Category: The Gardening Guy

Gather ideas from great green spaces

One of the best ways to learn how to create a lovely garden is to see others. Visit good gardens of neighbors, great gardens near and far. I recently visited three great gardens and, as always when viewing other gardens, they gave me much to consider. The gardens I visited were Bedrock Gardens in Lee, N.H., Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

All these gardens had significant areas of lawn or meadow. I realize that lawns are not in favor, generally, among the pro-pollinator and bird crowd. But if you provide plenty of plants that support pollinators, I do not see lawns as bad. Each of these gardens has plenty of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Something is always in bloom, including both native plants and exotic ones.

So what does lawn accomplish? It provides contrast — a simple green palette — to show off the plants. Expanses of green are soothing to the eye. I can only focus on so many amazing plants before I get visually fatigued, much as I do when I visit an art museum.

Lawn also allows you to stand back to see the landscape from a distance. For trees, that is important. In a forested area, and all three of these gardens have them, individual trees are sometimes hard to see. They blend in with the others. But I need to stand back to look at a majestic beech or oak that towers 100 feet above me.

Bedrock Gardens only recently was deeded over from the original owners, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger, to the nonprofit that manages the property. Jill is an amazing sculptor who for over 30 years has created art to surprise and delight visitors to this 20-acre garden. Much of her art is painted welded steel that will delight visitors for the century ahead. She is the modern Alexander Calder of gardens.

Although I am not an artist, I do purchase and create art and whimsy for my own gardens, and you can, too. Look around at what you can use: a brass headboard from an abandoned bed; the rim of an old wagon wheel, a collection of stacked stones or a single tall standing stone buried in the ground. Stone always enhances a garden. Walls are expensive but almost worth their weight in gold.

Pathways are important to a great garden, too. They lead the visitor from one area to another. Placing art or even a bench at a distance pulls viewers forward, luring them to see what is ahead. Chanticleer has wonderful pathways through the woods that appear to be wood chips embedded in rubber. Very soothing to knees and feet.

My late sister, Ruth Anne Mitchell, taught me long ago when viewing art or gardens, “If you see a place to sit down, sit down.” So I do, and I find it enhances the experience of the garden. Not only am I less tired; often gardens surprise us with something special near a resting point. Perhaps you can design a special feature near a bench: rare and dainty plants or a small water feature.

All three of the gardens I visited made much use of water in the landscape. I am lucky enough to have a small stream that runs by my gardens. I built a bench near it, so I can listen to the burble of the water. And you can tune your brook: Place stones that hold back water, allowing it to cascade over them. Different drops create different sounds.

Years ago, for a New York Times article, I interviewed by phone the designer of the gardens at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Robert Irwin. He created a recirculating stream that crossed a path through a woodland area seven times. He told me he tuned it so that at each little bridge visitors would hear a different aquatic tune. Think of that if you have a stream on your property.

Color is very important in designing good or great gardens. I only got the eight-color box of crayons as a boy; my sister Ruth Anne got the 64-crayon box. But I have learned to appreciate all the nuances of color and how they go together. The best explanation of how colors go together — or don’t — is a book by garden writer Sydney Eddison: The Gardener’s Palette: Creating Color in the Garden (Contemporary Books, 2003, $30 in hardback). Get it if you can find a copy.

Great gardens like those at Longwood, an old DuPont family residence originally, recognize that color is important all year. But most shrubs and perennials only bloom for a few weeks. So they choose trees and shrubs that are not only sculptural in form but also have nuanced colors in their leaves. Green is not one color but many. Choose wisely.

Lastly, another way to present color all spring, summer and fall is to use annual flowers liberally. Many of these will keep on blooming in an effort to create seeds. Pots of annual flowers are used frequently in these great gardens. Pots place flowers closer to the viewer’s eye and can also be replaced with other pots if the flowers finish their displays or look a bit bedraggled.

So do visit other gardens this summer, whether at a local garden club tour or one of the fine gardens I mentioned here today.

Henry is a garden consultant and the author of four gardening books. He speaks often to garden clubs and library groups. Reach him at [email protected] or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

Featured photo: Formal use of lawns and water at Longwood. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

All hail the tomato!

For me tomatoes are the best-tasting and most important vegetable I grow. I eat them raw in salads and sandwiches or cooked in soups and stews. I dehydrate some, I freeze many whole, and I make some sauce for quick dinners in winter. But they are not grown without difficulties — and sometimes heartbreak.

