Proof in the Plants
Some gardeners do everything by the books. Others wing it and watch. Rob Proctor is in the latter group, which may explain why his gardening segment on Denver's NBC local morning news has been running for 10 years now. Twice a week, the former horticulture director of the Denver Botanic Gardens delivers tips that viewers trust because the proof is right there to see: Proctor's half-acre garden, a true paradise.
Besides using his garden and its needs as a backdrop, Proctor frequently devotes time to answering viewers' questions. He avoids queries like "How do I keep deer out of my garden?" because saying "Don't move into deer country" doesn't really help anyone. Instead, he favors questions for which he can offer useful, time-tested advice. It sometimes runs counter to conventional wisdom. But his philosophy is that truth is in results, not instructions on a package. Read on for his real-world, learned-by-doing insights.
Shown: A wide promenade is what's left of the half-acre lawn that came with Rob Proctor's 1905 home. He replaced most of the grass with wide perennial beds overflowing with lush but easy-care plants
On Planning a Garden
Q: How do I come up with a good design?
A: Go on garden tours and study the gardens you gravitate toward, whether formal or more relaxed. In general, I think a garden with wide, curving borders works best. Just don't try to cram too much drama into a 2-foot-wide strip. Get bold and make borders or beds 6, 8, or 10 feet deep.
If you're torn between wanting order and not having time to stay on top of every garden chore, I suggest framing beds with tidy features and then letting the rest of the garden be more freewheeling. Surrounding each part of the garden with a low hedge makes a neat frame. For my own house, which is rather formal, I wanted a garden with structure. So l use narrow strips of lawn and brick columns to frame perennial beds that are pure chaos. I also laid out the garden so that people would turn corners and be surprised; I didn't want them to see it all at one time. But everybody's style of house and garden is different.
Shown: A tidy circle of bricks filled with stones and containers creates a focal point in a section of lawn near the house. The small pots are planted with hens-and-chicks; the large container overflows with a riot of flowers and foliage plants.
Groupings are Essential
One thing that doesn't work: planting one of this and one of that. You need groupings and drifts of plants. But don't make the drifts too massive or you'll have a mass of nothing when the plants are out of bloom or without their leaves. Another thing to avoid: taking inspiration from landscaping in parking lots and office parks that's just about filling blank spaces.
Adequate Use
Q: How can I ensure a patio will really be used?
A: To work as an outdoor room, a patio needs some sense of enclosure. My main patio wraps around the back of my house, so it's L-shaped, about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. I also have a dining patio in the shade that's 15 by 15. In both places, I put out lots of containers to create that sense of enclosure. It's important to provide comfortable seats and plenty of places to set down a cup.
Shown: A bright display for a shady spot, 'Red Dragon' begonia, colorful coleus, and other plants in blue, green, and purple pots edge the patio behind Proctor's house.
Reaping the Reward
Q: What's the best tree to plant?
A: This, of course, depends on your climate and the size of your yard. But, in general, you're likely to get the most enjoyment from trees that naturally stay rather small. Because we're a mobile society, most people don't get a chance to watch a tree grow to maturity. But if you plant a small tree, maybe you can watch it grow up. Semidwarf fruit trees are really rewarding. So are small flowering trees, like redbud and golden chain tree. These trees give you more than just shade.
On Caring for Plants
Q: How often do I need to water?
A: This is the most frequent question ever. The answer: when your garden needs it. Stick a finger in the soil and see if it's dry. People want a schedule, but nature doesn't work on a schedule. It either rained or it was hot. Plan your garden so that a lot of it can survive on rainfall once it is established. You will need to water new plants and container plants, though. Use a wand on a hose. That way you can rearrange pots as plants go out of bloom and you don't have to fuss with technology. I think people with watering systems spend most of their summer repairing them. And most systems turn on whether it rains or not, so they waste water.
If you have a lot of containers, group them so that you can water efficiently. I have 250 to 300 containers, but they are in three main areas. Even in the hottest part of the summer, watering by hand takes at most an hour and a half every three days—and this is in Denver, where the air is very dry.
Shown: Proctor delights in being able to create a lush, tropical look even in dry, high-altitude Denver. He works this magic in a way gardeners everywhere can: by growing his zebra-striped cannas and other exotic plants in pots. Cannas die back in fall, so Proctor overwinters the rootstocks in his basement.
