Summer « The Garden Worm blog

July 28, 2012

Drought

Filed under: Containers,Flowers,Our gardens,Summer,Veggies — Judy @ 3:36 pm

Hot, hot, hot dry summer. Hard to keep up with the watering. The New York Times has an article addressing the extent of this summer’s extreme drought across the nation here http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/science/earth/severe-drought-expected-to-worsen-across-the-nation.html. More than half of the country is affected, the largest contiguous area in 60 years. This graphic shows the data since 1896.

via New York Times

Our own modus operandi is to water the things that really need it like the annual containers, the veggie garden (although not all of it), and the newer plantings that are not well-established yet. Not ‘well-established’ means plantings that are generally less than 1-2 years of age whose root systems do not reach deep enough to find water yet. We don’t water the water-hogging lawn grass. Yes, that means it goes browner, but it does not die and it will come back when the rains do come.

We have some clients that also take a laissez-faire approach to their new plantings, seemingly thinking that once they are planted, they don’t require any attention, let alone watering, whatsoever. This is frustrating because these same clients then wonder why their plants are dead or dying and want you to replace them because they were “defective!” Yet, they have no problem mega-watering their lawns until flash-fungus sets in.

We have been encouraging people to install microirrigation systems like Rainbird or Netafim for their new plantings and will design and install these systems for them. The beauty of these is that the water is delivered right to the plant through drip line emitters laid out under the mulch thus eliminating water wastage by spraying into the air. An automatic controller attached to the system means you can essentially ‘set it, and forget it’ although seasonal or rainy day adjustments may need to be made. We have even attached tiny drip lines with bubblers on the end to successfully water containers. And that is a definite time-saver for people who want lots of containers, but have no time to water them when they need to be watered!

Now, aren’t those better looking than old, brown, shriveled up flowers and veggies?

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July 18, 2011

Midsummer

Filed under: Berries,Flowers,Grasses,Our gardens,Summer — Judy @ 10:10 am

Wow! We have been so busy that I haven’t given a thought to updating the blog. First, so much rain in the spring that it was hard to get in the gardens to do cleanup. Then, it was rush, rush, rush to get everything cleaned up, planted up, and spruced up for the holidays and beginning of summer. And, in the meantime, all the moisture in the soil dried up and huge cracks appeared in the parched earth while we were experiencing temperatures hovering around 90. This morning? A bit of soft, steady rain to moisten things up and maybe some more this afternoon – yay! We surely need it.

I’m loving this corner of the yard now – the red doublefile viburnum berries, the dark purple foliage and berries of the Diabolo ninebark, the hint of yellow on the chamaecyparis pisifera aurea, the wispy threads of the Morning Light miscanthus grass, and barely seen at the bottom of the picture, the bluish green fronds of a microbiota decussata. So much going on!

A closeup of the center shows all the coloration and texture variations going on.

Here is another corner with lots of interest now – amsonia hubrechtii in the center, coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ and ‘Goldsturm’ rudbeckia just below, lamb’s ears (which interestingly have not browned out and turned to mush this year) and ‘Amethyst Myst’ heuchera at the very bottom, hosta (can’t remember the name) and aruncus on the far right, hakonechloa ‘Aureo-marginata’ and sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ on the left, and spikes of siberian iris ‘Caesar’s Brother’ and ‘Butter and Sugar’ punctuating the scene here and there.

Despite the flooding rains this spring, the horrific heat this summer, and the tough love we are meting out to our gardens this year, they don’t look too bad! What’s going on in your gardens now?

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February 7, 2011

Genius loci pars duo

Filed under: Contests,Fall,Flowers,Grasses,Our gardens,Spring,Summer,Veggies,Winter — Judy @ 10:25 pm

I’ve been thinking more about the concept of ‘Genius loci’ and how it relates to my own personal gardens. Currently buried under a sea of white here in upstate New York, I thought that perhaps I could find some older pictures of my gardens to use to convey ‘the spirit of the place’ to others for the Picture This contest for February over at Gardening Gone Wild. I found nothing that I felt was suitable. Why was that? Had I ignored the ‘Genius loci’ when I was creating my own gardens or had the ‘Genius loci’ really left the area!

First of all, location, location, location. Andrea Jones’ photos showed us enticing and gorgeous vistas. I live in suburbia. Granted, we have almost an acre of land, but everywhere you look there is another house impinging on the “vista.” Losing seven mature trees in ice storms over the years does not help! I can’t grow trees tall enough in my lifetime to block out all those houses looming over us.

So what if I thought about the ‘borrowed’ vistas, a time-proven fundamental of landscape design? Hmm! I found this, this, and this.

Yes, but those are not of my gardens specifically and doesn’t everyone have lovely pictures of snowstorms and sunsets and moons? Well, what else could I find that would entice you in and make you want to visit, or at least to convey what makes my gardens special to me?

