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Gardening with Cheryl
Gardening with Allergies
Gardening with allergies can be a wonderful experience with some planning. The low allergy garden is full of beautiful plants that have one thing in common. They are insect pollinated plants which eliminates wind blown pollen. There are many, many trees, shrubs and perennials that are pollinated by insects that the low allergy garden is well rounded. All herbs, including rosemary, lavender, thyme, oregano, sage, mint and chives, are welcome here as well as vegetable and fruiting plants. Ground covers are used most effectively here. Covering the soil with creeping plants reduces the dust in the garden and landscape. Wise choices are creeping thymes, Corsican mint, ajuga, pachysandra, phlox and vinca. Eliminate damp areas and reduce the use of natural mulch (wood chips, shredded bark, compost, manure mix, etc.) which produce wind borne mold spores. Instead use creeping ground covers or gravel. Xeriscaping gardening is a great alternative. Choose perennials and shrubs that produce brightly colored blooms used to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and other insects. Selections include yarrow, dianthus, Echinacea, hypericum, Russian sage, daylilies, tiarella, heuchera, veronica, salvia, hosta, monarda, roses, sambucus, weigela, viburnum, hibiscus (rose of Sharon), and hydrangea. Low allergy trees include apple, plum, magnolia, dogwood, red maple and cherry. Mow the lawn area frequently keeping it shorter than normally required. Grass that is mowed to 2 inches is less likely to produce seed. It is generally too short to catch wind blown pollen. Walk your garden or landscape regularly to pull or spray out weeds. Weeds are often the cause of more allergy issues than garden plants. Hedges can pose a problem for allergy suffers as they collect dust, mold and pollen. Keep them pruned and thinned out to reduce such as build up. Some plants that will wreck havoc with allergy suffers are ornamental grasses, most lawn grasses (mow frequently), conifers, aspen, oaks, ash, elm, birch, walnut, and willow, evergreen varieties and broad leaf evergreens. One exception to this is boxwood. As long as boxwoods are pruned hard so that they don't flower, they can be added as low allergy plants. Visible pollen isn't irritating as it comes from insect pollinating plants and is too heavy to be carried by the wind. The lightweight, invisible airborne pollen is the pollen that causes allergies. When in doubt about selecting plants for low allergy gardening, go with plants that produce brightly colored blooms so that they attract birds and insects. When plants are noted as being female, choose it. Male sexed plants produce airborne pollen. Here is a link to the University of Vermont Extension site with an article on Gardening with Allergies. It may be short, but this article is full of useful information for the allergy suffer who wants to garden. http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/pubs/oh71allergies.htm We hope you are finding it simple to use our new Greenwood Navigation System to narrow down your plant selections. It's easy to use and results are immediate. Check out our videos on Youtube on Tips on Growing Lavender and Learn the Basics for Planting Container Grown Plants. http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery See you on Facebook! Until next time...Cheryl Feel free to email me at cheryl@greenwoodnursery.com
Bringing Balance to Your Garden
Bringing the four elements to the garden can open up many avenues into oneself. Just as Feng shui corrects the positive and negative influences of interior placement, incorporating the elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth can bring balance and peace to the garden. The first element of Fire, representing the South, opens the flow of chi to the head, neck, shoulder and arms. Its color is commonly red and can be found in the fire from a fire pit or candles, Knockout Double Red Roses, Japanese Red Maple, Weigela Wine and Roses, Echinacea Tomato Soup, Gaillardia Burgundy, Monarda Fire Ball, Pineapple Sage, Arctic Fire Dogwood, Nishiki Willow and the Cotoneaster Coral Beauty. Presence of Fire in the garden can increase Productivity. The second element of Water, representing the West, opens the flow of chi to the abdomen and human emotion. Its color is commonly blue which can be applied to a water fountain, bird bath, blue reflection ball, Russian Sage, Nikko Blue Hydrangea, English Country Aster, Veronica Royal Candles, Hibiscus Blue Satin and Hibiscus Blue Chiffon. The presence of Water brings Serenity. The third element of Air, representing the East, opens the flow of chi to the chest and lungs. Although yellow is the color commonly used, air can also be found through the use of whirligigs, wind chimes, windsocks and fragrant plants such as Lavender, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary Arp, and Mock Orange. Yellow can be found in the plants Lilium Painted Pixie, Yarrow Moonshine, Forsythia, Sungold Cypress, Knockout Sunny Roses, Angelina Sedum, Echinacea Mac-n-Cheese, and Black-Eyed Susans. The presence of Air in the garden brings Happiness. The fourth element of Earth, representing the North, opens the flow of chi to the feet, legs and lower abdomen. Earth is green; the color of nature, but can also be found in objects taken from Earth such as rocks/stone for a path or wood from a fallen tree might be used to build a bench. Green can be found in plants such as Heuchera Lime Ricky, Ornamental Grasses, Hostas, Ferns, Spartan Juniper, Emerald Green Arborvitae and Boxwood Wintergreen. Build Confidence with Earth in the garden. The fifth element, and most forgotten, is Akasha. This element will open the flow of chi to the human aura and the brain. Akasha, the center of the universe, is the only element that we can't see, feel, smell or touch. It is energy or inner spirit. The colors of white and/or purple are the associated colors for Akasha. Center your garden with Mock Orange, Hibiscus Violet Satin, Hydrangea Incrediball, Anemone, Shasta Daisy, Echinacea White Swan, Black Knight Buddleia, Old Fashion Lilac, Persian Lilac, Hibiscus Diana, Hibiscus Morning Star, White Profusion Buddleia, Viburnum Japanese Snowball and Lavender. Akasha in the garden creates harmony with the mind, body and spirit. Yes, I do have Russian sage in the Western area of my garden, Moonshine Yarrow in the East, ornamental grasses in the North, Japanese Red Maple in the South along with Mock Orange for Akasha and those are just the beginning. Maybe that is why Steve and I feel so centered when we retreat to our garden. Whether you get your compass out and place the elements to their corresponding colors and directions or just include these colors within your garden or landscape, you can still reap the benefits of their presence. To keep the positive/negative balance, place at least one corresponding plant in each of the corresponding elements direction. This will allow the elements to work together in unity. Other ways to make your garden magical is to bring in plants that provide fragrance and plants whose leaves or blooms will reflect the moonlight. Fragrant plants will include: Lavender, Rosemary, Lemon Thyme, Oregano, Spice Bush, Roses, Mock Orange, Old Fashion Lilac, Persian Lilac and Sweetbay Magnolia. Plants whose leaves or blooms will reflect moonlight will include: Variegated Solomon's Seal, Burgundy Lace Fern, Limelight Hydrangea, Incrediball Hydrangea, Russian Sage, Pink Muhly Ornamental Grass, Pee Gee Hydrangea, Heuchera Mystic Angel, Fire & Ice Hosta, Patriot Hosta, and the Nishiki Willow. Our countdown to Valentine's Day continues with one week left to go. This week's suggestion is our Herb Collection. This is the perfect gift for any Valentine Chef, as the beginnings for a kitchen garden or to add a little magic to any garden. The Greenwood Herb Collection includes Chives, Bay Laurel, Oregano, Rosemary Majorca Pink, Pineapple Sage and Lemon Thyme all for $21.95. Book now and your Valentine will receive a lovely hand written gift card alerting them to their gift and when it will be arriving at their door. The perfect gift for the chef in your family! Week 2 on our Valentine's Day Countdown was our Knockout Rose Sampler at $56.95 which is a $9.00 savings over individual costs. Week 3 offered special Valentine's Gift Certificates with week 4 being our popular Lavender Sampler. New items are being added to our Monthly Value Page this week for the month of February. Be sure to check them out. If you are looking for great new perennials to add to your garden or landscape, you will want to take advantage of these new specially priced items. Visit Greenwood Nursery on YouTube. You will learn the basics of planting container grown plants and tips for planting lavender and other herbs. As we progress into spring, we will be adding more instructional videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery Check us out on Facebook! Until next time.....Cheryl Questions? Email Cheryl at Cheryl@greenwoodnursery.com
Growing Knockout Roses