Heartbreak is rare. More than 10 years ago something called “late blight” came early and infected tomatoes all over New England. Plants blackened and died, and the fruits rotted quickly, becoming inedible.

Varieties of tomatoes have been bred to resist late blight since that fatal summer. The only one I have grown is called ‘Defiant,’ developed by Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It is a nice F-1 hybrid with 4- to 6-ounce fruits that appear early. It is a determinate tomato, which means that it produces a crop, then dies. Indeterminate varieties keep on producing until frost or blight kills them.

Of lesser portent is ‘early blight.’ Except for first-time gardeners, we all get it. It causes lower leaves to darken and dry up, but fruit is produced until all the leaves are gone. You can minimize this problem by mulching under your tomatoes with grass clippings or chopped fall leaves. You should do that now. Unlike late blight, early blight survives our winters in the soil, and splash from hard rains or watering gets it onto the leaves.

Other fungal diseases are common but can be minimized by spacing your plants well so they are not crowded. I use 24-inch spacing between plants and that seems adequate. It allows good sunshine on the leaves and breezes to keep the plants healthier.

To minimize diseases, don’t get the leaves of your tomatoes wet if you can avoid it. Avoid overhead watering devices, even though they are convenient. I use a watering wand to water my veggies as it allows me to direct the water just where my plants need it. It saves water, too, as I am not watering the walkways — and encouraging weeds there. The brand I like best is Dramm. Theirs allow good flow but are gentle on the plants.

By now most of you have planted your tomatoes. If you haven’t, and if you think this will be a hot, dry summer, plant them deep in the soil. You can bury the root ball 6 inches down or more, and the stem will grow roots in the cooler, moister soil down deep.

Tomato plants need support. Forty years ago or so, when I was less experienced than I am now, I tried just putting straw on the ground and letting my tomatoes flop over and lay on the ground. I had heard it would work just fine, but it didn’t. It was harder to weed, and the tomatoes were more prone to rot.

Now I use tomato cages. They are an investment but last for 20 years or more, especially if you store them in the barn for winter. Get the biggest ones you can find. Generally that means a wire cage that has four legs (not three) and is 54 inches tall. These cages need to be pushed into the ground at least 6 inches so they will not tip over. If you have rocky soil you may have to try several positions before you can install it deep enough.

Alternatively, you can buy 5- or 6-foot hardwood stakes. These are one-inch-square stakes that come with a pointed end that you can drive into the soil with a hammer — small rocks or not. But you have to tie your tomatoes to the stakes as they grow up. You can use old rags to tie them on, or sisal twine. Don’t use plastic twine as the vines may get damaged when they are loaded with heavy tomatoes. You may need to tie your tomatoes onto cages, too.

Throughout the summer you should prune out excess “suckers” that grow between the main stalk and a branch. These are just little shoots that develop into branches that clutter up the interior of your plant. They can shade out leaves and encourage diseases. If your plants get too tall in late summer, cut off the tops. This will keep the plants in their cages and putting their energy into producing fruits, not growing taller.

I grow at least a dozen Sun Gold cherry tomato plants each year. Each plant produces more tomatoes than I can count (even if I take off my socks to use both my fingers and toes). They are supremely tasty fresh, and are great dried and saved for soups and stews. I cut each tomato in half and use a food dehydrator to get it ready for storage. Later, I add them to soups, stews — and even scrambled eggs.

Big tomatoes can be frozen whole and stored in zipper bags, or chopped and stored in quart jars in the freezer. They aren’t suitable for sandwiches, but they are organic and tasty in cooked dishes.

If you freeze tomatoes whole, all you need to do is make sure they are clean. When you take them out of the freezer, you can remove the skins easily if you want by running them under hot tap water and rubbing gently.

No matter what I do with tomatoes, they always add flavor to any dish. I can’t wait for this season’s crop to be ready.

Henry is a UNH Master Gardener and the author of four gardening books. Reach him at [email protected]. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH.

Featured photo: Primula vialii is not commonly sold, but is wonderful. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Make a plan before you go shopping

I’m a sucker for a good-looking flower. Back when I was first developing my flower beds I would go to a plant nursery and grab everything and anything that was in bloom and looking great. And I believe in buying multiples: not one plant, but three or five! Needless to say, I was in trouble when I got home and looked for a place to plant them. I needed to create new beds for each truckload of perennials I brought home. Even so, I couldn’t help myself.

