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.
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