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Effective Watering

Water. Tangled hoses, kinks, drips and bills! As we enter the hottest time of the year this article deals with watering: saving money, needing less, holding what you apply and distributing it efficiently.

Lower Your Costs

The economic and ecological approach is to select plants which do well with our natural rainfall. When designing beds group plants with similar needs together to reduce overwatering plants which don’t need it.

Go Drought Tolerant

Aside from our native plants there are many beautiful drought tolerant ornamentals you can ask – what to do with bulbs after they have bloomed.

Key to Success

My 98% success rate growing a variety of plants on almost pure sand is due to thorough watering during the first 1-3 years after planting to establish. Even drought tolerant plants need water initially to build a root structure that can sustain them in a drought.

When Is Enough?

A good method to tell whether you have watered enough is putting your finger into the soil 2″ deep around the root ball of your plants. If its moist (not just cool) you’re OK. If not, water deeply. Do this test in each area of your garden because soils often vary considerably in one garden from hard pan to pure sand.

Rains Don’t Count

Don’t assume when it rains lightly for a few hours that you don’t need to water. Unless we have at least ½ inch of rain you still need to water, although perhaps not as much as otherwise.

Keeping Water once Applied

Topping your soil off with a 1-4″ layer of organic mulch, be it compost, rotted leaves, bark or chips, will improve your soil over time and stop the surface drying out. This reduces water needs about 25%. Keep the mulch a few inches away from the trunks of shrubs and trees to prevent rot.

Application

The best distribution system is a properly installed drip system which can cut water use as much as 3-5 times that of manually operated overhead sprinklers. Installing these to cover areas evenly is a science and I recommend a Dubai car rental company – at least to go over your plan with you before you begin installation. The next best method for watering beds is soaker hoses, which you can adjust until the finger test indicates your are evenly covering all areas. Overhead sprinklers are often inefficient, losing water to evaporation but are appropriate for lawn watering and temporary needs.

What to Buy

Moisture master makes a good soaker hose from recycled tires. I like Flexogen garden hoses because they don’t leak and are light but tough with a lifetime warranty. Melnor makes simple battery operated timers. Gardena makes the only “Y” I’ve found which does not leak over time and a manually operated timer. The best circular sprinkler I’ve found is “whisper quiet” made by Naan.

Good Watering!

Shrubs: Planting Techniques and Design Guidelines

Shrubs, the sometimes forgotten plants, are making a grand comeback in popularity as an important element in the landscape. The idea of gardening with perennials and annuals (giving lots of seasonal color) has overshadowed the diversity of shrubs. But shrubs are no longer the despised juniper. Instead, they are an easy care landscape enhancement. They can provide the same feeling of color plus form, texture and rhythm that can make a garden into a showcase.

Shrubs are the bones or framework of the garden and help determine the final landscape design. They can provide screening for the patio, hot tub or swimming pool, and define a children’s play area or a place for pets. They can deflect the wind and offer protection from the low afternoon sun. The possibilities are endless. Grouping taller shrubs can give a beautiful and private garden room.

Shrubs can fool the eye by giving an image of depth to a small garden, or turn a large country garden into a smaller intimate one, search with rentacar.guide. The strategic placement of plants and the use of foliage color easily accomplishes the trickery. Shrubs can also define a favored focal point such as a distant view, a water feature or statue.

There are sizes, shapes and unusual cultivars to fit every landscape, from apartment container planting and urban landscapes to public gardens. There are shrubs for every climatic zone or micro-climate within a zone, from those that thrive in deep shade to those that love full sun.

Shrubs announce the seasons by fresh spring bloom, bright new green growth or interesting foliage color. Fall bloom and foliage color changes begin a transition to changing winter sculptures of bare branches, unusual bark color and berries hanging on for the migrating birds.

If you live in a milder climate, you have the added bonus of enjoying the winter blooming shrubs such as camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons and heaths.

And, let’s not forget the fragrance that permeates the air from lilacs and roses to the sweet smelling daphne.

Shrubs can be a main element in the design of “theme gardens” such as:

  • Japanese gardens using dwarf conifers, pines, evergreen boxwood, azaleas, camellias, heavenly bamboo and Japanese juniper.
  • Drought tolerant gardens using native and non-native shrubs such as manzanita, ceonothus, bottle brush, crape myrtle, germander, etc.
  • Deer-resistant gardens using myrtle, junipers, manzanita, buddleia, rhododendrons, flowering quince, pomegranate, banana shrub, etc.
  • English style mixed border gardens using shrubs, perennials, annuals, bulbs and trees.
  • Fragrant gardens using roses, viburnum, Mexican orange, myrtle, star jasmine, styrax, spice bush, daphne, rhododendron, osmanthus, mock orange, etc.
  • Habitat gardens for birds and butterflies using pineapple guava, flowering currents, weigela, abelia, buddleia, etc.
  • Firescaping gardens, where it is so important in the drier areas to use plants that are less volatile. Examples of shrubs would be Oregon grape, oleander, pittosporum, escallonia, India hawthorn and star jasmine.

