Archive for Plants I Recommend – Page 17

Hot Time in my Summer Garden

Posted by Carol

· August 5, 2015

Daizzie in the garden, it’s almost a year since she arrived.

Wow, having a garden of any kind has been challenging in this unusually warm year. For some plants it’s been touch and go as a result of the heat. In my veggie garden I have learned a lot this year. My tomatoes would not set fruit if the evening temperature was too high (in June and July) so what looked like a potential bumper crop of tomatoes quickly changed to dead flowers and no fruit set when the temps soared. Now that it is cooler (as of two days ago) I see some new flowers on my tomato plants and am hoping for more fruit to set before the next heat wave comes.

South side container garden for tomatoes.

I also learned to plant lettuce and dwarf petunia under my tomatoes that were in containers. They blocked the sun by covering my soil, which cooled the soil and now the leaves of my tomato plants look so much better. They were tip burned and turning yellow. I also have tomato plants on the south side of my floating home and they get a lot of sun and heat.

Radicchio shades tomato root zone.

We have a mole family in our community garden and we can’t set one of those nasty traps with the teeth since kids or sometimes pets could go in there. Today I put chili powder down the holes but probably all that will happen is that they will move to a neighbors raised bed and then come back to mine when the chili smell is gone. I’m adding soil to fill their holes and I imagine an entire freeway of holes and passageways from one raised bed to another. It’s only comical until one of my Kale wilts, faints and dies because of no soil under the roots, then I tend to growl.

Daizzie is getting used to our new scarecrow.

Dogs are no longer allowed in the garden, which is probably a good thing since Daizzie is afraid of our new scarecrow anyway. Sharing the garden with my neighbors is so much fun and we all water for each other so vacations are not a problem.

I’ve tried some greens called Deer Tongue; ok bad name but tasty and found them to be very heat tolerant and my New Zealand Spinach is loving this heat and producing all the greens I can eat. By the way, don’t cook them, they turn to slush; which is strange because this spinach has an oddly thick leaf. They are meant to be eaten fresh.

My neighbor Betty and I (mostly Betty) will be starting seeds for our fall gardens – I’ll get my chard, collard greens and lettuces going to enjoy until frost.

Categories : Easy Edibles, Garden Tips, Plants I Recommend, Summer Garden Tips

Tags : community garden, easy edibles, how to gardening tips, tomatoes, vegetable gardening tips

Planters Are a Designer’s Best Friend

Posted by Carol

· July 1, 2015

Steel planters with yucca, heather and succulents create year round color with a modern twist.

Hardscape Is A Great Addition To Your Landscaping

I use large built in planters to solve a variety of landscape problems and here are some of my favorites.

planter uses hardscape to create privacy.

This front yard planter is about creating privacy for the living room window. Their Willamette Heights house is 12 feet from the public sidewalk and they live near a park so there’s lots of foot traffic. Juniper Communis ‘Gold Cone’, semi dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea Quercifolia, ‘Sykes Dwarf’, California lilac ‘Concha’ (Ceanothus) purchased as a tree form at Kinens Big Phat Plants. This is a specialty wholesale only grower who shapes his plants beautifully before selling which is why I love to purchase a focal point plant such as the California Lilac tree from him.

hardscape planter with arbor in Grant Park neighborhood

Grant Park Side Yard Privacy Planter – Anderson

This planter gets a privacy boost with an arbor which creates a visual barrier between the neighbors’ utility side yard and my client’s driveway. The kids play in the driveway and the adults use the planter for edibles so this area has become an important part of their yard. It also adds dramatic curb appeal to the entry. Read more

Raleigh Hills NW Natural Backyard – The Coles

Here we use green peeled logs to make a raised beds/planter. We wanted raised beds so the plants would be safe from the dogs (two very smart and active standard poodles) who fly through paths. I chose the peeled logs because they fit into the woodsy Northwest natural setting of this property. I also had the specialty cedar chips laid at 6″ deep. It’s too shady for lawn and other medium encourages fleas and doesn’t last. It’s the perfect dog friendly solution for a shady back yard. The plants pictured are native Sword Fern and Hardy Geranium, Geranium Macrorrhizum ‘Mrs. Ingwersen’ also have a woodsy look.

