More gardening goodness

What activity suggested by the U.S. Surgeon General’s 1996 Report on Physical Activity and Health can reduce risk for numerous chronic conditions, including heart disease, type-2 diabetes, hypertension and colon cancer, and aid in weight maintenance and overall physical health? Could it possibly be the same activity deemed most significant for preventing osteoporosis in women age 50 and older in a 2000 University of Arkansas study?

If you guessed yard work, you win! Just 30 minutes outside doing a variety of gardening activities will reward your body and your mind. A 180-pound person will use 202 calories during 30 minutes of digging, spading and tilling. Thirty minutes of raking will burn 162 calories, weeding will burn 182 calories, and turning compost will burn 250 calories.

Compared to bicycling, aerobics, and dancing, yard work and weight training were the only two activities shown to be significant for maintaining healthy bone mass. Hmm, hop in the car, drive to the gym and wait for the machine I want while listening to spinning trainer bark unintelligible instructions over loud and obnoxious music? Or step out into the dappled sunlight to rake up some of my gazillion maple seeds while enjoying pleasant bird song and a light breeze?

Where's that rake!

Why Hire a Landscape Designer?

I have often wrestled with the issue of designing my yard. I am a determined do-it-myselfer, and impoverished artist to boot, but some emerging wisdom tells me to give it up. I just want to jack up that vine maple and drive in a new low-maintenance-well-drained-fragrant-year-round-interest-shade-and-sun-tolerant-flowering-edible landscape underneath. There are so many variables: height, width, color, water and sun requirements, just to name a few. And then there is time! Bloom time, grow time, harvest time, maintenance time. Yeesh!

Hiring a landscape designer seemed intimidating too, at least until I talked to a few and did some homework. Here is what I found out:

• Many designers have a whole range of services, from just an hour of advice, to a master plan to be completed over time, to an all-inclusive installation with plants and decks and retaining walls and art, all to meet your budget and timeframe.
  
• A designer will choose the best plants (out of the thousands that happily grow here) for your site and lifestyle.
  
• A well-planned landscape is easier to care for in so many ways: plants with similar requirements are grouped together, ultimate plant size is considered, messy or invasive plants avoided, etc.
  
• A good design will enhance property values and livability.
  
• There are many great designers in the area so you can easily pick one to match your aspirations and personality.
  
• The cost of a design can vary widely. Some designers charge by the hour (mostly for consultations), but most charge by the job. The cost will depend upon the size and scope of the project, and could be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Be sure to ask the designer for a quote.
  
• A professional landscape design can add 20 percent to the value of your property (rivaling the return on a new kitchen or bath) and save up to 25 percent in heating and cooling costs with a well-placed tree or three.

Still think you want to do it yourself? There is always the ten-square-foot model of garden renovation: only focus on revitalizing one finite area at a time. You can do a couple of spots a year and feel good about accomplishing something. But then you could wind up with a disorganized feel and there is usually so much more to consider! Lighting and irrigation and pathways – oh my! Suddenly I am out of my ten-square-foot comfort zone. As if those things weren’t enough to put me right over the edge, Roger Miller of Homescaper Design created this handy inspiration for hiring a designer. For even more details, download Roger’s informative brochure.

Design and landscaping installation process, by Roger Miller (from homescaper.com)

• Provide protective fencing for plant materials that are to remain in the garden.
• Clear site and dispose of unwanted hardscapes and plant materials.
• Excavate and grade the site.
• Install drainage pipe if required.
• Layout planting beds and hardscapes.
• Install irrigation sleeves (if necessary) below driveways, walkways, patios, etc.
• Install hardscapes.
• Install irrigation system: trench, layout pipes, install valves and backflow devices, install risers, test the system, backfill trenches.
• Improve the soil as required.
• Install plant material: start at the furthest point from the front of the house, begin with largest material (trees and large shrubs).
• Final grade.
• Install sod or seed lawn.
• Complete installation of irrigation system: install and adjust heads, program controller.

If you ask me, doing it right involves entirely too much digging and hauling (and the associated pleading with the ex-husband to borrow his truck). Two websites give lists of qualified landscape designers: the Association of Northwest Landscape Designers and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. I’m headed there now!

