Perennial Grasses add Interest to Winter Garden

Today my neighbor came to see me, he had his lawn trimmer in his hand, and he asked me how far back he should cut his perennial grass garden. I replied that spring is the best time to cut the grass back and that I recommend that the grasses be left alone in the fall and winter because the dry grass will add interest to his yard and garden.

Here are photos of my grass garden in the spring, summer, and winter.

  

Spring when grasses are starting to grow

My grass garden early summer

Grass garden in winter

The winters are long and cold and I think the dried grasses look nice. The grass plumes are eye-appealing plus they add movement and provide wildlife with shelter, and windbreak for birds, rabbits, and cats. 

In the autumn season after I remove the leaves I trim the grasses so they are more manicured and off the garden path.  Then I will mulch around the garden fountain and perennial grasses. This mulch will add a more manicured look to the garden.

You can also highlight the grass garden with solar lights then when you look out at your yard at night during the winter months, you will view a grass garden that is eye appealing.  This is why I recommend leaving your ornamental grasses alone throughout the autumn and winter months.  

Here is a photograph of my grass garden next to my garden path.  The November photo was taken after I trimmed the grass as it had grown over the stepping stones.

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Grass garden in autumn, dried plumes look lovely

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Covered Tropical Plants with Frost Covers

Tonight is a cold night, and I took steps to cover my orchids and elephant ear tropical plants with frost covers.  The forecast does not call for a freeze and tomorrow it will be warm again but with temperatures dipping into the low 40's I thought it best to cover my tropical plants.

The weather that we are having is not normal for this time of the year.  It is a cold snap with back-to-normal temperatures in a few days.  By Monday the high is 88 degrees Fahrenheit and the forecast shows many days of warm weather.  For this reason, I decided to leave my tropical plants outdoors for now.  The frost cover will protect them and tomorrow I will uncover them and the orchids will look so pretty.

Eventually, I will have to take all tropical plants indoors and get the elephant ears ready for winter storage. At the moment  I am putting that off.  I want to prolong the garden season as long as I can.

Do you have orchids or other tropical plants?  When do you bring them indoors?

Here is a photo of tropical elephant ears in a container.  

Elephant ear container plant

 

Getting Gardens Ready for First Snow

I learned today that the weather forecast for the end of October is snow followed by bitter cold weather.  Know that this cold weather is coming very early in season and at a time that we usually enjoy our yard and garden.

Autumn season cut short due to snow forecast

Today and probably all of next week I will have to work harder on the gardens to get them ready for the frigid cold weather and snow.  Normally I do not cut back my lilies until after a hard frost, but plan on cutting them back so I can cover the flower bed with mulch.  I will also have to plant 120 daffodils next week, because this must be done before the ground freezes.

My yard and gardens with snow

I started working in the side yard, clearing  the brush that was growing next to the dog kennel.  I got 8 feet cut back and have another 9 feet to finish.  While working I noticed that my irises rhizomes are above the soil line and suspect that removing the leaves last week from the garden caused erosion.  I will probably add a layer of compost next week and maybe a light layer of natural mulch.  I am thinking that ice will not be good for them since their roots are just bellow the soil.

Then when all the manicuring and caring for flower gardens is completed I have to stake the gardens with poles with flags because if I do not my hubby will plow the snow through the gardens.  Yes it safe to say that I am going to be busy next week because I must get the yard and gardens ready for first snow of the season.

Is the weather changing where you live?  Will you have snow in October?

Deciduous Trees Have Canker Disease

I am not a tree expert but when I saw that there was something wrong with my willow and mimosa tree bark I knew it was not normal. The bark had cracked open and separated leaving a hole that allowed insects to go inside. 

 I treated the area infection with organic pest control but it had little effect on the problem. Within a week my mature mimosa tree subcombed to whatever had infected it and died. My pine, oak, and silver maple trees were also infected with canker disease.

I love my trees and was not willing to let them die just because we have the no chemical rule in our yard and garden. So I called a tree expert and met with him yesterday. Learned that the trees were infected with Canker disease which is a fungus.

 If I lose these trees to canker disease and termites then the autumn season will not be the same. Hoping that we caught all in time.

The expert on closer examination found that the trees had termites too. They had gotten into the tree from the open wound on tree branches and trunk that had become infected with fungus.

