What is it the right time for? That’s simple-make plans. People are good at planning. We are actually much better at planning, than dealing with what we didn’t plan for-so make use of what you are good at. We’ve all made grocery lists, given birthday parties, hosted holiday dinners, decided to have families, gone back to school, moved on. A landscape by design, which is a fancy way of saying, by plan, is planning-don’t be afraid.
I am a professional landscape designer, and I think I have my place. Designing and outfitting the outdoors is no less expensive than designing the inside of a house-with the added headache that things grow up differently than we think they will, and they do poorly, or die, more often than we think they will. But even people who hire landscape designers need to add their skill at planning to the mix- its always the relationship between an designer and a client that makes for really beautiful landscapes. Ready to plan?
The numbers of articles addressing the need for, and the satisfaction of structure in a landscape must number in the thousands. My take is that the number one function of evergreens in Michigan landscapes is to bridge, and celebrate the seasons.
Only a gardener, obsessed for the first sign of spring, would in their next breath complain about inordinately warm temperatures! 71 degrees in Michigan, March 17, is too very warm. Daffodils and crocus shoot up as though shocked by a bolt of electricity. An unknown dwarf magnolia in my yard has every fuzzy hair on every bud, standing at attention. This makes me cringe-I am well aware that Michigan has snow and very cold temperatures well into April. Devastating-the sight of frost-browned spring flowers.
March, and into April, is the worst part of our gardening year. Meaning, this time of year features the best of the worst that can be. You can spend a weekend raking, and in four days there is no trace you were ever there. Brown is still the dominant feature. Unless you have designed your landscape to bridge the seasons, all that brown can beat you down.
Nothing in a northern landscape wants to come out of hibernation, and find itself face to face with a gardener, mucking about. Tromping on saturated soil drives the air out of it, and makes for footprint- shaped slabs difficult to break up later. Plant roots need air, and drainage, among other things-so keep off. Likewise, keep your fingers off, and your pruners and rake in the shed. Better yet, build a shed for your rake-it will keep you busy long enough for a proper day for gardening to finally arrive. Should someone else maintain your property for you, be sure they don’t come too early. Nothing looks more forlorn than a garden bereft of all its natural winter coverage in an April snowstorm, windstorm, ice storm, or any of a thousand other kinds of storms common to transitional weather. Wait; you will know when the light turns green.