Garden and Picture design: garden

Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Indigenous Beauties Bird attracting garden

My team and I are busy with the tidying of the garden of a beautiful old Durban home. It has a well established indigenous garden, with some exceptional plants.

Halleria lucida - Tree Fuschia

The Tree Fuschia is a great plant for attracting birds. Sunbirds in particular love the nectar that they get from the tubular flowers that sprout profusely from the Hallerias stem. Fruit loving birds also love the green berries that appear in Spring.
Its an excellent plant when youre looking for fast growth, and it grows to a height of anything from about 3m to about 15m. It will grow in full sun or semi-shade, but will look better in a slightly sheltered spot.
It has been used medicinally for skin and ear problems.

Carissa bispinosa

The Carissa, or amatungulu is a very useful plant. It has attractive white flowers, which appear in Summer, followed by bright red fruit, which are high in vitamin C. The fruit are used to make a delicious jam.
It grows in Sun or Semi-shade, and does quite well on windswept dunes. It is often grown as an impenetrable hedge, as it is covered in painfully sharp forked spines.
It is relatively fast-growing once established, but takes a while to get going. It will reach about 3m in height if left, but looks better when cut back into a dense shrub.

Schotia brachypetala

The Schotia is also known as the Weeping Boer-boon (Farmers Bean) . It has been given this name because of the huge amounts of nectar that drip from the beautiful bright-red flowers, and because its pods are shaped like beans. Because of the dripping nectar, its best not to plant it too close to paved areas, or near parked cars. Nectar-loving birds are frequent visitors to this tree. Its relatively fast growing, and reaches about 15-20m high and wide.

Some of the other well-established bird-attracting plants were Aloes, Cussonia, Indigofera, Polygala, and a Toad Tree. One plant I couldnt identify, which had an amazing sweet scent was this little shrub (1.5-2m high):

Any ideas as to what it is?

Monday, March 3, 2014

Fall Garden Maintenance Pruning and Dividing Ornamental Grasses Perennials

Maiden Grass Yaku Jima

Ornamental grasses can add much interest to the winter landscape and can be enjoyed all winter long. Heres a helpful fall tip for pruning and dividing your ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis Maiden Grass or Dwarf Fountain Grass Hameln. Winter cold can do harm to the root system of grasses. It is best to cut your grasses back in late March to early April in order to protect the roots and ensure the health of your plants. If your ornamental grasses become a bit unruly by the end of the fall cut them back to only one half the height of the plant and leave the rest for early spring. Another trick is to wrap a bungee cord about halfway up around the center and let the grasses drape over keeping them upright and in place. In late March or early April cut your ornamental grasses to approximately 4-6 inches above the ground so that new growth can emerge.

Sedum & Fountain Grass Hameln

Since new growth occurs on the outside edges of the root crown, the center of ornamental grasses often start to die out as the grass matures. If your grasses are starting to hollow in the center before winter it may be time to divide them. Early Fall and early Spring are the best times for this procedure. This must be done when the grasses are actively growing so the earlier in fall the better. If you should decide to divide your larger grasses an axe or hacksaw may come in handy. Use a sharp spade to completely dig around the perimeter of the grass and lift up out of the ground. This may take some muscle and may require a couple of extra hands! Now depending on the size of the grass you can use either an axe, hand saw or a gas powered saw to divide it into cleanly cut pieces for planting. Dig a large enough hole to allow the roots to spread and plant the new clumps of grass at exactly the same height as they were planted before. Remove any loose pieces, add mulch for protection from cold and water in thoroughly.

Stella D Oro Daylily

When your daylilies are at the end of their bloom in August and the foliage is starting to yellow cut them back half way to the ground. They will rejuvenate giving you lush green foliage and even more blooms throughout September and into October. (Works best with Stella D Oro Daylily). Dividing daylilies is also best in the fall for the health of your plants. Simply dig deeply around the perimeter of the plant and gently lift the entire clump out of the ground. Use a sharp spade to divide the plant into parts and plant each section into a hole twice the size of the root ball. Be sure to get at least three or more strong shoots and a good root ball around the plant. Cut the foliage back halfway and back fill with soil around the plant. Then add mulch around the base to protect the roots and water thoroughly. Keep the plant well watered until the roots become established. At the end of the season once the fronds have turned completely brown remove all foliage to the ground to prevent fungal disease over the winter. Other plants that benefit from fall division are salvia, iris, peony, hosta, goldenrod, monardia (beebalm), nepeta, coreopsis and sedum.

Nepeta mussinii

It is also good practice to prune back spent perennials to within a few inches above the ground in the fall and to surround the area with a layer of mulch. This procedure prevents possible infection from fungal disease and helps to insulate the plants during winter. Perennials that benefit most from fall pruning include hosta, daylily, nepeta, salvia, coreopsis, gaillardia, phlox, monardia, veronica, platycodon and yarrow. Liriope can be pruned in fall or late winter before new growth emerges. Heuchera (coral bells), astilbe, liatris, lavender, perovskia (russian sage) and lupine are all cold sensitive and should be left to be pruned in early spring.

Author: Lee@A Guide To Northeastern Gardening Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.

Landscape Design Ideas for Your Garden

If at all youre planning on redoing your Garden be it in your back yard or front yard, you should definitely put in a lot of thought when it comes to the Design as youre going to be looking at it for years to come. If its possible you should hire a professional Landscape Designer to help you out. But, thats not necessary if you know what you need. There are plenty of different kinds of installations that you could put up in your Garden to make it look attractive and beautiful and all you need to do to find the best is a bit of online research. Tips on Landscape Design: Lets take a look at a few tips based on your Gardens Landscape Design:The elements need to be in proportion One of the most important facts that you need to take care of is elemental equality. You need to make sure that the different Gardening elements such as water, foliage, rocks and earth are all present and in harmony with each other - when we say harmony, we mean that it should have a sort of pleasing effect on ones eyes. Plan for the entire year Usually people dont put in a lot of thought when it comes to choosing plants for their Gardens. However, if you want your Garden to look beautiful all through the year you would need to make sure that its got plants that bloom during different seasons. Decide what you want to do There are plenty of things that you could do in your Garden. You could convert it into a paradise for toddlers or make it a sort of park where you could sit and gaze at the beauty in the evenings when you return from work. Install a water feature You could further elevate the beauty of your Garden by installing a water feature. There are plenty of different options that you could choose from - pools, streams as well as fountains. However, when choosing a water feature you should know that it needs to be maintained and it would cost you to do so. Therefore, make sure that you have the budget to maintain it well before you get it installed.