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THE CRACKED POT.COM
Gardening Tips For Lazy Gardeners
Welcome to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, aka "The Southern Part of Heaven". Since moving to North Carolina and building our home seven years ago, I’ve been attempting to create a garden on a 1.1 acre wooded sloping lot. This is the first home we had ever built so I finally had an opportunity to start from scratch. I became inspired by reading beautifully illustrated gardening and landscaping books. Through trial and error during the last seven years I have compiled a list of what I call "Gardening Tips For Lazy Gardeners" that have helped my garden to flourish. Before proceeding any further, let me tell you about my garden.
Establishing a garden for a newly-built home is similar to creating a painting on an empty canvas. The "look" you want and where you want to start can be overwhelming! As this area has wonderful natural beauty, I wanted my landscaping and garden to reflect and enhance the feeling of being a part of the natural environment.
With this in mind, my first thoughts were of spring flowering trees, shrubs and flowers but I also wanted fall color to compliment the spectacular natural fall color that North Carolina offers. Multi-seasonal trees such as the kousa and flowering dogwoods seemed to be the answer. Their spring bloom time are staggered and they both have beautiful fall color with the additional attraction of berries that the birds love. Other multi-seasonal trees that we planted are the serviceberry (white spring flower and edible blueberry-like fruit), crabapple, witch hazel, Aristocrat Pear, Forest Pansy Redbud (lovely magenta spring flowers and maroon leaves in early summer) and the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) which has yellow flowers in late winter, red fruit in late summer and red/purple foliage in fall. For summer and fall color, crepe myrtles keep the interest going through July and August when few other trees are blooming.
A variety of shrubs give year-round interest. Azaleas, rhododendrons, viburnums, mock orange, beautybush, gardenia, lilac, weiglea, deutzia, kerria japonica, forsythia and daphne are mainly spring bloomers. For summer color, several different varieties of hydrangea are planted along with butterfly bushes and, of course, roses.
The perennial garden has a wide variety of flowers in an attempt to have flowers blooming from early spring through November. An emphasis was put on flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies such as columbine, bee balm, cardinal flower, purple coneflower, daylilies, verbenas, and phlox (to name a few). I began with my favorites (iris and peonies - both from my mother and grandmother) and then started to experiment with a variety of flowers to see which ones thrived. The perennial beds were begun in an orderly manner but it has gotten quite out of control as I let many of my flowers form seeds in the fall for the birds so there are surprise seedlings popping up unexpectantly in many areas. A formal garden, it is not!
The beds are set among pathways along and through the woods. Several summers ago an herb walk was started behind the back perennial bed. Dragging the water hose back there was not fun so the irrigation system was extended and has helped tremendously. The paths have now been extended back into the woods and I am presently trying to garden in dry shade which I find to be the most challenging condition in which to establish a garden. The wooded areas remain in their natural state with newly introduced shade tolerant plants tucked in here and there to hopefully give a natural look. Saplings and underbrush are all left intact as the birds like the leafy cover, especially since we have a cat. Cats, by the way, are fantastic vole hunters so they do earn their keep!
In late autumn, my husband and I shred our fallen leaves with which we mulch our beds. It is an excellent way to return nutrients to the soil and conserve moisture during our hot and quite often dry summers. An area for composting is in the back woods where I combine shredded leaves and vegetable and fruit peelings which give various plants an extra boost.
Drainage has been a problem because of our sloping lot and several things were done to control the flow of water. In the back, a french drainage pipe network has helped considerably. In the front along the edge of the driveway, water was washing away the topsoil. Ajuga plants which are a mat-like ground cover has solved this problem. Another area in front that I laughlingly call the "babbling brook" also suffered from soil erosion with each heavy rain. The placement of rocks to slow the water and the planting of various ground covers, ferns, and small shrubs seem to work well.
Evergreens are very important for winter structure. We have planted magnolias, several varieties of hollies, evergreen viburnums and camellias. Late winter blooming shrubs such as winter honesuckle and winter jasmine also help to add winter interest. The blooms of helleborus are also a welcome sight in February.
Summer blooming bulbs such as lilies have done well in my garden and I absolutely love clematis. (last count there were 40 clematis tucked in various spots and at the base of shrubs. Dahlias have not done well for me but "hope springs eternal" and so I will try one more time! As time goes on, there are plans for arbors, gates, and other structures to define areas. A garden is never done - there is always next year!
One of the biggest challenges of a multi-seasonal garden is finding the easiest and most efficient ways to keep your garden looking it’s best throughout the year. Many gardeners find tremendous satisfaction in taking care of their plants but you don’t want the maintenance of your garden to become a time-consuming burden that prevents you from enjoying other aspects of your life. As my garden has progressed during the past seven years, I’ve kept a list of various gardening tips that I have found to be helpful. One very basic tip is your choice of plant material makes a big difference in maintenance. Since mine is a "do it yourself" garden, low maintenance plants that are drought and disease resistant are becoming a larger part of my garden with each year. Plants that need to be staked, deadheaded, divided and then cut back at the end of the gardening season are definitely high maintenance. By putting more emphasis on a variety of flowering shrubs with varied bloom times will not only give your landscape defining structure during the winter months and will also keep your garden colorful and fragrant throughout the entire year.
High on my list of low maintenance shrubs are hydrangeas (long lasting flowers that dry beautifully for spectacular floral arrangements), dwarf crepe myrtles, viburnums (Mohawk has very fragrant spring flowers, berries for the birds in the fall and burgundy fall foliage), weigela (hummingsbirds love their trumpet flowers), Kolkwitzia Beautybush, Camellias, mahonia (sprays of bright yellow flowers in winter that develop into showy bluish/purple berries), gardenia (August Beauty blooms in the summer and fall), and the mock orange (delicious orange blossom fragrance).
An easy way that I have found to amend the soil as I’m planting - Work with three containers (I use the heavy-duty rubber trugs). Fill the first container with soil conditioner or whatever you are using to amend the existing soil. As you dig the planting hole, shovel the existing soil into the second container. Then use the third container to mix the two together. This method also keeps your planting area reasonably neat.
When planting shrubs or trees in soil that tends to dry out quickly, line the planting hole with wet newspapers. The newspapers will keep the hole moist while the roots are becoming established and will gradually decompose.
November is bulb planting time in the south. Make your life easier and dig large holes with a shovel, not a trowel, and put in at least 5 or 6 bulbs (more is definitely better!). It’s best to treat your tulips as annuals and dispose of them after they have finished blooming. Hyacinth also decline each year. Daffodils are a real winner as they do come back reliably each year and they are poisonous to the deer and voles. Also, when planting bulbs in a highly visible area, plant in front of the bulbs something like daylilies, hosta or ferns that will emerge to cover the dying foliage of the bulbs.
One last tip that I always try to keep in mind - Don’t be inhibited by rigid gardening rules. Pleasing yourself is what you get to do in your own garden as it’s one of the few places where you have any control!
To help other gardeners who would also like to simplify their lives, I’ve put together a little booklet of what I call The Cracked Pot - Gardening Tips For Lazy Gardeners. If you would like to have a booklet sent to you, please send your name, address and a check for $5 to The Cracked Pot, P.O. Box______
and the booklet of gardening tips will be mailed to you.
You may have also noticed in the picture of my garden, a metal sculpture of a blue heron that was designed and hand crafted by my son who is a sculptor . Any inquiries regarding the purchase of a similar sculpture may be sent to JRamsay007@aol.com
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