NE Portland Entry Landscape Design for Alameda corner lot

Michaels planter – this stone planter gives us the opportunity to jazz up the curb appeal of this bungalow in NE Portland. It’s about creating a dramatic and colorful entry experience and visually softening the foundation below the front porch. Helianthemun ‘Henfield Brilliant’ billows over the cap of the planter.

Beaverton Condominium Patio – Knight

Here is a very modern patio and it would be nothing without these planters. We chose planters rather than at grade planting beds because of ginormous tree roots that invaded all the planting beds. There was no room to even dig holes for new plantings. Gardening will be easier for my client who is approaching an age where bending down to tend the ground is a less attractive idea. Read more.

After photo of hardscape landscaping stone planters with privacy tree just installed Buckman Neighborhood

Tiny urban courtyard needed privacy-planters with small trees will provide it. See barely visible new vine maple trunk in center of planter.

The Tiny Urban Courtyard Needs Privacy

My client’s 1909 house in Buckman Neighborhood fills most of his 36’ by 100’ lot. My mission? Transform his tiny narrow utilitarian “yard” into a private sanctuary for relaxing outside. His new planters create enough soil space to plant small screening trees that will provide privacy and ambiance for being outside in the summer. The small trees (Acer Circinatum ‘Pacific Fire’) will be easier to walk around and easier to care for up the in planters. Read more

NE Portland home needs privacy on narrow side yard

These clear cedar wood planters are 30″ tall and 4′ wide to house a large clump of my favorite screening plant for city properties. The plant is a clumping bamboo called Fargesia robusta ‘Campbell’ and the custom planters are beautifully crafted by Victor Vincelli, who worked with the design installer Donna Burdick of D and J Landscape Contracting. He also built a perfect fire pit cover that acts as a table. I’ll add a link here so you can see the final results in 2021.

Privacy solution planters for clumping bamboo in Irvington neighborhood

Donna Burdick of D and J Landscape Contracting sits on large custom privacy planter for clumping bamboo

If you are interested in how hardscape landscaping can be added to your garden, contact me for more information!

Categories : Design Basics, Dog and Cat Friendly Gardens, Garden Tips, Plants I Recommend

Tags : Aging in place in the garden, curb appeal, garden design with stone, Gardens for seniors, Hardscape Design, hydrangea, peeled log planter, planters, privacy screening, raised beds, Stone planters

Top 5 Stepable Path Plants For Portland Landscapes

Posted by Carol

· May 20, 2015

North Portland Landscape Design parking strip

Becky Clark Design Thymus Praecox ‘Coccineus’ ablaze w flower in north Portland parking strip

Selecting Stepable Path Plants for Portland Landscapes

Maybe it’s not fair that most people don’t know the finer points of selecting stepable path plants. The truth is planting between pavers successfully without insider knowledge rarely ever results in a thriving and attractive result let alone a planting that qualifies as low maintenance. It’s a little like ‘Goldilocks and The Three Bears’, the plant has to be just right. Remember? The chair and the bed had to be the right size and the porridge had to be the right temperature. If the plant you select is not right for the job, your path or patio can have weed problems that will take a complete do over to solve.

Most people don’t want to trial and error plants. They want to know it will work before they put in their time and effort. That is the advantage of hiring a Portland landscape designer. We know what works here and what doesn’t.

Portland landscape designer walking on stepable plants

Step on these plants. This keeps them growing low and dense.

Here’s how I think about selecting stepable path plants.

I want a plant that doesn’t grow higher than 1″ or 2″ tall maximum.

Many stepable plants tend to grow into a hump and must be walked on regularly to keep it from growing into a hump and being a trip hazard. Stepping on the plants frequently will cause them to grow dense and shorter. My grandson Rain helped me plant my flagstone patio. I stepped away and his friend came running in and said “I keep telling him they’re stepables not stompables.” I looked up to see my grandson stomping on the freshly planted ground covers. Surprisingly, the plants survived just fine.

