How to Plant a Heather Garden

Author: David and Alissa Dewitt

Article: HEATHER GARDENS - Mass plantings of heather, either planted with one of each variety or one hundred, can be ideal for a sunny area. Spaced appropriately, the plants will mature into a tapestry with drifts of foliage and flower color.

When planning a garden of heather, begin by making an outline of your area first. If you're planning a border, start from the back of the bed with the taller plants and work forward; if the bed is to be viewed from all sides, begin sketching your design from the center out. If you have room, planting varieties in odd-numbered groups is most effective. Even numbers of plants often make a new garden look too balanced and unnatural. Draw circles outlining the area that the plants will fill out at maturity (about 3-5 years) growing into a weed smothering mass. Roughly figure 18"" spacing when determining how many plants you will need (sq. ft. x .44 is the formula) for a large bed. Choose the taller growing varieties for the back or center of the bed and work your way to the edges, keeping in mind that the plants will grow into a solid mass of foliage leaving little bare ground exposed. Grays and dark greens absorb light; reds, gold and glossy foliage reflect. You want contrasting foliage to define each grouping, so choose a gold or other colored foliage variety, then choose a silver, gray or dark green for the next grouping. Flower color is not as important as you may think but offset the mauves with white or light pinks if the plants are to bloom at the same time. Use the winter blooming Erica's' glossy green foliage as a buffer between a lot of Calluna with colored foliage.

This may all sound a bit confusing on the printed page, but don't let it be because they are all compatible with each other. Arrange them until the placement looks right to you. You may want to plant other types of plants in the heather garden. Dwarf conifers are natural companions with interesting foliage and habit of growth. The vertical forms they achieve are welcome in the heather garden. Other companion plants are: low growing Sedum's, Iberis, Hypericum, Lavender, Sempervivum, Allium, Arabis, Artemisia, Dianthus, Nepeta, Santolina, and Thyme to name a few perennials. Compact Cotoneaster, Vaccinum, Cytisus and other leafy shrubs can also be interesting companion plants in a garden of heather.

FOUNDATION PLANTINGS - Use heather in a foundation planting to eliminate the straight lines and formality that is often created with more typical plants. In the Northeast, Taxus, Rhododendron and Juniper are commonly used; heather is a natural companion to these evergreens. Use them to hide bare branches at the base of shrubs, to fill voids between larger shrubs, and to bring entire plantings away from the house. A long, curving line is more natural and can be creatively designed with the different heights and foliage colors of heather. The evergreen foliage can be the finishing touch needed to bring a foundation planting together.

PERENNIAL BEDS AND BORDERS - Gardens of perennials often lack visual interest during the winter months when the herbaceous species are dormant, waiting for spring's call of warmer temperatures. In the late summer months when many perennials are waning, many of the Callunas are flowering heaviest. The structure and foliage color of these evergreens can also be used to an advantage. The winter blooming Ericas are natural selections for winter color. Erica carnea and E. x darlyensis start forming buds in early summer, that open as early as November in shades of pink, rose or white. These long lasting flowers are colorful all winter until the first of May when many of the spring bulbs are in full bloom. The soil requirements are a bit different than those of some perennials but you may be able to provide them with a site that has a well drained soil that has not had a lot of fertilizer and manure added.

NATIVE AND WILD GARDENS - Fifteen plants of Calluna vulgaris were originally planted some 80 years ago at the edge of a pine barren here on Cape Cod. Over the years, seedlings have taken a foothold in the sandy native soil and have naturalized . Little care has been given to this area that is now over 80 feet long and 30 feet wide. The natural succession that has occurred has left this area with 3-4 dominant natural cultivars which bloom in August and is spectacular. The same effect can be achieved by planting some of the taller cultivars we offer, spaced about 2' apart . Prune heavily the first 3-4 springs to obtain a broad sweep of thick foliage and heavy flowering.

Happy Gardening!

