Protect Your Landscape Plants From Hot, Dry Weather

Here in the Upstate of South Carolina we are experiencing severe drought conditions. plants are dying for lack of moisture. People such as yourself have stopped improving your yards. Why spend time and money and effort, just to see your plants dry up and die? I can show you how your plants can beat the heat with ease. And, by protecting your plants from drought conditions, you will also be reducing the growth of weeds and automatically be saving yourself the effort of putting down costly ground cover cloth.

One very simple way to help your plants stay moist all summer long is to build layers of water-saving mulch. While you are saving your plants, you will be doing yourself and your community a huge favor; you will be recycling. That mulch is already waiting for you at no additional cost to you.

If your home or business is anything like mine, you generate loads of junk mail, phone books, catalogs, cereal, cracker and cardboard boxes every day. If it is made out of paper, it will bio-degrade! Keep it out of the landfill. Why purchase bagged soil amendments when you are hauling free mulch home in every grocery bag or picking it up by the handful from your mailbox every day? A shredder is nice, but you don't really need a shredder if you don't already own one.

Here's how you do it:
1. Use a shovel to loosen the soil in a small area around where you want to put your new plant.

2. Wet down the ground, either with water from a bucket or garden hose.

3. Set your plant in the ground. Set it high in the hole. Leave some of the potting mix showing above the ground to start with.

4. Place at least 10 layers of newspaper all around the plant. Don't crowd the paper up too close to the plant. Mice might like to chew on the paper and enjoy your tree, too.

5. Wet down the newspaper so it will not blow away while you start the next step.

6. Flatten out a large cardboard box. Cut a hole about 3-6 inches larger than your plant.

7. Lay this cardboard around your plant to hold down the wet newspaper. Or, you can use several smaller boxes and overlap the edges so weeds can't get through.

8. Wet down the cardboard.

9. Mulch over the cardboard and up around the new plant. (Bark or pine straw mulch, leaves, grass clippings, anything that will eventually rot down, but will hold moisture now.

10. Wet down the mulch as you put it down so it is nice and damp.

11. Inspect you tree after several days. Stick your hand in under all that mulch and see if the ground is moist. If not, water again.

12. It is possible that you may not have to water again all summer. Please do check under the mulch every few weeks if there is no rainfall. Some plants require more water than others.

13. Fertilize in the spring. Do NOT fertilized late in the summer. It will encourage tender new growth too late in the season and you plant may be damaged by frost during the winter.

14. Renew the mulch as needed. If the grass and weeds really take over, put down more layers of wet newspaper and cardboard and mulch.

Growing Bamboo As a Landscape Plant

Bamboo is one of the most versatile plants in the world. The wood from bamboo is extremely light, strong, and durable, yet it grows far faster than even much softer woods. For all of its marvelous strength as a building material, it can also be processed to create some of the softest fabric available today. All of this is in a plant that is also very disease-resistant, easy to grow, and quite beautiful. For these reasons and more, it is quickly becoming a popular choice as a landscape plant. Big bamboo is especially popular as a privacy plant for it's extraordinarily quick growth. With a little care, it can be an excellent addition to your garden or landscape.

Choosing the Right bamboo plant for You

The main considerations when choosing your bamboo should be hardiness. This is a pretty simple thing to factor in, as any reputable nursery or plant source will be able to tell you the hardiness by zone of any bamboo they sell. When choosing your bamboo, keep in mind the eventual height and potential for invasiveness. Many types of bamboo spread rapidly, and this can become a problem in coming years. To reduce this, either choose a bamboo that is of a non-running or clumping type or install a spread barrier. A spread barrier can be just a sheet of thick plastic (about 40 mil) creating an underground border defining the edge of the area in which you want your bamboo to be spread. Bury your plastic from the surface to around three feet deep to block the rhizomes from spreading the plant underground. The height to which some big bamboo varieties grow can also surprise many new growers. Most common varieties can be trimmed fairly easily to a wide range of heights, but trimming the top ten feet off of a thirty-five foot tall plant can be somewhat difficult. Thus, it is sometimes best to keep upward growth limitations in mind when choosing your bamboo if you won't be willing or able to trim it down.

