With only six to eight inches of rain a year, even novice area gardeners know that adequate moisture is essential to successfully growing lawns, gardens and landscape plants.

However, not every gardener knows how to correctly water. The tendency is to water a little every day during the summer, such as 15 minutes once a day. That sometimes isn’t enough.

Only 5 percent of the water that plants absorb through their roots is used for growth. The majority (95 percent) is lost through transpiration, which is the loss of water vapor from the pores in leaf surfaces. High temperatures, wind and sun increase the rate of transpiration, increasing a plant’s need for water.

To be able to absorb from the soil, water in the location of the water-absorbing roots. As plants become established, the roots typically move out radially from the root ball. Water that once was applied near the trunk or base should be applied further in the root zone. For established shade trees, the root zone area extends from the drip line (the outermost reach of the branches) and beyond.

If a lawn is watered just 15 minutes every day, depending on the output of the irrigation system, adequate moisture probably is not reaching the roots. The major portion of the root systems landscape trees are found in the top 12 to 18 inches of soil. Shallow, daily watering during a hot summer may keep a lawn alive, but it probably is not providing enough water.

When plants suffer from drought, they wilt or show other signs of stress. Some respond to this stress with yellowing and dropping of leaves. Others develop a disorder called “leaf scorch,” where the edges of the leaves turn brown and crispy, or brown tissue develops between the leaf veins.

Certain plants may show the same symptoms even if there is enough moisture. The problem may be that the root system is inadequate to keep up with the demands put on the plant by transpiration. This can happen when a plant is transplanted in late spring or early summer and the roots have not had time to grow to support the top of the plant. This also happens if the root system is impaired by being planted too deep or by restricted roots. Some plants tend to show leaf scorch because they aren’t well adapted to a hot, dry climate.

If a plant looks stressed, check the soil moisture. Be sure to deep-water once a week. A mature shade tree with a spread of 30 feet should be receiving at least 350 gallons of water once a week during our hot and breezy weather.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

Melinda Frey, the Portland designer who created the pet-friendly backyard where the two dogs live and play, started from scratch with a landscape that was cratered like the surface of the moon. From the beginning, she considered the needs of the dogs and two cats, Tango and Sparky. Instead of trying to contain the dogs in certain areas, Frey turned a well-padded track into a path. If they are going to run there anyway, she says, the best way was to go with it.

“They are really active,” says Frey, who owns Raindrop Garden Design and has done about half a dozen gardens focused on the requirements of pets as well as people. “And now they have space to exert that energy. Then they’re more mellow and chill out.”

Emmerson hired Frey after noticing a flier advertising a tandem talk by Frey and Anne Taylor of Living Elements Landscape.

“We wanted a dog-resistant, dog-friendly, safe garden that was also appealing to people,” Emmerson says. “We didn’t know where to start.”

Fortunately, Frey did. In addition to the paths, she had the couple build raised beds for vegetables. Even though the medium-size dogs can easily scramble in, the boxes act as a deterrent, as do prickly plants placed strategically. The garden has a lawn where the owners can play with and train their pets.

“You have to understand they’re dogs,” Frey says. “It takes training from humans to let them know what’s OK and what’s not OK.”

Americans love their pets. They spent more than $61 billion on them in 2011, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor. That translated to just more than $500 for the average household.

So perhaps it’s not so surprising that two women from the other side of the country called Portland designer Carol Lindsay to create outdoor pooch places after reading her blog.

The first was a lobster boat owner in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, who has three young golden retrievers and wanted a private dog park.

“She had to talk me into it,” says Lindsay of Design in a Day. “I didn’t want a bi-coastal relationship.”

But she gave in. The dog owner, who read Lindsay’s blog post about pet-friendly gardens, sent photos of her favorite off-leash dog parks; one included a sand fort — an igloo-type structure over a patch of sand.

“Dogs can go in and dig like crazy,” Lindsay says. “And they come out happy.”

The second East Coast client was the owner of a brownstone in Brooklyn, N.Y., who was at a total loss about how to deal with four Lab-sized rescue dogs in a 19-by-37-foot garden.

“It was a real challenge,” says Lindsay. “She’d given up.”

But the Portland garden designer took on the job and found that rejiggering the deck, cleaning out some plants and creating rooms provided a lot more usable space. The Brooklyn woman got to keep the romance of her favorite roses, and her tail-wagging friends got room to stretch.