Containers Only
Q: How often do you recommend fertilizing?
A: I don't fertilize my perennial beds because I don't want them to get tall and floppy. For container plants, though, I feed constantly because I want plants worthy of a magazine cover. Label directions say to feed every seven to 10 days. That's not enough. I found this out when I was working on a book and needed to photograph my containers. A hailstorm smashed everything, but by feeding more often than suggested, the plants miraculously came back within three weeks.
So I recommend feeding container plants every four or five days. Early in the season, switch back and forth between a nitrogen fertilizer and one that's lower in nitrogen but higher in phosphorus and potassium to boost blooms—except for plants you're growing for their foliage. Once the plants are in flower-production mode, by mid-July, use just the flower booster, assuming the plants are the size you want. Never fertilize when the soil is dry; it can burn some plants.
Dining Deck
Starting with a strong, if somewhat romantic, concept. Inside the walls grow herbs, lettuces, fruit, and flowers for the household. You can emulate the intimate, sheltered garden closely linked to the house. And I'd create it with modern materials, rather than mossy old brick.
Shown: The deck offers space for casual seating; wide steps provide plenty of room for containers that help blend the structure into the garden. The concrete-paver patio makes a subdued background for bright perennials in shades of yellow, orange, plum, and green.
Trellis
Here, the curved trellis near the back of the yard adds height and a privacy buffer. Planted with sweet peas, it provides valuable growing space in a small garden.
Garden Stairs
To play off the low-key style of the shingled house, I used utilitarian materials like gravel and concrete, and a limited but exuberant color palette to liven up the somber materials without overwhelming the small space.
Here, a burgundy-red Japanese maple, 'Orange Dream,' underplanted with golden Heuchera 'Caramel' provides a bit of privacy on the deck. Another Japanese maple, 'Baldsmith,' welcomes visitors stepping down into the garden.
Concrete Stepping Stones
An artist once told me that charcoal gray is the ideal backdrop to set off all other colors, so I chose dark gray pavers for the terrace and path. The gray pavers are now a calm oasis in an explosion of exuberant orange, yellow, and purple plantings.
Here, concrete-paver stepping stones lead to compost and storage areas along on one side of the house. The orange flowers of Lobelia tupa brighten the pathway.
Garden Fountain and Custom Paver
Lilies, roses, hydrangeas, and even trees are all in these dramatic colors that give the greatest effect per square inch of planting space.
You can't imagine a garden without water for its soothing sound and light- and sky-reflecting properties. But how to squeeze a pond and fountain into such a tiny space? Here is a freestanding concrete fountain, instead. It merely needs to be filled up and plugged in. Water bubbles up from the sphere on top then flows into a pair of rectangular basins.
The fountain holds pride of place on the main terrace, next to the dining table. Despite its small volume of water, butterflies and dragonflies flock to it, and birds teeter on the rim.
Reading Patio
Tucked into the far corner of the garden, a second, smaller patio with a chaise lounge makes an ideal reading refuge.
Feed-Trough Planters
Here is created topographical interest, as well as better soil and easier-on-the-back gardening, by building raised beds in two different sizes, shapes, and materials.
Four round galvanized-metal feed troughs (with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage) echo the metal used for the screens. Tomatoes and strawberries ripen quickly in the soil warmed by their reflectivity. The 5-foot troughs also serve as low-maintenance planters for yellow gaillardias, Peruvian lilies, pumpkins, and strawberries.
Concrete-Block Raised Beds
The rest of the beds are rectangular split-faced concrete blocks mortared together with a capstone wide enough to sit on when gardening or to serve as extra seating for parties. Constructing them with efficient drip irrigation already in place makes watering the beds no chore at all.
It's amazing how the narrow garden is visually widened by angling the terraces away from the house and setting the rectangular raised beds—filled with flowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs like purple sage, chives, and borage—on a diagonal.
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There was a time when lawn work was looked on as strictly the guy’s job. In fact, it often took the strength of Hercules to pull the crank cord a minimum of 10-12 times just to start the darn machine! Long gone are those days, though, as the lawn mower has evolved into a tool that any gender can operate with ease. You may think, however, that maintaining your mower is still a job best left for the man of the house. This, too, is simply not the case.