Planting bamboo

Choose a spot for your bamboo that gets a fair amount of sun; either full sun for part of the day or filtered sun all day. Most bamboo types do well near water, but don't thrive with wet roots, especially when young. For most bamboos, plant in a moderately acidic, loamy soil. In very heavy soil, digging organic material into the dirt where you are planting can make a big difference, as can heavy mulching (which will attract earthworms, who will loosen the soil for you). Depth and hole size will vary depending on the type of bamboo you're planting, so following the instructions of your plant source is best. Generally, though, you'll dig a hole to about the same depth as the root ball and break up the soil around it to allow the roots room to grow out. Water thoroughly once you've filled in around the root ball, and keep the plant watered for the first several weeks, taking care not to overwater (the ground should be moist but not wet a few minutes after watering). Too little water is better than too much water for newly transplanted bamboo, but keep in mind that new bamboo in hot or windy weather will need more water. The best time to plant bamboo varies by area, but spring is usually best, as it will give the bamboo plant lots of time to establish itself before winter comes. However, in mild climates most of the year works well, and even in cooler climates nearly any warm part of the year will work, so long as there is time for your bamboo to get established for winter.

Bamboo plant Care

Bamboo is a pretty versatile, adapting plant, and if you've chosen the right type for your area and planted it in a good spot, it should do well with very little care once established. However, if you want to maximize growth, there are three important parts of bamboo care to keep in mind: mulching, fertilizing, and watering. A thick mulch can do a great deal to protect the roots of your bamboo, especially if you are growing bamboo that is only borderline hardy to your area or if planting later in the year, and it can also provide nutrients and help the soil to stay moist. Just about any organic mulch will work. The leaves that fall from your bamboo throughout the year, and especially in spring, are best left on the ground where they can act as part of the mulch and recycle nutrients back into the soil. Grass is the best mulch for bamboo, but hay and wood chippings are also great choices. For quickest growth, fertilize in the Spring after the plant is well established. A general chemical fertilizer is OK, but a light layer of cow manure (or any other cool manure) will work better (as well as being cheaper and better for the environment). bamboo does pretty well without too much water, but if you want your plants to thrive throughout the dry seasons, you'll need to water them regularly, letting the ground dry out between waterings.

Bamboo is an extremely tough plant, capable of surviving many types of mistreatment. It is also a beautiful plant with unique characteristics that make it a perfect plant for privacy, sound dampening, or just as an accent for almost any property or garden.

Suit Your House - Choosing Landscape Plants

The plants you select and plant in your landscape can create a dramatic effect to accentuate the positive or ruin its charm.

Choose plants to Suit the House

If a house is high and narrow, use tall, spreading shrubs such as lilac or honeysuckle placed beside the front corners. This "pulls it down," especially if you plant smaller shrubs next to them to taper off to ground level.

Emphasize upright lines of Georgian or Colonial doorways by framing them with columnar cedars or junipers, or "pull them down" by planting low, globular cedars or mugo pines. If the house is wide and rambling, use soft, spreading deciduous shrubs to match its lines and upright, columnar ones to break the monotony.

Ranch style houses call for low shrubs and trees that have a rounded or horizontal branching form. You can also use more contrasting textures and colors with these homes than with older ones.

Plants Alter Proportions

Plants can do much to modify the proportions of the house and the size of the lawn. Just as narrow houses can be made to appear wider by planting shrubs and candle bush beside them, or wide wall spaces can be broken up by upright-growing shrubs, so parallel lines of flower borders or street trees give an illusion of added length. On the other hand, any line that cuts across our line of vision, such as a hedge or a terrace slope, foreshortens distance and gives breadth.

Plants in the center of a lawn draw our attention and seem to reduce the size of the lawn.

Small areas appear larger if you use shrubs with foliage of tine texture. Large areas need large shrubs with stout branches and large coarse-textured leaves for proper proportion.