Leptinella = Black Brass Button stepable groundcover

I want a plant that doesn’t grow over the flagstone too quickly.

If you plant a type of stepable that grows too vigorously you will be constantly cutting the plant off of the flagstone. Untended it will completely cover your flagstone. A slower plant might need a trim every year or two.

What do Stepable Groundcovers Need?

Weeds are the enemy. Prevent weeds.

Most stepable plants require good drainage in order to grow thickly and repel weeds. If they don’t grow thickly, and have bare patches, weed seeds will be able to reach the soil, germinate and thrive. I fertilize my patio plantings with half strength fish fertilizer several times a year to keep them growing thickly and I rake or sweep leaves and debris off the plants so they can get as much light as possible. These actions help keep the plants growing vigorously which is another way to thwart weeds.

I’ve listed plants below for part sun and full sun. I don’t have a stepable plant that thrives in strong shade, regardless of what the plant labels say. I’ve tried several that manage to stay alive in dappled shade but don’t grow thick enough to repel weeds.

Another tip: Don’t plant in an area that was infested with weeds. You will need to tackle the weeds first before you plant your stepables.

Here’s a close up of ‘Platt’s Black’ Brass Buttons with Star Creeper.

Stepable Plants for Part Shade/Part Sun:

Leptinella squalida – New Zealand Brass Buttons. The variety I prefer is ‘Platt’s Black’. The other variety of Brass Buttons I like, ‘Leptinella P. Verdigris’ is a a little fast for pavers but I have used it for paths. I don’t grow either of these in full sun. They spread until they find an environment they don’t like. In my patio they run into too much shade and the strong roots of sword fern and they stop there. These are spreaders so think before planting.

Mentha requienii – Corsican Mint This is a crowd pleaser because it smells good when you step on the plant. This plant needs some sun, and needs good drainage, too much shade and soil that is too wet in the winter will kill this plant. Full day sun is typically too much for this plant. I’ve seen it in full sun but when I tried it, it failed.

Stepable Plants for Sun:

Thymus Serpyllum ‘Elfin’ or ‘Elfin Pink’ – I love this plant and it is truly a flat mat if you step on it regularly. It does get weeds growing into the middle so it’s not maintenance free, but only garden magazines talk about maintenance free landscapes. When it is successful you will have to cut it off of flagstones some but I find it quite manageable.

Stachys densiflora ‘Alba’ – Alba Lambs Ear First of all this plant looks nothing like the traditional cottage garden plant (silver furry leafed) Lambs Ear. The tiny leaves are fully evergreen, dark green and leathery.

Stachys D, 'Alba' with attractive seed heads and Thymus P. 'Elfin Pink"

Seed head is a rust red and very attractive.

I love this plant because it doesn’t let weed seeds infiltrate the tight mound of leaves. Plant it on the edges of your path or step on it every day, otherwise it will mound up. It takes full sun easily and the long flowering period is fantastic! The seed heads that follow are interesting as well.

Stepable ground cover in Irvington neighborhood, Portland, Oregon

Cushion Bolax ‘Nana’ – Emerald Cushion is my favorite stepable for sun.

My Favorite Stepable Plant

Azorella Trifurcata ‘Nana’ – Cushion Bolax I have this plant at my vacation house in full morning sun (so 4 hours) and it will take full day sun as well. It occasionally has a dandelion sprout in the middle, but other pesky weeds don’t invade. I find it to be very low maintenance and perfect for a place I only visit every month or two. It will creep over your pavers so plan to trim once every year or two. It’s my favorite filler plant for pavers, paths and as a foreground plant in a planting bed.

My dog Barley looking at freshly planted Cushion Bolax.

I love the texture. It goes through a change where the little needles feel like a plastic carpet (which sounds bad but is fun) and then it softens into a ‘pettable’ surface. The yellow flowers are tiny fat buttons and cute.

Let’s work together and get you off to a great start

Are you looking for a Portland landscape designer who knows what plants and materials will work in your landscape? We know how to put it all together and get you on the path to your new attractive and manageable landscape. Contact us and let’s create together.

