Spring Gardening Packet III
Published: Mar. 15, 2005
March 15, 2005
Source: Susan Grupp (630) 653-4114 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Container Gardens
A container garden added to a yard or patio can provide a beautiful show of color, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"Growing plants in containers is still a very popular garden trend," said Susan Grupp, who is based in DuPage County. "Nearly everyone can do it and many different plants perform well in containers. Container gardens look good on a patio, deck, porch, entranceway, doorway, and even in the garden as a focal point. Window boxes and hanging baskets are good, too."
Those considering a container garden should keep some points in mind, she recommended.
"To start, consider the location of your container garden," Grupp said. "The availability of sunlight will pre-determine your choice of plants. Since container gardens need frequent watering, make sure there is an easy water source nearby.
"Choose a pot to blend with the surroundings. The volume of soil is very important since plants need enough soil to support their water and nutrient needs. Also, pots must have drainage holes since excess water needs to drain away freely."
Drainage is key to success, Grupp noted. Do not use plain garden soil in the pots, or you may have a waterlogged container garden. One of the most reliable soil mixes in a soil-less mix. This is made with two components: a mineral part and an organic part.
"They offer both good drainage and good moisture retention," said Grupp. "However, they need special attention with watering and fertilizing. Also, you can make your own container soil mix by combining one part good quality garden soil with one part peat moss and one part perlite or coarse builders sand."
A nearly endless choice exists for plants for container gardens. Some plants are easier to grow than others. Generally, annual flowers, annual herbs, annual vines and foliage plants are the top choices to provide color and interest through the growing season.
"Combining plants creates beauty and interest," said Grupp. "Avoid problems by grouping plants with similar cultural requirements.
"Color is one of the first things we notice. Pick colors you like and that will look good with your surrounding garden and home. Try exploring different color combinations. Warm colors such as yellow, red, and orange are bold and strong, and are easily seen from a distance."
The cool, restful colors--green, blue, and purple--are beautiful near-by, but may not stand out enough if placed too far away in the yard. Use white and gray to help blend colors together and look especially nice with purple, pink, and blue.
"Finally, combining plants with different textures and forms can create as much excitement as color," Grupp noted. "A contrast of tiny and large flowers, or finely-cut foliage and bold leaves can be striking. Eye-catching container gardens often pair trailing plants with upright plants."
It is important to keep the container garden looking good by proper watering. Such gardens should be checked daily since many factors will influence the frequency with which they need water. The container gardens should be watered thoroughly.
"You will know you did a good job when water begins dripping from the drainage holes," she said. "You may want to try one of the many water-holding polymers available on the market. This product helps extend the time between watering.
"With so much watering comes a depletion of the nutrients in the soil mix. These nutrients will need to be replaced. If using a liquid fertilizer, a general rule is to mix and apply every two weeks. Time-released fertilizers work well, too. A three-month formulation is popular. For flowering plants, choose a fertilizer with a higher second number. For foliage plants, choose a balanced fertilizer or one with the first number slightly higher."
Grupp said home gardeners should be sure to remove dead flowers and foliage regularly and check for insect and disease pests.
"If plants get 'leggy,' a soft pinch of the terminal shoots will help encourage stocky, bushy plants," she said.
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March 15, 2005
Source: James Schuster (708) 352-0109 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Planting Mums
Though mums are more associated with the fall, May is the time to plant, divide or move mums, said James Schuster, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator based in Cook County.
"Some gardeners get away with planting in the fall but many others find that their mums fail to survive the following winter," he said. "Mums need time to establish themselves in the garden. Planting in the fall does not give most of the mums enough time."
Better survival can be ensured by planting in May, he noted, when temperatures are usually not too hot and there is adequate rainfall. Even indoor mums that are not winter hardy when planted in May often re-bloom in the fall before being killed by the cold.
"Choose a sunny, well-drained location for your mums," Schuster recommended. "Choose a location where you can use the plants as background for other shorter flowers. This allows the summer flowers to stand out better and still allow the mums to show off their majestic blooms later in the summer and fall."
In order to allow the gardener to see flower color, shape and size better, some garden centers force mums to bloom in the spring. This helps to improve sales and encourage gardeners to plant the mums in the spring.