I agreed to the treatment for my trees, it was a chemical but I had to do it or I would lose all 8 mature trees in my yard. The tree expert will check back at the end of the month to see if further treatment is needed. He told me that once the tree becomes infected it may take up to 4 treatments to get rid of the termites and kill the fungus.

Know that for the two trees that we cut down yesterday, the wood needed to be disposed of, and the stump and surrounding area needed to be treated to put a stop to the spread of fungus, bacteria, and termites.  

Maintaining Yard and Gardens in September

Maintaining and manicuring the yard and gardens in September will enable you to have a beautiful landscape throughout the cold season. 

 Today my husband and I took advantage of the good weather and spent the morning outdoors in they yard.  We worked together to create a lovely landscape and cleaned up the  patio by getting the firepit ready for sitting by the fire on cool fall nights. 

We both worked at cleaning up the sand set flagstone patio, I removed the weeds that were growing between the stone and husband put down new drainage rock around the firepit.  When the patio was completed I moved on to my next garden project.

  

 I dead headed all of the spent flowers, trimmed back the coneflowers and zinnia that started to turn brown from those few nights of low 40's temperature.  Harvested the seeds by putting seeds in Ziploc bag and  then covered the garden bed with cedar mulch.

When all of the seeds were harvested I moved on to trimming back the grass garden because they were overgrown and covered the garden path.  There was enough time to spot check the irises and to pull the weeds and grass that was growing in the bed.  

While I worked on the gardens my husband cut the grass and used the blower to remove the leaves from patios, paths and driveway.  It was a great day to work in the garden, Husband and I accomplished so much and our  September yard and garden looks beautiful.

Here are some photographs of my gardens, patio paths.

End of season shade garden

September blooms of Sweet Autumn Clematis

Updated patio and firepit for Fall usage, firepit and patio designed by Sgolis

Pea Gravel garden path, designed and installed by Sgolis

Flowers Blooming in End of Summer Garden

Chrysanthemum falls flower

This week I have a few flowers blooming in my garden but not many. The weather has been cooler than usual at night and my zinnias and coneflowers did start to die off so I cut them and collected the seeds. 

 My four O'clocks started to go into seed, but there are still a few blooms. Other than that the sweet autumn clematis is in bloom, a few belladonnas, and the cosmos are in bloom.   The yellow chrysanthemums are covered with buds and blooms and they will surely look pretty throughout the fall season. 

In my herb garden, there are a few blooms; peppermint and chamomile and they look pretty.  I looked for the toad lilies but they did not come up this year. I suppose the winter was too harsh last year or perhaps a cat dug them up.  

This week I am enjoying the end of summer/early autumn blooms. How about you, what is blooming in your flower garden this week?

Here are some photographs of the end-of-summer flowers.

Sweet autumn clematis on trellis

Four O'Clock flowers by the garden wall

Damaged Irises Have NEW Growth: Flower Photographs

Today when I went to look at the irises that were damaged by the lawn mower I was happy to see that some have signs of new growth. 

These backyard irises were damaged when the husband cut his corner too close and ran them over with the lawn mower. Know that many of the rhizomes were damaged and did die, however, some were not as badly damaged and did respond to the immediate care that I gave them.

When the mowing occurred I went to irises aide by applying one inch of compost to the flower bed. Then set up a soaking hose to water them with a slow drip in the morning. The damage to the irises occurred during the hot summer when there were drought conditions.

 I also treated the garden bed with neem oil extract for spider mites. I used a concentrated formula that you mix with water and spayed the soil at dusk because it is not good to use neem oil in direct light.

A month after the occurrence I noticed that the irises garden is pest fee and suspect it is due to the neem oil insecticide. I also noticed that the irises have signs of improvement. The leaves that looked sickly are now showing signs of new growth, leaf bud on one of the rhizomes. 

 Granted a few flowers are still struggling to survive and 10 have turned brown and died due to the shock of the lawn mower.  I have not given up. 

 Know that my neighbor has tossed his irises that have had borers into the woods, thinking that they were hopeless and they have survived. We now have wild irises blooming in the woods in the spring, so anything is possible.

Here are some photographs of my irises, all photographs were taken of my personal residence flower gardens.