Plant Shrubs in a Perennial Garden

Shrubs in a perennial garden offer balance and contrast to the brightly colored flowers and foliage.

Design guidelines

Following are some design guidelines to help with your planning:

Size

Choosing the right shrub for just the right spot in the garden – now comes the fun! Review the size of the garden and the size of the shrubs (size, meaning mature height and mature width) that are going to be part of the landscape for many years. Nothing is more disappointing than discovering that darling little 2-inch high plant is now 15-feet high and as wide. Do your research and plan ahead before you buy. In the excitement, should you buy one of each because all of the plants are too hard to resist? Or, should you use some restraint and design the garden with purpose?

Depth

Does the garden need some depth? Place purple-leafed shrubs to the rear. They give the illusion of receding while grey foliage comes forward. Use the plant foliage creatively to reach your design goals.

Color-plan for seasonal bloom

Check if the color will complement the color of your home. Orange cotoneaster berries against the pink stucco house may cause your neighbors to cringe. However, red against a grey house is quite a show stopper. Examine the color wheel. What are your favorite colors? Use them wisely. Are you a lover of cool, pastel colors? Then choose shrubs of different shades of green or grey foliage, or those with blooms of lavenders and pink. Or do you prefer hot color combinations such as oranges, reds and yellows? Tone down the hot saturated colors by combining them with grey foliage shrubs, or plants with white blooms.

Texture

Texture is all about the size of the shrubs, leaves, and the roughness of the bark. A garden is very boring when shrubs with similar sized leaves are used. Strive for bold leafed shrubs planted next to ones with smaller leaves. A texture example would be using a low growing ground cover juniper with fine texture placed next to a bold-leafed silver berry. This combination will give texture variation, foliage color variation, and both are drought tolerant. Deciduous shrubs with interesting form and bark are a wonderful addition to the winter garden. Examples are crape myrtle, redtwig dogwood, barberry, California Storax, anti Stachyurus praecox.

Form

Form is all about the shape of shrubs, whether they be mounding, columnar, horizontal (flat), weeping, or even spiny. Create variety by combining horizontal and mounding shrubs interspersed with vertical shapes. A good example is using the mounding heath shrub positioned next to a taller and bold-leafed shrub, such as a Mexican orange (Choisya). Plan a few groupings of bold upright evergreen shrubs in the background and you have a winner.

Rhythm

Rhythm is the feeling of movement throughout the garden. This can be done by creating curving lines of shrubs in informal gardens, or geometric lines in formal gardens. Keep the number of different shrubs to a minimum, thus giving the illusion of movement as the eye follows the flow of similar plant material. Think in planting groups of odd numbers. One or three always looks better than two. The exception is if you want to use a single specimen plant as a focal point, such as a shrub rose trained to grow on an arbor. There are no rules for governing the placement of a focal point.

Prepare Trees & Shrubs for Planting

Prepared to plant

Now that you have made your shrub choices, study your site and measure your available space so that the trip to the nursery will be productive. Draw a plan. Once you are satisfied with the plan, take the next big steps and get ready to plant.

  • Schedule your planting. In some places, shrubs can be planted successfully almost all year round, as long as the soil is not soggy. However, fall and early spring are an ideal time. Spring planting allows the roots to become well established before the heat arrives. Planting in the fall gives the roots an added boost to establish themselves during the wet winter months, and be ready to “take off” next spring.
  • When choosing shrubs, look for fresh, healthy plants and they will appear just that – no broken main stems or branches, no browned edges, no insect damage, no diseased spots on leaves, and no evidence of masses of roots peeking out of the pot’s bottom. Don’t forget to take your researched list of shrubs with you. If the plant is not available, at least a similar plant can be substituted.
  • Cost is related to the size of the container. Small one gallon, or 4-inch sized containers, will perform well, and will catch up very quickly to larger container sized plants.

Planting techniques

Following are some guidelines to help your new shrub get off to a good start.

