Equipment and Construction News

There are a lot of accessories that can help you spice up your fun this summer. As the weather is getting warmer and warmer, we are spending more time outside and looking for good activities to do with the family. I have personally found 2 items that have added so much joy to spending time outside and hosting parties. I have had so many comments on my new favorite toys, that I had to write this article.

When looking to redo our landscape. One thing that I wanted was an amazing grill. I did some research and found that getting a cheap grill from Walmart was not the way to go. If you want to impress, you need to build a BBQ Island. BBQ islands are great for the outdoor kitchen experience. I let the wife have the indoor kitchen, and when it is time to have friends over, she knows that the BBQ is my domain. One of the most convenient reasons for adding in BBQ islands are the fridges. It is nice to have your seasons, rub and extra BBQ sauce handy.

After all the food is cooked, I have found the best conversation piece money can buy. An Outdoor Fire Pit can really add to the evening. With fire tables coming in several flame patterns, you can find one that fits your personality. These tables have shaved glass in a decorative pattern that adds to the color of your landscape.

To clean the table from a marshmallow that falls into the pit is easily cleaned with a quick hose spray. These tables are tough and last forever. The kids love to quote the movie Sandlot and make smores with their friends.

As the housing crises continues to settle, I recommend to get some fun accessories for your home to make it more enjoyable. Increasing your home improvement can keep your head clear from the stress of most of our home price values dropping. Good luck and hope you enjoy your home as much as possible.

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If the door is close to the corner of the house, there may not be room for both a corner group and a door planting. In that case the thing to do is to arrange the corner group so that it will also form half of the entrance planting. The half on the other side of the door would be very low as determined by line drawn to edge of the house.

Low Foundation

Whenever the exposed foundation is 3 feet or less in height, it is desirable to use plants only at the above-mentioned areas. It makes the house look larger and more dignified to have the lawn extend right up to the foundation walls.

But if the foundation is more than 3 feet high, we readjust our thinking and break the rule of not having a solid planting around the house. We maintain the general outline of the mass plantings at the corners and next to the entrance, but add a planting that connects them. In effect, this lifts the straight linerepresented .by the lawn in the case of a house with no foundation or a very low one - up to the point where the foundation ends and the house covering begins.

Directing Attention

The reason for having lower plants beside the door than at the corners is simple enough. If we want to pour a liquid into the top of a bottle or other small opening, we usually use a funnel to help do it. Psychologically the same effect results when we look at a house with high corner plantings and low entrance plantings; our attention is more or less funneled from the high points to the low ones close to the door. This is exactly what we want, namely, the attention of the observer to be directed to and centered on the entrance.

Various Architectural Styles

Although it may not be obvious in all instances, you can usually see in these different architectural styles the same guiding principle behind all of the foundation planting arrangements.

On a house with tall pillars in front, it is not advisable to put a single plant at the base of each pillar in order to break the vertical line. This would make it appear as though the pillar was suspended in mid air. There is little danger of monotony even if everyone who owns a house with tall pillars were to handle it in the same general manner; homes of that type are few and far between, so one will rarely see two that are planted exactly alike.

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The landscaper must decide whether deciduous plants (those that drop their leaves) or evergreens should be used in the foundation planting. Your taste and your climate will be the key factors. But remember that a mixture of the two is rarely, if ever, desirable - although an evergreen ground cover can well be used with whichever type of plant you decide on. Indeed, such a ground cover might be even more useful and effective around deciduous material than around evergreens. It will keep the planting from looking sparse and bare after the shrubs go dormant and drop their leaves.

Seasonal Changes

Deciduous plants grow much faster and larger than most evergreens so you need to know more about plant habits generally to use them properly. As to which type offers the greater interest throughout the year, it may surprise you to learn that the deciduous plants lead. In many parts of the country such plants go through four seasonal phases in each of which they take on different characteristics.

