Sycamore Tree

30 second plant tip of the day – Sycamore Tree

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/sycamore-tree/ Sycamore Tree

Jubilee Blueberry

30 second plant tip of the day – Jubilee Blueberry

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/jubilee-blueberry/ Jubilee Blueberry

Red Yucca

30 second plant tip of the day – Red Yucca in the landscape

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/red-yucca/ Red Yucca

Low Maintenance Plants for Easy Care Landscaping

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could enjoy an attractive, colorful garden without spending all of your free time working at it? It can be done, and all it takes is some knowledge about the right plants to use and employing a few simple tips and techniques for easy care landscaping. A little homework before you plant will pay off in time and money spent, both now and into the future.

4 Low Care Principles – The principles listed will help you reach your goal of an attractive, low maintenance garden.

1.) Choose plants that are known to be reliable and problem free for your area, and varieties that won’t outgrow the space you’ve allotted to them.

Considering the bewildering array of plants available at the garden center right now, choosing the best for your needs will require a little guidance. Start by making a list of plants you like. With camera phone in hand look around the neighborhood and photograph plants that appeal to you.  Take along the pictures when you ask your favorite garden expert for proper identification. Consult gardening books, magazine articles, and the web to learn about the plants on your list.  Enlist the help at a garden center to learn how well local conditions suit each plant.

A common mistake is to choose plants that look just right on planting day, and then rapidly outgrow their spaces, creating a continual maintenance headache. Unlike an interior design that looks best the day it is installed, a landscape design should look its best several years later.

Look for compact varieties of plants. For instance, many traditional favorites, such as spirea, spruce, and butterfly bush are now available in compact forms that are much more likely to suit the scale of today’s smaller gardens. Most often these plants have parts of their names in single quotes, and are referred to as “named varieties”.  Examples of some named, compact plants are ‘Goldflame‘ spirea, dwarf ‘Serbian’ spruce, ‘Indigo Blue’ butterfly bush, and dwarf ‘Yetti’ hawthorn.

Named varieties offer resistance to pests and diseases that plague the common species. Examples include ‘Prairifire‘ crab-apple which is resistant to both apple scab and fire blight, and ‘Knockout‘ rose which is rarely troubled by powdery mildew, a common rose disease. Choosing disease resistant varieties will result in fewer pests, which ultimately translates into lower maintenance and less care.

Some dwarf conifers, such as ‘Globe’ spruce, grow very slowly, as little as one inch per year. Such slow growers are more expensive initially because a plant that is only 4 to 6 feet tall may be 10 to 15 years old. Growers have invested as much time and materials in these as in plants that are much larger.  The initial extra cost pays off over time because such plants need minimal if any pruning.

2.) Prepare the soil well before planting so plants get a strong start.

Mulch is a very effective weed deterrent. Spread a 2-3” inch layer of shredded cedar bark around plants. Cedar bark, as opposed to nuggets, chips, or additional rock provides the best coverage and, in my opinion, looks the best. As mulch breaks down it adds organic matter to the soil; it also shades roots in summer and acts as insulation in winter. I put down a fresh layer of mulch each spring with a light top dressing at the beginning of the season.

3.) Mulch and use soil moistening polymers to reduce weeds and conserve soil moisture.

Reduce water usage by amending your plants’ soil with my specially formulated ‘Aqua Boost Crystals’.  These mycorrhizal infused crystals hold 200-300 times their weight in water and keep the soil moist at the root zone of each plant.  The mycorrhiza fungi added to this formula infuse the soil and encourage plants to root deeply into the soil.  These crystals are so effective that plants’ demands for water can be cut in half . . . or more.

4.) Use an automatic clock to run your drip irrigation lines.

Even for plants requiring only minimal water, a drip-irrigation system on a timer eliminates standing in the yard with a hose to water plants.  Since drip irrigation delivers most of its water underground, it really cuts down on the amount of water used and on weed growth, particularly during the dry summer months.

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A Notable Low Care Plant is the ‘Brakelights Red’ yucca.  Vibrant, brake light red blooms tower above this improved variety. This compact new selection rarely produces the ugly seedpods found on other yuccas; the result is more prolific flowering over an exceptionally long season. No other yucca blooms like this one does. For a dramatic effect plant it en masse in xeriscapes and other water wise gardens. This bountiful bloomer thrives with little to no care.

Many more low care planting ideas are available by asking for my list of ‘Mountain Friendly Plants’ the next time you visit the garden center.  Regular readers of this column know that it’s free for the asking.

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Plant of the Week is the ‘Balboa Sunset’ Trumpet Vine.  Huge clusters of 4” flowers are deeper colored than any other vine.  Taylor made for climbing quickly with colorful coverage that masks unattractive wire fences and outbuildings. Snake it up posts or columns to overhead gateways and entries.  Drape over courtyard walls or let it cascade off retaining block. An excellent blooming ground cover for erosion control.  Add to wildlife friendly settings where hummingbirds find it absolutely irresistible.

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Free Gardening Classes – The summer class schedule has been posted and starts today, Saturday, June 15 @ 9:30 a.m.  Today’s free class is entitled “Bountiful Vegetable Gardens Sure to Produce”.  On June 22 students will learn how to create “Containers that Bloom like Crazy”. Check out the entire summer class schedule at www.wattersgardencenter.com/category/classes.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/low-maintenance-plants-for-easy-care-landscaping/ Low Maintenance Plants for Easy Care Landscaping

Calling All Butterflies!