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Lindsay and Frey agree that keeping a dog happy keeps the owner happy, too. If you watch your canines’ habits, it’s easier to make garden choices. Do they run the perimeter? If so, keep that area free of plants or use containers. Do they love the dog next door? Cut out little windows in the fence so they can go nose to nose. And don’t forget to get toxic plants out of your landscape. Cedar chips, flagstone, gravel, crushable ground covers or artificial grass will help keep your pup’s feet cleaner.

Cats aren’t left out. For Emmerson  and Felton, Frey designed a “cattery” with basking stones, shaded hidey-holes, juniper scratching posts and perches.

“The cats love it,” says Emmerson. “The dogs love it. And we love it.”

 
TIPS FOR BUILDING A CATTERY
— Cover area with netting or some other kind of screening if you want to keep cats from roaming.
— Provide scratching posts.
— Plant shrubs so cats have a shady place to hide.
— Add a flattish rock big enough for them to sun on.
— Build shelves for play and sleep.
— Have a window you can open or a cat door so cats can come and go at will.
— Make sure they have fresh water.

 
10 TIPS FOR A DOG-FRIENDLY GARDEN
1. Make sure fresh drinking water is always available to your pets to keep them hydrated and to dilute their urine, which will minimize brown spots on your lawn. Give dogs that love water a fountain or pool to play in.
2. Strategically placed plants with a prickly nature and sturdy form can keep dogs from charging through planted beds
3. Toxic plants are commonly found in Northwest gardens. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has comprehensive toxic and nontoxic plant lists for dogs and cats. If you think your pet has eaten a toxic plant, call your vet. (For more, see “Beware of plants, blooms poisonous to cats and dogs”)
4. Training is a major part of a successful pet-friendly garden. Our dogs want to please us. Time spent in the garden with your pet can enrich your outdoor experience.
5. A trip to your local dog park allows active dogs a way to burn off pent-up energy. When they get home, they’re more relaxed and create less havoc in the garden.
6. If you’ve got diggers, make an area where they have permission to make a mess. Some people use sand for this purpose.
7. Make paths where dogs naturally go. If they patrol the perimeter, leave a path between fence and plants.
8. Put in raised beds; they’ll help keep dogs from trampling vegetables.
9. Use plants with stickers or those with smells they don’t like to keep them out of beds.
10. Make a window or two at face level in the fence if your dog likes socializing with the dog next door.
 
Source: Melinda Frey, Raindrop Garden Design, and Carol Lindsay, Design in a Day

 
RESOURCES
Melinda Frey
Raindrop Garden Design
raindropgardendesign.com
503-260-8781
 
Carol Lindsay
Design in a Day
landscape-design-in-a-day.com
503-223-2426

 
DURABLE PLANTS FOR PET-FRIENDLY GARDENS
 
SHRUBS

Hardy fuchsia
Sword fern (Polystichum munitum)
Redtwig dogwood (Cornus alba)
Montgomery spruce (Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’)

 
GRASSES
Fountain grass (Pennisetum)
Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa)
Reed grass (Calamagrostis)
Blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens)

 
GROUND COVERS
Kinnikinick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Carpet bugle (Ajuga)
Miniature stonecrop (Sedum acre or S. requieni)
Elfin thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’)

 
URINE-RESISTANT PLANTS
Doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum)
Snowball viburnum (Viburnum macrocephalum)
Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’)
Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa)
Spirea (Spiraea japonica)
Weigela (W. florida ‘Variegata’ or W. ‘Minuet’)

Harrisonburg Gardening 101: Composting Other Garden Tips

Renee — May 6th, 2011

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This is the 3rd post in our local gardening mini-series. Previous posts can be found at this link. I’ll reiterate that I’m no expert! I just do a lot of reading about gardens online and I started my own small plot here in Harrisonburg for the first time last year.

For this installment in the mini-series, I’ll just cover some tips that I’ve learned and found online. If you have more tips, please share them in the comments!

Composting

Composting is easy, and it helps reduce your contributions to the landfill while it also helps your garden grow! I started composting last year and got a good batch to add to my garden this spring instead of buying fertilizer at the store. Here’s how you do it:

• Create a compost bin. Some people use open piles contained with fencing or wood pallets, and some use raised bins that can be easily spun to mix the compost, or specialized barrels like the ones sold recently by the city and county. Another method (and the one that I use) is to drill holes in an old garbage can like this and roll it around the yard every once in a while to thoroughly mix the contents. The holes are a necessity for proper air flow and drainage.