What can you plant in your landscape that will bloom beautifully from spring through fall? Hands down, the longest blooming period goes to the Knockout Roses! Here in middle Tennessee, they start blooming around early April and continue on to late fall. This past fall, my double reds continued with blooms until Thanksgiving which was many weeks beyond hard frosts and remained in leaf through early December. Plant these gorgeous specimens in well drained, fertile soil in full sun. With little attention, they will put on a spectacular show for months on end. The Knockout Roses are smaller shrub plants maturing around 4 feet tall with about a 3 foot width. They are easily maintained as an even smaller size with regular shearing. Space the roses 3 to 4 feet apart for a dramatic hedge. To keep maintenance to a minimum, prune them back anywhere from 6 to 12 inches above ground in late winter or early spring while dormant making certain to prune out any broken or damaged branches. Mulch with organic matter such as aged compost or aged manure mix. Spread the mulch at least 3 inches deep around the plant leaving a welled area at the immediate base of the plant of around 3 to 4 inches wide so the mulch doesn't touch the bark of the plant. Apply an organic fertilizer designed for roses as directed on the label. As with other roses and plants with thorns, deer are not really drawn to the Knockout Roses, so they do make dazzling color in areas where deer may be a problem. The Knockout Rose Family has shown great resistance to the most common problems of other roses such as black spot, mildew and rust. With 2 weeks until Valentine's Day, this week's gift suggestion is the Knockout Rose Sampler. Our Knockout Rose Sampler consists of one Double Red Knockout, one Double Pink Knockout and one Sunny Knockout at $56.95 which is a $9.00 savings over individual costs. Book now and your Valentine will receive a lovely hand written gift card alerting them to their gift and when it will be arriving at their door. The perfect gift for the rose lover in your family! Week 3 on our Valentine's Day Countdown is our special Valentine's Gift Certificates with week 4 being our popular Lavender Sampler. New items are being added to our Monthly Value Page this week for the month of February. Be sure to check them out. If you are looking for great new perennials to add to your garden or landscape, you will want to take advantage of these new specially priced items. Visit Greenwood Nursery on YouTube. You will learn the basics of planting container grown plants and tips for planting lavender and other herbs. As we progress into spring, we will be adding more instructional videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery Check us out on Facebook! Until next time.....Cheryl Questions? Email Cheryl at Cheryl@greenwoodnursery.com
Growing Lavender
If you have never grown lavender in your garden or landscape, you are missing out on the most fragrant plants available. My experience with lavenders is that they are ever dedicated to making my garden a mysterious, magical wonderland and me a better person because of it. This may sound pretty far out there, but if you have lavender in your garden, you know what I mean. We have a small sitting area on the perimeter of my garden (next to the house) where Steve and I sit looking out over our garden. I have lavender growing along the fence (its amazing as a low hedge) and in groups on the berm in front of the sitting area and lavender plants sprinkled throughout the garden. During summer and early fall evenings, we enjoy this enchanted world right in front of us. A soft summer evening breeze brings entrancing smells of lavender as nature comes to life. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are all attracted to the lavender buds. If a garden were an amusement park then lavender would certainly be the roller coaster. Greenwood has lots going on with lavender this spring. We are offering some wonderfully new varieties. In addition to our regular English Lavenders of Munstead and Hidcote, we are adding the Jean Davis which is has blooms so soft pink they almost look white. The Kew Red blooms look like tiny pineapples which is typical of the Spanish Lavenders. Grosso and Provence are amazingly fragrant French Hybrid Lavenders. The English Lavenders are early bloomers beginning in mid to late spring. Once they complete their first round of blooming, they begin again. So if you want all season blooming, plant Munstead, Hidcote and Jean Davis. The Hidcote Lavender grows especially well in cooler climates. Spanish Lavenders typically bloom around mid to late spring. They are also referred to as Rabbit Ears or Butterfly Lavender because of the petals at the top of the bloom. The blooms are not as sweet as other lavender varieties so they will not attract swarms of fliers, yet honeybees seem to enjoy them. This variety is note worthy, also because it performs better in humid areas than other lavenders. French Hybrids are cultivars of Lavandin (lavandula x intermedia) which are cultivated mostly in France for their oils. Both Grosso and Provence are excellent choices for strong fragrant buds and for craft projects such as drying for bouquets and wands. Grosso is especially cold hardy. The favorite edible varieties are Munstead, Jean Davis and Provence. Here is a short video that I have put together with tips on growing lavender. A little advance planning makes Lavender really easy to grow and even easier to enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery What better way to enjoy the fruits of your labor once your lavender begins blooming than to toast to your plants with a glass of wine. A red table wine would be perfect as it also carries the taste of lavender in the wine. Mmmmm, delish! All of our lavender varieties will begin shipping the first week in March. Book your order now and take advantage of our Lavender Preview Sale saving you 20% off the regular member pricing. This offer is good through Sunday, January 17th and available only to our Greenwood Gardener's Club Members which means you do have to be a member to access the Monthly Value Page section. See you on Facebook. Until next time.......Cheryl
Growing Blackberrys, Raspberrys and Muscadines
All blackberry and raspberry plants are self-fertile or self-pollinating. Although they don't need a pollinator, planting another variety nearby will increase their fruit production. Erect plants should be planted 3 to 5 feet apart in full sun in soil with a pH level of 6.0 to 6.5. Keep the root collar or crown (where the root mass begins) no more than ½ inch below the ground's surface. Trailing varieties need spacing of 8 to 10 feet between plants and will need to be trellised. Our plants typically bear fruit in 2 to 3 years, after which they generally yield 2 to 4 quarts per plant. Our erect or upright blackberry plants are the Apache (which is probably the sweetest in flavor), Arapaho and Ouachita while our erect or upright raspberry plants are Anne, Heritage (an ever bearing) and Nova Summer Red. The Triple Crown and Cumberland are trailing varieties. Without knowing which plant variety has been planted, it is often difficult to tell raspberry and blackberry plants apart until harvest time. When ripe, raspberries come off with the core remaining on the plant. This leaves a hole in the top of the berry making it hollow and quite perishable. This is why raspberries are pricey at the market. Don't plant raspberry, blackberry or strawberry plants where potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, or other berry plants (including other strawberry, raspberry or blackberry) have grown in the past 3 years. Fungus disease and insect pests may still be in the soil in those areas. Here is a quick link to our planting and care information for blackberry and raspberry plants as well as links to recipes for the fruits, including wines and jellies: http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/Documents/PlantingBlackberry.pdf A fun fact on muscadines is that all varieties bloom at the same time even though they may bear fruit at different times. So, when you see them noted on their description pages as early or late season, that means the time of growing season that their fruit will be ready for harvest. Typical harvest times often begin as early as late August (for early) through October (for late). Muscadines are either female or self-fertile. Female vines must be planted within 50 feet of a self-fertile muscadine vine to bear fruit. The more pollinators you have nearby the more fruit the female plants will yield, although one self-fertile muscadine vine will pollinated up to 3 female vines. Quick info on the muscadines is: • Black Beauty-female-late season-black berry • Darlene-female-early season-bronze berry • Ison-self-fertile-early to mid season-black berry • Tara-self-fertile-early to mid season-bronze berry • Late Fry-self-fertile-late season-bronze berry Regardless of which self-fertile pollinator you choose, it will not affect the color or other characteristics of the fruit from the female plant. Muscadines, as with most fruiting plants, require full sun and a pH level of 6.0 to 6.5. Space muscadines 15 'apart with 10' rows for home gardens. Muscadines will need to be grown on trellises. Sawdust, cottonseed mote or peat moss will either slow down growth, damage or kill the plants. Do not use manure of any kind around young muscadine plants. Typical yields for female plants are 60 lbs. per vine with the self-fertile varieties producing 80 lbs. per vine. Our plants should begin bearing fruit in 2 to 3 years. When reading the plant descriptions, you will see the term dry stem scar on these plants. This refers to the plant varieties that are used in commercial production. It means that the berries of these varieties do not tear or separate easily from the cluster giving them excellent holding or storing quality. To kick off the addition of our muscadines, we have assembled a Muscadine Starter Kit Early Season and Muscadine Starter Kit Late Season. Each kit includes 2 female vines with one self-fertile vine at a special sale price of $44.95. This special price is good through February 3rd only to our Greenwood Gardeners Club Members. For complete growing instructions along with links to jelly, wine and other recipes for muscadines, click here: http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/Documents/PlantingMuscadines.pdf Order your Blackberry, Raspberry or Muscadine plants by February 3rd and take advantage of these sale prices. We will begin shipping these bare root varieties in early March so book now to avoid disappointment. Whew!!!! That's a lot for one newsletter. Our countdown to Valentine's Day is 3 weeks and this week's Valentine Gift suggestion for you is our Gift Certificates. Through Valentine's Day, we are offering a Gardner's Club special on Gift Certificates. Spouses, moms, dads, sweethearts, even older children with their own home would appreciate this gift and with our Valentine's Day Promotion, the additional amounts make it even more special. You can still book your lavender plants and Lavender Sampler for spring shipping as they will begin going out the first week in March. Here is our video on Tips for Growing Lavender: http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to email me on the videos. The most frequent comment is about my garden cats. About 6 rescued kitties make their home in my garden (and yes they have been fixed!). Two of them are quite friendly and very outspoken as you can hear. I think they are offering suggestions to the camera operator. What do you think? When checking out the Lavender Tips video, be sure to view our other one as well which will offer you the basics on planting container grown trees, shrubs and perennials. It's so simple! http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwoodNursery Let's be friends on Facebook, too! Until next time……..Cheryl