Who’s in a name? A few tidbits from the botanical brain-cells of Dan Heims, Terra Nova Nurseries.

Well, a rose is a rose... Until you try to name it. For hundreds of years, roses have been named for famous rosarians like Rose 'Madame Alfred Carriere' – celebrating her 130th birthday, and she's still popular! Today roses are named after feelings, country singers, and cute stuff like 'Social Climber', and 'Bubblicious'.

When we get back to Latin (this is Part II, see part I), we honor the great explorers of the past:
Wilson (E. H. "Chinese" Wilson) – one of the greatest plant explorers and a director of the Arnold Arboretum
Delavay – a French explorer in China
Sergeant – a director of the Arnold Arboretum and explorer
Menzies – an explorer of the Pacific Northwest
Tolmie – an explorer of the Pacific Northwest and California
Clark (of Lewis &) – an explorer of the Pacific Northwest
Tradescant, Hooker, and Banks – British explorers of the world
Douglas – Scottish explorer of the Pacific Northwest
von Siebold – German collector of Japanese plants

Some plants will bear the species names like hookeri, delavayi, and wilsonii, while others have the genus named in their honor like Tradescantia, Clarkia, and Douglasia. The ultimate plant nerd-name is the piggy-back plant, Tolmeia menzeisii, named after two Pacific Northwest explorers!

Plants that are named after people do carry the pronunciation of their name, and not the direct Latin pronunciation, so a plant named Forsythia (after Forsythe) is pronounced not as "for-sith-ee-ya" but as "for-sigh-th-ee-ya".

During his reign in the 1700's, Linnaeus had his own "friends and family plan," naming numerous genera after his pals. Thus his friend, Austrian Von Heucher, got his name placed at the head of my favorite genus, Heuchera (pronounced hoy-kera) – yeah it's that Austrian thing. Ever wonder then, why Hosta is pronounced "haw-sta" instead of "hoe-sta"? It was, after all, named after Thomas Host.

My German (walking encyclopedia) friend, Ulrich Fischer, was quick to point out that Host was an Austrian and we've been pronouncing it correctly all along.

As a gift to our viewers, Dan has made a downloadable copy of the new 2010 Terra Nova catalog.
Come and drool!

» Terra Nova 2010 Summer Catalog
» Terra Nova 2010 Collectors Catalog

Watering goodness

If you are new to gardening, Le Tour des Plants sponsor Dramm has some advice on keeping your plants hydrated during the hot season. (Shameless plug: Dramm offers the most colorful watering tools this side of my dreams. For more information on Dramm products, visit your favorite garden center or browse to www.rainwand.com.)

Watering is important since nutrients found naturally in the soil or added supplements are useless unless they are first dissolved in water. Plants can only assimilate nutrients through roots as nutrient dilutions. Wise use of water for gardens and lawns saves money, conserves water and produces optimum growing.

• Water in the early morning, before sunrise, or in the evening, after sunset, to reduce water lost to evaporation.
  
• Minimize water loss from run-off or evaporation by using a hand watering device instead of garden sprinklers.
  
• Use a watering can to deliver specific amounts of water to potted plants.
  
• If possible, use grey water such as bath water and dishwater for watering plants. As of June 12, rerouting grey water to water plants is now legal in Oregon. Be sure to check with local authorities before re-plumbing anything, though.

Point that watering tool near the soil so the water to goes directly to the soil, instead of on the plant, where it will quickly evaporate from the leaf surfaces. A tool with an activated shut-off valve such as Dramm's Touch N' Flow ensures water is applied only where needed.

• 90 to 98 percent of plant matter is water. The best way to ensure healthy plants is to provide them with enough water.
  
• Water applied in small quantities is more harmful than helpful. Since only the very top layer of soil is moistened plant roots will grow near the surface subjecting the plant to rapid drying and damage. Water in greater quantity with less frequency encourages deep root establishment, which in turn helps a plant be more tolerant of dry spells.
  
• Water enough in a single application to moisten the soil deeply. For flowerbeds and vegetable gardens one inch of water a week is recommended.
  
