Foundation Plantings

I’ve got a plan. I even sketched it out:

I’m planning on a big hydrangea on the corner.  I don’t know why exactly but I want a Hydrangea there.  Stefan isn’t convinced but I’m set on it.  I want a mix of evergreen and deciduous plants to give it plenty of texture.  What I don’t want is the stereotypical 2 dwarf alberta spruce and a row of boxwoods.  We need something that will complement and show off our awesome porch.This is what the front looked like when we bought the place.  Huge Yews were overtaking the front and there were Trumpet vines taking over the porch.

After removing all the vegetation and re-building the porch:

Does my lousy drawing make more sense now?  I’m planning on a Hydrangea on that corner, with 3 equally spaced Hollys.  2 round boxwoods and 2 globe arborvitaes fill out the rest of the space.  My sister has done quite the same with the empty spaces of her home’s parking space as well. All that is left more me to do is read the review of sun joe spx3000 vs spx4000 to buy one of them, and then I can even easily clean the entire walkway and driveway without disturbing the plants. We’ve got a lot of texture which I think will make it look full and finished without having anything that grows up in front of the porch with the paper pot planter we used.  With the Holly we have shiny, the boxwood is smooth, the globe arborvitae is more yellow-toned.  They hydrangea is soft.  I’ve also got either some taller, more casual plants like Phlox or Roses tucked in the back of the bed.  I need to give this some more thought.  I could even do something more cottage-y like Hollyhocks or Daisies but I’m not sure they’ll get enough light there.  Some hostas to add blue and white tones and some very low-growing flowering groundcovers (creeping thyme) finish out the look and edge the bed.

As far as sunlight, we get fairly good sun on the front of the house.

You can see the front faces northwest which is not super sunny, but sunny enough for most of these plants I think.  We do get good afternoon sun even if it isn’t blazing.  The boxwoods are sun/part sun and they have been there for a summer and look great.

What do you think?  Good plan?

Eventually I want to get rid of our front yard.  There is so little grass that it almost isn’t worth it to have it.  I’m planning on starting on the corner between the sidewalk and the driveway where I’ve planted a bunch of bulbs.  From there I’ll slowly expand the bed and eventually, we’ll head over to the yard-less side.

Any thoughts about what other plants would add some color and spring/summer interest?  The Yews left the soil quite acidic so something that doesn’t mind acidic soil would be ideal but we’re going to have to supplement with lime either way.

Sarah

Seed Starting!

I’ve been wintersowing since February but this past weekend I started my tomatoes and peppers as well as some herbs and shasta daisies in plug trays.

I started 9 of Burpee’s hot pepper mix, 9 roma tomatoes, 12 super sweet 100 tomatoes, 6 shasta daisys, 2 sage, 2 dill, 2 oregano, 2 Thyme and 2 cilantro.  I’ve only filled about half my seed tray but I’ve got more herbs and some flowers to start a little later.

So far I’ve planted:

• Petunias
• Pansies
• Lupine
• Shasta Daisy
• Black Eyed Susan
• Parsly
• Cilantro
• Sage
• Oregano
• Dill
• Thyme
• Tomatoes (roma and super sweet)
• Mixed hot peppers

And all I have left to plant

• summer squash
• zuccinni
• sugar snap peas
• sweet peas
• Chives
• zinnias (lots and lots and lots of big pink ones!)
• sunflower
• nasturtiums
• Marigolds

I’m planning on planting the flowers in milk jugs in the winter-sowing style in Early April.  I’m also going to see if the ground is “workable” and see about planting my sweet peas and sugar snap peas as well as all the gladiolus.  That will probably be a project for next week after daylight savings gives me some after-work sunlight!

Here’s to hoping the cat doesn’t destroy the seed tray before I get home tonight!

Sarah

Winter Sowing

I’ve had cabin fever in a serious way this year.  I just want to be in my garden digging around, harvesting squash, sharing a cucumber with Vector, generally enjoying the sun.  But alas, it is less than 20 degrees outside and we’re looking at a solid 2 more months until spring.  The bulbs start popping up around mid-march, earlier if it’s been warm.

But, even in this cold weather, I can garden!  Seeds just came out at Home Depot and I’ve already put in an order with Burgess.

In addition to dreaming and ordering seeds, I actually already planted some. It’s called winter-sowing and the internet says it’s awesome. Basically the idea is that you make little green-houses out of milk jugs and plant your seeds in them. They will freeze and thaw and get snowed on just like seeds in nature. The freeze-thaw cycle is great for re-seeding annuals and perennials alike. It increases germination rates and prevents the need for seed stratification, soaking, and nicking that some seeds need to get good germination. In the spring, the little green-houses will warm up faster than the surrounding soil. As things heat up, you gradually remove the covers and soon enough you will have seedlings ready to transplant into the garden.