"However, if the mums are bought in bloom, the flowers should be cut off when planted," he said. "Whether you are planting a mum or some annual, you should remove flower buds and open blooms at the time of planting so that the flowers transplant better for a higher survival rate."
If the mum or other flower comes in a degradable pot such as peat, consider cutting slices in the sides of the pot to minimize trapping roots inside the pot. Many gardeners see roots growing through the peat and are afraid to cut or remove the peat.
"Those exposed roots are going to die as soon as the peat dries out," said Schuster. "Plant survival goes up when the peat is either removed or sliced, as roots are not killed or choked off every time the peat pot dries out through the rest of the summer.
"Plants removed from non-biodegradable pots also need their roots cut or forcibly spread in order to get the roots to stop circling and to spread out for better long-term survival."
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March 15, 2005
Source: Greg Stack (708) 720-7520 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Tropical Plants as Annual Flower Borders
As home gardeners seek to draw attention to their work, an old idea is gaining new currency--adding tropical plants to annual flower borders, said Greg Stack, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator based in Cook County.
"It's easy to create a unique display of tropical foliage even if you are gardening in the Midwest," Stack explained. "In most cases, we enjoy summers that get plenty of sun, heat and humidity along with occasional heavy rains. These conditions fuel the growth of tropicals into high gear so that even if you start out with small specimens, they grow unbelievably fast and turn into large, imposing plants in a matter of weeks.
"In July and August, when temperatures and humidity are the highest, traditional garden plants often struggle to look good, but tropicals are in their element and look outstanding."
Stack points out that the idea of using tropical or tropical-looking plants to create the feel of a tropical setting is nothing new.
"Plant collectors have grown and collected them for hundreds of years. Annuals such as geraniums, impatiens and begonias are actually tropicals," he said. "During Victorian times, tropicals were all the rage. Lavish outdoor displays were created during the summer and then these plants were moved into 'glass houses' to be over-wintered for use in the next season's garden. This style of gardening was novel at the time. It is seeing a revival because it tends to draw attention to the garden."
A border planted with tropicals gets better as the season progresses, Stack noted. Many popular houseplants such as rubber plant, dieffenbachia, spider plant, spathiphyllum, pothos, and croton, when rescued from dark corners of your home, make excellent additions to the tropical border. These can be grown directly in the ground or in containers.
"Plants in containers can be placed by entrances, patios and decks or plunged into the ground in annual or perennial borders," he said. "This makes it easier to move them inside for the winter.
Stack recommended at U of I Extension web site, Tropical Punch (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/tropicalpunch/ ) for more information.
"Just incorporate a few tropical plants into an annual flower garden border and wait for the second looks, stares, 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from visitors to the garden," he said. "They will wonder if they are in the Midwest or many miles south."
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March 15, 2005
Source: Greg Stack (708) 720-7520 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Tropical-Looking Perennials for the Garden
Home gardeners might want to consider using some perennials to give their garden a tropical feel, said Greg Stack, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator based in Cook County.
"Many perennials can bring the feel of the islands to a Midwestern garden," he said.
Examples of such plants are: Arunucus (goatsbeard), Flipendula (meadowsweet), large ornamental grasses such as Erianthus (hardy Pampas), Rheum (ornamental rhubarb), Crambe, and many hardy large-leaved ferns. Hardy hibiscus with its large flowers (eight to 10 inches across) is also good.
"Some of the large-leaved hosta cultivators such as 'Sum and Substance,' 'Blue Mammoth,' and 'Sun Power' can add a tropical look as well, " he said. "Other winners in the big foliage category include Butterbur with huge two-to-three-foot leaves and ornamental rhubarb that grows to an imposing specimen with two-to-three-foot wide leaves."
One of the most basic, diverse and dramatic garden plants is the canna. Cannas are easy to grow, offer a vast array of foliage and flower colors and range in height from 18 inches to over six feet.
"They are easy to over-winter and can be used just about anywhere a tropical accent might be needed," said Stack."They prefer full sun for best performance and can tolerate moist to wet areas such as those around water features."
Many seed grown annuals can easily be used to portray a tropical look, he added.
"Castor beans grow into huge imposing plants, six-to-eight-feet tall with large colorful leaves and interesting flowers and seedpods," he said. "Candleabra tobacco has large green leaves reminiscent of large tobacco plants along with white fragrant flowers that give the look and feel of the tropics.