Outdoor Living Ideas: Creating a Space

Recently one of my online followers emailed a question. They told me that they were following my home and garden sets on my blog and that they did not have a patio or a deck, but instead a large yard and wanted an outdoor space.  They asked me if I had any ideas or suggestions. 

small outdoor living space

 My follower asked if they could create an entertainment or outdoor space where family and friends could sit and enjoy the view of their gardens and lake. I replied, that she could have an appealing outdoor space that she would enjoy for many years.

Know that you can create space anywhere and that you do not need a patio or a deck. Although it is nice to find an area in your yard that has a nice shade tree, garden overlook, or view of the lake.

simple backyard space

You can create a quick space by filling in an area with gravel, and mulch or doing a stone patio. If you do not want to do that you can buy cobblestone molds and make your own cement walkway for your outdoor space or base for your garden furniture.

Of course, you can always create an area by setting your furniture on the grass, but I would recommend cutting it very short in this area and treating it with an organic insecticide; concentrated spearmint oil or garlic are two products on the market that work very well.

cozy space by the lake

Here are a few outdoor living areas that I designed at polyvore.com. The first one shows a natural setting with outdoor furniture, a heating unit, and a fire pit for ambiance. I accented this set with a variety of autumn throw pillows and a lightweight blanket. All of these products are from my zazzle shop.

Anyone can create a space in their backyard, find the area that has the best view then set up your lawn furniture, add decorations, and create a space that is comfortable and has ambiance. Outdoor living will enable you to enjoy nature and you will feel more relaxed.

***You can buy the cobblestone cement molds at Lowes.com and create your own walkway or unique area for your patio furniture. It is a fun DIY landscape improvement project.

Caring For Damaged Irises

The other day my husband decided to run the mulching lawn mower over my backyard irises. He thought it was a good idea; quicker and faster way to trim back the fans and needless to say I was devastated. Many of the rhizomes were damaged and other plants had no leaves as they were cut down so low that I doubt they will produce flowers next spring or the year after, that is if they survive this shock.

My backyard irises that grow next to the rock wall

Anyway I was upset but today I dried the tears from my eyes and decided I would try to care for my damaged irises; try to save them. The first thing that I did was add some organic compost to the flower bed. Normally I do not cover the rhizomes but today I did cover most of them, leaving only a small section before the leaf would begin. The compost is a rich fertilizer and hopefully will aid in provided the irises with the nutrients that are needed to grow and not die.

When I completed the compost, I then watered the irises, in fact I set up a soaking hose that will provide the irises with a slow drip in the morning.

Presently I am watching the irises for sucking insects like spider-mites and aphids and if I see these garden type insects I will treat the irises with a spraying of neem oil insecticide. My friend is a master gardener and she does not think that the flowers will survive. It is a terrible shock to flowers and like I said the rhizomes were cut.

Know that my husband is a great help to me with the garden and that I had explained how to trim back the leaves, even showed him how to sterilize the garden scissor but he thought the mower was a good idea and cut down the irises. Of course he knew immediately that he made a mistake and did say he was sorry.  But the damage is done.

Keeping Irises Insect Free with Neem Oil

This summer has been a real buggy one. I suppose it was due to a cold and damp spring, followed by standing water due to ground saturation then it got hot and the insects came out in full force. Overall my irises took a beating from the sucking insects and when I found that natural soap  treatment was not strong enough I cut the irises back and treated the soil rhizomes and leaves with neem oil insecticide

Keeping my irises healthy with neem oil concentrate

Neem oil insecticide is natural and is safe to use in your garden. Plus it will not harm the butterflies or hummingbirds. I bought the brand Garden safe Neem oil extract concentrated liquid from Lowes.com. The label featured that it eliminate the garden pests; spider mites, aphids, powdery mildew, whiteflies, black spot and rust.

I followed the directions and treated my irises and roses in the evening after the sun went down. It is best to use this plant and shrub spray on a cloudy day or in the evening. Not a good idea to use during the heat of the day or in direct light as it will burn your plants leaves.

I saturated the soil, around and my plants stems and leaves. I am am pleased with the results thus far. Now as far as the grasshopper and other chewing garden pests I plan to treat my entire yard with concentrated spearmint as this was recommended to me by pest control expert.

Know that if you irises are under attack by mites, leaf spot disease, rust and aphids then neem oil concentrate mixed with water will help. If you have grasshoppers or other chewing garden pests then neem oil will not get rid of them

Learn the dos and don’ts for cutting back irises here