Garden Transplant: Lavender

Helvetia Lavender Farm: Lavender plants during harvest...

I am trying very hard to make my backyard a low maintenance zone. One of the plants I chose was Lavender as it a drought tolerant plant. I thought I would love lavender falling along a dry creek bed in my back yard, but my vision and my reality were not in sync. One plant that started out in a sunny location ended up in shade and has never really shown any growth or beauty. A major disappointment. The other two plants appeared to have loved their sunny location but became long and leggy and don't fit the confines of the space.

So I'm left with a couple of options. I can pull the plants up and throw them away which is a painful option for a person who loves gardening. Or I can find a place that would be a better fit, which is not necessarily an easy option either. Our garden landscape has a lot of trees and they in turn produce a lot of shade. (I'm not complaining about our trees. I love them. I'm huge into planting it forward with trees. It's just not that easy finding a nice sunny spot.)  

Vintage Garden Marker

I'm not an expert in lavender (or gardening) and I try to find those individuals on the web who are. When searching how to solve my lavender problems I came up with the site everything-lavender.com. Well, from the name it would imply they know more than me! Love how the web is such a huge library of resources!

They actually have a webpage specifically for transferring and planting lavender. In fact the first sentence on the webpage is "Maybe you planted your Lavender in the shade or the plant has become too large for where it is planted." It sounds like they are talking directly to me.

Here are the key tips to know when transferring lavender:

1. It's important to move lavender during the growing season, so when transplanting in the spring ensure you have waited past the point of any frost and at least a week after the last frost. If planting at the end of the growing season, plan so that there should be at least 4 weeks before the first frost of the season.
2. For the new space, be sure the space gets plenty of sunshine and has enough room for a mature lavender plant. (I failed on these two critical items the last time.) Keep in mind the future growth of neighboring plants and trees. As the trees grow, their perimeter in which they give shade could impact how much sun your Lavender plant will receive in future years. If you don't have the space for a mature Lavender plant, consider catnip which can provide the same look in a more compact size (see photos below).
3. Be sure the soil is ready for planting. The soil should have good drainage and should be alkaline based. Amend if needed. Amending with compost will help with drainage and amending with lime can help with maintaining the necessary alkaline level in the soil. If you have oak trees nearby, remember that Oak trees increase the acidity of the surrounding soil and liming could be important to plants which prefer a more alkaline soil.
4. When digging up the lavender plant, gather as much of the root ball as you can.
5. Dig a whole twice as big as the root ball. Water well.

For more information on transplanting, check out:

• http://everything-lavender.com/moving-lavender-plants.html
• http://www.gardenguides.com/111786-replant-lavender-plants.html

and for more information on choosing a location check out

• http://everything-lavender.com/planting-lavender.html

and for more information on catnip vs lavender check out

• http://homeguides.sfgate.com/catmint-vs-lavender-47329.html
• http://plantselect.org/2008/01/little-trudy-catnip-long-awaited-compact-catnip/

The following photos should help give you inspiration for adding lavender in your garden:

A beautiful Lavender lined brick path.....Dyckman, Main Entrance - Spring 2011 by Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, via Flickr

A weaver (Elvie Miller) blogs about her Lavender...lovely plant...

Lavender banked Provence styled Santa Barbara garden path of Jermain Chastain.

Love the color combination created in this side garden with lavender & yellow tones accenting boxwoods.

Soften the edges of a patio or hardscape with lavender and other plants. (From BHG)

Little Trudy compact catnip

Growing Wisteria in Pots

Recently I found a compilation of pictures  on Indulgy which showed growing Wisteria in Pots. The picture is a compilation of photos of wisteria being grown in a pot originally compiled by Colin Purrington. Although the picture is no longer available on his site (originally via photography.colinpurrington.com) I have linked it to his website that features the last picture of the wisteria being watered.

This webpage on Coppercafe is for accumulating resources and photos of wisteria being grown in pots. Please note there are differences between growing a Bonsai version of wisteria and growing a potted wisteria.

colin purrington photography

The picture was originally sourced at fotoflora.com, but I could no longer find it there.

Japenese Wisteria photo from the Internet Bonsai Club

A Chinese Wisteria frm the Internet Bonsai Club forum discussions.

Wisteria seninsis (standard Chinese Wisteria)

Found on Flickr, Elfrieda found this Chinese Wisteria at the Montreal Botanical Garden in 2005.

Wisteria (Standard) Chinese Wisteria from Van Meuwen

Van Meuwen has the following helpful hints for growing wisteria:

1. Their wisteria has been trained as a standard so that it can be enjoyed in a small garden or pot.
2. Wisteria is harmful if eaten.
3. Grow wisteria plants in a sunny or semi shaded site in any moist, well drained soil.
4. Wisteria buds can be damaged by hard spring frosts so choose a sheltered position.
5. When growing wisteria in large containers, soil based compost should be used such as John Innes No. 3.
6. Provide the twining stems with an appropriate framework to support growth.

Sources:
1. The Internet Bonsai Club has a forum discussing growing Bonsai Wisteria which would be helpful to those who would like additional information.

2.  ehow.com has an article written on how to grow wisteria in pots at:  http://www.ehow.com/how_8091558_grow-wisteria-pot.html

3.Home base offers the Wisteria seninsis.   http://homebase.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/shrubs/topiary/wisteria/wisteria-sinensis-/itemno.PL30001433/

4. Van Meuwen website at: http://www.vanmeuwen.com/flowers/flower-plants/climbing-plants/wisteria-standard/69038VM

Garden styled bikes

I love photos of vintage bikes decorated in flower baskets and sometimes referred to as bicylce planters. These are a few of the pictures I have gathered from the internet. Enjoy...