• Clay soil is very dense and takes longer to soak up water and longer to dry out. Landscape plants in clay soils can drown if watered by an automatic watering systems. Check a few inches below the soil surface to see if you really need to water. The top may be dry, but it could still be wet down at root level.
  
• Applying water at base of plant keeps foliage dry to help prevent fungus disease, such as botrytis and mildew.

It's tooo hot to be bothered

My new-homeowner son asked me what he should be planting now and I told him “not much.” I know I should be planting my fall edibles, but it’s July. It’s hot. All I want to do in the garden is study shade patterns, water flow and the inside of my eyelids. Fall is a much better time to get back to digging, amending and planting.

And shopping during Le Tour des Plants of course!

Container Recipe

Visit the Proven Winners web site for more information.

Picks from the pros

Mt. Vernon Laurel

Imagine a laurel hedge magically reduced to a ground cover. Yes, those 30-foot monsters with large shiny evergreen leaves! At 12 inches high and well-behaved!

I saw this most interesting plant at a garden on the June ANLD Behind the Scenes Tour, and it also captured the attention of many other people on the tour. The garden's designer, Carol Lindsay, tells me Mt. Vernon laurel (prunus laurocerasus 'Mt. Vernon') is just as tough as regular English laurel, but grows into a low, dense mound of about one foot high and two to three feet wide over five years. One interesting thing about this plant is that the leaves are almost as large and just as glossy as their giant cousins.

Grow Mt. Vernon laurel in sun or shade, but give it good drainage and a little shade in the hottest areas. It thrives with little to regular water. Laurels are occasionally bothered by scale insects, but mostly this plant has very few problems, and is hardy in Zones 6-9. You can find it at Portland Nursery, or just ask for it at your favorite plant place and they should be able to get some in for you. Carol warns me that this plant "looks like a total dork in a pot" but shines in the landscape. Good combinations include tall grasses and heathers.

I love dirt!

My interest in gardening and plants is really a side shoot of my love of good soil, especially the dark crumbly stuff usually found in other peoples’ yards. The world of gardening has its share of controversies, but everyone agrees that good plants come from good soil. Pursuit of a good pile of dirt has led me down the path of composting and lawn reduction. I start digging and after a couple of years, the composted weeds and spent annuals have made up a good-textured soil for adding larger plants.

But how do you tell just what kind of dirt you have? Twice a year, in May and October, the Clackamas County Master Gardeners will test a small sample of your soil for pH levels. For more thorough testing, they recommend working with a commercial soil testing lab, such as A & L Western Agricultural Laboratories [www.al-labs-west.com]. Note: Oregon State University does not analyze soil for the public any more.

You can do some fieldwork of your own with this handy guide developed by Willamette Valley farmers, in collaboration with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Quality Institute, and Oregon State University. These simple tests help you assess the health of your soil, and are easy to do: push a wire flag into your soil, dig a hole, look at an uprooted plant, etc.

This card suggests a calendar soil assessment and relates to an associated pamphlet that describes what your test results mean.

Perplexing Gardening Questions

The Random Gardening team has gotten a few rather specific questions about plants and gardening. To get the best, most personalized service, I can recommend our Perplexing Gardening Questions Resource, Mary McLaughlin. Visit www.oan.org to get your plant sourcing and gardening questions answered.

With more than 30 years of gardening experience and ten years working as an Estate Gardener, Mary is happy to assist in your personal quest for better plants and garden health.

Simply complete the online form and a response will be sent via email. Please note that all plant and gardening advice is suggestion only. For definitive solutions, contact your favorite garden center (take a photo or plant or pest sample), or a certified Arborist or other landscape professional for onsite consultation. Oregon offers an extensive Master Gardener program; they, too, are an excellent resources and can often be found at local farmer's markets and gardening events. Click here for the link to their informative website.

Seeing problems

A friend recently told me about getting a bee sting on the eyebrow, and then having a tiny piece of glass pop up into her eye, all while weeding in her exburban garden. I used to garden next door to a sweet old lady who threw her grandson’s wine bottles into my garden for disposal; sometimes they landed on my carefully tended boulders. There are a lot of hazards out in that peaceful garden, from wildlife to leaping weed seeds to human artifacts. Maybe it’s time to add protective eyewear to my garden gloves and hat!