Fast-food take on landscapes appetizing
In the past two weeks I have traveled from the Deep South to northern Michigan, and from West Texas through New Mexico and Colorado to South Dakota. Believe me, the natural gardening climate is vastly different in every place.
Still, there are plants that each place holds in common - oft-used, dependable "garden backbone" plants such as junipers, iris, daylilies, shrub roses, pines, hollies, dwarf arborvitae, zinnias and ornamental grasses. In the South there are lots of nandina, crape myrtles and lantana. All grow well regardless of the care they receive.
OLD FOUNDATIONS
For decades, the general landscape design has hugged the foundation of the house. It started with garden club ladies working with Extension horticulturists and nurserymen, giving nongardeners some easy landscaping ideas that looked good and were fairly low maintenance.
Although these "cookie cutter" designs did neaten and provide uniformity to neighborhoods, they became to be seen as the only acceptable styles.
But as the fast food generation settles down, more of us are puttering in the garden. We need updated tips on what works and what doesn't.
And guess where the major patterns for flower and shrub arrangement are most visible?
Fast food restaurants.
Believe it or not, the most visible, nationally uniform new landscape style - called New American by the American Horticulture Society - is more likely to show up in places where year-round, nonstop good looks and low maintenance are most needed.
This style is neither new nor entirely American. But it was not mainstream here until fairly recently. Back in 1986, when Terryl and I attended the opening of the AHS New American Style demonstration garden in Washington, D.C., it was not mainstream; now it is on every commercial street corner, constantly providing visual cues that flower gardening is here to stay.
TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT
What are the elements? Start with carving a nice-size bed in the front yard, perhaps along one side of the yard and extending partways across the front of the property along the street. Add one or two hardy small trees, coupled with a mix of boldly shaped evergreen shrubs. Tie them all together with mulch or groundcover, then plop in a few groups of perennials and an ornamental grass. Add annuals seasonally, and keep it edged neatly.
This can be done in a weekend. One gardener at a time, the country is changing to year-round good looks without the maintenance - or the rules - of our parents' generation.
If you want a list of dependable "front yard" landscape plants, shoot me an e-mail and I'll paste it right back.
GARDEN TIPS
It's not the "last call" for planting summer-loving veggies (tomatoes, peppers and the like), but those set out now still have time to produce before fall without your having to cover them up.
Yellow jacket wasps make paper nests in underground chambers, and get very busy in late summer and fall. If you have a nest entry hidden in monkey grass or rocks, control them now before they really get bad.
Annual flowers that go to seed do not flower as well. Occasionally cut off faded flowers to keep them productive. Leggy zinnias and overgrown lantana can be pruned to make them busy again.
Author:Felder Rushing
Still, there are plants that each place holds in common - oft-used, dependable "garden backbone" plants such as junipers, iris, daylilies, shrub roses, pines, hollies, dwarf arborvitae, zinnias and ornamental grasses. In the South there are lots of nandina, crape myrtles and lantana. All grow well regardless of the care they receive.
OLD FOUNDATIONS
For decades, the general landscape design has hugged the foundation of the house. It started with garden club ladies working with Extension horticulturists and nurserymen, giving nongardeners some easy landscaping ideas that looked good and were fairly low maintenance.
Although these "cookie cutter" designs did neaten and provide uniformity to neighborhoods, they became to be seen as the only acceptable styles.
But as the fast food generation settles down, more of us are puttering in the garden. We need updated tips on what works and what doesn't.
And guess where the major patterns for flower and shrub arrangement are most visible?
Fast food restaurants.
Believe it or not, the most visible, nationally uniform new landscape style - called New American by the American Horticulture Society - is more likely to show up in places where year-round, nonstop good looks and low maintenance are most needed.
This style is neither new nor entirely American. But it was not mainstream here until fairly recently. Back in 1986, when Terryl and I attended the opening of the AHS New American Style demonstration garden in Washington, D.C., it was not mainstream; now it is on every commercial street corner, constantly providing visual cues that flower gardening is here to stay.
TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT
What are the elements? Start with carving a nice-size bed in the front yard, perhaps along one side of the yard and extending partways across the front of the property along the street. Add one or two hardy small trees, coupled with a mix of boldly shaped evergreen shrubs. Tie them all together with mulch or groundcover, then plop in a few groups of perennials and an ornamental grass. Add annuals seasonally, and keep it edged neatly.
This can be done in a weekend. One gardener at a time, the country is changing to year-round good looks without the maintenance - or the rules - of our parents' generation.
If you want a list of dependable "front yard" landscape plants, shoot me an e-mail and I'll paste it right back.
GARDEN TIPS
It's not the "last call" for planting summer-loving veggies (tomatoes, peppers and the like), but those set out now still have time to produce before fall without your having to cover them up.
Yellow jacket wasps make paper nests in underground chambers, and get very busy in late summer and fall. If you have a nest entry hidden in monkey grass or rocks, control them now before they really get bad.
Annual flowers that go to seed do not flower as well. Occasionally cut off faded flowers to keep them productive. Leggy zinnias and overgrown lantana can be pruned to make them busy again.
Author:Felder Rushing
posted by blogger at
Sunday, August 13, 2006