Junk Chic Cottage has a bike with flower baskets.

Little Rascal® Holly

I love evergreens and conifers in the garden and one of my favorite evergreens in our landscape is the Little Rascal® Holly, a patented holly from Monrovia. My parents added this shrub to their landscape years ago and shortly thereafter, I added it to mine as well. Per Monrovia it is an extremely cold hardy evergreen shrub that requires minimum maintenance. I haven't performed any maintenance on mine since I planted them - my kind of upkeep. 

Unlike yew shrubs, which require constant trimming, the Little Rascal® Holly's dense and compact form has a nice rounded shape that is easily maintained without shears or clippers. It has a bright green color during spring and summer which turns to deep purple in winter. It is slow growing and gets about 2 feet tall to 3 feet wide and  fits nicely into any landscape. I have noticed that the one shrub in our landscape that is closest to the water source it significantly bigger than its two siblings. One of its special features is that it is supposed to be deer resistant, but I don't get to test that in my neck of suburbia.

Monrovia recommends that you follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish deep, extensive root system and to feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth in the spring. This shrub is recommended for zones 5 - 9.

TLC List for the Garden

We've lived in our home for well over a decade now and our landscape is showing it needs a lot of TLC. Life has finally slowed down for us and I am hoping that this year, I can work on our landscape and give it the much needed CPR it craves.

Like a lot of people my landscape is a combination of not having a complete landscape plan and not having a master gardener in the family. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted, but didn't completely put it to paper and the landscape has gaps. Areas of the garden are not developed completely and some of my ideas weren't that good. Plants have died and not been replaced.  Some plants have thrived almost too well and have overwhelmed their area. Concepts were created, but time constraints left projects incomplete. And of course, you can't forget the "I feel in love with a plant at a nursery" syndrome. Some of the plants bought in haste have worked, others have failed and still others failed by dying.

This is our landscape 7 years ago with one of my must haves:
a Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry Tree.

I reviewed some early pictures of our yard. It looked so much better 7 years ago! The yard was greener, the beds were formed and the garden wasn't overgrown.  Looking at the pictures from a while back makes our current situation even more disappointing. This past week I walked the perimeter of our house and yard and tried to take that hard look, really looking at the house not as I want to see it, but how it really looks. All I can say is "Ouch"; it really is crying out for help.

This is my TLC list for the Garden:

1. Tree Pruning and Health:  To maintain the health of a tree, branches need to be pruned, roots need to be fertilized and the tree may need help against fungus or other ailments. My trees need some or all of the above. Branches are too low, the apron is uneven, roots are showing through the lawn, some of the trees have overgrown their space are just some of my issues.

I have 8 Arborvitae in my landscape.
Unfortunately three have bag worms. 

2. Shrubs, bushes and conifers: We have overgrown shrubs and sickly conifers. It is time to remove some and others just need to be nursed back to health.

3. Landscape beds and edging: There are some areas of the edging where I don't even know where the edging is supposed to be. The lawn either has grown into the bedding area or doesn't reach it. We haven't mulched for a couple of years (we were gone) and it shows. The areas that are rocked are covered with leaves so that the rocks don't show. Or in some areas the rocks have sunk and are now almost covered with soil.

4. Lawn:  Let's just say, our lawn does not look like our neighbor's lawn. His lawn is even, thick and the first to green up. Lucky for us, he lives across the street, we have a lovely view of their yard and he's a super nice guy so he's not rubbing our noses into the differences. But we really owe him a better view. Our lawn has areas that are really thin. There are places in the yard that have sunk. The lawn either has grown into the bedding area or doesn't reach it. The backyard is even worse. We have dogs. They dig, they run, they basically destroy. (But we still love them.)

5. Erosion: This one is serious and not just from aesthetics. The soil and ground under our front porch, side walk and driveway is eroding, sinking and creating gaps. This can cause cracks and worse. It could cause the porch to crack away from the home. This is really sad for a house that is only 12 years old. We will need to call in professionals.

6. Garden Plan: After everything is cleaned and revived there is still the issue that the garden lacks a finished look. I need to develop a cohesive plan and start the work that will give us the landscape we want.

Over the next few weeks, I intend to look into each of the six issues, blog what I am doing and my resources and hopefully nurse my yard and landscape back to health.

A rose by any other name...

I have always been a sucker for roses and I'm not talking about receiving a dozen red roses on Valentine's day. In fact, I have often asked my husband for apricot roses or even a spring bouquet when he gets flowers for me.  What I am a sucker for is roses in the garden. It doesn't matter if the roses are cup-shaped English roses spilling over a lush green lawn, or climbing roses weaving their way up a trellis or even shrub roses rambling over a stone wall, I love them.

What's brought on today's rapture? I just got my David Austin 2014 Handbook of Roses. Nothing like David Austin roses to fan a love affair.

When I think of roses I don't think of a formal rose garden but a myriad of other ways that roses can be used in a garden.  They can be awesome in mixed borders, containers and climbing over fences, arbors and doorways.

Below are some of my favorite photos of roses in the garden.

Front door symmetry accented with climbing white roses.

Climbing Floribunda Rose 'Iceberg, Cl.' (Rosa)

Roses climb around a beautiful terrace and arbor.  Source: http://www.wallpaperswala.com/rose-garden/

Jardin, so very french...

Flower Carpet® Appleblossom Groundcover Rose

Lady of Shalott with heather

Garden Tour: Arkansas Governor’s Mansion (Seasonal Wisdom)

English roses cascade down on a lush lawn.  (Source: Niels Plougmann (cupshapedroses))

English roses  and other plants adorn a patio.  (Source: Niels Plougmann (cupshapedroses))