13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Such a great selection of plants...very nice Cat!
Your geranium is "dark rieter". I have a few but they are verryy slow to do anything...plus they get lost in my mulch with being so dark. Thought about shovel pruning many times, but I keep telling myself to wait...
Marie, if you add information on location you will get much more helpful responses. What's perennial in TX is really different from what's a shade perennial here.
Here are directions to adding it to your profile so it always shows up when you post in GW.
Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.
If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures.
Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.
It gets it from the soil. If that's the case try cutting it back and then mulch and see what happens. Be sure never to get water on the leaves when you water. You can't do much about rain but you want to keep the fungal infection from splashing up onto the leaves. Be sure you dispose of all the infected foliage(in the garbage). You can always pull them out if it doesn't work
Call around for tree service. We just had a dieing maple that was 50 years old and at least 50 foot tall removed from our property. I got quotes from just about every tree service in the area that was listed as having liability insurance. If it wasn't listed in the phone book as having insurance that was the first question I asked. Then I asked for an estimate. I also asked around for recommendations from people who had had tree service. Even people I didn't know were happy to tell me of their experience. I was surprised at the wide range of prices when I got the estimates. We went with a guy who charged $550--the cheapest price. They had ranged from double that and more. He was also one that had been recommended by a couple of people and he did a good job.
Be sure you get in writing exactly what you want done. You may save some money by doing the cleanup your self and not having the stump ground out. We called a guy we knew burned wood and he was happy to remove the logs. A quick rake of the ground around it got most of the sawdust and small twigs. We asked that they leave the stump as level as possible which they did. I covered it with landscape fabric laid stones in a circle close to the stump then mulched up to the stones. I placed 3 bricks on top of the fabric covered stump and put a barrel planter on top. The fabric keeps the tree from sending up shoots and still lets the water through to begin the rotting process. It was a perfect solution. If you didn't know you'd never know there was a tree there.
Now is the perfect time to get a pile of quotes. Oh yes consider getting it done during the slow period approaching winter. You may get it done cheaper then too.
Time flies....! I just noticed that my first post referred to the winter of 2012-2013 - of course, it should have said 2013-2014! It somehow seems longer ago that that! :-)
I'm actually not too worried about the cost, although I'm sure it's going to feel outrageous! :-) I'll definitely leave it to the off-season - tree companies are busy like mad around here taking down dead ash trees! I'm sure none of them are too interested in a relatively small job like a pine when they can be making big bucks on taking down ash trees! It'd likely be a repeat of our experience with trying to get a quote to re-sod the lawn - either they never returned our call or quoted a very high price. Our neighbour with a garden center and design business says the industry is crazy-busy this year around here. I suspect it might be related in part to taking down all those ash trees - people suddenly have sunny spaces that need planting....! So, off-season appears to be the best bet for both service and cost!
I went out this morning taking more pictures. The whole tree looks dead, and there's dead stuff in the neighbour's pine close by, but theirs still has live stuff at the top.
and you can see that it's still pretty barren in the area under it after the 2013-2014 winter-kill:
The white redbud just outside this area almost died this winter too. Only the top leafed out - very late! And after DH pruned out all the dead stuff, it's a pretty skimpy tree!
Interestingly, from outside this area (e.g. from the lawn or house) you can't see how barren it is under the pines:
This picture shows the barren area under the larger, surviving pines - picture taken with my back to the dead pine. In early spring 2014 there was snow-melt and rain that flooded most of this area for weeks - the ground was frozen so deep that the water could not drain away. I think that is what killed most of the things that died. And killed seeds too I think - I expected the Sweet Woodruff to return from seeds but it hasn't....
A similar view from July 11 2013 so you can see some of the stuff that was killed that winter:
Like in the area around the dead pine, the winterkill under these pines is not obvious from the 'outside':
The growing conditions under the pines are difficult - very dry shade with root competition from the trees. I hope some of the survivors of the 2013-2014 winter gradually spread back into the barren areas they used to occupy. The area where the dead pine is might offer new opportunities for other things but I think I'm going to have to wait until next year when the tree is gone to assess what that does to light and moisture before deciding on new things to try. I will probably leave a log or two from the dead tree to act as a 'nurse log' to help new plants get established there.
UPDATE:
My mistakenly selected Ranunculus acris "Flore Pleno" has turned out to be a worthwhile addition to our garden. It bloomed for close to 4 weeks and although it does send out runners that do root (rhizomes?) they are easily removed and I see no evidence of seeding.