• Save kitchen scraps like vegetable peels and coffee grounds instead of throwing them in the trash can or garbage disposal. (A list of compostable items can be found at this link.) In the winter when it’s cold outside, I keep fresh fruit and vegetable scraps in a plastic coffee container with holes poked in the lid and layer the vegetable matter with used coffee grounds until I am able to empty the container outside every few days. I have never noticed a smell while the container is closed. There are also special cans you can buy for storing compost materials temporarily in your kitchen, and even indoor composters.
• In your compost bin, layer the kitchen scraps with yard waste like grass clippings and any other compostable materials. I use newspaper-based pelleted litter for my rabbit and empty that into the bin occasionally, too. There is a formula for mixing “green” and “brown” materials, described here, but you don’t have to follow it to the letter to get good compost, just provide your pile with a variety of materials.
• Keep your compost sponge-damp. You don’t want it to be too soggy or it will create swamp-like conditions (and smell), but it does need some moistness for the beneficial organisms to survive and break down your compost. When it’s breaking down, it will have a sweet earthy smell.
• Over time, you will notice your compost breaking down into dark, fertile soil. You can keep two separate piles to ensure the materials have completely broken down in one before it’s time to add it to your garden, or you can just empty the contents of the bin into your garden about a month before you plan to plant anything and start a new batch in your bin.
• Another way to add compost to your soil is to make “compost tea”. This is basically compost soaked in water to create a liquid fertilizer. For “high end” compost tea, you can add fish emulsion or molasses and apply with a sprayer as explained in this video.

Growing Upwards

Both small and large gardens can benefit by growing vegetables up posts and trellises vertically. This can allow you to plant more plants per square foot, but also creates shady spots, so plan carefully so you don’t overshade plants that don’t climb and need full sun. “Indeterminate” tomatoes can grow long vines and can be tied to tall stakes or tied to strings from above to encourage vertical growth, and other plants like climbing beans and peas naturally grow up fences and trellises.

For a natural look, you can create low fences or tall “teepees” out of sticks for your vegetables to climb. Another popular method is the “three sisters” garden, which has corn planted in the center, surrounded by pole beans which vine up the stem of the corn, and squash, which shade the ground to keep the moisture in. Below is a photo of a “three sisters” garden.

The most extreme example of vertical gardening I’ve seen is YouTube user John from “Growing Your Greens” who has converted his suburban California lawn into a raised-bed garden with many vertical gardening features (skip to 2:20 for the garden tour):

Finding Gardening Information Online

The web is a treasure trove of gardening information, (both good and bad – so if you hear something that sounds crazy, try to find verification to make sure it’s not bad advice)! YouTube is a great resource for instructional videos. I enjoy watching videos by Christian from “The Produce Garden” in the winter because he’s in Australia where they are in the opposite seasons and I can get ideas ahead of time to implement in the summer! Patti Moreno, “The Garden Girl“, has a lot of good ideas and how-to videos, too. If you’re planting a certain variety of vegetable and want specific tips, search for it on YouTube and you’ll find plenty of people willing to share their tips with you!

Another thing I enjoy doing is reading gardening blogs. If you find a few with similar planting zones to our area, you will get especially useful information. Bloggers in Florida and California have a much longer growing season, so I enjoy reading Northern US blogs such as Chiot’s Run and Annie’s Kitchen Garden to get more usable advice.

Have a garden question? Just “Google it”! If you find information that’s especially helpful to people in the Harrisonburg area, please share it in the comments!

Photos by Flickr Users knittingbrow, found_drama, inkandpen, and philcalvert under the Creative Commons license (hover over photos for links and attributions).

Tags: gardening, how-to, vegetable gardening

With temperatures of 35C forecast for parts of the UK next week, there’s little respite in sight for wildlife that is wilting in the sun. Here are six tips to help pets and garden fauna to beat the heat.

Birdbaths

A simple yet effective way of providing relief. Val Osborne, head of the RSPB’s wildlife enquiries team, explains:

“The hot weather could be causing natural water sources to dry up, meaning birds and hedgehogs could be left without anything to drink. Turning your outside space into a home for nature by doing simple things like topping up your birdbath, creating a make-shift pond from a washing-up tub or putting down a saucer filled with water could offer a vital lifeline to some of our garden favourites that are already fighting against declines.”

Supplementary food

Drier conditions make worms tunnel further into the soil, becoming scarce for the wildlife that usually feasts on them, such as blackbirds, robins, hedgehogs and frogs. To compensate, additional food should be left out to make sure suitable nutrition is provided throughout the summer to such animals. A novel substitute to earthworms is dog or cat food, which blackbirds readily take and feed to their chicks. The texture of tinned meaty chunks is perfect as it avoids hard lumps that cause birds to choke. Black sunflower seeds, mild grated cheese, and of course, bird seed, are also recommended, but make sure to steer well clear of any salts, which are toxic to birds.