About the author: David and Alissa Dewitt are the owners of Rock Spray Nursery, the largest US grower of the hardy Heath and Heather plants. Visit their informative website at <A HREF=""http://rockspray.com"">http://rockspray.com

Summer Pruning / Pinch an Inch

Author: Tom Ogren

Article: Summer Pruning…Pinch an Inch

By Tom Ogren

Like most people who grow deciduous fruit trees (apples, peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, etc.) I used to do lots of serious heavy pruning every winter.Each winter I would head back dozens of those long, tall canes that had grown the year before. On some trees, plums in particular, each year I'd often find myself cutting back a huge number of new branches, many of them well over six feet in length. I occasionally wondered: Isn't this hard pruning cycle putting a big workload on the tree? Each summer the tree pours all its energy into growing those overly long new branches, and then each winter I'd chop them back, trying to keep the tree's overall height under some semblance of control. And then too, despite my best intentions and hours of work spent pruning, each season the trees still seemed to be a bit taller than the year before. However, each winter for decades I kept up this hard winter pruning, working with the standard conventional wisdom that it was necessary in order to have a decent tree and a good set of fruit. At the time it made perfect sense to me. Because of apical dominance, when a tip is cut off, the next bud back from what is now the tip, this bud will normally sprout next. The topmost bud on any strong branch has high concentrations of the natural growth hormone, indole acetic acid (IAA). When we prune grapes (which unlike most pomes and stone fruits, set fruit only on new wood) we have to prune the last year's wood hard. We cut back to a few large, strong buds. The lower down on the branch a bud is, the larger and stronger it is. Thus, heavy pruning makes plenty of sense with grapes, or others that bloom on new wood, figs, mulberries, and roses. But does this same sort of hard pruning make sense with most fruit trees, trees that do not set their fruit on the current season's wood?

About a decade ago I read that in order to save money on high labor costs some orchard owners had resorted to pruning only every other year. Yes, they had to cut off more wood, and the pruning work took a bit longer than normal, but overall they were saving some money. The interesting thing, too, was that this every-other-year-pruning didn't seem to hurt fruit production all that much. I myself started this every other year dormant pruning and it beat pruning every year, but it still felt wasteful, wasteful of the tree's stored energy. Let's go back to apical dominance for a moment: Because of apical dominance, when a branch tip is cut off, the next bud back from the new tip, this bud should sprout next. The lower the branch is, the thicker the branch will be, and these lower placed dormant buds will also be larger and potentially much more vigorous. Thus heavy pruning, chopping back to these fat lower buds insures lots of vigorous new growth and makes plenty of sense with grapes, and of course with roses, which also bloom on new wood. But apples, pears, apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines and cherries don't set fruit on new wood, they all bloom on wood that is at least a year old. A few years ago I made a major switch and started doing almost exclusively summer pruning, pinching really. Every few weeks from mid-spring on, whenever I noticed a new branch growing rapidly, I pinched off the end of it. If you had to use a pair of pruning shears to do this, we'd call it a "hard pinch," but what I started doing was a "soft pinch." I merely pinched off, with my fingers and thumbnail, the last inch or two of each fast growing branch. Most of us gardeners have done some pinching of geraniums, begonias, and especially fuchsias, trying to make them bushier. It works pretty much the same with fruit trees, too. The more often you pinch, the more bud breaks you get and the bushier your tree becomes. I have found with very vigorous branches that in a season of growth, I may have to pinch that same branch three or four times, but it seems well worth the effort. The end result of all this tip pinching is a shorter, more compact fruit tree…and one that won't need much pruning in winter. The tree benefits too, since it no longer has to pour all that energy into re-growing all that wood each spring. This same energy can then be converted into producing a larger crop of fruit. There is another pleasant benefit, too, from all this constant snipping and pinching…fewer bugs. Aphids in particular can be a problem on apricots and apple trees, and they almost always take hold first on the softest, newest, fastest growing wood. The pinching removes this soft tip, the part most attractive to insects. The pinching also interrupts the natural apical dominance present in the terminal end of any fast sprouting branch and encourages branching. Summer pruning, pinching, isn't recommended for trees that are growing slowly since it will further slow down growth. It is most desirable with trees that naturally have a tendency to get much tall than we want them to be. Where late spring frosts can be a problem (with apricots in particular) summer pruning can result in a tree of a much more manageable size. Some apricot lovers have now discovered that with enough summer pinching you can get a smaller tree, one that is low enough to throw a plastic cover over on those cold spring evenings when the branches are loaded with white blossoms, but a late frost threatens. But, take note: be sure to remove the frost cover promptly when morning arrives. If a program of summer pinching is undertaken, the following winter's dormant pruning needs will normally be minimal. However, once every few years it would still be a good idea to make a limited number of large cuts, cuts that remove considerable wood. This would be done to encourage more vigorous new growth. The reason this would be needed now and then is because most deciduous fruit trees fruit on either first or second season's wood. Dormant pruning would still be used to remove any dead wood, criss-crossing branches, and to shape the tree. If there is a large branch that needs removing, the time to do that is always in the dormant season. One word here about dormant pruning of fruit trees: in mild winter USDA zones 8-10 it is best to do your dormant pruning just after Christmas. In colder winter areas it is safest to delay dormant pruning until the worst of the winter's cold has passed. Thus in a very cold zone 3, such as in northern Minnesota, the best time to prune fruit trees would be in March or early in April. But summer pruning, pinching, can be done all summer long. The results will please you and the tree both. So get out there, and pinch an inch.