It’s very easy to take care of your mower; and, with some new innovations, yard work can actually be a fun chore. Here are some tips and tricks in keeping your yard picture-perfect and a look at some of the great new mowers on the market to make life outside a lot easier.
Maintaining a Lawn Mower
At the start of the season, usually spring, there are three main areas to focus on when it comes to lawn mower maintenance:
Change Oil:
Even if you don’t think it needs it, do it! The oil should be changed at the beginning of every season. Over the course of the cutting season, dirt and other impurities will collect in the oil and those things will ruin an engine. Check with your mower’s owner’s manual for the proper procedure. Or bring it in to Imperial Services.
Clean Air Filter:
If the filter in your mower is an accordion-style paper type, simply remove the filter cover and blow out all the debris with a high-pressure air hose. If the filter is made from foam, wash it in a water and detergent solution, let it dry, and apply a few drops of oil to it. Or bring it into Imperial Services. You should replace the filter at least once a year.
Change Spark Plug:
That little space at the end of the plug where the metal end bends at a 90 degree angle is called the gap. Many manufacturers are now packaging new plugs with the gap pre-set, so it’s as simple as removing the old and installing the new. However, it’s still a good idea to double-check the gap with an inexpensive spark plug gap tool just in case. You should change out the spark plug every year so you’re starting every cutting season with a new spark plug. We can do that for you here at Imperial Services.
Lawn Mower Blades
Sharpening blades is more than just a standard upkeep. It takes a little extra effort to remove the blade and sharpen or replace the blade. Every year, though, this should be done prior to the first cutting. You need to have a sharp blade when cutting grass, otherwise it doesn’t cut the grass but, tears it instead, which can lead to a diseased lawn. Before removing the blade, be sure to detach the spark plug wire to prevent the mower from accidently starting. Then tilt the mower up and use a wrench
to loosen the bolt that holds the blade on by turning it counter clockwise.
Sharpening your blades can be done here at Imperial Services.
Types of Lawn Mowers
Push Mowers
For a small yard, a simple push mower is perfect. While some homeowners use push mowers to take care of a large yards, it takes several hours of work and defeats the whole purpose of making the chore easier. Don’t rush out and get the least expensive one, though. Remember, the whole point is to make yard work easier. A cheap mower won’t cut it, if you’ll pardon the pun. A larger cutting deck is a good feature. Many small mowers start at around 19”, but 21” is better. Also, think about how easy it is to crank and the type of bagging attachment .
Riding Mowers
For a large yard, riding mowers are the toy of preference. Professional services use ZTR (Zero Turn Radius) mowers, which can turn on a dime. The new ZTR’s are a work of art focusing not only on performance, but also on comfort and style. They can include shock absorbers, larger wheels for a more comfortable ride, cushy seat with armrests and even cup holders!
The cutting decks for riding mowers start at 42”. While most homeowners don’t need one that’s too big, a 48”-50” model is ideal. If you want the “cool factor” of a ZTR with the convenience of a traditional tractor, come check out our Wright and Dixon Mowers we have in our showroom.
Remember we stock all of the above in our store, oil filters, blades, oil, etc. and don't forget the Lawn Mowers! We can change the oil sharpen the blades and service your mower here at Imperial Services. imperialservicesinc.com
Grasses stir in the scented breezes. Bamboo panels and strategically placed plants create seclusion. This meditation-garden plan, elegant in its simplicity, creates a peaceful, soothing spot for quiet reflection.
Flagstones trace a circular path to the seating area, which accommodates a bench or a yoga mat. A small tree provides shade and perspective. In front of the bench a water element of your choice — whether a small fountain or a beautiful bowl of water — becomes a focal point. Beyond that stands a large boulder; a meditative art object can be substituted. Candle lanterns or solar lights light this garden for evening visits. And from the outside, the bamboo fence's varied height gives the meditation garden a sculptural quality.
The simple planting plan uses low-maintenance native plants, including grasses and perennial herbs, plus a shrub for winter interest. Feel free to substitute, where hardy, non-invasive exotic herbs such as lavender, sage or rosemary for the perennial herbs. Thyme would make a wonderful scented groundcover in areas as cold as USDA Zone 5. Other plants may be suitable, but be sure not to plant any invasive exotic species.