Take advantage of the textures and colors of shrubs to lend emphasis to particular spots. Variegated, golden, or red foliage stands out against the darker green of other shrubs and holds attention. A large-leaved, coarse-twigged shrub stands out boldly against a background of finer foliage. Profuse bloom, particularly of light color, also draws attention for its period but it may spoil the general effect if it is in the wrong spot.

Landscape Services: Proper Care Required When Installing Weed Barrier

Installing weed control in your home’s gardens is a hassle in landscaping that is already established. Homeowners may choose to employ landscape servicecompanies to come in and handle the challenges that go along with the installation of weed barrier. It is not a difficult job however choosing the correct materials, prepping the land and securing the weed control are all areas that are equally important when doing this type of job in your landscaping.

Landscaping services are provided by most companies who also are employed to mow lawns and trim hedges. You will want to check with them to see if adding weed barrier is part of the services they provide. If so there are certain things to check before they begin the installation of weed barrier to your landscaping.

Make sure that the company is installing weed barrier for weed control that is made from a thick fabric. Some companies use plastic sheeting. This is not appropriate for gardens in which plants will live. It will not allow the oxygen or water to get through to the plants roots. It also creates an environment that does not allow for breathing which in turn creates mold and fungus. You need to look for a fabric that does not easily tear with your bare hands. Thinner weed fabric barriers will break down sooner allowing weeds to pop up in your landscape design.

The next thing you will want to ensure your landscape services company does is overlap the weed barrier by at least 3 inches of overlap. This ensures that weeds don’t find their way through these potential portholes of freedom.

Another area of concerns is the outside corners. It is important for pins to be used to hold the weed protection in place as you work. Corners are often neglected because the initial cut was made before checking to make sure the weed barrier had not shifted and the corners were still covered. It is also important to secure the points of intersection to keep them from shifting when applying ground cover.

Once your initial landscape weed barrier is installed it is important that your landscape services company installs a thick groundcover. Ground covering should be applied thick enough that the groundcover is not peeking through. Sunlight will cause the weed protection to break down over time. You will want a thick base coat of mulch or rock to be laid down initially and will then want to keep the area fresh by reapplying ground cover each spring to keep the covering thick and the weed barrier covered.

It is important that your landscape services company install the barrier leaving an opening that allows the plants to breath. The last thing you want is for the weed barrier to choke the plants. In order to do this correctly the company will use a technique that involves cutting an x pattern in the spot on the weed barrier where the plant will sit. They will then take the access and fold it back and cover the spot with ground cover.

It is important when dealing with landscaping that you don’t just jump in. Research the proper way to handle situations in your landscape and then execute. If you do it the other way around you will tend to throw a lot of money away in plants and materials that are of little use.

5 Must Know Tips For A Better Looking Landscape

There is no doubt that when landscaping one wants to save money, as well as have an attractive property. Not only can landscaping help you beautify your home, but it can also provide a source of satisfying exercise in the fresh air. When you take care of your yard on your own, it is possible to save money and to improve your physical conditioning. But if the landscape turns out to look bad, then that is so much time and money wasted. However, it is possible to ensure a better-looking landscape by following a few tips that can help you take better care of your yard.

Know your soil type. Some plants thrive in soil with more acidity, and others prefer a little more alkali. Additionally, sandy soil and clay soil, as well as the presence of a loamy soil, can make a difference in what types of plants will thrive in a landscape. You should have your soil evaluated in order to determine what types of vegetation should be planted on your property. When you purchase plants that will succeed in the soil conditions present in your yard, then you make a wiser money decision, and you end up with a more attractive landscape. If there are plants that you would like to use in your soil, but the soil is not quite ideal, it is possible to improve the soil to proper conditions. You need only add mulch or peat, or to add crushed limestone or clamshells, depending upon what you hope to accomplish. As long as there is not a great difference in what you have and what you hope to achieve, it is possible to make soil adjustments to be more accommodating.