Taking care of gardens and allotments

Regularly watered plants, and habitat-orientated gardens are a lifeline for bees and butterflies. Osborne says:

“If the hot, dry conditions carry on we may see wild plants start to die. If that happens, our gardens and the well-watered plants in them will become even more important to these insects.”

Maintaining allotments is also vital for providing respite from the weather – log or stone piles are inviting for their damp, shaded conditions, whilst a nest box is a no-brainer. Start thinking of next year too – do you have enough space to incorporate a few hedges, a wildflower and herb patch, a pond or bog area, and an overgrown/undisturbed section?

The hedgehog corridor: create a nature highway in your garden. Photograph: RSPB

Nature highways

Your garden is part of a bigger home for wildlife. Linking gardens together enables creatures, such as hedgehogs and toads, to move between your garden and those of your neighbours. Creating such nature highways and corridors – ie shrubby borders; leaving gaps beneath fences – raises the quality of the whole street for wildlife.

Be aware of the time

Head veterinary surgeon at Battersea Dogs Cats Home, Shaun Opperman, says dog owners should avoid walks between 11am and 3pm, as these are the hottest times of the day. “Keep walks short and do indoor activities if your dog wants to play,” he says. Also keep in mind that walking dogs on hot surfaces can be dangerous for their paw pads, and ensure pets have plenty of shade if in the garden or on a picnic.

Summer foods

Dogs like lollies too. Opperman suggests that refreshing treats can be a brilliant way to help dogs cool down in the heat:

“Make ice lollies for dogs by mixing their food with some water and freezing it in a plastic cup. Remove it from the cup before giving it to your dog. Just like us, dogs and cats can get very uncomfortable in hot weather.”

With only six to eight inches of rain a year, even novice area gardeners know that adequate moisture is essential to successfully growing lawns, gardens and landscape plants.

However, not every gardener knows how to correctly water. The tendency is to water a little every day during the summer, such as 15 minutes once a day. That sometimes isn’t enough.

Only 5 percent of the water that plants absorb through their roots is used for growth. The majority (95 percent) is lost through transpiration, which is the loss of water vapor from the pores in leaf surfaces. High temperatures, wind and sun increase the rate of transpiration, increasing a plant’s need for water.

To be able to absorb from the soil, water in the location of the water-absorbing roots. As plants become established, the roots typically move out radially from the root ball. Water that once was applied near the trunk or base should be applied further in the root zone. For established shade trees, the root zone area extends from the drip line (the outermost reach of the branches) and beyond.

If a lawn is watered just 15 minutes every day, depending on the output of the irrigation system, adequate moisture probably is not reaching the roots. The major portion of the root systems landscape trees are found in the top 12 to 18 inches of soil. Shallow, daily watering during a hot summer may keep a lawn alive, but it probably is not providing enough water.

When plants suffer from drought, they wilt or show other signs of stress. Some respond to this stress with yellowing and dropping of leaves. Others develop a disorder called “leaf scorch,” where the edges of the leaves turn brown and crispy, or brown tissue develops between the leaf veins.

Certain plants may show the same symptoms even if there is enough moisture. The problem may be that the root system is inadequate to keep up with the demands put on the plant by transpiration. This can happen when a plant is transplanted in late spring or early summer and the roots have not had time to grow to support the top of the plant. This also happens if the root system is impaired by being planted too deep or by restricted roots. Some plants tend to show leaf scorch because they aren’t well adapted to a hot, dry climate.

If a plant looks stressed, check the soil moisture. Be sure to deep-water once a week. A mature shade tree with a spread of 30 feet should be receiving at least 350 gallons of water once a week during our hot and breezy weather.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.



View full sizeYarrow isn’t fussy about where it grows.Maureen Gilmer
Is your thumb more brown than green? Follow these tips for growing flowers that are hard to kill, from Birds and Blooms magazine,
(birdsandblooms.com), Ask.com and the University of Minnesota
Extension Service, (extension.umn.edu). 

Coneflowers are easy to grow and resists disease. Let the flowers go to seed and birds will come to feast on the seeds daily. Butterflies and bees also love purple coneflower. Needs full sun; perennial, grows 2-4 feet tall. 

Yarrow gives a wildflower look to any garden. In some places it will grow well with almost no fuss, making it a good flower for naturalistic plantings. Grows in full sun; perennial, grows 6 inches to 60 inches. 

