The winter is a good time to examine your garden in order to view its structure.  The structure or ‘bones’ of the garden are important to keep in mind when planning changes or additions to your garden.  This is the time of year when you can easily see if you have it or if you don’t.

The structures of the garden are the architectural elements such as trees, hedges, evergreen shrubs, walks, fountains, arbors, benches, and art.  During the winter if you look at your yard and it just looks dead…you should probably add some structure.  Or perhaps there are just a few bare spots in the garden and you may only need to make a couple of tweaks.  Often people think a garden needs to be formal; full of evergreen hedges and intersecting walks to accomplish this.  Indeed that is one way to do it but it is certainly possible to create structure without it being formal.  Curved walkway, informal masses of plants or texture, even color can be used to structure space.

The addition of art into your landscape might be a good start especially for those bare spots.  Here are some ideas to inspire you then let your imagination take over.

   Arlene

Planning

If you are buying bare-root trees, look for ones with large root systems in relation to top growth. It is not necessary to purchase a very large tree to get a quality plant.

Planting

Dig, divide, and replant crowded summer and fall flowering perennials like Agapanthus, Garden Phlox, Astilbe, Aster, Bleeding Heart, Coral Bells, Daylilies, and Shasta Daisies. Perennials perform best in well-drained soil with plenty of humus. Astilbe, Hosta, and Bleeding Heart bloom in the shade.

Plant spring-flowering annuals such as Forget-me-nots, Dianthus, Englich Daisy, Sweet William, and Viola.

Set out nursery plants of warm-season edibles.

Wait until the end of the month to set out frost tender plants.

Repot house plants that have grown too large for their containers. Cut back leggy plants to encourage compact growth. Root cuttings in moist media to increase your supply of plants.

Bluebells are good for naturalizing in the same manner as Daffodils but prefer a shadier location and will bloom even where they get no direct sun.

Accurate information on the longevity of flower seeds is hard to find. Based on limited observations, the following should be considered as short-life (one year) seeds: Aster, Candytuft, Columbine, Ornamental Onion, Phlox, Salvia, Strawflower, and Vinca. Some common flower seeds viable for more than one year if stored properly are Alyssum, Calendula, Centaurea, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Marigold, Nasturtium, Petunia, Salpiglosis, Scabiosa, Schizanthus, Sweet Pea, Verbena, Viola and Zinnia.

Maintenance

Fertilize plants that are starting to grow actively like annual flowers, berries, citrus, roses and established trees and shrubs with a balanced fertilizer like 15-15-15 or a 5-5-5.

Early spring is the right time for two special turf treatments, if needed: vertical cutting or thinning to remove thatch and aeration or coring to reduce soil compaction.

Wait until later in the month to fertilize lawns.

  Michal

Planning

Shop: Buy early flowering shrubs such as Daphne, Azalea, Camellia, and early Rhodys.

Order perennial plants and bulbs now for cut flowers in the summer. Daisy, Dahlia, Cosmos, Aster, Lily

Planting

Set out summer flowering bulbs like Amaryllis, Calla, Canna, Dahlias, Gladiolus, Lily, Tuberous Begonia.

Plant bare-root vegetables such as Artichoke, Asparagus, Horseradish, and Rhubarb

Plant spring flowering perennials. Choose from Bleeding Heart, Coral Bells, Campanula, and perennial Dianthus.

Plant bare-root ornamentals such as roses, shade trees and vines.

Handle seed packets carefully. Rubbing the outsides to determine how many seeds are inside can break the protective seed coats, thereby reducing germination.

Gardeners who want tuberous Begonias for summer-long flowering in pots, beds or baskets outside should start the tubers indoors during late February or early March. Place outside only after the threat of frost has passed.

Begonia, Marigold, and Petunia seeds can be started indoors now. Sprinkle the small seeds sparingly onto moist soil and gently press them in.

Maintenance

Fertilize spring-blooming flowers and fall-planted annuals and perennials. Wait to feed Azaleas, Camellias, and Rhododendrons until after bloom; use an acid based fertilizer

Finish pruning cane berries, deciduous fruit trees, grapes, roses, and wisteria by mid February.

Fertilize deciduous fruit trees two to three weeks before they flower. Feed other mature trees and shrubs as new growth appears.

Wait to prune spring-flowering deciduous ornamental such as forsythia and quince, and spring-flowering shrubs until after they flower.

Prune roses and most other deciduous shrubs.

Watch for signs of growth in early spring bulbs. When foliage is 1 inch high, gradually start removing mulch. Cloudy days are best so to not burn tender foliage

Check stored bulbs, tubers and corms. Discard any that are soft or diseased.

Repair, paint or stain outdoor furniture, and other items in preparation for outdoor gardening and recreational use.

Avoid walking on grass or groundcovers while they are frozen. The frozen leaves are brittle and easily damaged.

Weed and Pest Control

Apply dormant oil or spray neem oil on deciduous plants whose buds are still closed.

Horticultural oil kills over-wintering insects; lime sulfur or fixed copper spray controls many diseases.

Continue slug and snail control by removing their hiding places; clean up leaf litter.

As weeds germinate, hand-pull or apply a pre-emergence or weed killer.

For weed control in bulb or seedling beds apply a two inch layer of mulch.

For Fun

During the cold days of late winter and early spring try forcing branches of native trees such as dogwood, spicebush, serviceberry, and redbud which will flower indoors. Also try Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Mountain Laurel.

Branches of Forsythia, Pussy Willow, Quince, Spirea, and Dogwood can also be forced for indoor bloom. Make long slanted cuts when collecting branches and place the stems in a vase of water. Change the water every four days. They should bloom in about three weeks.

For something unique to force for winter flower arrangements, consider Red Maple, Buckeye, Birch, Larch, or Oak branches. They will soon unfurl either flowers, foliage, catkins, or red leaves that gradually turn to green.

Michal

At Lifestyle Landscapes, we always work within the boundary limits of our clients’ property. There are spaces adjacent to, or included in a clients’ property which they may be responsible for maintaining, but limit the use of the property.  These areas are called Right-of-Ways, Easements and Setbacks.

Setbacks are typically determined by municipalities and are used to contain development within the property lines.  Typically, structures over 18″ height are not allowed in the setbacks.

Similar to setbacks are buffers where local codes allow only specific types of plant material.

Easements are typically established to provide for installation of, and access to, utilities such as sewer, electrical, water, or gas.  Easements may be established to allow access for owners of adjacent property.

A Right-of-Way is also like an easement, but, normally, utilities are not installed under a Right-of-Way.  The Right-of-Way and Utility Easement is typically owned by the municipality or utility district but the homeowner is responsible for its maintenance.  When working in a Right-of-Way, it is important to be aware of municipal codes specifying allowable construction in these areas and defining the conditions under which permits are required before construction projects may be undertaken in these areas.  Plantings in Right-of-Ways might consist of low maintenance shrubs or trees.  However, in utility easements, vegetation may be limited to shrubs and ground-covers.

Michal