Landscaper's Challenge

I have one particularly tough part of my yard to landscape. It is on the east side of the house and it is more or less a walkway between the driveway/garage area and the backyard.

What makes it so tough is that I have a several eye sores that need to be camouflaged and I have a huge oak tree that provides a mixture of shade and sun to the area at different times of day. Some areas receive full shade all day and then late in the afternoon it receives the full brunt of the Texas afternoon sun. Other areas receive full sun in the morning and then afternoon shade. To complicate matters further, the areas of shade and sun change by at least four feet from season to season as the sun changes position in the sky.

Another dilemma is that what I have been able to successfully plant unfortunately provides almost no structure or “bones” to the garden. There are too many perennials that die to the ground in the winter. Therefore, in the winter months, that area of the yard is almost completely barren.

Adding to this problem (as if there weren’t enough already), I have at least four plants that I can think of that my husband transplanted there to see if they would grow. At some point, he wants to move them to other parts of the yard. So, it’s not hard to see why this area remains largely unfinished, and in my opinion, a jumbled mess.

In order to solve the myriad of problems in this area I have forged a plan. And, as such, I’m going to document my plans and my progress.

To start, I am posting a photo of the area as it stands today, February 28, 2009. In the days and weeks ahead, I will post my progress and track what I plant. Wish me luck!

I have a dream...

As I sit at my computer gazing out onto my brown and barren backyard landscape I can’t help but dream about the lush backyard oasis that has been my goal since we moved into this house almost eight years ago.

Despite the fact that I have spent countless hours working on my landscape, I often feel that I am not even close to achieving the yard of my dreams. It is just not reflective of the hours that I have logged over the past several years.

Maybe not, but there is one thing that I know for sure: The last few years have been filled with valuable lessons that will undoubtedly pay off in the future.

When I started down this gardening journey, I started with a gardening reference point of plants that work in Zone 4a (Minnesota, where I grew up). Keller, Texas is in Zone 8a. It doesn’t take a Master Gardener to figure out that the two zones are worlds apart. It’s easy to see, then, why my gardening experience has led to a lot of trial and error, and sometimes more error than trial.

Many people would have given up by now. And, I daresay, that I have just about thrown in the towel myself on many occasions. (I will even admit to committing “planticide” in moments of frustration.) But, this year, I have a renewed sense of hope in my backyard oasis dream. Due in part to the fact that my husband and I have decided to have a pool built (which will require landscaping around it), and also because I am always wooed back by the sheer beauty of flowers.

There is something about nature’s beauty that makes me feel removed from the cares of this world; it connects me with nature, and thus, God himself. There really is nothing as beautiful as flowers and colorful foliage. It is intoxicating and awe inspiring. I am drawn in by it and I want to be surrounded by it.

So, in the next few weeks, I will be digging up several plants and shrubs that I want to save from all the pool construction. I will be putting pencil to paper and will be perusing garden centers and gardening web sites all in an effort to create my backyard oasis. It’s going to take a lot of back-breaking work on my part, but I’m actually looking forward to it. Because all of the labor involved means that I can get excited about my dream again. And this time, I am equipped with the knowledge from the trials of the past. Maybe now my dream will finally become reality.

And the Oscar goes to...

After watching the Oscars last night, I was inspired to come up with some of my own award winners. This is not a complete list of all the greatest plants out there, but it is a list of winners that I have personally experienced, admired and appreciated.

I’m always on the lookout for great plants, so if you have a list of your own winners, please share it!

Best ongoing summer color (flowers continuously from June - August)
Plumbago
Lantana
Vinca (periwinkle)
Blackfoot daisy
Summer phlox

Best (most) heat-tolerant
Yucca
Stonecrop
Mexican petunia (ruellia – both tall and short varieties)
Azure Skies Blue Heliotrope
Skulcap
Russian sage

Best shade lover
Wood fern (as is most of the fern family)
Hosta
Impatiens
Oxalis

Best landscape shrub (low maintenance)
Indian Hawthorne
Nandina
Yaupon holly

Yucca (just about all varieties)

Ornamental grasses

Best ornamental tree
Red bud
Crape myrtle
Althea -- also called, Rose of Sharon (I’ve seen this listed as both a tree and a shrub)

Best Vine
Clematis
Wisteria
Star jasmine
Passion vine
Mandevilla

Best herbs (easy to grow)
Rosemary
Parsley
Cilantro
Basil

Lavender

Best perennial
Daylily (antique and hybrid)
Summer phlox
Russian sage
Dwarf Mexican petunia

Best all around favorite
Hydrangea

Gardenia
Knockout rose
Texas mountain laurel
Wisteria

Best planting/gardening books

The Southern Living Garden Book (it’s my gardening Bible!)