Nice range of colors, nice sunshine, open gate, feels good to me, but that picture brings up the second major problem – I am not a very good photographer! There’s that pool skimmer and brush in the corner. If I crop that out, the picture just doesn’t have the same feeling. It becomes blasé – all because of a pool skimmer? Ok, so my photographic skills need to be improved on, but surely among all those hundreds, nay, thousands of photos I have taken over the years, there might be a few really good ones of my own gardens. Hah!

At this point in my thinking, I still don’t know whether I had ignored the ‘Genius loci’ or whether it had left when I wasn’t looking (if a ‘Genius loci’ can even do that!). It occurred to me that our little plot of land used to be a cornfield before it became suburbia. But what do they do when they build and build and build? Why, they scrape off all the good dirt and sell it down the river! Yikes! What if there never was a ‘Genius loci’ here?

No, no no! I mean, really, look at that pool picture again – there are some good things going on there! There are some pretty perennials, some great grasses, some shrubs growing into nice specimens, and lots of varied evergreens (both mine and borrowed).

All right, so maybe I need to think more about what I love or want in my gardens. In no particular order then –

Attracting birds, even predators like this juvenile Cooper’s hawk:

A place for children and adults to play – in the pool, in the yard:

A place to grow lots of vegetables and fruit and flowers:

A place for herbs for my cooking adventures:

So, what about the ‘Genius loci’ in my own gardens? Perhaps we created a new one while bringing in new soil and composting and amending and planning and planting all these years, and maybe it is just waiting under the snow to emerge once again in the spring.

Too bad I don’t have the photographic skills to convey the ‘Genius loci’ to you . . . yet!

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February 6, 2011

Genius loci

Filed under: Contests,Fall,Miscellaneous,Parks,Summer,Travel,Winter — Judy @ 3:17 pm

They are running another photo contest over at Gardening Gone Wild, this time having to do with pictures demonstrating ‘Genius loci.’ So, what does that mean?

Essentially, ‘Genius loci’ means “special spirit or atmosphere of a place.” It’s a fundamental principle in landscape architecture and one that I feel strongly about when designing gardens or landscapes. Consider Alexander Pope’s seminal verse:

Consult the genius of the place in all;
That tells the waters or to rise, or fall;
Or helps th’ ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades,
Now breaks, or now directs, th’ intending lines;
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.

I spend a considerable amount of time acquainting myself with the ‘spirit of a place,’ listening with my heart and my head to what the land tells me, before I begin designing or even dig one iota of soil. I ‘consult the genius of the place’ first.

The judge for the contest, Andrea Jones, has posted several gorgeous, gorgeous photos to illustrate this concept and has asked readers to share the special spirit or atmosphere in their own gardens or special places. This, of course, has made me think about my own personal gardens and I’ve concluded that the ‘Genius loci’ has gotten up and left the area while I’ve been busy creating for others, at least for the moment. Hmmm, can all this snow be the “white-wash” I need to visualize how to invite the ‘Genius loci’ back to my own spaces?

In any case, while examining Andrea Jones’ photos, one gets the feeling that what makes a certain place, or a landscape, or a garden, magical is the innate beauty of the location. Capturing that magical spirit with a camera is inherently difficult. She says, “It’s just a question of feel and intuition.” Yes, lots of experience and maybe luck too? She also says, “Then I wait for the light” before she captures the scene.

The pictures I am sharing with you today, while not of my own garden, are of locations that demonstrate a special spirit or atmosphere of nature to me. The light or situation at the time was magical, and I was certainly lucky to capture the picture when I did. Here’s the background on them:

Fall colors: We were driving down a back road during the fall and this vista magically appeared. Stop the car! Fortunately, I had my camera with me!

Fall colors in Upstate New York

Foggy Fort Niagara: This shot was taken on a September evening as the fog was rolling in off of Lake Ontario onto the Niagara River. Spooky, yet calming at the same time.

Fog rolling in near Old Fort Niagara, Youngstown NY

Mendon Ponds: The little beech tree glows like a beacon in the cold winter light, guiding the cross-country skier around the Quaker Pond loop.

Beech tree in wintery Mendon Ponds Park

Canandaigua Lake: Another wild and wooly rainstorm is beginning its march down the hills and across the lake – watch out! Here it comes!

Rainstorm approaching across Canandaigua Lake

And finally, the picture I have chosen to submit to the contest was taken early in the morning as the fog was beginning to burn off over Mirror Lake. This is a location in the Adirondacks that speaks to my heart, and one that I think of often; that calms me when restless, and that cheers me when sad. We have many fond memories of visiting there. The picture was a film shot from many years ago and I had no idea that it would turn out like this until it was developed. There is one teeny tiny bright spot of color – my daughter wearing her orange life jacket! Serendipitous!