Plant List
A. Striped maple (Acer pennsylvanica)
Alternative: Allegheny serviceberry ( Amelanchier laevis) or other small accent tree
B. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Alternative: Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia ) or other specimen plant with winter interest
C. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
Alternative: Other tall grass
D. Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina)
Alternative: Other medium-height, scented, woody or herbaceous plant
E. Sand heather (Hudsonia tomentosa)
Alternative: Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva ursi) or other groundcover plant
F. Palm sedge (Carex muskingumensis)
Alternative: Other small grass
Key
Stone-edged patio (patio surface can be pea gravel, concrete or flagstone)
Water feature (bowl or fountain)
Boulder
Bamboo fence, 2' x 6' panels
Bamboo fence, 2' x 4' panels
Bamboo fence, 2' x 2' panels
Candle lantern (or solar light)
Stepping stones
Entrance
Bench
How to Implement Your Landscape Plan
1. Correct before cultivating. There's no point in adding pretty elements to a landscape that has unfavorable "pre-existing conditions" — you'll waste time and money. Before buying any plants, take care of any pH problems, poor drainage, fallen limbs or dead trees that could sabotage growing conditions.
2. Work out where you'll start. Of course you want it all right now, but the reality is that the average do-it-yourselfer cannot implement a landscape design in a couple of weekends. Instead, prioritize the order of tasks you'll take on.
It's tricky to decide whether to hardscape or plant trees, shrubs, perennials or annuals first. If you put in the walkways, walls and decks first, you won't have to trample an area you've planted. But if budget or time dictates that the hardscaping comes last, make sure to leave a little buffer zone unplanted around it to give yourself some extra work space. Keep in mind, you can always augment the landscape in progress with pots of annuals, container-grown vegetables or even potted shrubs like Norfolk pines — don't let a craving for color or "instant green" derail you from proceeding in the most practical sequence.
Last, understand that your best-laid plans may fall victim to a budget crunch or plants that simply aren't available in your area — or not yet. When that happens, revisit your priorities.
The new USDA Zone map
3. Adjust and accommodate. No landscape design is foolproof, so do plenty of double-checking on the listed trees, flowers and shrubs, making sure they're all cold-hardy and heat tolerant in your USDA hardiness zone.
The same goes for any substitutes you've arrived at on your own. Research them thoroughly so you know you'll be able to provide the climate, sun, shade and soil they need to survive — and note their growth rates and size at maturity so you're not creating cramped conditions. If you're a time-pressed gardener, make sure any plants you're including aren't pest-prone. And of course, always make sure that you won't be introducing an invasive species.
4. Buy with the best of them. It's way too easy to go hog-wild when you're buying trees, shrubs and other plants to implement your landscape design, but it's better to buy just the healthiest specimens at prices you can afford — and to avoid cutting corners with plants that are close to what the design dictates — but not close enough. If you forget the idea of instant gratification, you can save money by buying smaller versions (say, a one-gallon plant versus a five-gallon) that will thrive in your landscape design over time.
Even if you purchase all the components at once, be sure to shop at a place where an expert can answer your questions, and try to avoid plants that are already blooming or don't have a good, intact root system. And don't let appearances fool you. While those trees and shrubs may look like a yard of dead stick in the store, lots of them grow like the proverbial weed, so go by what you know of the species' mature size and buy only what's been laid out in the design plan.
5. Make your marks. There's a reason that landscape design has been drawn to scale, and you can give your plants their best start if you mark out the area according to the blueprint, using a measuring tape or yard stick and garden hose, a line of flour from a sifter or landscape marking paint.
Like you would any other building project, measure twice, plant once — and remember that the design should provide space so that people can move through the area easily and you should mark those areas, too.
6. Plant according to plan. Once you've mapped and marked the area, start digging! Any plant will need a hole at least two and a half times as wide as the root ball and you should never plant anything deeper than it was previously planted. In fact, leave it an inch or two above ground level and let mulch finish the rest.
And forget everything you know about container gardening when you plant a sapling. If you simply dig a big hole and add amended soil, the tree's roots will grow only to the edges of the hole and then start to girdle around the perimeter of the space. A better technique is to break up or cultivate the soil in a circular area around the location where the tree is to be planted.
Of course, if the surrounding soil is too hard or weak to support the sapling at all, amend the surrounding soil only as much as the tree needs to survive, and extend the amendment to an area several yards beyond the root ball. Another no-no: the old "volcano mulching," or mulching all the way up to the trunk, which diminishes a young tree's chance for survival.
