Archives for 2010

Winter Pots

Our winter greens finally arrived yesterday-today we began “planting” winter pots. I have clients that cannot bear to have their pots sit empty over the winter-I do not blame them. In some ways, a winter pot is more difficult to design and plant than a summer one. Of course the materials are more limited, but the toughest part is determining a proper scale and proportion. The winter pots do not grow; they cannot be trimmed or groomed into a finished shape. The shape and scale they have the day they go in will be the shape and scale they have throughout the season. I need to hold that thought from start to finish.

Most of the construction of what goes in my client’s pots goes on in the garage at the shop. A warm space makes the construction go faster. It is tough to clean up and hose down on site now. In Michigan, the water gets turned off to the outside spigots in anticipation of freezing weather. I like to leave the mess at home. I know the diameter of the pots I need to fill-I make a decision about the scale from my notes, photographs, measurements, and memory of the containers, and the space. This gets me close.

Proportions that are generous, and of proper scale are pleasing to the eye. Odd this-I almost never see anything outside that is overscaled to the point of asking for a redo. I routinely see landscape gestures that are too small. Plantings that are too small for the containers, pots too small for for the front porch, a single hydrangea when 5 are called for, 1 tree trying to hold down a space meant for a grove. The proper scale for a winter display-not so easy.

The construction of winter pots involves several issues. Design-this comes first. Color, texture, materials, scale-this comes second. The actual construction is all about a natural look that is invisibly sturdy enough to withstand a Michigan winter-start to finish. All of the elements of a winter pot designed and constructed in the studio go on to the installation phase on site. Tall heavy twigs need thorough anchoring. Though you cannot see it, the centerpiece in this pot has bamboo, steel and concrete wire-we like a stand up straight construction that endures. Every evergreen stem is sharpened at the base-a tight fit means a persistently long lasting fit. We have four to six winter months ahead. What I do today needs to last.

I really want to talk about the color and the texture here, but the real news-a scale assessment. Invariably I have to go back, and adjust; almost always, I have a need to add. The process is simple. Plan, aim and construct as best you can. Then step back, and look. I would advise that you look a second time. Then step back and see. Fill in. The gaps, the underscaled elements-it is all there for the seeing. The fill in stage-necessary.

This giant pot needs 2 more bunches of yellow twig dogwood, and two more bunches of preserved eucalyptus-to get the proportions right. I wish I could get everything perfect the first go around, but frankly-I rarely deserve the spot on award. I usually need to go back. The big idea here? Any project worth doing deserves an energy at the end equal to the energy at the start. Start strong-finish stronger.

The summer pots dressed in their winter outfits-they look good. Every one of these pots have lights. For the dark hours. We hook up, we bury the extension cords-day and night-we have plans.

I am enchanted by the blue berries of the cut juniper against the brown eucalyptus in this pot. I so like the effort of a mix of greens. Douglas fir branches-graceful. Everything seems to be working here-the basket weave pot, the draping greens way wide-this winter pot has everything going for it.

The long rectangle in view from the kitchen-the mixed greens include incense cedar, German boxwood, and southern boxwood. The effect is soft and swooping. drapy. The garland lights buried in these evergreens will make for some night life. The winter approaching-we are in the process of getting ready.

Posted on: November 18, 2010 3 Comments

Filed Under: Landscape Design, The Natural World, Holiday Tagged With: winter container plantings

Winter Coats

The coarse woven jute fabric known as burlap is a familiar, essential, and serviceable material- well known to gardeners. B and B, to the trade, refers to the process of digging, and protecting the integrity of a rootball, so a plant can be successfully transplanted. A broken rootball can kill a tree. Sizing a ball properly, and fitting the burlap snug and secure with nursery nails requires a good eye, and some skill. An expertly burlapped rootball is a handsome thing to behold. The natural jute will rot over time, freeing the roots in the ball to establish in the surrounding soil. A burlap fence protect new plants, and salt-sensitive evergreens; burlap provides enclosure and protection.

I am in the process of the holiday and winter dressing of the shop. My landscape crews, under Steve’s direction, have no problem shifting from planting balled and burlapped in the ground to dressing the shop windows with burlap drapes. The drapery workroom is open for the season.

The drapes over the shop windows-my crew got every move right. The swags are just so, and securely wired. We will keep them up all winter, so a weather resistant installation is important. Burlap drapes do not keep anything warm, but they look warm I like the idea that my shop is getting its winter coat. The Eupatorium capillifolium in the roof boxes is aptly described by its common name-elegant feather grass. It was graceful and gorgeous all summer. I was not prepared for how beautiful and durable the fall color would be; the needle-like foliage shows no signs of dropping.