Fall Foliage and Fall Web Cam
Fall shipping is well underway here at Greenwood. I visited the shipping department on Monday afternoon to check out the bare root plants. The first plant that caught my eye was the Burning Bush Tree Form. This year, they are running approximately 3.5 foot tall and are just gorgeous. Of our flowering shrubs, the bare root Hibiscus always looks great, tall and multi-branched. Lucy is the most favored of the Hibiscus in both shrub and tree-form. Everyone adores its reddish/pink long season blossoms. We are still shipping our ground covers. The evergreen ground covers such as vinca, purple wintercreeper and blue spruce sedum are popular sellers right now. Over the past few weeks, the sourwood tree and barberry shrubs (Crimson Pygmy and Royal Burgundy) have become choice items with our customers. If it's evergreen shrubs that you are looking for, my favorites are the Emerald Green Arborvitae, Winter Gem Boxwood, Nandina Dwarf Firepower, Sungold Cypress, and the Cotoneaster Coral Beauty. These varieties are excellent selections to add color, texture and winter interest to any garden or landscape. For our warm weather customers, such as zones 9 and mid/lower 8, we will continue shipping most of our plant varieties (container plants and ground covers) over the winter months. Winter planting in these warm weather regions allows plants to fully establish before mid/late spring arrives with extremely hot temperatures. This is something to keep in mind when planning your plant list. Fall Foliage is under way in the United States. Beginning weeks ago along the US/Canadian border, fall foliage is moving southward leaving amazing colors of reds, oranges, yellows, purples, greens and browns in its wake. This link to About.com is to one of their forestry pages with links to webcams all over the U.S. and the Canadian Rockies. Technology is so great that now we can watch foliage happen all over. Again, I find this amazing! If you don't have time to click onto all of the links, at least take a moment to view Glacier National Park, Banff Alberta, Acadia, Great Smokey Mountains and Fall Foliage Cams-Entire USA (this one comes up as a scrollable page with thumbnail pictures for quick viewing). http://forestry.about.com/od/fallcolor/a/fall_web_cams.htm I have this as a shortcut on my monitor so I can take my break while viewing what colors are happening north of here and wait, in anticipation, for it to come home. Check out our Falltacular Sale Page for seasonal specials. See you on Facebook. Until next time..Cheryl
Protecting Plants Over Winter
Close out items are going quickly. If you have been looking at any of those varieties, you will want to go ahead and order, as we will be sold out of the remaining ones over the next couple of weeks. New items are being added weekly to our Falltacular Sale Page. When our growers are able to offer us special deals, we can pass the savings on to you. It is so great how one of our growers can call us up and let us know that they are discounting a particular plant for only a short period. Then, we can quickly list it on sale for everyone to take advantage of. I still find that amazing. Most of the country is just now hitting fall planting time. But, some areas of zone 5 and colder are already into winter temperatures. I thought this would be a good week to remind everyone to prepare their plants for winter. Fine Gardening Magazine still has the best article, which includes pictures, showing how to protect trees and shrubs for winter by Steve Silk. http://www.finegardening.com/print.aspx?id=80908 For convenience, I have provided this article link in ready-to-print form. And don't forget plants in containers. Marie Iannotti at About.com gives us good advice on over wintering container plants in this link: http://gardening.about.com/od/containergardenin1/a/Winter-Pots.htm?p=1 Here are a few other tips for protecting container plants during winter: . Water during dry spells-dry soil that freezes will damage roots and container . Group containers together in the garden with largest on the outer edge . Mound sawdust, mulch, straw or hay around containers . "Plant' containers in the ground to utilize free heat . Wrap containers with blankets, newspaper, burlap or bubble wrap Some of the new additions to the Falltacular Sale Page include Siberian Elm, Hansen Rose, Lombardy Poplar, Cotoneaster, Skyrocket Juniper, Bare root Ferns, Russian Sage, Hameln Grass, Sedum Autumn Fire. We are discontinuing the Bamboo Green View, which is available in 1 and 2 gallon containers, and the Iris Lily of the Kings. See you on the Greenwood Nursery Facebook Page. Until next time.... Cheryl
Compare and Save!!!
With the economy so out of hand over the past year, more people are now price shopping. Here at Greenwood, we, too, are consumers and want to save money and cut corners where we can. Greenwood Nursery offers great plants that are the perfect size for landscaping and gardening at reasonable prices, as well as excellent service and contact our customers. When you phone Greenwood, you are actually speaking with one of my staff, and sometimes it's me, ready to take your order or answer your questions. Today, let's talk about how to compare. Then, I want to share with you how to save even more with Greenwood Nursery. Keep reading…….. Compare sizes as well as prices: A couple of days ago, I was talking on the phone with one of our long time customers, taking their fall order and answering questions as I do. One question that they posed to me was that from time to time they also order a few items from another nursery (name withheld, but a good nursery). They had noticed that the new Cityline Hydrangea Rio was 2 dollars less on the other nursery's site compared to Greenwood's. Well, while I was on the phone with them, I checked this out. This is the perfect situation to note that when you are comparing prices; you really need to make sure you are comparing the same size plants being offered. Greenwood offers the Cityline Rio as a one gallon (trade size) plant, while the other nursery was offering the Rio in a 3 ½ inch pot. Greenwood's plant is considerably larger, older and better established than the smaller plant. Be sure that the prices you compare are for the exact same item. Otherwise, there really is no savings. The Good Ole Days: Years ago, when we shipped mostly bare root plants, we offered free shipping on orders. As we grew into shipping larger container grown plants, packages became quite heavier and UPS charges drastically increased, so we had to charge shipping. Our shipping charges may be a little more than some of the other nurseries. As you have seen when your orders arrive, we take pride in prepping and packing our plants so that they arrive to you healthy, happy and ready to plant. How Greenwood Ships: Here's an example: customer orders 4 plants that are one gallon sized. • Greenhouse department pulls and thoroughly checks plants • Containers are wrapped securely with stretch wrap to hold soil • Plants travel down to shipping department • Shipping department manager picks plants according to order • Complete order is directed to available shipper • Shipper selects proper box for order, cuts bamboo stakes to size & inserts them into containers • Plants with stakes are placed securely in box and checked for stability • Shipper fills void spaces with shredded paper, places order info on top, closes and secures box • UPS picks up box and order is on its journey home Now, how you can save with Greenwood. Steve and I have talked this matter over with everyone here at the office to see if we could figure out how to keep the same size plants we offer and yet still be able to do help with shipping costs. Well, Brenda came up with a wonderful idea to help our customers by offering ½ off shipping, for a limited time, which would come close to putting the charges back to where UPS had them a few years ago. So, that's what we're doing. Fall back to the good ole days when shipping charges weren't so expensive. With a 50% savings on shipping costs, we're meeting our customers halfway! Compare our prices and plant sizes with other online nurseries, then come save with Greenwood. For years, Greenwood has been listed as one of the Top 5 Online Nurseries on http://forestry.about.com/cs/catalogs/a/best_seedling_s.htm . We truly appreciate your continued support. Until next time…….Cheryl
Fall Garden Party!!!