Now I am more judicious when I go shopping for plants: I decide ahead of time what I need, and how many. I decide where they will go before I leave home. Still, a few plants seduce me with their beauty every time I arrive at a good greenhouse.

By the way, I’ve heard from many gardeners that some of their perennials, trees and shrubs were damaged by a hard frost in May. Leaves that turned brown will not recover — but will be replaced. I am cutting damaged stems of perennials back to the ground and they should re-sprout. Trees and shrubs that have gone through the winter and leafed out are hardy here and should send out new leaves on their stems, even if they don’t bloom this year. They have dormant buds that will wake up, and plenty of energy in their roots. I won’t bother taking off the dead leaves. So stop worrying if yours got frost-damaged.

Peonies, primroses and barrenwort (which is usually referred to by its scientific name, Epimedium) are blooming in my gardens. I recommend that you buy these now, while in bloom, so you know what you are getting — and if you like them as much as I do.

Some peonies are highly fragrant, others not at all. Some have blossoms with many petals (called doubles) while others have just one or two rings of petals (called singles). Doubles are magnificent but often flop when it rains, sometimes breaking their stems. So you need to tie them to stakes or support them in wire cages made for the task. If you see both kinds in bloom, you can decide what you want to buy.

Most plants have a finite lifespan, but peonies seem to last forever. I have a division of one that was my grandmother’s — and she died in 1953. So plant them well: I dig a wide hole and add compost to it, along with some organic fertilizer — which is naturally slow release. Full sun is best, but they will do OK with 4 to 6 hours of sunshine.

Peonies can be fussy: don’t cover the little growing points beneath the soil with more than ¾ of an inch of soil, or they probably will not bloom. If yours don’t bloom, remove some soil from around them as they are probably too deeply planted.

Primroses, generally, do well in partial to full shade. Some do well in dry soil, but most like moist, rich soil. Read the plant tag carefully before planting. Sometimes I will try a plant in one place, and if after a year or two it is not performing well I move it. Sometimes I move a plant more than once to find the right place for it.

Arlene Perkins of Montpelier, Vermont, is an expert grower of primroses. She told me long ago that all primroses like to grow under old apple trees. The partial shade is right for most, and the soil is naturally enriched by dropping leaves and fruit over time. It is under a cluster of old wild apples that I have had my best luck with primroses, particularly the candelabra or Japanese primrose (Primula japonica). They have multiplied by seed and root from a few planted 20 years ago to over 500 plants, I estimate.

Last year I planted many Primula viallii (no common name) in the perfect growing conditions for them. They bloomed magnificently last summer but so far not one has shown up again. The blossoms are very different from any I know: like little red-topped elf caps over pink/purple bases. It said to self-sow, and it is early yet, so I might see some yet.

Lastly, I love barrenwort or Epimedium. I have about eight different species or varieties of Epimedium, and all are wonderful. Epimedium grow in light to deep shade and do fine under deciduous trees, despite the competition from tree roots for moisture and minerals. My resource books tell me they do best in moist soils, but I grow them routinely in fairly dry soils. I think rich soil is the key, not the amount of moisture.

The common red one (Epimedium rubrum) blooms early in spring but hides its flowers under its leaves, which I don’t like. But it forms such a dense shade cover with its handsome leaves that no weeds will grow under it — so I forgive it.

The colors I grow range from pure purple to red to pink to white, with others a variety of yellows. Again, I suggest buying them in bloom — now — so you can see if the blossoms are prominent above the leaves, or hidden below. The common red one (Epimedium rubrum) blooms early in spring but hides its flowers under its leaves, which I don’t like. But it forms such a dense shade cover with its handsome leaves that no weeds will grow under it — so I forgive it.

I like “collecting” different varieties of plants I like and seeing the differences between different kinds. If one kind does well, its cousins probably will, too. So go buy more of your favorites!

Henry is a UNH Master Gardener and the author of four gardening books. Reach him at [email protected]. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH.

Featured photo: Primula vialii is not commonly sold, but is wonderful. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Savor sorrel in soup and salad

Even if you planted your peas and spinach in April, you will not be eating them anytime soon. Despite days of full sun and occasional days of high temperatures, spring in New England is often cold and rainy, too. Our vegetable gardens putter along, but few things are ready to eat until June, or later. There are vegetables you can be eating now, however, if you plan right.