Why not try keeping that grass hedge in the boxes all winter? These small dried magnolia wreath drapery tiebacks repeat that rich cinnamon-brown color in evidence on the roof. Holiday decor that takes its cue from the garden-this I like. Every landscape, garden, and garden shed has raw materials that can be transformed into a celebration.

The lindens on the drive are in the process of having their winter coats fitted. Wrapping the trunks of trees to prevent injury from the cold is common practice in many gardening cultures. Tree trunks in Japanese gardens and cities are beautifully wrapped with rice straw matting for the winter. Cold climate afficianados of cycads hoping to overwinter their plants in the ground will wrap the trunks. The lindens on the drive are getting winter coats of the strictly ornamental kind.

A fabric reminiscent of moss comprises the first layer; the open weave burlap goes over top. Each layer is temporarily secured with jute string; the seams are blanket stitched with wire. The loose ends of the burlap are rolled over and tucked into a wide band of multiple strands of jute twine.

kFrom the street, the two layers of fabric are neatly secured. The lindens look warmer already.

A jute bow will complete the look. Though these tree trunks are unlikely to suffer any sun scald over the winter, they look protected, and dressed for cold weather.

We swagged a light garland through the canopy of the tree to provide some interest to the display at night. The bows need adjusting, the drapes need some branches secured on the insides to fluff them out-the finishing details are yet to come. More on that later.

Posted on: November 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Detroit Garden Works, Woody Plants, Holiday Tagged With: burlapping trees

Potted

By no means have I left the dirt in my dust-my gardening season is not yet over. I still have projects in process. But one of my fall gardening projects did come to a close today. We’re all potted up. I was determined to pot spring bulbs in containers this year-I ordered scads of them. Even Steve started to complain about the sheer numbers. OK, he and his crews are tired-it has been a busy season, and the holidays are yet to come. But he did oblige-and he obliged in a significant way with his home-composted and sand-leavened bulb soil-does it not look scrumptious?

Bags full of that precious and special compost found its way to the shop. There was much discussion about what bulbs would seem good together, what bulbs asked for a simple mass, what mixes of the same type bulb might make for interesting spring color.

The tulipa are the Sarah Bernhardts of the spring garden. Lush leaves, dramatically thin stalks and large showy flowers-what gardener is not longing for them come spring? It is indeed a natural miracle that a flowering plant that can top out at better than 30 inches is programmed and ready to go inside these 2″ diameter brown orbs.

These World Expression tulips in my window boxes were drop dead gorgeous for weeks. Potting bulbs in window boxes that put the roots above ground is a dicey move-in a bitterly cold winter they could have frozen solid, and rotted by spring. But why not try? That effort paid off; my spring at the shop was beautiful.

It is not so easy to keep that picture of those tulips in mind, when the fall is cold, and the planting circumstances less than charming. Putting little brown bits into the soil is just about the most unsatisfying garden chore of all-there will be nothing to show for all of that effort for the next six months.

But when April comes around, I will be happy for today’s effort. The daffodils blooming set every gardening heart to beating a little faster; spring is on the way.

I chose a variety of standard containers. Fiber pots, made from recycled cardboard, are a good choice. Though they will degrade, they degrade slowly. Kept from any contact with a hard surface, you might get three years out of them. The trick to getting long life from a fiber pot is to elevate it off the hard surface. This allows the bottom to dry out, and stay intact. Unlike a cardboard box, a fiber pot that dries out is just as strong as it was originally. In the spring, they can be dropped into a more dressy container with ease. When the bulbs bloom, the news will be all about what is inside-not the container.

Bulbs are beautiful in containers. Diminuitive bulbs show and grow best in shallow containers. The low large classic terra cotta shape is known as a bulb pan. Too large a pot for any plant can encourage rot; the larger the soil mass, the slower it will drain and dry out. These concrete faux bois planters are no more than 8 inches deep.

These grape hyacinths were planted in very small pots-3″ containers. That made transplanting them into a larger planter of lettuce and violas easy. Muscari bloom a long time in the spring, especially should the night temperatures stay chilly.

I am sure this is the third time I have talked about bulbs in containers this fall-why am I still talking about it? The chances are good that there are still bulbs available; at this time of year, they are priced to go. If you are like me, you have a stack or a stash of pots available to you. So why not fill them with bulbs?

I have not counted how many pots there are here, but my instinct says I will have a very good show come April. Even if you did not plant one bulb in ground this fall, no need to do without them. What are you doing Sunday? Rumor has it that nature has decided to do 60 degrees that day-perfect for a little spring gardening.