Cosmos is an annual that often reseeds on its own and will fill your garden with simple, daisylike flowers all summer. Plant cosmos from seed directly in the ground in spring. It will tolerate drought. They attract butterflies and other pollinators. Needs full sun and moist soil; annual, grows 1 to 4 feet tall.

Daylilies will continue to bloom in your garden for years with little to no care. They adapt to a wide range of soil and light conditions and establish quickly. Trumpets can be triangular, circular, double, spidery or star-shaped in various colors. Some are fragrant. Grows in sun to part sun; perennial, grows 6 inches to 4 feet high.

Hens and chicks are succulents that send out smaller rosettes (“chicks”) from the parent plant (“hens”). Since they lack a deep root system, try growing it in a birdbath or shoe. Plant in full sun to partial shade in well-drained soil; perennial, grows 4 inches tall. 

 

NEW YORK (WLNY) – There are few things better in the summertime than picking fresh herbs and vegetables from your own garden — and doing so could even help you save some bucks on your grocery bill.

More: NYC’s 6 Best Restaurants With Rooftop Gardens

Chris and Peyton Lambton are gardening experts and the stars of HGTV’s ‘Going Yard.’ They stopped by The Couch to show us some tips for creating and maintain an indoor or outdoor edible garden this summer.

1)      Select herbs/fruits/veggies that are easy to grow and thrive – these include basil, rosemary, mint, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
2)      Be strategic about your containers – choose pots that can easily transition from your outdoor patio or balcony to your indoors in the winter months.
3)      Use proper potting technique.
4)      Be sure to give your plants fertilizer – just like people, plants need food, too.
5)      You can freeze your summer harvest (including pesto made with fresh basil, lemon slices, etc.) in ice cube trays and enjoy it all winter long.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories:

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And don’t forget to order your bulbs for next spring – you won’t need to plant
them till autumn, but this way you’ll ensure you get the best bulbs.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to live in the desert in the summer heat and winter dryness? Or even, perhaps, what it is like to garden in the desert?

After writing about Texas-based JM Dry Goods owners Michelle Teague and Jon Davidson’s garden shop, Hijo, and landscape designer Mark Word’s nursery, Jardineros, Remodelista editor Alexa turned to them for expert advice on how to survive the extreme elements of the desert. Here is what she sourced for Gardenista.

Photography by Michael A. Muller for Gardenista.

Gardenista: What should a Southwest gardener know about first starting a plot in the region?

Jardineros: In the beginning stages of establishing a garden, make sure you can identify and commit to the removal of bermuda grass and nutsedge. Also, soil should be amended with water-holding compost before planting. Many sites will be full of weed seeds just waiting for you to add water—try to be patient and consistent about weeding. It could take several seasons before your new beds are truly free and clear.

GD: How do you protect yourself from the elements?

Michelle Teague: I’m never without a hat! I love my old Persol sunglasses and I also have been addicted to Kiehl’s Super Fluid SPF 50+ since I’ve been at the nursery out in the sun. It’s very lightweight, perfect for the Texas heat. And you’ll always find us at Jardineros under the Hijo porch shade sipping Topo Chicos.

GD: From local pests and desert animals?

Michelle Teague: I just discovered JAO Patio Oil, a botanical plant-based bug repellant—highly effective in Texas where mosquitoes are pretty serious. And it smells insane.

GD: How and when do you water your garden in Texas?

Jardineros: It’s best to choose your plants carefully and water them only as needed. In the summer, a bit of late afternoon wilting is normal but if plants don’t perk up after sundown, it’s a sure sign they need a drink. Here in Austin and other parts of Texas, we’ve experienced record temperatures and severe drought several years running. To protect the water supply, our city and others have implemented irrigation restrictions. We find that the best way to water less is to do it more efficiently, such as by installing more drip irrigation systems and avoiding spray heads. Always water in the early morning or evening to reduce water loss by evaporation.

Above: Jon Davidson of Hijo Shed reads up on native Southwest gardening.

GD: Favorite hardy, drought-resistant plant?

Jardineros: We like Mexican Olive, as well as a variety of tall grasses including Blue Grama, Alkali Sacaton and Blonde Ambition.

GD: What’s your take on container gardening versus planting directly into soil?

Jardineros: In most cases, it’s better to plant directly into the soil; the temperatures can be extreme and containers can dry out or freeze quickly.

For a deeper look at desert gardening, Southwestern style, visit Gardenista’s post Hijo in Austin: A Garden Shop in a Shed at Jardineros Nursery.

Related:
5 Plants that Don’t Need Much Water