Since last week's newsletter, fall has arrived! I can feel the difference. Steve and I spend some of our favorite moments sitting outside in the evenings after work just talking and enjoying our garden. This has to be the perfect time of year for outside dinner parties. Invite a few friends and celebrate fall. Just like when you entertain indoors, entertaining outdoors requires some sprucing up as well. Take an objective walk through your garden area and decide where you want everyone to congregate. The garden or landscaping should be the backdrop for this spot. You will need to pull out large weeds, clip out dead branches, remove dead plants, repair, remove or replace anything damaged and dead head plants with spent blooms. Just like inside, adding a few well placed splashes of color such as newly planted containers, mums that you just found at the farmer's market or sunflowers in tall containers or baskets will make a huge difference. If you can't find fresh cut sunflowers, don't feel worry about picking up some silk ones from your local craft store. The newer silk ones are looking quite real these days and it's the color and atmosphere that you're going for anyway. Sweep or hose off any stone, wood or concrete walkways, patios or decks the day of the gathering. If you don't have time to put down a fall layer of mulch, pick up a large bag of aged compost from the hardware store a day or two before and put a few handfuls here and there where the ground is visible. This will give the garden or landscape a fresh, well kept appearance and will really make the plants stand out more. A folding table or two will be perfect. No tablecloth? Use an old sheet or burlap and tie off the corners at the table legs. Quilts work nicely too. Some potted herbs on the table make for interesting and wonderfully fragrant mini-centerpiece spread throughout the table. What to serve. Keep it simple and quick. Fall is the time for singe pot dishes such as chili, hardy soups, coq au vin or beef daube. A few garnishes, bowls and spoons allow the guests to help themselves. And, what better way to end a hardy fall meal than brownies, apple pie, pumpkin rolls or spice cake? Hmmmmm. I am such a foodie. Here are a few suggestions for bringing to life some of your empty flower pots. All you need to do is select one plant from the first group, one to two plants from the second group and one to two from the third group. Do be mindful of your selected colors when pairing though. Try to select plants with contrasting colors and textures. Group 1 (Spotlight Plant): green giant, Hameln ornamental grass, Karley Rose ornamental grass, Morning Light ornamental grass, Magnolia Jane, Barberry Sunjoy Gold Pillar, Boxwood, Russian Sage, Nandina Firepower, Japanese Red Maple, Sambucus Group 2 (Filler Plants): Hellebore Ivory Prince, Heuchera Lime Ricky, Heuchera Hollywood, Heuchera Plum Pudding, Autumn Brilliance Fern, Japanese Painted Fern, Ameria, Sungold Cypress, Spiraea Magic Carpet, Dianthus, liriope (both variegated and solid), Ogon Grass Group 3 (Draping Groundcover): Angelina Sedum, English Ivy, Baltic Ivy, Creeping Rosemary, Elfin Thyme, Golden Thyme, Corsican Mint, Red Creeping Thyme Especially in Group 1, these suggestions are based on younger plants. After a couple of years in the container, they will be ready to be transplanted into a permanent location. Oh, and don't forget to add some twinkle lights. The clear ones with a golden tint are almost like candlelight. And a few well placed candles are also great. Put some tiny gravel or sand in the bottom of some old glass jars and then steady some chunky candles in them. If becomes a little breezy, they won't blow out. I hope this gives you a few ideas on making your garden and your fall evening special. Don't forget to visit our Falltacular Page for specially priced plants on grower's surplus and close-out items. See you on the Greenwood Nursery Facebook page!!! Until next time...Cheryl
Desert Gardening
Well, finally, the "new" site is up and running smoothly. We will be making tweaks and additions to it over the next few weeks. Next up is a makeover for our sister site www.landsteward.org . Ground cover plants are just beginning to ship out for fall planting. We are now offering vinca, pachysandra, ivy and purple wintercreeper as bare root plants. Bare root ground cover plants make a more economical purchase and when planted properly establish just as quickly as the more expensive potted plants. A few of our low growing shrubs that are quite popular this fall are Spiraea Magic Carpet, Nandina Dwarf Firepower, the City Line Hydrangeas and the Crimson Pygmy Barberry. Two of our more popular evergreen shrubs this fall are the Bamboo Sunset Glow and Sungold Cypress. This week, it seems I am responding to a lot of questions about gardening in the desert areas. The University of Nevada Extension site offers a wonderful article that covers everything from explaining the soil and composting to fertilizer use, planting, lawn care, raised beds, mulch, and watering. All geared toward the desert garden. http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/ho/2001/sp0115.pdf Here is a listing of Greenwood plants that will grow in many of the desert regions: Fruit Trees-Apple and Peach Russian sage Yarrow Buddleia Herbs-Thyme, Rosemary, Chives, Lavender, Oregano Black Eyed Susan Dianthus Gaillardia Phlox Lilies Shasta Daisy Asters Salvia Vinca I hope everyone finds our site's new look friendlier and easier to use. Don't forget to visit our Falltacular Sale Page and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. We have some great items featured on both the Falltacular Sale Page and our Homepage so be sure to check them out. See you on Facebook. Until next time...Cheryl
Garden For Your Health
How we can reduce stress and anxiety, and, at the same time make our homes more pleasant to come home to? Gardening! Have you ever noticed that some of the calmest people are dedicated gardeners? Most of them don't have large gardens, but they are committed to being outside in their "space" on a regular basis. Gardening is one of the best kept secrets around for a complete workout. I hear you saying, "But, Cheryl, how does it work?" No expensive equipment required. A hoe, a rake and a desire are mostly what are needed to start. Thirty minutes and longer of continual gardening is equal to a good workout at the gym. You will get in your aerobics, weight training, running, and stretching. Gardening, also, allows for a wonderful level of meditation which is like a spa for your mind. Don't forget that being in the sunshine provides your body with vitamin D and helps to maintain bone mass. A couple of things to remember: Apply sunscreen and wear a hat and work gloves. Bend from the knees when raking and lifting anything to reduce the stress on your back. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated. If you feel tired, it's time to take a break and rest for awhile. The first thing to do is to remove clutter, so anything that you really don't need or want should be thrown out. Whether it's broken furniture, brush piles, or dead plants, toss it! Now you can go in and begin raking leaves, mowing the grass and hoeing around plants to break up the compacted mulch. Once all of this is done, look around and decide what new plants you can add this fall that will provide your garden with new spring color and fragrance. For long growing season color look at plants such as the Double Red Knockout Rose, Nishiki Willow and the new Incrediball Hydrangea and for fragrance, why not add in some thyme, rosemary, chives or oregano, which will also do double duty in recipes. Take a portable radio or cd player outside with you and play your favorite music while you are gardening. Nature provides its own music, but sometimes, especially if you are new to gardening, the quiet might be awkward. So adding the music is a good way to move into gardening comfortably. Be cautious, though, taking up gardening and reducing clutter in your landscape might create a chain reaction and before you know it, you'll be reducing clutter in other aspects of your life. All of a sudden that corner of the room filled with boxes of items you haven't seen in years, may find itself remade into a relaxing reading area. Gardening can be the beginning in helping to create a simpler, more enjoyable lifestyle. Don't forget to visit our Falltacular Sale Page for specially priced plants on grower's surplus and close out items. Until next time...Cheryl
Leaf Spot
Recently I have received a lot of emails from people with the same issue and I thought it would be a good topic for this week. Leaf spot seems to be a big problem this growing season. It seems to be on mostly older more established trees. What is leaf spot? It is a disease caused by a fungus or bacteria that forms spots on the foliage. Color and size of the spots will vary and holes can develop. Often leaves will turn yellow and drop before fall. How is leaf spot prevented? You will want to avoid crowding your plants (trees and shrubs). When an area is heavily populated with trees and shrubs, thin out the branches to create better air flow. Plant an assortment of plant varieties. In fall, rake up the leaves to compost or burn. Fertilize in spring with a complete timed release fertilizer. Water deeply during dry periods. How to control leaf spot - If leaf spot continues for several years, then it is time for fungicide use. However, you will need to identify the particular leaf spot disease that is attacking your trees. Take several leaf samples to your local agricultural extension agent for identification. Timing is everything with the fungicide applications. Follow the directions on the fungicide label. Here is a link to the University of Missouri Extension site with an article on leaf spot which includes pictures and detailed information on this problem. http://agebb.missouri.edu/pdc/diagnosticreports/leafspot01.htm Don't forget to visit our Falltacular Sale Page and our Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. We have some great items featured on our Homepage and New Additions Page so be sure to check them out, too. Visit us on Facebook for more landscaping and gardening tips. Until next time...Cheryl
Fall Planting