Understand how much space each of the plants need. There are some plants that require more room for their root systems than others. If you choose one plant that tends to grow everywhere, and you do not have adequate space, you will find that your other plants may be crowded out or that they may choke and die. Also, make sure you understand the spacing requirements for between plants. Many shrubs and small trees need to be planted at least three to four feet apart to have enough room to grow.

Use native plants in your landscape design. One of the most effective things you can do to ensure a good-looking yard is to make use of native plants. Find out what plants grow best in your area, and what plants are indigenous to the region. This way you will already be ahead, in that you know that the plants you choose are adapted to the climate. You will not have to struggle against natural inclinations to keep your landscape looking beautiful. If you due use non-native plants, assure yourself that they come from a place that shares a climate similar to the one in which you live.

Plan your landscape around different blooming times. Different plants bloom at various times throughout the year. If all of the plants in your landscape are at their most attractive all at the same time, then your yard will look beautiful for a few weeks each year, but quite possible ugly the rest of the year. One way to help avoid this is to choose attractive bushes and shrubs that look good green, but also have some sort flower. However, it is a good idea to stagger plants among each other. Plant tulips and crocus among later-blooming plants so that in early spring the bulbs bloom, and then when those flowers’ time is up, the next plants will be in bloom. In this way the cycle of your landscape is in keeping with the seasons, and looks attractive all year round.

Use wood chips around shrubs, bushes and trees. Wood chips can help the ground around shrubs, bushes, and trees look more attractive. Not only do the chips cover the ground (often looking better than dirt), but they also help keep in moisture, repel weeds, and provide natural food as they break down. Likewise, attractive groundcover like chicks and hens placed around trees and shrubs can make the area more interesting and pleasing to the eye.

Green Landscape Design In Los Angeles - Using Native Plants In Your Landscape

In general, the landscape of a typical Los Angeles home consists of sod and softscape matter, the irrigation of which constitues approximately 50% of the average residential water bill. As one of the core tenants of low impact development is to reduce runoff, one of the most effective things we can do to reduce runoff is to lessen our overall use of water. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to make use of plants native to California in our landscape.

However, decreased water usage and runoff is not the only benefit of using native plants in your landscape. There are a number of reasons why native plants are the ideal choice for the eco-conscious home or business owner:

The native plants found in California are resistant to drought, and they are able to survive (and thrive) soley on local rainfall levels. As a result, using native plants in your landscape reduces the need for additional irrigation, and as a result, less water is sent to storm drains in the form of run off.

A reduction in watering means a reduction in water pumping costs, which requires electricity. 8% of California’s energy expenditure is geared towards pumping water.

Native plants support the delicate balance of our eco-system in ways that might not be readily apparent. For example: while there are 1000 different types of bees in California, many feed from only one speices of plant. If bees cannot survive, they cease to pollinate these plants, thereby endangering the existence of both plant and animal.

California native plants are aesthetically pleasing, and when utilized in an intelligent way as part of an overall pallete, they can create a remarkable impact in a Los Angeles landscape. In addition, these plants are certain to do well in our soil and under local conditions.

California natives work in conjunction with the ecology of our site and soil. Much of this ecology has been damaged in ways that are impercetible to us by the use of chemical fertilzer, pesticides, and cultivation. California natives augment the growth of fungi and bacterica, in addition to attracting and promoting the activity of eathworms.

These plants also tend to stablize and retain their size once full grown, which reduces pruning and maintenance. As a reuslt, our contribution to landfills is diminished. (Currently, California landfills are almost a quarter full with garden waste.

Since native plants are acclimated to local soil, the need for fertilzers and ammendments is signifcantly diminished. These chemicals alter the chemical composition of our local soil, and the by products of these chemical additives are swept away to our natural water ways.

Many of these local plants and shrubs are endangered or extinct, due in part to the expansion urbanization. Local animals depend on these plants for their livelihood.