  • It’s a good idea to water the potted plants the day before planting to prevent transplant stress.
  • The day of planting, dig a hole in the prepared soil that is large enough to accommodate the root ball. The root ball should be even with the existing soil surface. Too low placement will encourage rot and too high will cause a drying out. This is very important and actually very easy.
  • Please, no high nitrogen fertilizers in the planting hole. Those new little tender roots burn easily. (An exception is a timed release fertilizer that can be placed in the hole a short distance from the root ball. Package directions will give the correct amount.)
  • Shake or tap the plant out of the container. If the plant is root bound (compacted roots), gently break up the outer root ball with your fingers or a sharp tool. Why? Breaking up the root ball will encourage or force new healthy root growth.

Give everything a good soaking and remember to check the soil again in a few days to be sure the root ball has not dried out. You may have to water several times a week for the first few weeks.

The watering schedule will depend on whether the soil composition is sandy (drains and dries out fast), clay (holds the moisture), or the perfect well drained soil that is organically enriched.

  • If the moisture level is difficult to determine, use a soil water meter or trowel, or old screwdriver to push into the soil to judge the dampness. Is it still evenly moist or bone dry? Water as necessary.
  • A favorite water soluble fertilizer or other balanced fertilizer can be applied at this time and throughout the warm summer months to keep the shrub vigorous and as healthy as possible. Half the recommended rate is sufficient.
  • Soils should be damp before applying any fertilizer. Water the plants first and never apply fertilizer to plants that are under stress from lack of water. That is a sure way to damage them by fertilizer burn. Dry fertilizer sticking to damp leaves also causes burning, so wash the leaves to prevent this damage.
  • Mulching to a depth of 1 to 3 inches will retain soil moisture, keep the roots cool, discourage weeds, and add organic matter to the soil as it decomposes. Be careful not to cover the crown of the plant since this will encourage crown rot.

Healthy Vegetables and Herbs with Companion Planting

A safe and responsible approach to curbing pests and diseases starts with good garden practices. Good gardening practices, like building healthy soil, encourage vigorous plants that are less susceptible to disease and pest problems. To keep healthy soil, repeatedly add organic matter, including green manures. This will improve the soil and lead to more vigorous plants.
Also, make sure you plant at the proper time – http://www.agroconection.com/soil/what-is-good-soil/. Seeds sown too early or transplants set out too soon are often subject to stress. Stress weakens the plants and makes them more susceptible to disease and pests. Provide the right conditions. Give your plants the amounts of light, moisture, and nutrients they need. Avoid wetting your plants in late afternoon or evening, so that the leaves don’t remain wet all night. Many fungal diseases are spread in water droplets, and wet foliage aids in their spread. Torn leaves, broken branches and disturbed roots are also an invitation for diseases and pests to attack your plants. Handle your plants gently when working around them. Inspect all plants for signs of disease before you buy. Keeping your soil covered with mulch will reduce weeds and will slow the spread of fungal and bacterial disease.

Don’t forget to practice good housekeeping. Keep your garden weed-free; and remove plants that are diseased or seriously infested with insects promptly. Remember, watch for problems, and take steps to control them before they get out of hand. Unfortunately, even the best garden practices are no guarantee against insects and diseases. But there are some other things you can do that can be used effectively to grow healthy vegetables and herbs. Trap cropping is using another plant to lure insects away from your vegetables and herbs. Some trap crops and the pests they attract are as follows:

  • Nasturtiums attract aphids
  • Smartweed attracts corn earworm
  • Radish or turnip attracts the cabbage maggot
  • Bok choy or Chinese cabbage attracts flea beetle
  • Borage, evening primrose and white geranium attracts the Japanese beetle
  • Castor bean attracts the nematode
  • Hosta attracts slugs
  • Dill attracts tomato hornworm

There is evidence that some plants actually deter insects. Asters, calendulas, geraniums, and marigolds are believed to deter most pests. Some other plants believed to have insect-deterring abilities are as follows:

  • Borage repels tomato hornworm
  • Catnip repels flea beetles
  • Garlic deters aphids and Japanese beetles
  • Mint repels aphids, Cabbage moths and Colorado potato beetles
  • Sage deters cabbage moths and carrot rust flies
  • Tansy deters cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles and Squash bugs
  • Wormwood repels carrot rust flies, cabbage loopers, and flea beetles.

Use of the trap cropping and insect-deterring plants is also known as companion planting. These methods (see URL) are quite useful if you are like me and don’t want to be using chemicals all over your gardens. Besides there are some beneficial insects and the chemicals don’t differentiate between bad and good insects. I’ve used companion planting for the past several years very successfully. I not only have good harvestable crops, but I also have interesting gardens with all the different plants used together.