July was quite hectic for us here at the nursery. I am still working with Steve on our project for Africa, so I'm not back to the nursery full time quite yet. If you have planting questions, drop me an email or phone the office. Brenda and Indy are there full time and will be happy to be of service. Considering we are only a month away from fall, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to talk about fall planting. I know, I know. Some of you are skittish about this very topic and may even cringe at the mention of it. But, for most areas, (except the Deep South, who should wait for winter months and northern areas, such as zones 3, 4, and some spots of zone 5), planting in fall is truly the best and safest time. Fall planting perennials, shrubs and trees will give them a stronger and larger developed root system to kick off with new spring growth. During September through early November (for zones 8, 7, 6, and mid/lower 5), the ground remains warm allowing a freshly planted plant to produce new root growth before the cold weather of winter hits. As the weather phases into the cooler temperatures of fall, the plants will go dormant. However, the root system will continue to grow until the ground begins to freeze. Once the ground begins to thaw and warm in spring, this newer developed root system will kick off with even more growth much earlier in the season. Indy has been visiting with our growers and found some new items that we will be adding over the next couple of weeks. Just to give you an idea, we will be adding several varieties of trees, such as white dogwood and green ash, which we will be offering as individual plants in a 2 to 3 foot height. Fast growing trees in a size that are easily planted. Much easier and more affordable! Speaking of fall planting, we will also be adding a couple of Asiatic Lily varieties such as Stargazer. They will be offered as bare root bulbs and will be available on the site within the next week. These will begin shipping in mid/late September and, unlike most summer flowering bulbs need to experience the coolness of winter in the ground. Our perennials, ornamental grasses, container-grown trees & shrubs and bare root ground covers will all begin shipping in September. Bare root trees and shrubs begin shipping in late October/early November. Our strawberry plants will be available for shipping mid/late October. Other fruiting plants (fruit trees and berry shrubs) will be available mid/late February for early spring planting. We keep planting instructions on the web site; so if you should need to refer to them or see what's entailed before hand, check them out. You will find them under the tab Plant Tips. Our site will be getting a fresher look later this month. We've been working on it for a while and hope you find the newer look cleaner and easier to mover through. I hope your summer is going well and your garden is thriving. Our Greenwood Team has been working hard over the past month and you will be seeing many new and exciting plant varieties and tools on our web site that will help make your landscape amazing. After all, whether it's on a farm, in a subdivision, or an apartment, our homes are the only real sanctuary we truly have. Until next week.... Cheryl
End of Spring Shipping Season
We are quickly approaching that fine line of where spring officially becomes summer. Spring was certainly cooler for most of us and now it's confusing with the intermittent warmer days thrown in with some of the still cooler ones. This still makes for good planting. With the Clearance prices that we have on our surplus bare root stock time remains to plant those fruit trees or get that hedge started. Our last week for shipping this summer will be the week of June 29th. Our office will be closed during the week of July 6th. We will be popping in briefly several times during that week to check emails and confirm new orders. July and August are always busy months here as we are visiting with our growers and selecting the plants that we will have available for you. Also, I am searching through my personal library for interesting topics that we can talk about in our fall and spring newsletters. Since time will be quite limiting, we may only send out one updating newsletter over July. But, come August/September, we should be getting back to our weekly communication with you. I truly enjoy interaction with all of you. There are two more newsletters before our July break and I will miss that contact, but as I read and research, I will come back for fall newsletters with lots of interesting material. If there is anything in particular that you would like for me to address, I'd be happy to look into it. Just drop me an email at chery@greenwoodnursery.com. During this time, we will still be adding in pictures of our garden (plan to get initial pictures up on the slideshow tomorrow). Check out our Facebook page for even more landscaping and gardening tips as well as an album on Steve's trips to Africa. He was quite busy on his last trip to Africa a couple of months ago, but did have time to take more pictures, so I will be adding new ones to his album soon. Until next time........Cheryl
Bare Root Plants
You know the most frequent question I get is what is the difference with the bare root plants? Well, the biggest difference is always going to be price (bare root plants are typically less expensive), but let me explain what exactly bare root is. Seed is planted and it grows the seedlings or cuttings are taken from cutting stock and rooted after which some plant varieties are sold at this stage, which means that the seedlings are dug, counted into bundles and shipped without any soil just as cuttings are pulled, bundled and shipped bare root. You've probably heard the term liner. It is used for any young plant whether it is a seedling or cutting. For our larger bare root plants, the liners (seedlings or cuttings) are then taken to the field for another year to two years of growth. After going dormant, they are dug (depending on when they are scheduled to ship out) and kept as dormant as possible before shipping. The soil is shaken from the roots so that there shouldn't be any on the root system when they are being prepped for shipping. In many cases, a bare root transplant will be huskier or beefier in caliper (the size of the trunk) than one of the same age in a container. Our planting instructions can always be found on our web site under the tab "Plant Tips". Once clicking onto Planting Care and Instructions, then click onto the type of plant you will be planting. Some plants, such as shrubs and trees, are divided into Planting Bare Root and Planting Container with step by step directions. There isn't any more of a risk in planting bare root than container plants and depending on the plant, some are better off as bare root transplants. It has been 2 years since we have had an End of Spring Clearance. As many of you will remember last spring, we sold out of a lot of our plant varieties, so to combat that we probably did purchase a few more as to not disappoint. This is a wonderful time to take advantage of some of our great clearance prices. Be sure to check the homepage from time to time as Indy will be featuring the container items that she needs "thin out". We appreciate your continued support. Until next time...Cheryl
Home Vacations!!!
Vacationing at home sometimes is as much as much fun as going away for a week or so. Vacations at home can vary from setting up a portable pool in the backyard for yourself and the kids pretending you're at the beach to taking day trips enjoying local sites. Some years, Steve and I didn't take the kids away for an extended vacation, so we improvised. Truth be told, sometimes being focused on working and everything here at the nursery, we actually forgot to get away and that isn't good. Recently, it has come up in conversation at our house about this concept of vacation this year, but for sure nothing has been decided. (Sh! Sh! My secret thought is that if I keep putting it off, it'll go away.) Again, that's not good, so I thought it would be a fun change of pace to talk about things we can do in our own areas that can create that same fun, exciting feeling we get when on vacation. My group has never been much into water sports or hanging out on a beach, so when we have or do go on vacation, there has to be interesting things to visit. We really enjoy historic homes and gardens, nature gardens/walks, and museums. Our children grew up visiting many of the historic homes and gardens east of the Mississippi and actually enjoyed it and afterwards, we always discussed the way of life at that time. Over late spring and summer is the best time to take advantage of garden settings as they are in full bloom. My philosophy in visiting gardens open to the public is that most have landscape architects or professionals who design these gorgeous landscapes. Not only am I able to enjoy their efforts, but I can take the design concepts home with me to apply to my next landscape project or offer as a suggestion. Landscape ideas free to me! (Or relatively free). Below, I have included links that will help you find historic gardens (and homes), botanical gardens, arboretums, nature walks, as well as links to some of the Jones' favorite haunts that we visit time and time again when we are in those areas such as: Biltmore Estate, Winterthur Gardens, Longwood Gardens, Bellingrath Gardens, Monticello, Mt. Vernon, Williamsburg, Newport Mansions and Mohonk Mountain House. I know Mohonk Mtn. House is a resort, but they do offer day passes for the public to enjoy the grounds. Pack a picnic lunch and have a great day from hiking to enjoying their mediation points. For those who don't have children at home (or if you do, hire a babysitter), take a tour at a vineyard in the area and don't forget the tasting afterwards! A bottle of wine, some cheeses, fresh fruit and sweet nibbles have the makings of a perfect picnic. In planning your home vacation, do the same things you would plan before any other get away such as clean the house, do the laundry, mow the lawn, etc. The computer and cell phones should have a break, too. Let the answering machine or voice mail catch those people who don't know you're on vacation. It's a getaway time, no work! Why not make it a themed vacation and visit the party store to pick up inexpensive regional decorations such as netting, shells, leis, little umbrellas for drinks, etc for a beach look. Don't forget vacation smells for the house such as our dryer sheets in beach days and lavender. Also, keep an open bottle of inexpensive sunscreen. Nothing says vacation like the smell of sunscreen. Treat yourself to a beautiful market basket and carry it with you everywhere with a large beach size towel, which also works in pinch for picnics, straw hat, small bottle of sunscreen, and snacks. Here are other fun things perfect for a home vacation: . Schedule a massage or facial . Eat out or order delivery . Hire a sitter for the kids and have a date night . One day have a DVD marathon (especially good if it is a rainy day) . Create a theme by renting DVD's set in specific areas . Extended family cookout . Read a book . Keep coffee, juice, water and snacks on hand . Visit a nearby museum or zoo . Go for a drive and eat out . Visit stores/shops that you don't usually visit . Check out your area to see if there are any community activities going on-such as free concerts, openings, and don't forget to check out the library for story time . Check to see if your area offers outdoor dramas or ghost tours-the last link below is to find outdoor dramas . Take a cooking class and show off your new skills at home by preparing those dishes Below are links to help you find local gardens and nature walks in your area: http://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/in/usa http://www.gardenguides.com/resources/walks/states.asp?c=US ompanies_list.html\">http://www.visitnewengland.com/current_category.77/current_advcategory.567/c ompanies_list.html http://www.newportmansions.org/ http://www.history.org/history/CWLand/ http://www.monticello.org/ http://www.bellingrath.org/ http://www.biltmore.com/ http://www.winterthur.org/visiting/visiting.asp http://www.longwoodgardens.org/ http://www.mountvernon.org/ http://www.mohonk.com/gardens/gardens.cfm http://www.publicgardens.org/Custom/GardenSearch.aspx http://gosoutheast.about.com/od/historicsitesculture/a/outdoordramas.htm Just as you are preparing the inside of the house for vacation, don't forget the outside. The week before vacation, mow and weed the landscape. Sweep the walk, patio and/or deck. Put a little fresh mulch or aged compost mix around some of the plants at the front door and at the back entrances. Plant some new perennials at the entrances as well and along the walk. This makes it look clean and new and will give you a different frame of mind when coming and going about your home vacation. Outside checklist for week before vacation: Green Tek ECO, Perennials, Herbs, Hostas, Liriope, Ornamental grasses. These are things that can be applied or planted that will make big impact with little effort. Remember, no working on vacation! Mother's Day is this Sunday. Don't forget our Mother's Day Special!!! When you purchase plants to be shipped to your mom for her special day, Greenwood will include a $10.00 Gift Certificate that she can redeem on her next purchase this season. So, at no additional charge, mom will also receive a $10.00 Gift Certificate in her card which will be included with your gift for her. What a special way to say "I love you, Mom"!!!!! This special will continue with gift orders through Monday morning (May 11th). Be sure to check out our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. Check out our Facebook page for even more landscaping and gardening tips. Have a great time and see you when you get back!!!!!!! Until next time....Cheryl