I eat parsnips as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws. How? I overwinter parsnips in the ground, which sweetens them up and makes them even tastier. I plant parsnip seeds in June. They need warm soils to germinate. Even then, they take two to three weeks to come up out of the ground.

Parsnip seeds only are good for one year, so buy new seeds each year. Plant the seeds an inch apart and half an inch deep. A key to success is to thin your parsnips so they are not crowded. Thin them in July when the greens are 4 to 6 inches tall. They need 3 to 4 inches of space between plants if you want good-sized parsnips. If you mulch the plants well with ground-up autumn leaves or straw, your work is done until harvest time the following spring.

Parsnips are an old-fashioned vegetable, but prepared properly they are delicious. I peel and chop parsnips into half-inch-thick slices and steam them until slightly soft. Then I cook them briefly in a frying pan with butter. At the last moment I add maple syrup and cook at low heat until it caramelizes. Yum! Don’t have any this year? You can buy parsnips at your farmers market or even the grocery store.

A little-known perennial green is sorrel. Once established, it produces a plethora of light green, lemon-flavored leaves, year after year. The French make soup with it, perhaps because the greens themselves pretty much melt and disappear if you sauté them. So for years I just added them raw to salads.

Then I got Deborah Madison’s wonderful cookbook, Vegetable Literacy. She uses sorrel with peas and leeks to make a soup. But I don’t really follow recipes, and found that yes, indeed, sorrel goes well with peas. But I found I can boil frozen peas, then at the last minute add chopped sorrel. Just boil it for another minute, drain, add butter and enjoy!

Another early perennial vegetable, asparagus, is also coming into season. If you like asparagus — and I can’t imagine anyone not liking it steamed and slathered in butter — you should grow it. It is mostly sold as crowns (roots), not seeds, for starting a patch, but seeds are available if you want to start an acre of asparagus.

Don’t crowd your asparagus. The roots are sold in bundles of 25, which is fine for a family of two. Plant them 18 inches apart and 6 inches deep. Buy any of the Jersey hybrids; they are all male and won’t start new plants that will crowd out your established plants. When planting, add lots of compost and some organic fertilizer. They like full sun and plenty of moisture, but will grow with as little as four to six hours of sunshine if that is all you can offer.

To keep on getting good asparagus every year, keep it well-weeded and top dress it with organic fertilizer every year after you finish picking. Mulch is good for keeping weeds down. And don’t over-pick your asparagus: Three weeks is the season for a well-established patch. Don’t pick any in Year 1 or 2. The plants need to store lots of energy for next spring’s production, so they need to grow fronds all summer for that.

Fiddleheads are a great spring treat. They are the new shoots of the ostrich fern, a big shade-loving fern that is common in New England. All ferns come up as fiddleheads, but only the ostrich fern is tasty. There is an easy way to identify them: They are the only ones that have a groove up the inside of the stem, just like celery.

I sauté fiddleheads in butter in a cast iron frying pan. First I brown some slivered almonds in olive oil, then I add the fiddleheads and some chopped garlic or the bulbs of ramps (more on them below). I pick not only the curled part of the fiddlehead but also the first 6 inches of stem. But I only take one or two fiddleheads from each plant to allow it to develop well.

Ramps, also called wild leeks, are easy to grow if you have an open wooded area with maple, ash or beech. They are commonly sold now at farmers markets. Both the bulb and the leaves are edible, so cut off the bulbs and plant them. Next year they will please you by showing up in early spring. If you plant 25 to 50 bulbs each year for three years or more, you will develop a nice patch. Once established they will spread by seed and root.

My favorite way of eating ramps is to clean them and rub off the gelatinous covering of the bulb, and then chop the entire plant for cooking. I fry them in a cast iron pan until the leaves wilt, then make scrambled eggs. They can also be added to anything that requires garlic or onion — they are the same family.

We will have to wait until July or August to get our tomatoes, even those like ‘Early Girl’ and ‘Fourth of July’ that are quick to produce. But if you start some perennials in your garden, you can be enjoying tasty treats even now, in May. I am.

Henry Homeyer is the author of four gardening books. His email is [email protected]. He is a lifelong organic gardener and a 20+-year veteran of the UNH Master Gardener program.