How To Make Money At Home Growing Small Landscape Plants On 1/20 Acre Or Less

Small town, big town, it doesn’t matter, if you have a small area in your backyard that you can use for planting, then you can make money growing small plants at home. Actually you can make pretty good money on 1/40 of one acre. That’s an area about 30 feet by 40 feet.

You will be amazed at how many plants you can fit in an area that small, and at how much money you can make. Even apartment dwellers can do this! If you live in an apartment, just to get a feel for how fun and rewarding a tiny nursery can be, find somebody with a little piece of ground that they will either let you use, let you rent it, or do a joint venture with you.

Is there really a market for small plants? The market is huge, something like 4 billion dollars last year alone, and the demand is tremendous. As a small grower, you have a tremendous advantage over the larger nurseries, their overhead is very high. As a backyard grower, yours will be almost nothing.

You might be asking; "I live in a small town in a rural area, how many plants can I really sell?"

Tens of thousands if you want to. Most people don’t realize it, but large wholesale growers are the largest buyers of small plants in the country. They sell so many plants that they just can not produce them fast enough themselves, so they buy them from wherever they can find them. Just pack them up in a cardboard box and ship them anywhere you want.

I routinely buy large quantities of small plants and have them shipped thousands of miles to my house. Why do I buy plants if I know how to grow them myself? There are a lot of reasons, but one is because I am impatient and don’t like to grow Japanese Maples from seed. I can buy Japanese Maple seedlings for as little as 75 cents and all I have to do is pot them up and watch them grow.

I also buy large quantities of flowering shrubs that I would like to start propagating myself. I buy them for 50 cents, pot them up, and often sell them the next year for $4.97. But in the meantime I take cuttings from them to propagate for next year’s crop. Then I never have to buy that variety again.

Those are the same reasons that many wholesale nurseries are always looking for great deals on small plants. When they find someone like you, growing in their backyard, they are delighted because they know they can buy what they need for less money from a small backyard grower than they can if they buy from a large nursery.

It only stands to reason, your overhead is almost nothing, you don’t have to raise the price of your plants to pay for buildings, hundreds of acres of land, trucks, tractors, and dozens of employees.

How much money do you need to get started? Almost none. All you have to do is root some cuttings, and you’re on your way! There are dozens of easy plant propagation techniques that are so easy to learn that young children can do them, and with great success, I might add.

This propagation information is available to you free of charge at www.freeplants.com

The size of the area you need to get started is really up to you, but an area about the size of a picnic table is a start. I’m serious. I root my cuttings in flats that are about 12” by 15”, and can get between 100 and 150 cuttings per flat. In an area about the size of a picnic table you should be able to root several thousand cuttings at a time.

And guess what? As soon as they are well rooted, they have a value and can be sold immediately! Isn’t that cool? Typically a rooted cutting is worth about 50 cents. Let’s see now, 1500 cuttings at 50 cents each, that’s $750!!! Wow!!! The wheels should be turning now.

But you don't have to sell 50 cent plants, you can grow them until they’re bigger and get more money for them. That’s what I do, I pot them up in small pots and they sell like crazy right from my driveway at $4.97 each.

This spring we sold over $25,000 worth of $4.97 plants right from our driveway. One of the people that bought my Backyard Nursery E-book held a sale this spring and sold $2,800 worth of plants her first weekend. She was ecstatic! Of course we also sold plants for much more than that. I used to grow Japanese Red Maples and we sold those for $45 each, and they sold like hot cakes!

This is one of the most fun and rewarding home businesses you could ever get involved in. My kids have learned work ethics, the value of a dollar, and skills that will last them a lifetime. Any time they needed a little extra money all they had to do was step out the back door and earn the money they needed.

It costs very little to get started, and the rewards can be quite high. It’s certainly not a get rich quick plan (because there is no such thing!), but plenty of people have done very well in the nursery business. All it takes is determination and hard work. You can learn it as you go along. It’s much easier than you think.

