13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Tilling is so much more work than smothering, and wrecks the soil layers/drainage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brief tutorial about 'dirt'

Hi, lilyfinch, I'm on my third year owning a Mantis electric tiller, and it works really well, although I agree that you may not need to till your dead sod. I used it to till in the previous year's cover crop before sowing lupine seeds with an Earthway seeder. I really needed to get a smooth surface without roots that could trip up the seeder. We used it to till fairly deeply one time to start a vegetable garden. We used it to aerate the lawn one time (should do it again). We've used it to edge between the beds and lawn, and between sidewalks and lawn. We've used it to dig holes for planting trees. It's been pretty reliable, powerful, and easy to use. But you might be able to do without it for your current project.

I have also had Hot Summer return vigorously for me a second year, and I like it very much, but while it's early season blooms were prolific, I didn't see many secondary flushes. The most prolific bloomer for me is Sombrero Hot Salsa.

I think I have to take back my positive comment about 'Milkshake'. It has survived a few winters and did bloom nicely earlier in the season, but now it's looking sickly. Now that I think about it, I believe it did the same thing last year - started out good then went downhill. I'll probably be taking it out. Too short of a good bloom season for me.

Kevin

I should add that I have sandy soil with gravel on top so most seeds have excellent conditions for germinating here, its great for direct sowing but I do have to take care and deadhead each fall.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 15:40

They are natives here. We leave part of the back yard unmowed where they grow. It was heavenly last year to walk amongst a hundred of them.

Woodstea, you really can't expect ANY above ground growth on A. canadense. It only has one flush of growth per year (in the spring).

By now, most of them are looking ragged in the wild too...their time/purpose is done. The leaves photosynthesized and can now be shed.

Give them another year and see what you think.

I suspect the sun might be a factor too. My wild ginger in fairly dense woodland shade looks good all summer. Mind you, I was very surprised that much of it was killed out by this past winter - as was much of my Sweet Woodruff - but both are slowly recovering, although I expect it'll take a couple of years before they reclaim all their previous territory! I just hope this coming winter is more moderate.

I have VS, fantastic bloomer but does flop especially after heavy rains.

And today I spied this group of "Limelight" on display outside a local nursery (the tallest member was over 6 feet in height).

OT: Why are two of the photos upside down on my Apple computer? I took all the photos with the IPad 2 and did not change the orientation while shooting. They are upright on the IPad.

Thanks, pitimpinai, I am trying to fill in bare spots. Your garden is an inspiration to me.

Congrats! I never could get the DG Delphinium seeds to sprout. I will try again next year. :):)

i always try to use fresh seed and seems to have best results but all garden advice should probably have the postscript-this works in my garden. this year for the first time ever i have delphinium volunteers-will be interesting to see the flower quality. these are second year plants from seed.

If that is indeed jewelweed, and it looks like to me, just a warning that in nature it can often be found near poison ivy - and is supposedly a treatment for it as well. So if you are planning on digging more out, just be careful where you stick your hands. :)

A friend of mine has big swaths of this growing along a streambank in the back yard. I have to agree with Kevin on this one - it looks actually rather nice in its spot, even though most consider it a weed, but I don't think I personally would move it to a garden. Besides, it seeds rather prolifically and would probably take over any bed its in.

Dee

I believe the 2nd one is jewelweed. I found some of them in our wild area with swamp rose, milkweed and many other plants. This is close to drainage stream.

I just found the flowers appealing. I'll keep them in my flower bed for a year to see how they look.

There are some mature clumps of pennisetum, each with dozens of perfect, fluffy white seed heads, each plant about 3ft tall & wide up the street mass planted about 3 ft apart. Simply gorgeous, long blooming with very fine leaves, each plant is the same and very thick. It looks good every year. I'd go for it, grasses are so easy and make great ground cover. Good luck.

I think you made the right choice. Pennisetum has been a pest in my garden and the fact you were able to sow tons of them sounds like a red flag.
... but I don't know why I don't have any snow in summer, the grey leaves look perfect!

Cute. My Sanguisorba menziesii that I started from seeds does not bloom much, very likely because the plant is squashed among others. :-D I am planning to sow some more this winter.

rouge, funny, i just posted a question about sanguisorba choice because i had not seen this thread! your handsome clump might work really well if a yellow foliage shrib were behind it. Deutzia chardonnay pearls, berberis aurea, yellow leaf forsythia(they stay small) ....

I found the following advice on the website of one of our local nurseries specializing in prairie restoration. See link below.

It looks like getting the weeds under control is not an easy task, but it is possible if you have the time and determination.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: weeds

Thanks for your replies. I see that I misspelled "large" in the subject and I can't change it--aack! RyseRyse, I feel for you. I'm glad I don't have a steep slope to deal with. Maybe hire someone to spray the weeds and add more mulch? Aachenelf, that's an excellent article from Prairie Moon. Lots of good ideas to ponder: cover crops, smothering, weed-whacking, mowing, burning, herbicide application techniques. Also good points about timing and techniques for sowing seeds.

Very good info here. Does anyone have special techniques for mulching roses? In terms of mulching materials, the consensus seems to be for shredded leaves or straw. Is this mainly due to the convenience/availability of these things, or is there some other advantage to using them? I have 3 new David austin rose bushes (Mayflower - own root with the bud union buried) to help survive their first winter, and was planning to bury the bases and canes in 3 to 4 inches of shredded wood. I'd thought about caging them as well, and filling up the cages with leaves to protect the canes, but since they're very close and visible from a pedestrian sidewalk I wasn't going to bother with that. However, I will if it's truly necessary.

We use shredded pine bark mulch on the beds and under the outlying plants anyway, so I don't add more mulch of any kind. I would think the chicken wire circles, with some bamboo or plastic stakes threaded through them and filled with shredded leaves would work really well for plants you were afraid might not make it through the winter - zone pushing ones especially.

I had heard on radio gardening shows that you should mulch for winter protection only after the plant has gone dormant - as Ken mentioned above.

I am still of the opinion that butterfly bushes should be severely cut back in the spring only. I prune back the height on Dubonnet only because it is always so tall and leggy that I'm afraid heavy winds or severe ice storms might up root it. So far, it hasn't minded the light pruning and has returned every spring.

Linda

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing pics. I gave up on delphiniums early on and didn't bother with Joe Pye either but my tall phlox, hardy hibiscus and balloon flowers are really putting on a show this year that's just more amazing with the waving wands of gaura to add texture. I planted pink, white and purple balloon flowers in front of the hardy hibiscus and now I know why.

Very nice! I like those pink coneflowers at the bottom right of the first pic, too.