Plants of the Metroplex by John Howard Garrett

Tough Plants for Southern Gardens by Felder Rushing

Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza (You will love this one if you have clay soil like I do!)

25 Random Things about Gardening

A list has been going around Facebook called, “25 Random Things.” When you receive it, you’re supposed to write 25 random facts about yourself. A friend did it for her blog about Celiac’s Disease (www.thesavvyceliac.com) and I thought it sounded like a good idea for the topic of gardening. So, here goes:

1. No matter how large or small your garden, there is always room for improvement.

2. St. John’s Wort and spearmint (the entire mint family for that matter) is best kept in containers (unless you want it invading your entire garden).

3. Knockout roses truly are disease resistant and bloom a lot during the Texas growing season.

4. Never plant rosemary too close to the house or near areas where children play because it attracts a lot of bees.

5. If you plant hanging baskets in Texas be prepared to give them a good soaking every morning (and sometimes in the evening, too) in July, August and September.

6. Never underestimate the importance of dead-heading and pruning.

7. A Moonflower plant is extremely drought-tolerant, loves the sun, blooms beautiful big, white flowers at dusk and has an enormous root system. If you let it grow past 6 inches tall and then you decide you don’t want it, be prepared to dig a long, LONG way down to get rid of the roots. And, if you don’t get rid of the roots entirely, the Moonflower will definitely reappear!

8. Don’t let the dainty facade of the Cypress Vine fool you. It is very hardy, loves the sun and heat and will drop a bunch of seeds ensuring you’ll have plenty more next year. You’ll also find it in several locations throughout your yard!

9. A new favorite plant for me is Plumbago. It seems to love the Texas sun and heat and blooms almost continually.

10. Just because a nursery tag says “full sun” on the label, does not always mean it’s meant for full TEXAS sun.

11. There is almost nothing better for your garden than amending the soil in the spring (and maybe even fall, too!).

12. A few of my favorite Texas annuals are: Vinca (a lot of people call this periwinkle), Wave Pentunia, Sweet Potato Vine (almost every color) and Purple Fountain Grass

13. A few of my favorite perennials are: Daylilies, Russian Sage, Moonflower, Summer Phlox, Creeping Phlox and Blue Salvia

14. No matter how early spring starts in Texas, you can almost always count on a freeze around Easter.

15. There is almost nothing more beautiful than Texas wildflowers – bluebonnets, in particular – growing along the state’s roadsides and ranch lands.

16. In my experience most “pass-along” plants are passed along for a reason – they go to seed or creep like wildfire!

17. Too much rain in the spring can kill drought-tolerant plants.

18. There really is something great about growing your own tomatoes.

19. Kids LOVE growing their own gardens (and harvesting them). It’s a great learning experience for everyone. My kids especially love growing strawberries!

20. Herbs I love to have in my garden are Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Chives, Cilantro and Basil.

21. Sometimes you just have to take chances in the garden – be open to trying new plants.

22. Rejoice in the successes and learn from the failures.

23. Gardens can be therapeutic – especially when enjoying their beauty!

24. Nothing is more rewarding for all your hard work than seeing flowers in full bloom.

25. Don't be afraid to get dirty -- most of the time it is worth the effort.

The Eye of the Beholder

Nearly all people that work hard in their yards will tell you that, without a doubt, dandelions are weeds and they have no business making a home in their lawns and gardens. But, no matter how hard we try to kill them organically, manually or chemically those pesky suckers just keep coming back.

However, not everyone considers the dandelion to be a weed. To the under 10 crowd, in fact, the dandelion is a flower – and a very beautiful one. When my 4-year-old daughter sees a dandelion, her face lights up like a Christmas tree. She’ll run across rugged terrain and boys holding Nerf guns just to pick one.