As an example, imagine a high-bush blueberry growing near a window from which you can see its branches. In the spring it is decked with attractive creamy-white lily-of-the-valley-like flowers, a beautiful sight to behold. By mid-summer it has picked up its full foliage and also a crop of cool-looking blueberries which attract birds and add life to the garden. In the fall, few plants can surpass the brilliant foliage coloration of this species. And, finally, in the winter, the zig-zag growth of its bare twigs is attractive, especially when sheathed in ice during a sleet storm.

Evergreen Phases

Most evergreens, on the other hand, have but two phases which are not too strikingly different. In the late spring and early summer the new bright green growth contrasts pleasantly with the dark green older growth. After a few months the two blend into one more or less uniform greenand that is the extent of the seasonal change.

Of course, they present a beautiful picture when covered with snow, but if the snow is heavy it may split off branches or bend them over and permanently spoil their looks. Give that aspect of the situation some consideration in your planning if you live in a region subject to ice or snowstorms. Look around and see how evergreens on properties in your locality have fared.

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When a gardener asks me how to collect plants in the wild I'm apt to say "Don't do it."

This answer is not prompted by any view of conservation, but one of dollars and cents and labor.

Just figure it out for yourself. For one, or a few plants you drive 20 rough miles into the mountains (40 miles round trip at .75 cents per mile). Then there is the problem of lugging tools and wet sacks a half mile to the location of the plants. Then comes the digging of the plant or plants (why do the "selected" ones always grow among rocks?) After the plants are burlapped comes the time to carry them (35 pounds or more) back the half mile to the car. After a hurried trip home the plants are planted and watered. Somehow they always look much more scraggly when they are out in the open. What is the result? A 50-30% chance that the scraggly plant or plants will survive.

I don't like the odds.

As for me, I'll go to a good nursery and pay 10 to 15 dollars for a well-shaped plant growing on a pruned and active root system. It's already dug, so all I do is take it home and plant it. The odds? About 95 to 5 that it will never show that it has been moved.

For all usual cases that is still my answer.

Those Rare Plants

There are unusual cases where collecting is worth the trouble, however. If you find a special plant, one with unusually large or colorful bloom, better foliage or something of the sort, it may be worthwhile to bring it into your garden for further observation.

The only catch is that of the chance of losing the plant in transplanting it. With rare plants you just can't afford. 50-50 odds.

Here is a trick for juggling the odds in your favor.

When you have selected your plant, decide how large a ball of earth you should lift with it to give it a good chance of coming through if it has a good root system. Don't forget that a wild plant almost always has so wide ranging a system of roots that you can't hope to collect more than a small fraction of it.

Now draw a circle of the selected diameter around the plant. Mark the quadrants of the circle. Now dig a trench around two opposing quadrants. Make the sides straight down to the full depth of the future ball, cutting all roots cleanly.

The trench need be only as wide as the digging tool.

Now fill the trench with a light, fluffy mixture of compost ("forest duff") and a little soil.

If you do this in October or November you can then relax until Mareh: Then return and repeat the operation for the other two quadrants.

At the next planting season you can ball this plant, working from the outer edge of the trench. Your plant will have formed a multitude of fine feeding roots in the light back-fill in the trench.

Under such circumstances you should hardly lose a plant in a hundred.

Did I hear you say "That's hard work?"

It certainly is. I'm sure you will agree that it is too much for any ordinary plant.

Of course, if your plant is as unusual as you think it is, it's worth it. If not, be lazy like I am. Just let your nurseryman do the work. It's cheaper really, and it surely saves a lot of spade work.

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The drip line of your roof is an important factor in locating foundation plants even in regions which do not get much or any snow and ice. Falling rain should reach the plants, so, except in unusual cases, they should be placed at least a foot beyond the drip line. At first they may look as though they were sitting out there by themselves, but in time, as the branches spread and the plants get larger, they will gradually reach back to the house and occupy all the space provided for them.

Plants under Eaves

When under unusual circumstances, you have to place plants under the broad eaves of a mod em type house, it is perfectly all right to do so if you make sure of a constant and sufficient supply of water for them. Do not wait until the soil is bone dry before applying water; set up a regular schedule of watering (adjusted to the weather, of course) so that the plants will never be in danger of injury from drought.

