Daylily Inventory

With daylilies currently in the dormant phase, it's a good time to assess what's on hand, what's needed, and what needs to be located.

CG believes that all landscapes should include daylilies. They are easy to grow and provide excellent color and interest. With regular dividing, daylilies can quickly fill large areas or extend borders. Stella de 'oro reblooming daylilies (not pictured) are one of CG's favorites.

Three of these potted daylilies were purchased last fall for the rock path island bed. CG divided them right from the start, and hopes to have six to eight plants going strong this spring. These are rebloomers, with the first blooms setting in mid June.

These were probably planted in 2005. They have been divided a few times and enjoy the morning/afternoon sun in the sidewalk bed.

A variety purchased in 2005. CG is not exactly sure where these were planted. An investigation is pending. The tag says it blooms in late summer.

These are another 2005 planting. CG would like to consolidate all of these daylilies into one area. The border extending from the liriope around the river birch would be an ideal location.

None of these purchases exceeded 3 pots of either variety. CG wishes more daylilies were planted, but he is thankful for the hard work that the few in number have been able to provide!

Future daylily purchases will be of a red re-blooming variety for the sidewalk bed. Yellow stella de 'oro re-bloomers (once they go on sale for $1) will always find a home in the back yard beds or the farm bed. During the peak season, daylilies are pricey, around $7 per pot. CG rarely buys them at full price. He does regret not purchasing more daylilies when they were marked-down. After a current inventory, he believes that there is room for at least 20 more stellas.

Nandinas

Dwarf 'firepower' nandinas are a favorite of CG. These plants are extremely hardy and have year-round color. The bushes are slow growing, so a mass planting of them takes patience. But it's possible to get great deals on them, ($6 for a 3 gallon size) which makes it easier to fill-in any gaps. The mark-downs are almost always late in the fall, which happens to be the best time to plant!

An interesting article on nandinas from MSU.

Natural Insecticide

CG is planning to enlist the help of a special team of pest controllers this spring. He has never really had a big problem with nuisance insects, but he thinks it won't hurt, and will give the landscape additional interest for his 3 year old gardening assistant.

Sidewalk bed

During the spring and fall, the sidewalk bed is constantly changing. Plans are made during the winter months, along with a lot of 'what was I thinking?'. CG will be adding some iris to this bed so he will have some greenery this time next year. He ordered some potted iris that will be arriving in March, and still has a few in the farm bed that he can transplant.

Photos from March 2007:

(note the neighborhood cat's attempt to dig up the nandina)

(CG has a humane plan of action to thwart future attacks)

The bed consists of a small patch of white daffodils, hostas, red Asiatic lilies, red daylilies, and dwarf red cannas. It's time for the cannas to be thinned-out, and CG is thinking about adding white begonias.

It will be necessary for CG to install fiberglass edging along the bed in order to achieve a uniform 4" mulch depth. This will also allow the begonias to be planted right up to the border without the mulch washing onto the sidewalk. The fiberglass edging is only available in green, so CG will spray paint the front face of it brown. With its close proximity to the front door, CG believes this bed will be the safest place for the heirloom daffodils he will be planting this fall.

In general, CG doesn't mix too many plant types together. The hostas have their own dedicated space in the sidewalk bed. Last year, he planted a few part-shade tolerant daylilies amongst the hostas. The leaves seem to complement each other, and having a nice bloom within the solid mass of hostas is a good effect.

The cannas don't seem to mind growing right up next to the house, so CG will establish them as the back border with the Asiatic and daylillies filling the middle part of the bed. The begonias will provide the low border along the front. The lilies have a lot of thickening-up to do, but it's possible that wal mart might have them for $1 per pot again someday.

Products that Work for CG:

Bucket:

1. $3 at most stores
2. 5 gallon size
3. can be spray-painted any color
4. a nail hole in the bottom allows trees to be slowly deep-watered in times of drought
5. good to use as a mixing container for dirt
6. makes a nice storage container as well
7. one bucket is usually not enough

Top Soil:

1. $1 at home depot
2. 40 lb size
3. easy to pay more for garden soil or potting soil, but regular top soil is too easy to fix-up
4. not bad to use it even without mixing-in peat moss and fertilizer

Peat Moss:

1. $11 at most stores
2. pricey, but CG thinks that it is worth every penny
3. 40 lb size
4. a little goes a long way with this product
5. not dusty at all, unlike the cheaper brand
6. does not harden into solid chunks
7. good stuff

Mattock:

1. $20 to $30 at stores
2. range in size from 5 lbs to 20 lbs
3. heavier weight = better anger release
4. excellent for chopping roots, busting rocks or concrete
5. choose heavy-duty polymer over wood handle
   
   

Spade:

1. 96 cents at home depot
2. CG bought 3 of 'em.
3. hard plastic material, can leave them out where they're needed

*Bulb Fertilizer:

1. $4 at lowes
2. CG mixes this product into the amended topsoil when he's planting bulbs. A 5 gallon bucket is filled half-way with bagged topsoil, then peat moss and fertilizer is added and mixed. After the bulb planting area is dug, (1 inch deeper than required) a 1 inch layer of the special mix soil is applied. The bulb is placed on top of the special soil mix, then more soil from the bucket is added until it is an inch above the top of the bulb. Then, the regular dirt is used to fill the hole; any excess is used to 'mound-up' the area, so that water doesn't collect over the planted area.
   