Featured photo: Ramps are easy to grow and a real spring treat. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Dig some holes, see what you’ve got

Most gardeners know that success in the garden depends on many factors: You can’t grow a sun-loving plant in a shady area, for example. And a shrub that loves wet places won’t do well in dry soil. But the key to success is really the quality of your soil. Not only that, any soil can be improved with some help from you, the gardener.

Ten thousand years ago the glaciers made a final pass over New England, grinding rocks into sand and smaller bits that became sandy, clay and loam soils. Soil is made up of roughly 45 percent ground rocks, 5 percent organic matter, and the other 50 percent is air. Surprisingly, plants get their oxygen through their roots, not leaves.

Of course if you have been driving your car over the lawn, it is compacted and has much less air. Even walking regularly over the ground will compact the soil, which you should avoid, especially when the soil is wet. Compacted soil not only has less oxygen, but also is tough for roots to penetrate, and it is more likely to be waterlogged. Crabgrass does much better than planted grasses in compacted soil.

An easy test for soil compaction in your lawn is to take a screwdriver with a 6-inch shaft and see if you can easily insert it into your soil. If not, the soil is seriously compacted. A lawn with compacted soil will improve if you spread a half-inch layer of compost over it every year. Earthworms and other soil organisms will slowly move it into the soil, improving it. Flower and vegetable beds can be loosened with a fork or hand tool.

It makes sense to get a soil test done every three years to see if your soil is improving with your efforts. Your state extension service has a lab that will test your soil for a fee. Get the home garden test, which will tell your soil pH (acidity), mineral content, organic matter content and soil texture. If your vegetable garden is near the house and it was built before 1978, get the soil tested for lead (the law prohibiting lead in paints passed in 1978). Some states include testing for lead for free in the standard test.

By adding compost or aged manure to your soil in the garden, you will increase the percentage of organic matter and improve soil texture or tilth. You should have at least 4 percent organic matter, and 8 percent is terrific. I add compost every time I plant anything, even though my soil is excellent. Good compost contains lots of living bacteria and fungi that help plants.

Your soil test will not tell you how much nitrogen your soil has, as that number varies daily according to moisture levels and temperature. But if you have plenty of organic matter, it probably has adequate nitrogen. Still, I add some slow-release organic fertilizer when planting anything except annual flowers. Organic fertilizer (unlike most chemical fertilizers) provides nitrogen and other nutrients slowly, rather than all at once. This encourages healthy growth, not a fast spurt of green growth.

Two simple tests you can do involve digging holes. Dig a hole with straight edges down at least a foot to see the soil profile. The top layer will be darkest, as that is where the topsoil is — maybe just 2 inches, or maybe as much as 6 inches. The deeper the topsoil, the better. Adding compost and working it in will increase the quality of the soil; the top 6 inches of soil is where most plant roots are (except for trees).

The next layer is subsoil, which is a different color, perhaps a light brown or reddish brown. Finally, you may get to a layer of sand, gravel or clay. Sand or gravel will help your soil drain well; clay will act like a barrier, holding water. If the soil stays wet much of the year, it will be gray.

Drainage is important for most plants. You can test this by digging a hole 24 inches wide and about 8 inches deep. Fill it with water. If it drains out right away, or within 20 minutes, you have very good drainage. If it holds water for a few hours, especially if there has been much recent rain, you are fine. If it holds water overnight, you have a drainage problem.

If you have a drainage problem, you can build raised beds, either with wood sides or just mounded up. There are plenty of companies selling raised beds or corners for making raised beds with lumber you buy locally. Most lumber stores will cut your lumber to length.

Another simple soil test you can do for free is to moisten some soil, then rub it between your fingers. If it is sticky, it is a clay soil. If you feel grains of sand, it is a sandy soil. If it is neither, and is a nice brown color, you have a good loam, which is what you want.

The last test is to take a handful of moist soil and try to form it into a cylinder. Clay soil will hold together well. Loam, which has some clay, will hold together but break apart if you touch it with your other hand. Sandy soil will fall apart when you squeeze it. The remedy for sandy or clay soil is a generous dose of compost.

Rome was not built in a day, the saying goes. This is true for soil, too. It takes years to get your garden soil in optimum condition everywhere. So work on the places where you are planting for quicker results.

Featured photo: Raised beds are great for areas that flood or stay wet. Photo by Henry Homeyer.