Mulch

If you do not choose to maintain a ground cover under the plants, the next best thing is a layer of mulch which will keep the soil cooler in hot months and keep a supply of moisture in the ground over a longer period. This practice is absolutely essential to success in regions where several months of hot, dry weather are the rule.

The temptation to grow flowers in the midst of the foundation planting is widespread. My own view is that theoretically and ideally there should be no flowers in the public area, including the foundation planting. However, the desire for flowers is so strong that it is next to impossible to convince the average home owner that he should not have some annuals or perennials in his front yard.

If you feel that you must do that, one permissible way to do it.

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This year when you make up your seed order, why not decide to test a single group of plants thoroughly? For instance, you could grow all the zinnias your dealer offers. Then you would really learn about this splendid group of annuals. Or if you don't like zinnias, use China aster, petunia or marigold. You'll be amazed at the tremendous differences there are within a single genus.

Planning for a vegetable garden - Take another look at the vegetable pages of the seed catalogs. For some reason each year fewer and fewer food gardens are being planted. As a result, lists of vegetable varieties suitable for home use are shrinking. The true gourmet knows that only home grown vegetables have high flavor. Do your part to save American appreciation of good food by planting some of the special varieties that are best right outside the kitchen door.

Forcing spring bulbs - Check the temperature in the basement or coldframe where tulips, hyacinths and other potted bulbs are being forced. A cool 50 to 55 is best. If the temperature is too high move the pots to a cooler spot, such as along the edges of the frame or the walls of the basement.

Bringing forsythia Indoors - Towards the end of the month branches of the forsythia and other shrubs can be cut and brought indoors for forcing. These materials will be a little more difficult to force now than in February or March. Set the branches in warm water (about 85) immediately after they are cut; try to keep the water at that temperature for 24 hours.

Improving your garden's design - December is a good time to study the design of your garden, when its lines arc not hidden by foliage and flowers. Decide now how to change the beds, paths and other features; then this work can be done as soon as conditions are favor

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If possible, perennial vines should be planted when they are not in a period of vigorous growth. In warm areas this means late fall, winter, or earliest spring; but if you can plant during the short time that the vine is dormant or semi-dormant (usually during December or January), so much the better. Spring planting is usually recommended for areas where soil freezes deep in winter. Plant as early as a hole can be dug and the ground can be prepared.

If you can't plant bare-rooted vines immediately on arrival, the can be "heeled in" (laid in a trench and covered with moist for a while). But set them in their permanent homes before growth gets well under way. Either way, soak the roots in water for some hours before planting.

"Balled and burlap" plants, with root-and-soil ball tied tightly in burlap, can wait for planting if the soil is kept moist and the plant kept out of hot sun. In planting, loosen the burlap after the roots are set in the hole, lay it down, and leave it to rot away. This avoids disturbing the roots unduly.

For any perennial vine, prepare a generous planting hole at least half again as large and deep aas the length and spread of the existing roots. Mix the soil with any needed suppliment - humus, sand, or fertilizer - before replacing it in a hole around the roots.

If the soil is entirely too poor, replace it completely with a better mixture. Soil near a building foundation or wall may be infertile, of poor texture, and loaded with debris like chunks of concrete. Concrete, by the way, can spoil soil for acid loving plants; have it tested if you are in doubt.

Tamp or tramp down the soil just firmly enough to support the plant and fill any possible pockets of air, and to keep it from settling later so the plant sinks with it. Water slowly and thoroughly, making sure all the soil around the newly planted roots is completely moist. Newly planted vines and landscape plants with landscape bridges need plentiful water throughout their first season until the time the ground freezes in winter. Build up a ridge of soil around the base, to help hold water while it is seeping down to the thirsty roots below.

If a vine has partly or fully leafed out by planting time, rig up some kind of shade to keep it from wilting for the first few weeks. A tent of newspapers, a thin drape like old sheeting, or a screen of leafy branches will keep the sun from dehydrating the foliage while roots are establishing themselves.

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