spring. I’d recommend doing both to give yourself a longer harvest. Plant your sets in those compost-rich beds or rows on much tighter spacing, even 3-4” apart. As they grow, you can pull every other one and use it in your cooking. Run your rows 18-24” for ease of cultivation. I usually give these onions a bit of slow-release fertilizer as they are starting to grow again in the Spring. They seem to need a little more water during the growing season, too.

Plants and seeds are available for onions, too. I prefer to plant those in the Spring. They seem to do better if you avoid the cold temps. Growing and Spacing for most of them is the same as the other onions, but seeded onions can be planted closely, and the thinnings used in salads.

I mentioned early on that onions are very nutritious. While some amazing claims are made, some basic facts are onions are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber. That pungent flavor works with lots of other foods, from veggies to red meats. They are used in all kinds of cultures, and can be adapted for almost any dish. For cooks on a budget, a little onion can go a long way.

Even if you don’t want to plant anything else this year, you can still get started on next spring’s plantings with some onions and garlic.  Give some of them a try!

Jeff Rieves reminds you to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!

Time to plant!!!

Most of us tend to think of Spring as the best time to plant. For some things, that is true, but our hot (and often dry) Summers tend to put a lot of stress on Spring planted specimens. So why not plant all kinds of trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial flowers? When you plant in the fall, you give plants a 7 or 8-month head start on the hot, dry weather. Roots are growing during that time, even if other parts of the plant are dormant. This allows the plants to be well on their way to being established in the landscape before they have to face the stresses of Summer weather. So, now’s the time to plant!

Last week I posted a list of great plants to use to create an edible landscape; a yard/garden/orchard hybrid, if you will. Nearly every single one of them is a perennial plant of some sort, which means they continue to grow over the years. Some, in fact, live quite a long time. In fact, the oldest known cultivated muscadine grapevine was planted in the 1500’s on the Outer Banks Of NC!

Native grapes such as muscadines are hardy and easy to grow here in Matthews.

One of the best things to plant in the fall is a tree, preferably a fruit tree. My preferred method of tree planting is fairly simple. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball of your plant is thick, and twice as wide. For example, if you buy an apple tree in a “3 gallon” container, the root ball will be approximately 10” wide and 14” tall. So you’ll need to dig a hole 20” wide and 14” deep. Remove the plant from the container, and loosen the roots from the tight ball they grew in while in the container. This allows the plant’s roots to spread out faster. Fill the planting hole with 3-4” of native soil, and firm it a bit. This will raise the top of the root ball above the surrounding grade, and lessen the settling of the soil. In our clay soils, you want to plant most things a little high to prevent root and crown rots caused by rainwater puddling around tree trunks. Set the plant into the hole, and backfill with native soil. You might irrigate the soil and root ball when about half the planting hole is filled. Continue backfilling, and fill the planting hole up to the top of the root ball. Make sure the root flare (the area of a tree trunk that widens into the root system) is visible just above the soil. You can water a bit more, then add your preferred organic mulch. This simple method should get your tree off to a fine start, and a long life.

Fruit trees blend seamlessly into yards.

If you want to learn more about fall planting, join me at Renfrow Farm next week for my class on “Edible Landscaping”. The cost is $20 per person.

Edible Landscapes, Tuesday, October 9, 6:30-8:30 PM * Renfrow Farm, 409 W Charles Street, Matthews, NC * Details and registration here.

Remember to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!

Eat, Play, Love*: Edible Landscapes

Fruit trees provide shade, their flowers attract pollinators, and the fruit fills our bellies.

Everybody loves to spend time outdoors, especially in a beautifully landscaped yard. We tend to segregate our plantings, though. We plant an herb garden here, a vegetable garden there, a perennial flower border somewhere else, but there are lots of ways to include more food plants into all of our landscape, a technique called edible landscaping. Many of our food plants give us shade, seasonal interest, flowers, and a lot more. As an example, here’s my list for “The Top 10 Plants For Edible Landscaping”. You’ll notice that not all of these plants actually provide food. However, they do make it easier for you to grow more food with less fertilizer and pesticides. So, here’s the list.

1. Pecan trees - shade, food.

2. Apple/pear trees – shade, flowers, food.

3. Rabbit eye Blueberries – seasonal color, food.

4. Muscadine grapes – shade, screening, fall color, food.

5. Strawberries (perennial matted-row culture) – groundcover, food.

6. Fig trees – structure, winter interest, food.

7. Living Garden plants:

   Aromatic herbs – beneficials, foundation planting (some), seasonal interest, food.

   Daisy flowered plants – beneficials, aroma, flowers, beds/borders.

   Umbrella-flowered plants – beneficials, aroma, flowers, beds/borders, food (some).

   Nectar plants – beneficials, aroma, flowers, beds/borders.

   “Beetle banks” ornamental grasses – beneficials, seasonal interest, beds/borders.

8. Perennial vegetables:

   Asparagus

   Perennial onions

9. Pole beans – food, seasonal screening, soil improvement, some color.

10. Clover/buckwheat/vetch & other covers – soil building, ground covers, flowers, seasonal interest.

Honorable mention:

Blackberries – food, seasonal interest, screening, security.

Malabar spinach – seasonal interest, color, screening, food.

Persimmon trees – seasonal color, understory, food.

Pomegranate trees – seasonal color, understory, food.

Sunchokes (a perennial sunflower) - flowers, beds/borders, beneficials, seasonal screens, food.

Cover crops feed the soil, attract beneficial insects, and look pretty, too!

If you want to know more about these great plants, come join me for the next Successful Gardener class at Renfrow Farm.

Edible Landscapes, Tuesday, October 9, 6:30-8:30 PM

Renfrow Farm, 409 W Charles Street, Matthews, NC

We tend to look at our food crops through a single purpose lens. How much food will this plant yield? But many of our fruits and vegetables look great in the garden! Come learn how to add these plants to our landscapes. We’ll feed our souls beautiful gardens while we feed our bodies good food. Details and registration here.

Remember to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!!