Raised Beds
Building raised beds for vegetable or flower gardens are a great way to combat the problem of having an area that drains poorly. I want to share with everyone this project which Cydney (you can see her picture with Baby Charles as one of the rotations on our homepage) and her husband Dave did last Saturday. They live in an area which is a newer development so as you can imagine they have terrible drainage. They are on the lower side of a slope with a drainage ditch nearer the back/side area of their lot. After heavy rains, the area in the back stays wet. We discussed it and it would be quite costly to attempt to amend the soil in such a large back yard. So, Cyd came up with this solution. Even during their earlier years together when apartment living, Cyd and Dave planted tomatoes and peppers in large pots. Now that they are into their 3rd year as homeowners, they are ready to take the plunge and set out a vegetable garden. (Sorry-pictures of the raised beds were shown with original newsletter and didn't transfer to this blog.) With the raised bed idea, she planned it out and at their local hardware store purchased 3 boards for each bed (2" X 10" X 8'long) cutting one in half for the ends. They already had 3" deck screws and the white paint from other projects. She highly recommends the screws as they will add more stability. Because their backyard is mostly flat, Cyd and Dave didn't have to dig out to level the bed. Including the topsoil for the beds, they spent a total of $91.00 for their 2 raised beds. Once they leveled out the topsoil, they planted their favorites, tomato and pepper plants, as well as seeds of squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, lettuce, peas, and beans. They planted marigolds around the tomato plants for bug control and as Cyd says, "It's pretty!" Cyd and Dave have a couple of outside projects scheduled for this spring and, if she'll share more pictures with us, we'll watch their progress. In landscaping around their new home over the past 2 years, Cyd has used such plants as the Russian Sage, rosemary, bamboo, lavender, pineapple sage, chives, and oregano. She has the herbs planted in raised beds around the patio. She and Dave enjoy sitting there on summer evenings taking in the aroma of those wonderful herbs. I hope you find this information helpful. Changing the levels of your landscape can be so easy. Just as easy as a few boards screwed together. Each week, I receive emails from many of you with drainage problems. To solve the problem long term, amending the soil and/or diverting water run off is the best way, but for an immediate, and usually more temporary, solution raised beds can be a yard saver. I hope all of you are taking a moment to enjoy the new pictures in rotation on our homepage, www.greenwoodnursery.com . Many of us may never get the chance to actually meet, but with putting faces to our voices, makes it a little more familiar. Don't miss our new Gift Ideas Department with wonderful plant collections that will delight your favorite person as well as our popular Gift Certificates after all, Mother's Day is approaching quickly. Be sure to check out our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. Check out our Facebook page for even more landscaping and gardening tips as well as an album on Steve's trips to Africa. Until next time...Cheryl
Healthy Lawn Care
Healthy Lawn Care Whether you refer to it as natural or organic, it really comes down to the fact that so many of us just want to participate in healthy lawn care. In order to get the desired results, it takes dedication, time and knowledge. Much like when someone must change their diet to become healthier, not only do they change what they eat, but there are other alterations within their lifestyle that are made and it takes dedication and time for the change to take place. We know that we are going to make the change to healthy lawn care so where do we start? . Improve Your Soil-Healthy soil contains everything needed to grow healthy grass and, as an added bonus, weed seeds don't germinate as well, so less weeds. A soil test can give you a starting point. This can be arranged through your local conservation district office or local ag extension agent's office. The results of the test should give you needed amendments to put your soil back into a neutral pH. . Select The Proper Grass for Your Area-Once your soil has been amended, you are ready to sow the seed. A visit to your local hardware store is needed here and should be educational. Visit one of the locally owned stores such as Ace Hardware or True Value Hardware or even your local Farmer's Co-op as these stores typically have staff that is knowledgeable about these things. If you have shaded areas, you need to let them know as they will need to help you select a seed blend especially for that area. After sowing the grass seed, covering the newly sown area with a light layer of straw can prove beneficial as it will help to keep birds from eating the grass seeds, protect the area from washing should there be heavy rainfall before the seed can germinate, provide light shade and keep the soil moist. All of these factors, including warm weather, will help to speed the germination of the grass and it decomposes into the soil. . Mow less with taller grass-Allow the grass to grow a bit more before mowing. Set your mower blades for 3 inches and let the grass grow to 4 or 5 inches before mowing. Cutting grass down much lower can damage the roots and dry out the soil. Greenwood offers organic lawn care products that will naturally make your plants grow, keep weeds down and assist in building up the soil. Our Coral Calcium specifically helps to energize plants and reduce weeds. Green Tek Soil Conditioner helps to percolate and aerate the soil. Green Tek Total is a non-toxic fertilizer containing biological components. Our Green Tek ECO does all of the above, as well as, helping to detoxify chemical applications from fertilizers and other products and helps to keep flying insects at bay. Now that you have healthy soil and grass is growing, how often do we water? Well, that will vary, but the University of Missouri Extension will help guide you through that process and give you tips on watering your lawn: http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6720 Okay, let's recap: Healthy soil..check, grass growing..check, mowing at 3 inches..check, watering schedule set up..check! Now, besides our Green Tek Products, here is another listing of organic fertilizers from the Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech. With this detailed listing you should be able to encourage grass growth naturally. Most of these products can be found at your local hardware store or farmer's co-op. .html\">http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/factsheets2/fertilizer/jan89pr6 .html I have read Mother Earth News Magazine for many, many years and sometimes I find articles that are truly worth keeping on file. The article below is one of them. Steve Solomon writes about his homemade organic fertilizer, how to make it up, what to use it on (primarily for vegetable gardens, but can be tested in other areas with caution), and how much to apply. http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=74392 For brush ups on mulching, pruning roses, landscaping around decks, new home landscaping, and drainage problems, xeriscaping, coloring woodland areas, controlling rabbits, deer and moles, as well as learn how to be a gardener, visit my blog for some of my articles from last season. When we changed our web site last fall, my archive on the site didn't make the move over, so now, you'll find them on my blog. http://cherylsnotebook.blogspot.com/ Check out our Mother's Day Special!!! When you purchase plants to be shipped to your mom for her special day, Greenwood will include a $10.00 Gift Certificate that she can redeem on her next purchase this season. So, at no additional charge, mom will also receive a $10.00 Gift Certificate in her card which will be included with your gift for her. What a special way to say "I love you, Mom"!!!!! Be sure to check out our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. Check out our Facebook page for even more landscaping and gardening tips. Until next time...Cheryl
Children and Pets in the Garden
Children and Pets in the Garden With temperatures finally beginning to creep up the thermostats, more and more of you are finding yourselves outside in the garden/landscape. Over the past week, I have received many emails concerning plants toxic to children and pets. This week, I want to share information on that as well as touch on ways to make the garden safer for both pets and children. When designing a new landscape or reevaluating an older landscape, don't forget to work in spaces especially for children such as: a sandbox, jungle gym, and/or open grassy areas for football or net games like as volleyball and badminton (not just for children). A sandbox or jungle gym can be tucked into a corner or other small area. For jungle gym or other physical activities a thick layer of shredded bark mulch on the ground will help to reduce the impact of falls. Introduce children to gardening and yard maintenance early on so that as they develop, they gain an appreciation and respect for plants and the landscape. These learning sessions are the perfect opportunity for teaching them about plants and how they grow. This reduces the chances of children ingesting any poisonous parts of plants. For those with pets, work in an area for them to run and play. Gravel can be irritating to their paws and hot in summer, so use shredded bark mulch for this area which also works great for their potty areas as well. Place dog houses in protected areas such as nearer the house/garage or tucked into corners (great where there is a fence for additional protection). Sun and wind protection are other points to keep in mind. Be flexible. Some dogs just like to dig and no matter what, you can't keep some plants. I've experienced this with my dogs. Steve and I replaced a couple of small trees damaged by a freeze a few years ago with dynamite crape myrtles. The next day, we came home to the plants dug up and dried out. We had to replace with 2 more new plants. The following day, we came home to them dug up and dried out, again. The dogs were scolded, of course, but we didn't want to kill, yet, 2 more plants. So, we planted the newest crape myrtles in large containers with a few annuals. It isn't what we really wanted for the landscape, but, this is a spot on the outside of our garden gate, so the container thing works fine. Planting in containers and raised beds can be a good solution for keeping plants off the ground so that they aren't dug up, time and time again. Young and small plants are at risk of having dogs urinate on them, which if allowed to continue, will kill the plants. Sprinkle cayenne pepper over the area and around the base of the plants. I did this a few years ago when, Zack, our goofy lab, decided he would see how long it would take to knock off our tiny boxwoods lining the front walk. After watching the boxwoods struggle for life, I began sprinkling the cayenne pepper around them. When Zack would "visit" the boxwoods, he'd get a snout full of pepper and move away. I did this over a couple of weeks and, finally, he left them alone. Those poor plants, I didn't think they'd ever grow out of it, but they did. Neighborhood cats can be a big problem. Two successful ways of keeping them out of landscapes and gardens is to lay pine cones around the area or lay sections of chicken wire, secure to ground and cover ever so lightly with mulch. The pine cones, chicken wire or anything prickly will help to keep them at bay. Here is a short listing of plants that are safe to use around pets and children: Bamboo Ornamental grasses Crape Myrtles Forsythia Cat Mint Chives Lavender Rosemary Thyme Heucheras Sage Herbs (many other varieties including annual varieties) Sedum Tulip poplar This is just a short list of plants that can be planted safely in the garden. The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) has a great site with information on a listing of the 17 top toxic plants to pets, great articles on pet care (dogs, cats and horses), and animal poison control hotlines. