All the Dirt on Gardening

Rhus typhina, Staghorn Sumac is a wild thing in our area though we encourage it because of its benefits to wildlife. Its practical uses include growing stands as windbreaks but I recently saw it used as a specimen tree on each side of a home near St. Louis, MO. They were both large specimens that were sort of Zen-art looking things with fat trunks. They were the only plants on each side of the building. There are cultivated varieties such as Shredleaf (Rhus tphina Dissecta), Laceleaf and Cutleaf (Rhus typhina Laciniata) but these both looked like they had been allowed to grow in place for 50-years. What Tree Is It? What do  you think? Do you grow it for the birds like we do or think it is a splendid landscape tree/shrub?      

P. terminalis Wherever there are trees or a shrub row in your garden you can plant pachysandra to hold the soil in place and to prevent weeds from sprouting. Pachysandra has gone in and out of fashion over the years because so many gardeners jumped on the Japanese pachysandra bandwagon and overplanted it to the point that garden designers said, “No more.” P. procumbens Monrovia's new Windcliff Fragrant Pachysandra axillaris But, pachysandra is back in the news with varieties that do not take over by spreading everywhere and a 2013 introduction that has more sweetly scented flowers. All pachysandras are related to boxwoods and offer the same durability throughout the seasons. They are all rabbit and deer resistant because the leaves are thick and tough. Unlike boxwoods, pachysandras want shade. In fact, the leaves bleach and turn yellow in sun. Another feature they have in common with boxwood is that they are relatively inexpensive. For example, at Classy Ground...

Honeysuckle is one of those plants that gardeners either love or consider a weed to be fought against at all costs. Most of the time, the fight is against the Japanese or Asian species because it has made such a pest of itself throughout all the temperate gardening zones. Japanese, Korean or Chinese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, is spread when birds eat the black seeds that form in the fall. Once it takes hold, it can spread widely (and wildly), choking out all the native plants and tripping hikers. But there are over 200 species of honeysuckle and some of them are   useful on fences, in wooded areas, on stream banks and slopes. Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, in our yard Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, has many common names, including: Evergreen Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodbine, Scarlet Trumpet, Red Honeysuckle, and Red Woodbine. This one is an American native, twining, vine that grows well in its native range, reaching from Ontario Canada,...

Our Zone 7 is just about the southern limit for Ninebark since it doesn't like a lot of heat and humidity. Some need cool, wet feet. A few can take more heat and adapt. According to Missouri Botanical Garden (the common species is native to Missouri ) "Easily grown in average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best foliage color occurs in full sun. Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions. Prune as needed immediately after bloom. Plants may be cut close to the ground in winter to rejuvenate." As a matter of fact Physocarpus opulifolius (L.) Maxim., orth. cons. or, common ninebark is native to more than half of the U.S. according to the USDA's site . The native will grow into a 5 foot tall, suckering, thicket that thrives along riverbanks. But it's the hybrids that most gardeners are looking for. They have the characteristic peeling bark but add dramatic leaf color and stop-the-clock flowers. Here are some of the special...

New tools, plants and garden books for 2010 include redesigned handles for spades, double hibiscus for the hedgerow and a dozen volumes on garden design. Each gardener can find something to enhance their library and shed. Here are a few that you may not have heard about. The Arnold Power Rake attaches to many walk-behind lawn mowers (requires tools and some mechanical ability). It dethatches, can help with fall leaf chopping, lawn scalping, and aerating. Cost $15 - $20 Available at Lowes and Amazon.com. Deep Drip Tree Watering Stakes will be helpful for fall tree planting. Watering should be deep enough to encourage the roots to sink down into the soil, below the hole. Deep Drip soakers look like heavy- plastic, giant, turkey-basters, with irrigation holes in the sides. Designed to work with either a garden hose or soaker, they are planted into the hole between the tree trunk and the drip line. Fertilizer added to the Deep Drip via the removable cap goes directly to the roots with wat...

GMPRO Garden Center Magazine ran a story today about the need for garden centers and botanical gardens with environmental consciousness to find a way of recycling plastic garden pots. " Steve Cline at Missouri Botanical Garden has created perhaps the most successful horticultural pot recycling program in U.S. This past year, the program collected more than 100,000 pounds of horticultural plastics." According to the story, 80-million tons of plastic end up needing to be recycled every year. "In the horticultural industry alone, about 350 million pounds of plastic is produced each year. The Missouri Botanical Garden's Plastic Pot Recycling Program is the largest program of its kind, recycling both plastic pots and polystyrene cell packs and trays. Since 1998, this groundbreaking program has saved over 300 tons of plastic from reaching the landfill. The program has become hugely popular with gardeners in the St. Louis metropolitan area with many participants anxiousl...