Thomas Leo Ogren is the author of five published books, including Allergy-free Gardening (Ten Speed Press), Safe Sex in the Garden (Ten Speed Press), and, What the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the Perfect Lawn (Time Warner Books). Visit with Tom at his own website at www.allergyfree-gardening.com

About the author: Thomas Leo Ogren is the author of five published books, including Allergy-free Gardening (Ten Speed Press), Safe Sex in the Garden (Ten Speed Press), and, What the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the Perfect Lawn (Time Warner Books). Visit with Tom at his own website at www.allergyfree-gardening.com

Popular varieties of annuals for the home garden

Author: Tony Robinson

Article: Annuals are among the most popular types of plants, and they are attractive to all levels of gardeners, from the first time gardener to the most experienced. Annuals certainly have much to recommend them, including beautiful blooms, bright vibrant colors, low cost and hardiness.

What sets annuals apart from other types of flowers is that they complete their entire life cycle in a single growing season. That means they grow from seed, bloom, set seed and die all within a single season. This of course means that annuals must be planted anew every year, but the gardener is rewarded for his or her hard work by a garden full of beautiful blossoms.

This article focuses on some of the most popular varieties of annuals for the home garden.

Pansies Pansies do their best when they are planted in an area that receives full sunlight. Pansies should also be planted in tight masses, and they are often used as border or bedding plants. Pansies prefer a rich and well drained soil, and it is a good idea for the gardener to cultivate the area around the plants.

Primroses Primroses are not true annuals, but they are treated as such by gardeners. Primroses are actually perennials, but most gardeners grow them as annuals and replant them every year. Primroses do their best in a well drained soil. Some types of primroses prefer full sunlight, while others prefer to have partial shade. The staff at your local garden center can advise you on which varieties do best in full sun and which ones prefer the shade.

Impatiens Impatiens are one of the most popular varieties of annuals, and their tolerance for shade makes them a perfect choice for almost any area of the garden. Impatiens do best in either shade or filtered sunlight, and they like a quick draining soil containing plenty of organic material. If you are planting impatiens from nursery packs, it is important to loosen the root ball carefully and to place each plant in a rich potting soil, being sure not to cover the crown of the plant.

Impatiens should be watered well after they are planted. After that initial watering, however, the gardener should wait until the first two inches of the soil has dried out before rewatering. In addition, no fertilizer should be given until the plants have begun to grow.

Marigolds Marigolds are one of the most popular of the sun loving annuals. These plants are easy to care for, and they provide dependable blooms when provided with good care. Marigolds need a well drained soil in order to do well.

The color varieties of marigolds is one of their best known features. The colors of marigolds range from white, yellow, orange and red, in addition to all possible combinations of the four. The height of marigolds varies as well, from a few inches to a few feet.

In addition to their beauty, many gardeners believe that marigolds are able to repel common garden pests, and they are often planted new vegetable gardens for this reason.

Verbenas Verbenas are also annuals that love the sun. In addition, verbenas need hot weather in order to thrive, so they should be planted in the warmest parts of the garden, and the ones that get the most sunlight.

The Madagascar periwinkle Madagascar periwinkles look somewhat like impatiens, and they are often used as fillers in very sunny parts of a bed of impatiens. These periwinkles bloom through the summer and into the fall season, and they come in a variety of pink and white shades.

About the author: Tony Robinson is an international author and webmaster. In his busy life he finds time to ""Smell the Roses"". For geat tips, techniques and articles visit http://www.rose-bloom.com