Categories : Dog and Cat Friendly Gardens, Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, New Improved Plants, Parking Strips, Plants I Recommend, Shade Plants

Tags : curb appeal, dog friendly, flagstone in the garden, garden design with stone, garden tips, Hardscape Design, how to gardening tips, No Lawn, stepable plants, street plantings

Portland Rain Garden with Year Round Color

Posted by Carol

· April 1, 2015

Portland Rain Garden Plants with Year Round Color

Downspout disconnect rain garden in Raliegh Hills. Designed by Carol Lindsay and D & J Landscape Contracting

Downspout disconnect rain garden in Raleigh Hills. Designed by Carol Lindsay and D & J Landscape Contracting

As a Portland landscape designer I like my rain garden designs to have year round color. Many Portlanders have rain gardens in the front yard so it’s important to have year round color. Without careful plant selection rain garden plantings can look forlorn in the winter months with no leaves or color present. I love a good hit of color to offset our typically gray winter season.

To select plants for a rain garden I start by thinking about the areas of a rain garden that have different degrees of wetness. There are fewer evergreen plants that work well in the wettest areas and a wider range of plants for the sides and the top which are less wet. Knowing which plants will thrive in this situation ensures I select the right plant for the right place.

Rain Garden Planting Design in Raleigh Hills, Portland, Oregon

Southwest Hills Portland Rain Garden Plantings used: Miniature Golden Sweet Flag is a 4″ tall chartreuse evergreen blade. Use the Latin name, Acorus gramineus ‘Minimus Pusillus Aurea’, to get the right plant. The evergreen narrow gold tufts form a somewhat flattened pinwheel which adds interesting texture. It will take standing water that drains away so it’s perfect for the wettest areas of a rain garden. If the area is a lake for a week at a time, that is too wet. Miniature Sweet Flag is unique because it also thrives in dryer sunny areas. I don’t use it in heavy shade designs.

Flowering Tree with Beesia, Fatsia, Hosta plantings underneath

Beesia can also be used as a ground cover in partial shade here in a NE Portland landscape design.

False Bugbane – Beesia deltophylla has glossy evergreen heart shaped leaves. It’s a perfect companion plant for the narrow blades of the Miniature Gold Sweet Flag; together they make a perfect year round color combination. The Beesia would die planted in the lowest wettest area so I plant it above the Golden Sweet Flag in a rain garden.

Designers know Compact Inkberry Holly – Ilex Glabra ‘Compacta’, will survive temporary standing water but there are few if any other choices for the Pacific Northwest. I’ve used Compact Inkberry Holly, on the sides of a rain garden. It works as a house foundation planting too. Don’t be fooled by the word “compacta”. It will happily grow to 4′ tall. Fortunately you can prune this shrub once or twice a year and keep it 2’ by 2’.

North Portland Rain Garden Landscape Design

Ilex Glabra (Inkberry) is a great plant for rain gardens because it is evergreen. Few wet tolerant plants are evergreen. Photo from Proven Winners

Not convinced about wet soil and evergreen shrubs? I will restrain myself to listing just 5 evergreen that die a sad little death in overly wet winter soil: Azaleas, Escollonia, Pieris, Rhododendron, and a variety of conifers to include expensive little dwarf Hemlocks. Ouch!

Portland courtyard entry rain garden with red twig dogwood, boulders and Acorus grass

New rain garden design gets rid of the winter lake in this entry courtyard. My client built it herself.

Portland Courtyard Rain Garden Planting Design

A winter lake flooded this small entry courtyard every year for weeks at a time. My client installed her own rock and plantings from my design but had the pipe that carried away the water installed by professionals. After the rain garden was installed we added two vine maple on either side. The vine maple trees on either side of the rain garden would be dead instead of showing their glorious fall color. Vine maple hate poor drainage and prove it by promptly dying.

Dwarf 16″ tall red twig dogwood “shrublets” Cornus Sericea ‘Kelseyi’ and a 12″ tall Golden Sweet Flag called Acorus gramineus ‘Aurea’ adds interest and year round color.