7. Gain by maintaining. Most everybody would have a gorgeous landscape if you could just plant and wait for the sun, rain and chlorophyll to do the rest. But you will need to water, fertilize, maybe prune. How much and how often you water depends on the climate where you live, of course, but in general, younger plants need more water than established plants and all plants prefer thorough, infrequent watering. Watering too lightly makes their roots stay near the soil's surface, where they're susceptible to drought.
To find out what type of TLC is needed for plants in your area, it's always good to consult with the local extension agent, who should also be able to tell you about any water restrictions in your area.
8. Revisit your plan. The whole point of a landscape design is to minimize guesswork, but you'll still need to evaluate how well the plan is working for you. Every couple of months (and gardener's journals are great for this task), note which plants and spaces are succeeding and which are not — or which looked great in the planning stages but don't really reflect your preferences now that you see them in practice. It's okay to make replacements, as long as you research the new additions the same way you did at the start.
And keep in mind that just as the seasons change, your landscape design needs will require amendments over the years. Perhaps you'll develop a yen for an outdoor kitchen, for example, or decide you want some plantings for songbirds, or new kids or grandkids will require a grassy patch of lawn where before you were happy with hollies. When changes occur, it's back to the drawing board, but just for tweaks to your plan.
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Lawn maintenance extends includes weed control in landscape beds. Most common lawn weeds are equal opportunity attackers, when it comes to landscape beds. Without the frequent mowing that lawns receive, weeds in landscape beds can grow, happily, developing and releasing thousands of seeds to re-populate and live another day. If the lawn is picture-perfect, but there are weeds in all of the landscape beds around the house, driveway, sidewalk or out-buildings, the overall impression is marred. To present the best overall picture of your lawn and landscape, make sure that you eradicate weeds in the lawn and in the landscape.
Landscape Beds Provide their Own Challenges
Landscape beds are sometimes more difficult to maintain in a weed-free condition, because they contain a wider variety of plants than the lawn. Lawn weed killers are generally broad-leaf herbicides, which means they kill broad-leafed plants (dicots) that are not grasses (monocots). That makes sense for ridding a lawn of weeds. That makes weed control in landscape beds a trickier proposition, best accomplished using a multi-pronged approach.
Weed Control Procedures
Controlling weeds in landscape beds relies more on proper procedures than certain chemicals. Chemicals tend to be largely indiscriminate, and maintaining a weed-free foundation planting requires finesse. Here are the ways gardeners can control weeds in their landscape beds, without hurting the plants they want to keep.
Apply organic mulch such as grass clippings, shredded bark, composted leaves, bark chips-anything that will break down and enhance the soil over time. Using organic mulch isn't just good for the earth, it is good for you. Over time, new weed seeds accumulate on top of whatever type of mulch you use. If you use organic mulch, it will break down over time, and you can add more mulch on top of it. If you use rubber or plastic mulch, you have to eventually remove it because new soil will build up on top of it, and make it useless, in terms of weed control. The same goes for rocks. While they are natural, they are also extremely slow to break down. Unless you live somewhere arid, where rocks are part of the natural landscape, it is best to leave them out of beds.
Use pre-emergence herbicides
Corn gluten is an organic pre emergence herbicide. There are also synthetic options available. These compounds prevent weeds from sprouting, so they won't help you get rid of the weeds already in your flower beds, but they will help you prevent new weeds from sprouting. Usually, the best time to apply pre-emergence herbicides are in the late winter and late summer, in anticipation of the change of seasons.
If the weed problem is very bad, and you can't eradicate with mulch and pre-emergence herbicide, you can use post-emergence herbicide. Roundup is the brand name for the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in most common lawn weed killers. The herbicide should be sprayed directly onto the plants you want to eliminate, not the plants you want to keep, and only works when the temperature is above 70 degrees outside.
If you want to steer clear of chemicals, pulling weeds before they go to seed is another good option. After a few seasons of weed control, your weed problem in landscape beds will be significantly diminished.
Remember …
The landscape beds and the lawn work together to present a beautiful vision of a piece of property. For the best "curb appeal" make sure that you control lawn weeds and landscape weeds with equal vigilance.
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