Belle Haven Garden Maven

The temperatures are finally cooling (although I still have echinacea and salvia blooming in my garden) and holiday decorations don’t seem so surreal.

When you think of decking your halls for Christmas and the New Year, you need look no further than your own back yard. I’ve had great success with magnolia branches, pine cones and pine boughs, holly, and ivy. I take particular satisfaction in pulling up the encroaching ivy to decorate.

While you are out scavenging in the yard–water those bushes and new plants. We continue to be 7″ behind hand in water for this area–those bushes need to have a good long soak before the ground freezes. If you’ve cut off your water (as I have) fill up the buckets, recruit your friends and form a line.

And don’t forget to leave out water and bird feed for our gardening bird buddies…another great idea is to leave some of the heads from your rudbeckia and echinacea as forage, and to plant sparkle berry bushes and other hollies that will continue to provide food through the winter.

No more lawn– new front courtyard

It’s done.   My front lawn is no more.  I now have a garden courtyard.  8 hours of hand-scraping the dying grass with my wonderful Japanese hoe.  8 hours of spreading 4,000 lbs of pea gravel.

I still need to tweak the shape and size of the garden beds, and rebuild the stone edging, but I am so pleased to no longer participate in the never-ending slog of aerating, seeding, fertilizing, spreading pre-emergent, watering, mowing..etc….etc.  The pea gravel is permeable, easy to care for, and a breeze to remove fallen leaves.

I’ve decided I need two small curved cast iron garden benches to complete the new courtyard; would love to hear from anyone who has a good source.

Front garden bed in gravel courtyard

Grove Drive Garden July 2012

Rudbeckia–Ya gotta love ‘em.

We are still in a drought (7 +fewer inches of rain than normal); we have had steady days of 100+ weather–everything is beat down by the summer weather–except my black eyed susans (rubeckia).

Click on the photo to enlarge it, look closely, and you will see three different varieties of rudbeckia–hirta (native to this area), goldsturm (a cultivar) and Herbstonne (a hybrid).

Rubeckia  is a native wildflower which typically grows in open woods, fields, and at the side of the road.  The blooms are daisy-like flowers with bright yellow to orange-yellow rays and  chocolate-brown center disks.

Rudbeckia blooms from June through August atop stiff, leafy, upright stems growing 1-3’ tall. Rough, hairy, lance-shaped leaves (3-7” long). If you prune in early June, the plant flowers later and can carry on into September.

‘Herbstsonne’ is either a cultivar or a hybrid (depending on the expert) of two varieties of rudbeckia: Rudbeckia nitida or Rudbeckia laciniata. It can grow up to 7 feet tall and makes a dramatic vertical statement in the garden bed.

Flower bed: coreopsis, daylilies, rosemary, amsonia, junipers

We’ve had days of extreme heat.  Despite the rains of the ‘dereccho’ that blew through on Friday night toppling trees and bending plant material to the ground, we are still 7 inches below normal rainfall.

Our gardens will suffer from the intense heat and lack of water.  My rudbeckia are shriveling in areas of compacted clay soil and doing well in areas that retain moisture.

Here are a few  suggestions for nurturing the garden through this summer:

• Keep Plants Mulched.  Make sure that the garden beds are mulched.  Renew the mulch wherever it has decomposed.  Don’t use fresh mulch like grass clippings or fresh manure–let fresh clippings dry a few days before adding to the beds.
• Water Deeply. Water-in deeply and infrequently rather than sprinkling every day.  Clay soil should have about an inch of water retained per week.  You’ll need to experiment with your own garden to see how long the sprinkler should run.  Soggy soil conditions combined with hot weather can kill plant material in just a few days.
• Stop Pruning. Pruning can stress a plant–and pruning in adverse weather conditions adds to the stress.  If you must prune be sure to water deeply.
• Evaluate Plants. Watch your garden through the day and see which plants look wilted or sunburned. They may be in too sunny a location or receiving too much late-day sun. Plan to move these plants in the Fall to conditions where they will not be stressed.

For future reference the following plants have been found to adapt well to the stress of our hot summer weather:

Ornamental grasses, daylilies, coreopsis, coneflower, black-eyed Susan, and succulents such as sedum.

Hope the power is on soon!