   

*Azalea/Crepe Myrtle/Iris Fertilizer:

1. $8 at home depot
2. doesn't burn the leaves if CG gets crazy casting it!
3. azaleas are fertilized in late March and again in mid September
4. crepe myrtles and iris are fertilized in early May and late October

*General Purpose Fertilizer:

1. $6 at stores
2. has a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
3. CG uses this product for the river birch, burning bushes, and forsythia
4. application times: early May and late October
   

*A word about fertilizers:

CG does not fertilize large areas, such as the lawn. Run-off from excess, or even properly fertilized lawns is not too friendly to the fishes downstream. A thick buffer area of drainage-loving plants (Louisiana iris!) or even weeds will significantly, or even totally reduce any potential downstream danger. When fertilizing planting beds, it's best for the plants and the fishes if the fertilizer is worked (massaged) into the soil. This way, you are replacing nutrients directly into the soil that would have otherwise been delivered by the flood waters of a stream or river. The plant has plenty of time to use the amended minerals, and there's zero run-off. Natural flooding delivers rich nutrients to the soil, but is delicately balanced, and doesn't need any of the overly phosphoric run-off from fertilized farms or lawns.

Front bed

March 2005:

The house started with the traditional landscape bed across the front. It was small, had harsh straight lines, and featured boxwoods, hostas, monkey grass, iris, bermuda grass, and weeds. There was one small (less than 3 feet) ornamental tree in the front yard, conspicuously placed about 2 feet from the curb on the side of the street. The "tree" was promptly taken out. CG did not remove the boxwoods with the utmost tlc, and they have since transcended to greener pastures. The other plants were very useful, and have out-preformed all expectations. The huge clumps of monkey grass have been divided numerous times, and now offer a solid border from the front walk to the river birch. The hostas were divided as well, and completely fill the deep shade areas on both sides of the front walk. The iris were all of the same variety (light blue) and can be found throughout all of the other beds.

The curved outside edge of the front bed was trenched-out 5" deep (5" wide) and filled up to ground level with cement. This provides a weedless 'invisible' border that the lawnmower can travel across (no need to weed-eat). Monkey grass was planted along the inside of the cement border. It has taken a few years for it to thicken-up, but it progressed nicely.

July 2005:

The front bed is tiered with azaleas against the house, raised about 8" from the rest of the bed. They have been pulled-up and moved almost every spring since they were first planted. They've had it rough, but they're still alive. In a few more years, the azalea bed will be a solid naturalized mass of bright red blooms for many spring times to come.

(remaining photos from January 2009)

The lower ground level part of the bed features nandinas. They are durable plants that look good year round. Most of the nandinas started-off as gallon sized plants, but a few good deals were found on some 3 gallon sized ones. By next spring, CG expects all of the nandinas to have grown together. Patience mixed with high anticipation.

The river birch trees anchor the corner of the front bed. Without the trees, the bed might seem overly large and out of place in the context of the neighborhood. Evergreens were considered, but with the peely bark and natural silhouette of the branches during winter, the clump river birch trees won out.

Blooming Slide Shows

As the growing season progresses, CG will attempt to photo the landscape as it blooms. The photos will be categorized by plant type and will have their own titled slide show to the left of the posts in the sidebar. All photos on the blog page will be from CG's landscape, while all external photos will be in text hyperlink form only.

Forsythia bed

The forsythia bed has been slow going. CG has determined that gallon sized plants need extreme patience. Last year CG began propagating his own forsythia in order to achieve a more densely packed mass planting. In mid September, 4" sections of the low growing branches are covered with mulch, leaving at least 2" of the end of the branch exposed. Within 6 weeks, the branch begins to take root. These "new born" forsythia seem much healthier than store-bought plants. The planting bed has a high clay content, which is not ideal for the forsythia, so each planting area is amended with bagged top soil, peat moss, and fertilizer. In addition, the forsythia are planted about 2" above ground, with the amended soil at the top of the root clump sloping downwards. CG thinks 6 to 8 more forsythia are needed to adequately fill the bed. Early spring 2010 should start-off with a big, showy, bright yellow "wow!"

March 2007:

The forsythia bed was started in springtime 2006, after the grass had greened-up. Plastic was laid down over the grass with holes cut out for the gallon-sized bushes. The sod in the planting areas was dug out, and the soil was amended for the forsythia to be planted. The following year, the holes in the plastic were enlarged and additional mulch was added around the plants. Now, all of the plastic has been removed, and it's beginning to become an actual planting bed.

January 2009:

The cut flower bed path yielded excess dirt and rock, so the elevated part of the forsythia bed was extended last summer. Future plans for this bed include the planting of 6 to 8 additional forsythia, adding more river rock, and supplementing the bedding mulch. After the cannas freeze and die-back, CG cuts-off the stalks, runs them over with the lawn mower, and uses the 'canna mulch' around the plantings. Pruning is always an issue with forsythia. CG has found this website to be the most helpful. A more in-depth article on pruning forsythia: Plant Amnesty.