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/17-common-poisonous-plants.html Pawprints and Purrs, Inc is, also, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating pet owners, preventing animal cruelty and pet abuse. Check out their link to Wealth of Resources and you will find articles on everything from pet ownership to traveling with your pet to alternative medicines for pets. The specific links here are to listings of toxic plants and the second link to safe, non-toxic plants for the garden and landscape. http://www.sniksnak.com/plants-toxic.html http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html These lists are certainly not complete, but if you have a question about whether or not a specific plant is toxic or safe, always ask your pet's veterinarian. The following link is to a short article on backyard safety for kids. It offers some good advice to keeping children safe and happy at play. http://child-proofing-homes.suite101.com/article.cfm/backyard_safety_for_kid s There are always more things to think about. Brenda, Indy, Cydney and I are enjoying the compliments that all of you are sending our way. Personally, I think I look especially cute with my baby, Nick (okay, he's 21, but who's counting?). Watch for our special Mother's Day Promotion that we will be launching over the next week. There will be a special link to this on the homepage for you to click on to access it. Purchase your mom's Mother's Day gift from Greenwood Nursery, and we when we ship it to her, we will include a special $10 gift certificate in the card for your mom at no additional cost to you. Be sure to check out our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. Check out our Facebook page for even more landscaping and gardening tips. Until next time...Cheryl

When more is less...Yes that is actually true in landscaping. The more and closer you space plants, the less you typically need to weed. Weeds don't germinate in dark, crowded spaces, so plant more perennials, ornamental grasses and low growing shrubs that will spread out and fill the void spaces in your landscape. Why not enjoy blooms and the colors and textures from these plants rather than fighting weeds. Planting now can help you to avoid weeding problems later in the summer. Now that Steve is back from another extended trip to Africa, he and I will be scheduling time over the next week to clean up our garden and foundation landscapes. A little planning and cleaning goes a long way in making a garden look good. Think about how nice it is after rooms have been picked up and fresh sheets on the bed (at least). It feels good. You feel good. You're smiling and you don't know why. It's the same in the garden. Even the simplest walk through, picking up, trimming and raking will make you smile and want to be outside in your habitat. I am, what I consider to be, a lazy gardener. I enjoy reading and looking for short cuts to limit actual garden work. My focus is always the end result of healthy plants, lots of summer color and watching the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds visit my garden. It is that picture that I keep in my head as I pull, cut, prune, rake, and put aged manure mix back around the plants. After what may end up being a Saturday afternoon of this, basically the garden is good to go. Now, don't get the wrong idea. This didn't just happen. It took some years of planning for the garden to somewhat take care of itself. Even as a lazy gardener, I was willing to put forth quite a bit of work and investment into the garden and landscape so that as it began to mature, I wouldn't have to work as hard to keep it maintained. Steve and I don't have a landscape maintenance service to take care of this for us. We are still capable of doing this ourselves and besides, we still have our youngest child at home (a live in lawn mower!). Fortunately, for him, we don't have a huge amount of lawn area. Really look at your garden or landscape and see where you can plant in more perennials, ornamental grasses or even herbs so that you, too, can limit your work in the garden, but can focus on enjoying your garden instead. With the way the media works at stressing us out, we need every possible getaway we can find. Steve and I have made our garden a true retreat and we want to help you make your garden your own sanctuary. As we approach Mother's Day, I hope you enjoy the new pictures in rotation on our homepage, www.greenwoodnursery.com . We have featured us mom's here at the nursery, Indy, Brenda, Cydney and me, with our children as well as a few inviting setting pictures. Don't miss our new Gift Ideas Department with wonderful plant collections that will delight your favorite person as well as our popular Gift Certificates. Don't forget to visit our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. We have some great items featured on both the Monthly Member's Value Page and our Homepage so be sure to check them out. Last week, I added new pictures to our Landscape Ideas Album on our Facebook page. Check them out for landscaping and gardening tips. Until next time...Cheryl

Plants Perfect for Borders and Edging Decisions! Decisions! Selecting plants to edge a garden area or path can be just as frustrating as accessorizing a room or an outfit. We want the overall picture to look pulled together with our choices. I like to divide plants for this purpose into two divisions: compact and spreaders. These plants grow in the 3 foot and under height range. Compact plants are just that. They will grow within a defined space only getting slightly larger over the following years. If the area needs a strong barrier, consider a low growing shrub or grass such as Hameln Grass, Spiraea Magic Carpet, Cotoneaster Coral Beauty, Hypericum Blue Velvet or one of the Nandinas as they will work hard year round to keep the garden defined. Spreaders and drapers will creep into the garden mixing with the other plants or spill over the edge of the garden bed. They will work well in any garden, but can really show their talents when planted along the edge of a multi level garden. Again, this is going to be a key spot to introduce additional colors and textures. If the primary color of the garden is green (for example), edge the bed with Lime Ricky or Peach Flambé Heucheras or Black Mondo Grass for contrast. If the garden is alive with lots of color, then going low key would be effective with something like one of the grasses, liriope (solid), thyme or Nandina Dwarf Harbor. Here's a listing of plants that I have complied for these 2 divisions: Compact plants for borders and edging: • Grass Elijah Blue (sun) • Grass Hameln (sun) • Chives (sun to light shade) • Heucheras (sun to shade-depending on variety) • Aster (sun) • Hostas (shade) • Ferns-such as Autumn Brilliance (shade) • Spiraea Magic Carpet (sun to light shade) • Spiraea Gold Mound (sun to light shade) • Lavender (sun) • City Line Hydrangeas (limited sun to shade) • Liriope (sun to shade) • Armeria Dusseldorf Pride (sun to shade) • Veronica Royal Candles (sun to shade) • Cotoneaster Coral Beauty (sun to shade) • Barberry Crimson Pygmy (sun to shade) • Hypericum Blue Velvet (sun) • Nandina Dwarf Firepower (light to full shade) • Nandina Dwarf Harbor (light to full shade) • Daylilies (sun to light shade) • Sedum Autumn Fire (sun) • Grass Black Mondo (sun to shade) • Grass Black Moudry (sun) • Grass Acorus Minimus (sun) • Grass Acorus Gramineus Ogon (sun) • Hibiscus Lil' Kim (sun to shade) Spreaders and Drapers: • Mazus Reptans Purple (sun) • Wooly Thyme (sun to shade) • Red Creeping Thyme (sun to shade) • Creeping Phlox (sun to light shade) • Creeping Rosemary (sun to light shade) • Yarrow (sun to light shade) • Elfin Thyme (sun to shade) • Hypericum Calycinum (sun to light shade-but needs sun to flower) Don't feel limited to these plants though. Be creative with plants. That's part of the fun and learning experience of gardening. Don't forget to visit our Monthly Member's Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. We have some great items featured on both the Monthly Member's Value Page and our Homepage so be sure to check them out. Also, I have added new pictures to our Landscape Ideas Album on our Facebook page. Check them out for landscaping and gardening tips. Until next week…….Cheryl