Stack recommends that home gardeners visit U of I Extension's website, Tropical Punch (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/tropicalpunch/ ) for additional information.
"Tropicals fit almost every situation in the garden ranging from full sun to shade," he said. "Whether tropicals are grown in the ground or in containers, attention will need to be given to moisture and fertility. Most tropicals prefer soils that are uniformly moist so water thoroughly."
Allowing tropics to dry out, Stack cautioned, affects foliage quality. Tropicals are heavy feeders and should be fertilized once every week or two with a liquid fertilizer.
"Fertilizers high in nitrogen will help keep the plant actively growing and producing large, healthy leaves," he said.
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March 15, 2005
Source: Ron Wolford (773) 233-0476 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Lead in Garden Soils
Even though lead paint was banned 25 years ago and leaded gasoline phased out in 1988, some soils may have high levels of lead in them, creating potential problems for vegetable and herb gardeners, said a University of Illinois Extension urban gardening educator based in Chicago.
"In Chicago last year, Northwestern University researchers found high levels of lead in vegetables and herbs grown in soils in the West Town neighborhood," he said. "High levels of lead in kids can cause damage to their nervous systems, behavior and learning problems and slowed growth. Most children will show no symptoms. That is what makes lead poisoning so dangerous."
Wolford pointed out that lead residue may still exist in soils close to older homes or next to heavily-traveled roads and highways.
"Avoid planting vegetables in soils close to such sites," he said. "There are other steps you can take to reduce the build up of lead in garden soils and garden plants."
These include:
--Choosing a site away from busy roads and old painted homes. --Wear gloves while working in the garden and wash hands thoroughly after leaving the garden. --Wash all edible vegetable crops. Peel any root crops like beets, turnips and carrots. --Grow edible fruiting vegetables like squash, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers because lead absorbed into these plants does not concentrate in the fruit. --Add organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to your garden soil. Cornell University conducted research that found soils with a ph of 6.5 to 7.0 with high organic matter content will bind the lead in the soil, so it will not be taken up by the plant.
"Following these simple steps will help reduce the risks of lead poisoning from contaminated garden soils," said Wolford.
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March 15, 2005
Source: James Schuster (708) 352-0109 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Shrubs in the Landscape
Choosing the right shrub can make intriguing and interesting gardens or landscapes, said James Schuster, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator based in Cook County.
"Shrubs can literally define a green space and as they continue to grow, they can continually redefine the area," he explained. "The variation in blooms and foliage as well as bark and berries can be amazing and spectacular.
"Shrubs can be grown for their natural beauty or used to help screen for privacy or to hide objectionable views. If done right, you can have the screening and the beauty. Used as a focal point, the right shrub can grow more interesting from season to season and year to year."
A number of shrubs grow in the Chicago area, he noted.
"Viburnum is a genus that contains close to 150 species," he said. "The viburnums that grow in northern Illinois are deciduous. Some have fragrant blooms, and some have long-lasting bright red fruit for winter effect. Viburnums need well-drained soil and light shade to full sun.
"The cultivar 'Mohawk' grows up to seven feet tall. Its fall leaf color turns shades of orange, red and reddish-purple that hang on in mild winters. In mild winters the reddish flower buds survive to produce five-pointed white stars forming an abundance of cymes. The flowers are fragrant and can be smelled as far as 30 feet away."
Another shrub, butterfly bush, as its name implies attracts butterflies. It often freezes to the grown, but re-grows rapidly from its roots. In mild winters, there is very little, if any, die-back.
"Butterfly bushes tend to bloom most of the summer," Schuster said. "The leaves are slender, willow-like, and gray-green with a silver sheen. The plant needs a sunny, fertile and well-drained spot."
Mock orange is a fast-growing shrub that reaches a height of 10 feet in just a few years after planting. When only half-grown, the plant will start producing white flowers that smell like orange blossoms.
"Once established, this plant needs yearly pruning of the largest stems," said Schuster. "Stems need to be cut between one and three inches above the soil line. 'Silver Showcase' is a smaller-growing variety, 'Viriginal' has probably the most intense fragrance, and 'Minnesota Snowflakes' produces the greatest number of blooms."
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