CG's plan is to have a solid mass of yellow in early spring along the north side of the transformed back yard. The forsythia towards the fence are raised 8 to 12 inches for some elevation interest. To compliment the forsythia blooms, there are some yellow daffodils planted in the cut flower bed, the back corner bed, and white ones in the rock path island bed. The daffodils and forsythia introduce the start of the early-blooming iris, which will sustain blooms (through many different varities) until the cannas reach full bloom. After the cannas fade, it's showtime for the burning bushes as they turn a magnificent red in the fall. But it all gets started with the forsythia!

For information on plants, CG is a big fan of Wikipedia.

Here's the 411 on forsythia.

Also, check-out this photo of an amazing 50 year old single planting!

Mid January Landscape Notes

1. river birch tree pruning complete (might need to use a ladder next year)
2. noticed one daffodil pushing up
3. weather has been extremely dry with wild teperature swings
4. should trim-down iris earlier (maybe November) next year
5. nandinas are in good shape -lost 2 that were spring-planted over the summer (planted 2 replacements that were marked-down 50% this past fall)
6. front yard looks much better this winter, no wintering weeds, still expect to have problems with isolated patches of dallis grass and clover
7. need to consider moving some iris to the sidewalk bed (nothing green in there at all now)
8. liriope border looks good, one small weak spot, no bermuda grass infestations, need to consider extending the daylily plants that continue from the end of the border
9. burning bush bed looks good, no weeds, plants have filled-out nicely to become a mature-looking mass grouping
10. should have planted more daffodils last fall

New Project

CG's latest gardening project involves 225 pounds of kitty litter:

-nice $30 wal mart wheelbarrow, eh?

The other day, CG noticed wm selling a smaller, metal bed version for the same $30 price. The identical rubberized plastic version that CG bought last summer was now marked $49. CG new it was a good deal and didn't mind having to wait 20 minutes for the friendly wm associate to untangle one from the maze of cable securing them to a pole. When it comes to wheelbarrows, a rubberized plastic bed is preferred over metal (no dents, no rust). CG likes its heavy duty capability (survived the concrete project) -and the thing was even put together already! (CG would rather spend time pulling weeds than assembling things). This goes up on the tally board as an excellent $30 investment.

Farm bed

March 2005:

The farm bed began out of necessity. As new beds were installed or replaced, plants and flowers needed a place to live until their accommodations were suitably prepared. The farm bed was installed directly on top of the existing grass using heavy duty landscape fabric and 5" X 20' fiberglass border edging. About 4" of mulch went around the inside perimeter, then the rest was filled with a landscape mix (type of bagged soil). The soil was amended in the immediate planting area for the temporary addition of the day lilies and azaleas. At first, CG did not think that the farm bed would be deep enough to plant daffodils. He tried setting the bulb directly on the landscape fabric inside the bed, covered it with soil and mulch, and it worked- daffodil blooms come springtime. An easy way for CG to maintain a continual source of early blooms.

March 2007:

The farm bed has been an invaluable addition to the landscape. When stella day lilies are put on sale at wal-mart for $1, the farm bed is ready to give them a home. Excess cannas are also planted here until they can be relocated or given a new home. CG mistakenly planted mint (felt obliged to, was a gift from neighbor) and it took him over 2 years to eradicate the highly invasive plant.

January 2009:

Notice that there are a lot fewer iris in the farm bed this year! They have been planted in mass groupings in the front bed and should find it to their liking. The pink azaleas were pulled out of the front bed and relocated here as well. The dormant day lilies have spots waiting for them in the cut flower and back corner beds. The farm bed may soon have to be extended to be ready for any bargain sale of perennials!

In December last year, wal-mart had the dormant bagged iris for $1 apiece! It was late in the planting season, but the ground wasn't frozen, so CG splurged and bought 2 of them. They went directly in the farm bed, and CG is keeping a close eye on them.

Cut flower bed path

The cut flower bed path took its original form in early 2006. It was a rushed project that included transforming about half of the backyard from grass (weeds) into more manageable areas. It all had to be done in a hurry in between CG's year long first and second deployents. The mass planting of burning bushes can be seen as small twigish figures to the left of the bed.

29 March 2006:

In March of 2007, CG returned from 2nd deployment and the work began anew. Bushes needed to be relocated, some beds extended, and the cut flower bed and path needed a more permanent emplacement. (the tarp was used to smother the weeds/bermuda grass)

29 March 2007:

In July of 2008, CG began tackling the upgrade for the cut flower bed path. It would now be wider and more closely match the concrete around the pool. What CG didn't realize that it would take a lot of dirt work (digging, filling, levelling) and would require 16 sections of concrete. It took an average of 6 bags of 80 pound concrete to complete a single section. The entire project totalled 7,680 pounds of concrete -all mixed and poured by hand). Work was slow. The summer was hot. CG doesn't feel as young and spry as he once did.

26 July 2008:

Next update for the cut flower bed path: 29 March 2009.