Three Dependable Landscape Plants For Fast Privacy Screens In Dry Gardens

Many people are rediscovering the joys of staying home. Your garden can become the perfect place to provide a peaceful sanctuary to escape from the world and unwind. Screen plants can provide privacy in your garden, hide an unsightly area and provide shade. Hopseed Bush, Brush Cherry and Italian Cypress are three shrubs or small trees that are useful for screens, grow fast or are drought tolerant. Some plants have all three qualities!

When creating your backyard paradise these screening shrubs can also help create 'walls' to establish separate sections in a garden, so you can create different 'garden rooms' in your yard. Two of these are also good for planting in narrow spaces between houses to help block out the world. Try these versatile plants in your Patch of Heaven:

HOPSEED BUSH (Dodonaea viscosa)
USDA Zone: 9-11
Sunset Zone: 7-24
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Moderate to low, drought tolerant

Hop Seed bushes come with leaves in either bright, lime green or dark purple. Both versions have leaves about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide and are very shiny on multiple shrubby branches. These drought tolerant shrubs are fast growers to about 10 feet tall and almost as wide. They take full sun to part shade. Once established in the garden (1-2 years) they can survive on rainfall alone.

Hopseed bushes have a growth habit that is a bit airy, with lots of small branches and the long leaves add to the lacy feel. They can be trimmed as hedges or espaliers for a slightly denser effect. These are good for layering to create a full, lush feel in the border. They are perfect for the back of the bed (where the sprinkler won't reach), along fences or as border screens. In late spring they develop large, papery seed pods, usually light brown, which hang on for weeks and provide a dramatic effect. Although the seed pods break down quickly in the soil, I do not recommend planting these bushes near pools.

BRUSH CHERRY, CAROLINA LAUREL CHERRY (Prunus caroliniana)
USDA Zone: 7 - 9
Sunset Zone: 5 - 24
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Moderate to low

Brush Cherry is another dependable, versatile garden shrub for quick screens and hedges. These shrubs can grow up to 30 feet tall and 10 - 12 feet wide. Although I have seen mature stands of Carolina Laurel grow even taller. They can grow in full sun to part shade. Once established they can survive drought conditions. However, in desert areas they prefer less sun and will appreciate more water during the hottest summer weather.

Brush Cherries have a dense growth habit with lots of branches so they take well to heaving shearing as a hedge and can even be used for topiaries. Left untrimmed, they will still maintain their neat, shrubby shape, but the interior growth will not have leaves. They can also be trained as small multi-trunk trees. New growth is a pretty reddish rusty color in the spring. They get sprays of white flowers followed by clusters of small, bright red cherries. The cherries can stain concrete and make a mess. If you don't have enough birds in your area to take care of the cherries for you, just trim off the flowers before they set. This will also relieve the plant of the stress of producing seeds.

ITALIAN CYPRESS (Cupressus sempervirens)
USDA Zone: 7 - 9
Sunset Zone: 4 - 24
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Moderate to low, drought tolerant

Italian Cypress trees are a familiar staple in the city, growing along border lines as tall screens. They grow up to 60 feet high on single trunks and are generally 1-2 feet wide but mature plants can be much wider. All cypresses prefer full sun, but will tolerate part shade and can survive on little water once they are established in a year or two.

Italian cypress are perfect shrubs for problem areas. They grow tall but they're thin, so you can tuck them into narrow spaces. Their trunks will eventually reach about 12 inches around, so your narrow bed should at least be that wide. Their growth habit is sleek and cylindrical, with most of their leaves pointing up. They lose a small amount of needles during they year, but litter is not a big problem with these trees. They do not grow very fast the first year, but they will make up for their lack of growth in the second year. Continually trimming the tops will result in a slightly fatter shrub, but they are fairly care free, needing no trimming.

When you are planning on having your shrubs survive on rainfall, it is best to encourage deep root development early on by soaking your plants every few days instead of sprinkling the topsoil every night. Even established plants appreciate a deep soak during a heat wave, when the weather has been over 100 degrees, or when it has been especially dry and windy.

All three of these plants are growing happily in my heavy clay, alkaline soil in hot and sunny Southern California. Good luck and happy gardening!