Garden Parties to Wedding Favors Spring is THE time to plant in much of the United States. Any earlier or later and it becomes off-season in either the North or South. Garden Parties, which were common during the Victorian Period, can run the gamut from a dressy afternoon tea to everyone arriving in their gardening ware to help work in the hostess's garden. The garden party is, also, an excellent idea to bring people together for gardening clubs, a wedding shower or for the first time homeowner. Each guest brings a plant (small shrubs, ornamental grasses or other perennials) and a tool, or other piece of gardening equipment, whether new or a gift from the guest's own tool shed. For parties with gift exchanges, guests can bring items relating to gardening such as a plant, tool, container, garden ornament, etc... The hostess will need to somewhat define what types of items that guests should bring such as indoor, outdoor, flowering, non-flowering, tools, etc. One way of giving away plants as favors is to use small potted plants on the tables as all or part of the table decorations or tiny potted plants can be used as place card holders. The nursery pots can be covered with tissue paper, burlap or other fabric and tied with a colorful ribbon or twine or even repotted into inexpensive decorative or plan clay pots. Plants that work great for this are: herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, lavender), mini palms, mini schefflera, young Shasta daisies, sunflowers seedlings, young ornamental grasses or bamboo as well as starter plants such as tomatoes. Handing out seedlings as wedding favors has been popular for quite sometime. However, there are some considerations to keep in mind. . Seedlings are seasonal and only available November through May. During the summer months, one would need to select small potted evergreens or potted herbs. . Plants need to be ordered 6 to 8 weeks in advance from the nursery or greenhouse so that delivery can be timed for the week before the wedding. . Designate a person, or persons, to be responsible for separating the seedlings and bagging each one with a handful of moist peat. This needs to be done within a couple of days before the ceremony so that they are still fresh and then kept in a cool, dark area such as garage, basement or pantry. . Where will the plants be held (at the ceremony or reception) before being handed out? It should again be a cool, dark area out of the way. Heat and sun will dry them out possibly causing the plants to wilt severely or kill them. Depending on how many guests are expected, these boxes can take up valuable space. . The most commonly used plant varieties for handing out as favors are: pines, spruces, dogwoods, lilacs, red maples, even late spring/summer flowering bulbs. Be sure to keep in mind your guests lifestyle. If most of your guests are city dwellers residing in apartments, they are not going to have anywhere to plant most shrubs or trees, so herbs or flowers would be quite thoughtful. I have just started a new album on our Facebook page with pictures of Steve's visits to Africa over the past 3 years. He has traveled as a guest of the USDA to meet with the local businessmen and farmers. So far, he has visited Madagascar, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Bulgaria and Romania. This month, he makes his 3rd extended visit to Rwanda during the past year alone. I'll be adding more pictures over the next couple of weeks. We hope you enjoy this album, too. Don't forget to read the captions on the pictures. You should get a chuckle out of the cover picture/caption especially. Don't forget to visit our Monthly Member's Only Value Page, Member's Only Spring Bonus Plants, and Landscaping Ideas Slideshow. We have some great items featured on both the Monthly Member's Only Value Page and our Homepage so be sure to check them out. Until next time...Cheryl

As noted in last week's newsletter, I am continuing on with ideas on creating your own outdoor habitat where you can be found...or not! Pictures do so much more at describing than words ever seem to do. This article in Fine Gardening Magazine covers several of the things that make a habitat special. The article's author, a landscape architect, not only forms firm boundaries for his property, but utilizes the entire backyard with walk ways, colorful mini-gardens, and, even carves out cozy, intimate areas. You will see before and after pictures, which I enjoy. I like the way he has achieved total privacy from the street with his use of both plants and fencing. Keep in mind that this landscape was not established overnight. It took years for it to look as it does in the article. http://www.finegardening.com/design/articles/create-backyard-private-haven.a spx Here are more ideas that you can take and begin creating your special habitat: Define the purpose for your habitat. An area for weekend naps will differ from an area used more for reading as would an intimate area. For sunny, mostly sunny, or dry areas plant herbs in groupings of 3. Lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano and chives shouldn't be limited to kitchen gardens. They play well with all landscapes. If you allow chives to bloom and go to seed they will spread around your garden sprouting new plants later in the season. For these herbs, the drier the soil, the better they seem to grow. I recommending mixing in some coarse sand at planting if the soil should be on the clay side. This will help with drainage. Thyme and rosemary will even grow in partially shaded areas, too. Define the borders for your habitat. This can be done many ways, such as fence or lattice panels, trees, shrubs, or ornamental grasses, basically anything that will separate your habitat from the rest of your yard. Once you have defined the borders, establish pathways or patio areas. Then you can begin layering plants towards the center of your habitat. It is easy to get carried away here, but do leave room for your hammock, chaise lounge, or table and chairs. Layer with the tallest plants at back coming inward with a mixture of shorter and semi-taller plants. On the inside area of your habitat, set around plants in containers. These can even be incorporated as part of the layering area itself if space is really limited. Don't forget to add in some whimsical items as well such as wind wheels, concrete statuary, bird feeders, unusual rocks, pots, bird houses, fun hangings or lighting fixtures. I like the fun critter solar lights. This is where you can really put your own personality stamp on your habitat. Add in some lighting even it if is a strand of clear (okay even multi-colored) Xmas lights. At night, even minimal lighting makes the habitat a magical place. Well, these are the basics on creating your own special outdoor habitat where you can disappear to. Don't forget to check out our new Free Spring Bonus Plants available only to our Greenwood Members. Over the next week, I'll be adding more pictures to our Landscape Idea Slideshow and our Landscape Idea Album on Facebook. Until next time... Cheryl

Vegetable Gardening (March 13, 2009 Newsletter) We are only 4 weeks away from Good Friday, which many of us associate with planting our gardens. Even though the weather is still fluctuating like night and day, we still need to plan for our vegetable and herb gardens as well as for new additions to our relaxation gardens. Our vegetable garden seed kits are ready for shipping and the herb garden seed kits should be ready for shipping after next week. It is the perfect time for planting wildflower seeds, so if you have a large area that you would like to see lots of summer color go ahead and order. Remember, wildflower seeds should be planted when there is still a nip in the air. My daughter, Cyd, wants to plant a vegetable garden this spring. Cyd and her husband plant tomato and pepper plants in pots around their patio every year, but this will be their first actual in the ground garden. She has her vegetable garden seed kit which became available over the past few days. So, then, her next question to me, "But Mom, now what do I do?" We either have children that have asked that or maybe we, too, have done that. Well, you know me; I emailed her the perfect link to give her all the information she needs right from the start. She liked it and said that was exactly what she needed. I thought this might be the year that some of you tried your hand at planting a vegetable garden, too, and will find this link quite helpful. It goes to Fine Gardening Magazine (one of my favorites). http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/plan-a-vegetable-garden.aspx We use the words environment and habitat interchangeably, so I wanted to know exactly what the difference is between the two. I mean, I know their definitions, but what are their actual differences. Well, at Dictionary.com, environment is listed as the external factors affecting an organism or in respect to landscaping, an indoor/outdoor setting designed to be site specific, while habitat refers to a natural environment for the life and growth of an organism or a special environment or place where a person or thing is usually found. Between the two, I like habitat because when I can't find Steve in the house, I always find him walking through the garden visiting with the plants (oh, yes, he does visit with the plants.). He enjoys being in the garden even more than I do and as the weather warms it becomes our favorite spot to unwind after work. Some of the things I believe that make our garden habitat special for us are: Privacy and protection from the outside world Intimate areas only large enough for a tiny table and 2 chairs Plants with varied textures and color Use of different materials in creating pathways and edging Plenty of seating in the open areas A fire pit for cooler evenings It seems that around mid June the garden magically comes alive with blooms. There isn't anything much more relaxing as sitting in the garden on a lazy weekend afternoon watching the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds fly from bloom to bloom. That's nature at its best! Next week, let's talk more about habitats and how you can create your own place where you can be found. Until then check out the Monthly Members Value Page, our new landscape idea slideshow and find out what the new Spring Bonus Items are for Members Only. Visit our idea album on Facebook, too. Later.. Cheryl

New Home Landscaping (March 6, 2009 Newsletter) This is a question that I get a lot from new home owners or those new to a home in need of landscaping. They want to know where to start and I thought that there might be others out there who want to know also. Well, here are some things to take into consideration when planning or redesigning your landscape. First, I recommend living in your new place for about a year before beginning any major gardens or landscapes. This time allows for you to keep a notebook on how you and your family use the areas and live through the 4 seasons at your new home, which will give you ideas on how you would like to use color throughout each season, as well as being able to see any potential problems such as any seasonal drainage, lighting and privacy issues. When you find pictures of landscapes or articles in magazines that you like, put them in the notebook as well. Hardscaping generally refers to fences, walks, drives, retaining walls, patios, decks, or anything that would be built to add to the landscape. Any major hardscaping project should be done before landscaping so that plants are not damaged. Your lifestyle will be a major factor in landscaping. If you have children, they will need a play space and what will it include, a play set, sand box, open space for sports, etc. Are pets part of your family? Yes? Then, they will need a special place to run and relieve themselves. Do you entertain a lot? Then, you may need to extend the patio or deck areas to accommodate more sitting spaces. Are you a homebody? You will probably want quite tranquil spaces for reading, relaxing or soft conversation all with privacy. If you look out at an area and don't know what you would do with it, then don't do anything with it. Sometimes a good landscape comes out of patience. Steve and I still have a couple of spots around our house that still aren't landscaped and we've lived there a long time. I don't feel bad about that. Honestly, we enjoy the other areas so much that we don't even notice it. I refuse to plant something just 'cause. Two things that you should go ahead with are lawns and foundation plants. This will give you a good base to build the rest of your landscape on. Basic evergreen and deciduous foundation plantings can be livened up with ornamental grasses, smaller flowering shrubs, herbs, and season perennials. I have started a photo album on our Facebook page with landscape ideas. Be sure to check it out. Also, soon, we will be adding to our web site a photo slideshow of even more planting ideas. So, be sure to watch for it. Also, if you haven't logged onto your members homepage since mid November, you may need to rejoin. We have found that our newer system doesn't recognize some of the older membership information. Until next time, Cheryl
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