I am a new home owner and I have just started planting this year. We layed flagstone hardscape this spring and have made room for three beds in our small yard. While buying plants this year I tried to purchase plants that would take a long time to grow and the ones that I wanted for privacy. I purchased a Japanese maple planted it and then about three weeks later transplanted it to another location that I like better. I planted a magnolia and then replanted it again. This tree died so I took it back to the nursery and replaced it with a Jane magnolia. I also purchased a smoke bush and planted it left this one alone for maybe six weeks and then dug it up and replanted it. It has now swriveled up and the leaves feel like dried paper.
I guess you can see the theme here. I am very indecisive !!
I have planted a dogwood two weeks ago that my mother in law had growing in her yard and didn't want anymore. This is now starting to dry out.
My question is at this time of year how often should I be watering? The temp. here is ranging from 13-19 degrees during the day to as low as 1 degree at night.
How should I protect my Japanese maple over the winter. The nursery told me the weight of snow on the branches could harm the tree.
If I wrap it in burlap won't that make it so that it can not get any sun over the winter (It is facing north)
When do I start wraping the trees? and what should I do for the new magnolia tree this tree is in the north east corner of my backward which faces north so it does get sun most of the day.
Please help.
Also if anybody has any suggestions for plant material for next spring. I need to start thinking about this so that I don't do what I did this year.
I am looking for different types of green in variations of colours and textures. Almost like a controlled chaos look of jungle like.
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gorgeous orange colour. I love it.
thanks for doing the photo commentary!
The ligularia pic reminded me of another plant that I would like to try some time -- that is Eremerus, or foxtail lily. It's flowers look a lot like the "rocket". Another one (but I ahven't room, alas!) is globe thistle.
Mary Anne
another
another
achillea rose queen
ligularia leaves on the Rocket.
this one is the "Rocket"
Always good to start with at least a skeleton plan! I like unusual plants too, and sometimes I get over-excited about ones I think I like and then I don't like them, or they don't do well. Many times I buy only one of them and then kick myself because I should have stuck to my "make a clump with three" *rule* (although there really are no rules!) because I don't get my *jungle* look right away!
Have a look at my garden pics on the MSN site -- http://groups.msn.com/HouseHomeMemberAlbums/maryannesunrulygarden.msnw
My garden faces northwest, as I said, so it will be similar to yours. I don't know what zone Woodbridge is in but I suspect you are nearer Toronto and therefore more like zone 5 or 6, whereas I am zone 4, so you will likely have more scope.
Some of the unusual ones I have that I like a lot are these:
1) Ligularia - the one I have is Othello, but there is also Desdemona and other varieties with different leaves and flower clusters. I like the Othello because it has these huge elephant-ear leaves that are dark green on top and burgundy underneath and the flowers come out really late in the season and look like madly deformed black-eyed susans. This is one where I did NOT obey the "plant-three" rule and I am glad because the one plant is HUGE.
2) Lysimachia clethroides, also known as "shepherd's crook" - it is great but self seeds, so if you think it will continue to be in a nice orderly clump, forget it, it will soon be spread all over. Very nice white flowers in mid summer.
3) Achillea -- there are lots of different varieties of these too. I have Coronation Gold that is very tall and yellow, and grows like a weed. I love the smell of the foliage.
4) several different Japanese anemones - they are great and tall and long-lasting fowers, with maple-leaf-shaped leaves.
5) a bearded border iris called "Bumblebee Deelite" that is yellow and navy blue and comes in spring very reliably
6) siberian iris -- somewhere I got a yellow one that has just stunning flowers that look like orchids - another reliable; then last year I bought another one I quite like - called Jamaican Velvet, supposed to be red, if you please, but really not, more of a deep violet
7) Alchemilla mollis - Lady's mantle - another one with great foliage and kind of weird looking chartruese flower panicles
8) Oenothera missouriensis or Ozark Sundrops - again these (Oenothera) come in lots of different varieties and these ones lie along the ground, producing wonderful yellow blossoms
9) I always make room for at least one oriental poppy and the one I have has no name but beautiful orangey blossoms
10) sedums for the front -- Dragon's blood and a yellow one that I forget the name of. Also a standing-up sedum, a white one, called "Iceberg" that I quite like
11) a wonderful columbine called McKana's Giant that always makes a good show - huge bicoloured blossoms (yellow and deep pink)
12) a lovely tiny pink baby's breath sort of thing , but very short, raised by a neighbour from seed - it's called Petrohagia illyrica
Then also some old stand-bys - black-eyed susans, echinacea, an old phlox that my Dad used to like, called Bright Eyes, Heucheras of verious kinds, asters, campanula of various kinds, etc, etc.....