Butterflies have been magnificent this spring.  I believe that these creatures are God’s gift to gardeners, and some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures in any garden. The reason so many butterflies are appearing in our gardens is that they are losing their natural habitats.  The building of homes, roads, and farms in Arizona all contribute to the increased butterfly population in cultivated gardens. A butterfly garden is any area that is attractive to butterflies.  Creating a piece of “butterfly bait” is an easy way to attract more butterflies for our enjoyment while improving their environment.

Gardening for butterflies is not only fun, but is the source of something beautiful and rewarding. It is easier than you might imagine to get these fairy-winged creatures to flutter your way. Butterfly larvae and caterpillars need plants for food, and adult butterflies need plant nectar.  So, the ideal butterfly garden fulfills both of these requirements. It is simply a matter of choosing the right plants to attract them and then to encourage them to stay.  Then you can sit back and let them entertain and amaze you.

Most inviting to butterflies are gardens with sunny areas sheltered from the wind, areas with garden mulch, rock crevices, brush piles, and yes, even some weeds. Because of the many different flowers in a good butterfly garden, it soon becomes a place of beauty.  A butterfly garden can be any size:  a window box, part of your landscaped yard, and even a wild untended area on your property.

Among the plants irresistible to butterflies and gardeners are:

Shasta Daisy – This perennial bloomer produces HUGE white flowers that are irresistible to anything with wings, and butterflies cannot stay away!  The blossoms of this season-long bloomer have been exceptional this spring.  A bonus characteristic of this popular plant is that rabbits, deer, and pack rats don’t care for this beautiful butterfly magnet.

Coreopsis – The yellow flowers of this lush plant seem to glow in the garden even in the brightest light. This perennial never stops showing color all summer long. Hint: Shear the plant back with hedge clippers after each flush of blooms start to fade; it will spring into bloom all over again several times a year.

Phlox – Throughout the summer its large beautiful clusters of red, pink and lavender flowers will enhance its surroundings.  Delivering years of perennial enjoyment the blooms bring their fragrance and sweetness to the delight of butterflies and humans.

Echinacea – If you have a sunny spot that needs planting, there are lots of reasons to grow a purple coneflower. Butterflies of many varieties love sipping its nectar, and it is very heat and drought tolerant. Also, because it blooms all summer long it’s the perfect addition to a cutting garden.

Anise Hyssop – There also are lots of reasons to grow anise hyssop.  Deer and rabbits leave it alone.  Like the echinacea it is heat and drought tolerant, and blooms for weeks in late summer.  Also, it’s a good source of cut flowers, and, of course, butterflies love it.

Salvia – There’s a salvia for every garden: some salvias are tall, others are short; some salvias have blue or purple blooms, and others have red, orange, or pink flowers. While you might have trouble choosing a salvia, the butterflies won’t – rest assured that whichever salvia you plant they’ll flock to it every summer.

Miss Huff Lantana – Colorful is the definition for the flowers of this lantana.  It blooms all summer long in glowing shades of lavender, pink, red, orange, yellow, cream, and white. A versatile plant, it looks perfect in containers or beds or borders. Butterflies will agree – this lantana is an outstanding addition to your garden.

Pentas – An all-around garden champion, pentas bears clusters of star-shaped blooms in bright shades of pink, red, and white. It loves hot conditions, holds up to drought pretty well, and is a sure bet for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds looking for a snack.

Zinnia – Just about everyone loves zinnias, which is why they’re favorites of butterfly gardeners, cottage gardeners, and beginning gardeners. It blooms in an almost endless range of colors and, whether outdoors or in a vase, it looks good all summer long.

Black-eyed Susan – This tough perennial blooms in late summer.  Its big, yellow, daisy-shaped flowers are as perfect for bouquets as it is for butterflies.

Fennel – This is the plant for adding texture to a garden. It’s also a surefire way to attract swallowtail butterflies, whose caterpillars munch on the fennel’s ferny foliage.

Verbena – This plant is perfect for cut bouquets because its blossoms will not be depleted. The more you cut, the more it blooms, guaranteeing a supply of lavender-purple blooms at the ready for butterflies to enjoy, too.

The entire list of butterfly attractor plants will be posted on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/watters1815.  If you are not a Facebook fan, a one page hard copy version will be available free for the asking when you visit the garden center  this week. 

Gardening Class – June 15 is the first of a series of free summer classes for gardeners.  Held in the comfort of Watters’ greenhouse, classes begin at 9:30 every Saturday morning.  On the 15th the topic will be:  “Bountiful Vegetable Gardens Sure to Produce”.  At the June 22 class students will learn how to create “Containers that Bloom like Crazy”.  Check out the entire summer schedule at www.wattersgardencenter.com/category/classes.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/calling-all-butterflies/ Calling All Butterflies!

Timeless Beauty Desert Willow

Check out this amazing drought hardy native flowering willow for the mountains of Arizona.  This large shrub is not thirsty like the typical willow.

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/timeless-beauty-desert-willow/ Timeless Beauty Desert Willow

Fragrant Spanish Broom

Fragrant Spanish Broom is blooming around town.

http://wattersgardencenter.com/2013/fragrant-spanish-broom/ Fragrant Spanish Broom