Winter-sowing is different than fall-sowing where you plant perennial seeds and next year’s hardy annuals in the garden. Winter-sowing prevents the seeds from being eaten by birds or buried too deep for germination. The greenhouses of the milk cartons also prevent the death of the young plants by late frosts. I’ve never tried this process before but I’m excited to see the results. I’ll report on my experiences as usual.

For more information on winter sowing, check out this blog by Kevin Lee Jacobs:
http://www.agardenforthehouse.com

There is plenty of other information but Kevin is in zone 5b, not too far from me in zone 6b.

So far, I’ve planted Russel Hybrid Lupines and Shasta Daisys. I had two gallon size milk jugs, 2 half gallon jugs, and a large gatoraid bottle. On Jan 19, I planted a gallon and a half of the Daisies and a gallon and a half and a gatoraid bottle of the Lupines. On Feb 2, I planted Pansies in a windshiled wiper fluid jug and Black Eyed Susans in a gallon milk jug. Stefan just finished another Gallon of milk so I need to decide what to plant out next!

I’m waiting on Stefan to drink more milk so I can plant some more seeds I purchased: Columbines, Petunias, Foxgloves, Delphiniums. I also ordered some herb seeds from Burgess which should be here in the next month or so. Some seeds like Parsley and Thyme are receptive to the winter-sow technique. I need to do a little more research though.  Here is a great link for a list of herbs that can be winter-sowed in what zones.

List of Winter-Sowing hardiness

I’m afraid I’m probably going to have to get creative about containers. I don’t think Stefan drinks that much milk and my lactose free milk doesn’t come in the plastic jugs but in the paper cartons.

Have you ever tried winter-sowing?  Are there any plants you think I’m missing?  I keep toying with morning glories but they tend to grow all by themselves without needing any help, I also got some great recommendations about the artificial plants Melbourne, I think I need to give them a try!

Sarah

Who’s Excited for Spring?

On Saturday, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring.  I am so ready for spring. Just a few more months. I’ve started getting seed catalogs by the dozens and I’ve started to keep track of which ones I like.

I’m a budget shopper and I’m not a die-hard gardener so I’m looking for good prices. The best prices I’ve found have been from www.eburgess.com. In fact, I put in a large order from there just a couple weeks ago.

Plants

Strawberry Bargain     25/$5.99
Lilac, Old Fashioned  2/$4.99
Gladiolus Garden, Glory  40/$2.99
Fern, Cinnamon  3/$5.99
Lily of the Valley, White  5/$4.99
Arborvitae, American 9-12″  3/$4.99
Hydrangea Tree  2/$2.01
Hosta, Handful of  8/$10.99
Sale Hosta 3/$4.99
Phlox, Creeping 12/$3.96
Hosta, Regal Blue 2/$3.50
Lavender, English 1/$1.99
Periwinkle 25/$3.98

Seeds:

Sage, Thyme, Chives, Coriander, Dill, Oregano, Parsley for $0.79 each
Buttercrunch Lettuce $0.69
Gourmet Blend Lettuce $0.99
Tendersweet Carrots $0.99

With $9.49 shipping the total came to exactly $80.  Not bad for the number of plants I got.  I’m so excited!  I hope everything comes looking good.  The real drive for the order was the mini arborvitaes and the Tree Hydrangeas which are in the $30 range elsewhere and I got 2 for $2.01.

They are listed “Choice, 1-3′, nursery grown trees with vigorous root systems.” I’m hoping for a big one! I’m planning on planting it in the front of the house to replace the hideous Yew we took out.

For seeds, I’ve purchased Burpee Seeds at Home Depot in the past and have been pleased with them.  Be ware that Burpee seeds vary in price a lot from place to place.  I’ve heard Walmart is by far the cheapest but our Walmart is hard to get to and kinda far away.  Home Depot was probably a dollar or more cheaper per pack than the Burpee display at the Supermarket.  I also added some seeds to my Burgess order.

I think next year I may try to place an order from Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seeds. While I’m not anti-GMO for food production I do think that by planting heirloom veggie and plant seeds in the home garden we can insure that the genetic diversity of our food supply is maintained.  I also find that the system of seed -> plant -> seeds -> plant is an amazing system that God has designed and that I hope to share with my children.  Maintaining this system in the face of GMO food production which I believe is all-in-all better for feeding the world’s population is left to smaller farms and home gardeners who will act as stewards of this amazing cycle of growth.

I tried planting the seeds directly in the ground last year with very little success.  The birds and squirrels got to them too fast. This year I’m planning on starting everything in pots even if I’m going to start them outside.  I’ll transplant to the ground once they have sprouted.  I also have a  good number of seeds that I saved from last year that I’m excited to plant out.

Here’s to an Early Spring!

Sarah