To this age group, it does not matter if the dandelion is in full bloom in all its yellow glory or if it is white as snow bursting with seeds. It just begs to be picked. They must hold it in their hands, give it away to moms, grandmothers and teachers or – best of all –blow it into the wind.

And, it’s because every toddler, preschooler and elementary school kid in America must blow the dandelion seeds into the wind that we will always have little yellow flowers growing freely amongst our beloved grass. I don’t care if you use Scott’s, Ortho or the mother-of-all herbicides -- the dandelion is not going away any time soon.

The gardener in me dislikes the dandelion. But, I have to confess that it does have the tendency to win me over at times. Today, I received a handful of dandelions from my kids when we picnicked outside. As they ran around and picked every flower they could find, they proudly placed them into my hands. They gave them to me as if they were giving me buried treasure. I cherish these moments and, because of this, the dandelion will always hold a special place in my heart -- even if it is a weed.

Update:

This morning while driving to preschool my daughter was looking out of the car window from the back seat. Out of the blue she said, "Mom...I love dandelions."

I had to chuckle to myself because I had just written this post. Then I said to her, "Really? Why do you love dandelions?" Her response? "I love to blow the seeds."

All I could say to myself was, "I rest my case."

Always Ready to Share

I’m definitely a novice when it comes to gardening. My yard is not “show” quality. I don’t know everything there is to know about plants (or landscaping). I am not a Master Gardener. I don’t have a leg up on what Internet or garden catalog companies are the best. I buy plants from all sorts of places including Wal Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot as well as specialty garden centers (and I’ve gotten pass along plants from friends). I’m learning as I go. In short, I am simply a person who loves plants, appreciates beautiful gardens and aspires to have one myself someday.

Over the past few years I have learned a ton about various plants through the school of hard knocks. I have succeeded and failed. Parts of my garden have flourished and others have failed miserably. I have gotten my hands dirty and even thrown out my back by splitting and relocating plants, moving stepping stones and the ever popular and always necessary task of weeding. Even so, I still have loads to learn.

That’s really why I started this blog. I began this endeavor for several reasons:

-I am a writer and wanted to write about something I’m passionate about.
-I love plants and find myself utterly frustrated and completely elated at times – I needed an outlet.
-I’m hoping through others I may be able to transfer information and knowledge about plants and thus, shorten the learning curve.
-Maybe through my trials others like me can learn something.
-This blog will help me keep record of what I do each year so I can refer to it if necessary (the memory is not so great these days!).
-I can meet other online gardening friends.

So, I can’t promise to be the world’s greatest resource, but I can promise that I am always trying, always learning and always ready to share my successes and failures.

The Crazy Composter

I have a confession to make. I steal from my daughter’s preschool. (This also happens to be my place of employment as well as a Presbyterian church.)

Okay, well it’s not really stealing. It’s my job at the end of each preschool day to clean up the coffee pot in the kitchen. The church does not recycle or compost so I am supposed to just throw the used coffee grounds in the trash. Well, it just seemed plain wasteful to me – a gardener and a composter – to throw out those valuable coffee grounds. So, you guessed it, I started bringing them home. So, it’s really not stealing. It’s stuff that would have been thrown out anyway (at least that’s what I tell myself).

The first time I did this, I accidentally left the grounds in a container in my classroom. One of the teachers took one look at it and after ascertaining that the contents were indeed coffee grounds, she guessed it must belong to me (I guess I have “crazy composter” written all over me). When I saw her the next day she gave me a strange look and asked, “Is this yours?”

I admit it was a little embarrassing. I mean, who saves coffee grounds for God’s sake? When people learned what I was doing they did look at me a little differently. (You know the look…it’s the same look a dog gives you when you ask it a question and it cocks its head to the side.)

My embarrassment lasted about two seconds. This stuff was gold to me! My husband and I don’t drink coffee so being able to bring some grounds home for my compost bin was like hitting the mother load. Just the thought of that stuff enriching my compost pile, and eventually my garden had me singing in the car all the way home!

Sure, I could hit up the local Starbucks (which I have not completely ruled out, by the way), but why bother when I can get it from work?

So, before you throw out the grounds in your coffee filter each morning, just think of me, other gardeners, the planet, etc. and maybe you’ll be inspired to start your own compost bin. After all, it’s not nearly as embarrassing as stealing composting ingredients from a church.