Anyhow, this should be enough to get you started, I think!
You might want to consult a good perennial book - Marjorie Harris's or Lois Hole's are good. And I also use a very good book called "Dry-Land Gardening" by Jennifer Bennett.
Thanks for you wonderful suggestions.
I think that part of my problem is that I have a grand master plan that keeps changing in my mind then I tend to regret purchasing certain plants or their placement.
The other problem is that I needed my husband and in laws help and experience and I felt pressured to make decisions quickly. I usually like to think things over and if the same ideas is still in my mind then I know that I will be happy with it.
My primary bed is north /east facing. Right now I have a 2 skyrocket junipers at either end of the bed so one is north and the second is east facing in the corner of the bed directly northnortheast is where the magnolia is. I was going to tarp it to protect from wind damage till I know that the tree is developing nicely and is happy in its spot(maybe the next two winters). Between the Magnolia and the juniper I have planted a small dogwood and a euonymus.
But I am looking for unusual plants.
You seem to be very knowledgeable could you recomend some plants that I could look into over the winter
Thanks so much
Cracka -- why not post your question on the special gardening forum that is coming up at the end of the month -- see the list of topics, under "Fall Planting" -- and you can get advice from the experts.
is what you need. And you can have all the fun of doing the research and dreaming over the winter!! I assume you want a perennial border mixed with some shrubs and trees. The shrubs and trees are your "backbone" and you have started with some of them. Now you need to research the perennials.
Hopefully, over the summer, you have taken note of your beds and their orientation and how much sun they get during the day, and what times of day. This is important for the plants you choose. Then get some squared-off paper and start drawing out your beds (measure to scale). Then you can *place* clumps of plants where you think they might go, thinking of these things:
1) colour of foliage
2) blooming time and colour of blooms
3) size -- this means width, or spread, as well as height
4) water requirements
5) sun requirements
6) zone (see the Natural Resources Canada Website for Canadian zones - you can find it by doing a Google search for "planitng zones Canada")
I usually do clumps of at least three of each plant, especially when just starting a perennial border (see my unruly garden pics on the MSN site). Plan on planting them a little closer together than you might think from their eventual spread, if you want to cultivate a *jungle* look. Plan on having the tallest at the back, medium in the centre and short or groundcover in the front. Also plan for different blooms during different seasons, and foliage interest when things are not blooming, or if you have deep shade and you want a little lighter foliage colour lighting up the darkness. My main bed is north-west facing and gets lost of sun but is very very dry in summer in Ottawa, so I chose a lot of drought-tolerant plants for it.
Also prepare your beds before and after you plant. Many folks use triple mix to add to the soil, or you can just add things like compost and peat moss and so on separately. I like to use a shredded bark mulch on my beds to keep them moist during the hot summer, and I have installed a drip irrigation system. I apply fresh compost once a year, and fertilize with a high-phosphate fertilizer about once a week during the season.
As for your shrubs & trees that you have planted to date, I would leave them all alone for now until you have done your *grand scheme*, except for watering them well. Usually, if I think I have put something in the wrong place, I leave it for a least a season to see what it looks like and how it will do, and how I like it - THEN move it. ANd don't fuss with winter protection unless it is a speciment plant -- don't you want to plant things you don't need to fuss over? If you ARE covering up trees or shrubs for winter protection, you definitely DO NOT want them to get sun -- winter sun is very drying and they will get *sunburn*!! They are dormant in the winter in any case so would not benefit from it.
In your zone, you should be OK with magnolia without winter protection, but you need to check that. I have not much experience with them, but one I have been nurturing is doing very well in a little enclosed spot out of wind, with a southern exposure and no winter protection, since grown from seed by my friend! (Ottawa is on the borderline for magnolia). It is now just over a foot tall, so will be a long time before I see flowers!!!!! but this is all an investment in the future, right?!
Having said all this boring stuff about PLANS, I have to confess that I DO deviate form them -- all the time and for all kinds of reasons -- but if you are just starting out, it can help you become more familiar with the plants and their characteristics if you do your research with a view to creating a plan.
Good luck, and keep us posted on how it goes (and post some pics too!)
my goodness...you are a busy gardener...
sometimes natures allows you to move things around, other times not...in any case, WATER is the answer. WATER...WATER...as far as the japanese maple goes, we planted one last summer near the end of August when it was on sale...the nursery would NOT guarantee their maples but we planted it in an unprotected area around our koi pond. We did nothing to protect it for winter and figured it would die from exposure but LO and BEHOLD it not only survived but thrived. Sure hope it does the same this winter. As for magnolias and the others I have no experience. Maybe Lisi can advise....
Why not post this on the garden forum just below this one. You will get good advise.