My Bright Eyes has been blooming for several days. It has more mildew than I remember it ever having; it is usually mildew resistant. "Minnie Pearl" has been blooming two weeks. No mildew at all. It is shorter than most paniculatas and definitely has a place in the garden.
Oh, it was so very wonderful to behold--and it's in the process of being restored--I was there in the 90s before it fell to neglect. If you're interested in looking into it, do a search for Heronswood. You could also choose *images* and probably find lots of pictures. Plant explorer Dan Hinkley created it then after some time sold it to Burpee Seeds.
I imagine there are some here (Gardengal) that know Dan and more of the history. I met him there and he is awesome and has a wicked dry sense of humor. There was a large plant nursery there way back when and I still am growing plants from it in my garden.
It was purchased by one of out Native American tribes in the last 2-3 years (I think) and is being restored--Dan H. is there helping plus the public can volunteer on certain days of the week. Wish I lived closer, I'd make it my part-time job!
There are several Open Days throughout the year--hoping to go to the next one on September 19th--will take more pics if I do! It will a lot different by then, I'm thinking! Thanks all!
This is all just lovely. I really enjoy it when people post tours of their gardens, particularly pullback shots where you can see more than just a couple of plants in combination. I am not in New England but I often read the New England Gardening thread just because of the running photo threads there! Your combos with the astilbe and the eryngium are particularly wonderful.
Proper identification of the insect pest is critical before determining what product to use. Insecticidal soap is very effective on soft bodied sucking insects but it is a contact killer - you have to spray the solution ON the insect. Neem oil has a much broader scope of application and has the benefit of being a natural product as well. But you really do need to know what is causing the problem first. Any chance of photos of the affected plants AND the insect?
i would give it at least a week to sort itself out ... and then go at each plant individually ... [you will be able to better id the damaged parts ..]
why in the world you think weedwhacking the whole.. would be a positive .... is a pretty bizarre thought ...
ken
Oh no! That must be so disappointing. Agree with above - wait a bit and then deal with the plants on an individual basis. Or, just leave things be until next year, everything will sprout up fresh and new. Perhaps you can buy some pots of annuals and strategically place those in your sitting areas to take your eye off the damage and give you something to enjoy for now.
..well, I would love to know of your progress as you get on, even though I'm a million miles away, almost... I think you have a lovely back yard - garden - to get started on, so exciting... if it was mine, I too would probably have to remove those trees, but I have an issue with privacy and I can see some windows staring back at me from your neighbouring property, and I'd have to put some large shrubs, small bushy trees in appropriate points to block those out... may not be an issue for you...
...I wouldn't worry about those railway sleepers either... they'll just disappear into the background once you edge the lawn and enlarge the border, with compost, mulch etc... I've got double edged borders here...
...I also love trench edging and I'll just post a couple of photos as examples.. obviously this is large scale and cottage garden which I know you don't like... but just to see how a stretch of grass can be shaped and edged, or flowing away from the boundary line...
...as a large shrub suggestion, I adore smoke bushes - Cotinus varieties.. my favourite is one called 'Grace'... which will become small tree like... 'Royal Purple' is another... these might do for you... but I wouldn't know that.. great autumn - fall color...
..here's some edging from a garden I visited recently.... I cannot boast that it's mine...
Redbuds certainly grow well here in KC -- a little too well, sometimes. The tree I mentioned that used to cause me power line trouble was a redbud. Its mature width was about 30 feet. I would prune it back to keep it away from the power and communication lines, and it would respond with a flush of growth so that I was in the same situation every year. Eventually I decided it was too much trouble. I miss it sometimes, though. On a gray fall day I could look out from the second floor windows into its yellow foliage and it cheered me up.
There are numerous redbud cultivars with smaller sizes that might be a better fit for your yard. A good reference is:
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/nursery/ipm/book_files/chapter_12
Even with a smaller cultivar, I would plant them farther out from the fence than your pear trees are now located.
Yes it is agressive but the silver color is beautiful and really adds a pop to the garden. I grow it in a mixed shrub/perennial bed and I take measures to keep it under control. Every spring I remove all growth that has expanded beyond the allotted area and it takes it all season for it to recover former territory. The below photo was taken in late May right after I took disciplinary measures. The artemisia is right behind the bearded iris 'Samauri'
looks just like my black eyed Susans
I agree it looks like Rudbeckia. If those buds were open I might be able to tell you the variety