Gardener’s Corner

April showers bring May flowers.  We have had ample rain this spring and we can see the difference it has made in our plants and lawns.  I have a climbing Hydrangea at my house that is attached to my privacy fence in the back yard.  This is the first spring we have had blooms.  It is wonderfully endowed with large white blossoms.  Unfortunately all this rain can cause some issues.  One of those issues is and increase in Anthracnose on Maple leaves. 

Anthracnose is a fungal disease that infects the newly emerging foliage.  Because it is a fungal disease, it is more prevalent during periods of moderate to heavy rain.  The lesions that form on the leaves are large dark brown irregularly shaped areas of necrosis (death) that can be mistaken for tar spot.   This fungus can also attack twigs and cause cankers that results in dieback. 

Control of this pathogen is usually unwarrented.  The lesions are usually only an aesthetic issue.  One cultural practice that will reduce the amount of spores travelling around, is to pick up and dispose of any leaves that have fallen to the ground.

Tar spot is another fungal disease that effects Maples.  It too is merely an aesthetic issue and does not require fungicide applications unless you really don’t like the way it looks.

Perennials have become popular in the last few years.  They can be used in conjuction with shrubs and trees, or they can stand alone in a perennial garden.  Perennial gardens can be island beds, fence beds, along a lot line, or around a patio.  Perennials can be especially usefull for color throughout the season.

Let’s address designing with perennials.  Perennials only bloom for a limited amount of time.  Two weeks is pretty much the norm. So one of the most important design elements is timing. A successfull garden will have something with color at all times. It can be blooms or leaf color.  One should also consider how the garden will be viewed.  If it is an island bed for example it will be viewed from all angles so the tallest plants should be in the middle with the shortest on the edges. If it is a garden against a fence you will want the height at the back of the bed. Another characteristic to consider is texture.  You will want to include fine, medium and coarse textured plants to give the bed character and depth.  You should also keep in mind  plants that are going to bloom at the same time and make sure that the colors do not clash.  Some perennials can be cut down after they complete their blooming and then re-bloom to extend their color.  Light is another factor that needs to be considered.  Is your garden going to be sunny, shady, or partially shaded?  Then investigate the soil to see if its sandy, clay, or loam.  You will also want to find out if the area is soggy, wet, moist, or dry.  Once you have all of this information, you can start to think about the types of perennials you want in your garden.  Because perennials only bloom for 2-3 weeks, your garden needs to include plants that bloom at all different times of the year.  Starting with the minor bulbs is great because they bloom in early spring, some even before the snow has left the ground. Next will come the early spring blooming perennials like Euphorbia, Pasque Flower and Bleeding heart. After that plants like Poppies, Foam Flower, and Virginia Bluebells. The next phase of color may come from Lupine, Roses, and Coralbells.  Including perennials with colorfull leaves helps to lengthen the color show as well.  After the spring color is done we move into summer with shrub Roses, Campanula, Yarrow, Bee Balm and Hyssop.  Fall has its challenges, but again using perennials with colorfull leaves like Chocolate Joe Pye Weed can help.  Some of the fall blooming species include Sedum Brilliant, Mums, Black Eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower.  If you have a shady spot filling in the gaps with ferns and hostas is always a good idea.  The only drawback to Hosta is that deer love them.  If you have deer that munch on your plants do not use Hosta.

It may sound daunting to the novice to design a perennial garden.  There are several books that may help.  The best ones include a color chart that tells you height, sun preference, water preference, and timing  of each perennial in the book.  One I have used extensively is Taylor’s Guide to Perennials.  Of course you can always hire a professional designer to do it for you.  If you don’t know a lot about plants, that is probabaly the way to go.  Whatever you do, don’t get discouraged.  We all need colorful plants in our lives and there are ways to achieve that.

Winter can be blamed for a lot of plant problems.  This year we are noticing plant damage mainly with some grasses, some roses, and Clethra.  This past winter we had a lot of snow cover in the Midland area.  Snow cover is good for plants because it protects them from the harsh winds and sun of winter.  Unfortuntely this past winter, the snow cover lasted until about mid winter and then we had a warm spell that melted all the snow.  Shortly after that, we received some really cold weather that zapped the plants.  If the snow cover had lasted, the plants would have been fine, but being exposed to that cold snap with out the cover caused a lot of winter kill and die back. This can simply be pruned out.

Another type of damage that happened this past winter was rodent damage.  The snow started falling in Novemeber and lasted until June (just kidding) I think it was finally all gone by April.  With the exception of the above melting, there was a lot of snow for a long time.  The rabbits, voles, mice, and deer ran out of food.  The deer ate plants they don’t usually eat like Holly and upright junipers.  The rabbits chewed off the tips of branches a lot higher up on the plant than they usually can reach.  The voles and moles, made their homes under plants like low growing junipers, and stripped the bark off of the branches which caused the branches to be girdled and die. 

Is there a solution to these problems?  Well mouse bait, fences and repellents are the only things that help, unfortunately they need to be applied before the damage occurs. Next year if you had problems in any of these areas this year, you need to put these physical barriers and poisons in place prior to the start of winter.  It just goes to show you, it’s always something.