Get the Right Plant for Your Rain Garden

Lots of people love red twig dogwood. It’s a great plant for year round color and its important to get the right plant!

Some varieties of dwarf red twig dogwood get 6′ tall. Other red twig dogwood can get 15′ tall. Cornus sericea ‘Kelseyi’ is 12″ to 18″ tall. This dwarf dogwood variety has short colorful red twigs in winter but can get unattractive fungal leaf spots in spring. I don’t know of a dwarf variety of red twig dogwood that is free from spring fungal leaf spots. It’s a very useful plant. Life is too short for spraying plants with chemicals and really dear reader, who has time to intelligently apply fungicides?

Rain garden in Willamette Heights Portland Oregon with ferns, grasses, and boulders

Dry stream bed in Willamette Heights Portland Oregon with ferns and grasses

NW Portland Hillside Rain Garden Plantings

This hillside garden was designed to be seen from the master bedroom. There is a lot of water that moves through this hillside so it has a dry stream bed to collect the water with a drain at the bottom. It doesn’t have any plants inside the winter water area so I don’t consider it a true rain garden. The plants were installed behind a low retaining wall which is hidden by the plants foliage which spills over the walls. These clients are gardeners so I use a wider variety of plantings for their design than I would for non gardeners. Ferns carry the garden for 9 months of the year. Evergreens such as native Oregon Oxalis – Oxalis organa, Japanese Soloman’s Seal Polygonatum Falcatum (evergreen Soloman’s Seal), Hardy Geranium – Geranium Macrorrhizum and Carex grass provide year round color. Toad Lilly – Tricyrtis hirta, provides exotic color in the fall. Out of all these plantings only the Carex grass can handle excessively wet winter soil. See more about this NW Portland Natural style Landscape.

Industrial/Modern rain garden design style for downspout disconnect. Designer Barb Hilty

Portland Industrial Modern Style Rain Garden

Landscape Designer Barb Hilty designed this rain garden using no plants at all. The full season interest relies on the ornamental rain chain, the shape of the steel boxes and the black rock to carry the day year round and allow this home owner to disconnect the downspouts in style.

Contact us

We love to work with Portland rain gardens and naturalistic dry stream beds as part of an overall design for your property. Contact us for a collaborative approach. The best design comes from talking at the kitchen table.

Categories : Garden Tips, Gardening Green, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Plants I Recommend, Rain Garden, Winter Gardening

Tags : downspout disconnect garden, dry stream bed, hillside dry stream bed, plants for rain garden, Rain Gardens

Winter Flowers Feed Bees

Posted by Carol

· February 17, 2015

Saving Bees? Feed them. Plan for flowering plants from early spring until mid-fall. Don’t use any pesticides. Then you don’t have to try to figure out if the claim that it won’t harm bees is true or not.

Winter flowers feed bees. It’s easier to provide flowers for bees in our cool early springs than you might think. What we are learning about saving bees can be made very simple. Feed them! Use a diverse plant palette with flowers from early spring until mid-fall. Don’t use any pesticides and then you don’t have to try to figure out what is safe and what isn’t or who to trust.

I have always found summer easy to provide a diverse collection of flowers for all kinds of bees but early spring requires thought and planning. My beach house landscape on the Olympic Peninsula is a great example of a very low maintenance and bee friendly garden. The plants I list in this article are from my experiences there and from my landscape design practice here in Portland, Oregon.

Erica darleyensis ‘Mary Helen’

If you’ve read any of my blogs, heather comes up a lot. I love to use heather in my personal landscape and for clients where we can create good drainage. By the way, I had to learn how to grow it well. The fact that many varieties of spring heather feed bees at a critical time is a huge bonus to an already great plant. Deer don’t bother it, and it’s a glorious and tough ground cover. Spring heather, native plants and early flowering Spanish lavender feed bees in late winter and early spring. I start out with heather varieties that flower in late January and into early spring. These plants Erica Carnea – spring heather not summer heather – are especially great for our native bumble bees who are out and about earlier than honey bees. The bumble bees can protect themselves from sudden changes in temperature by nestling down in the thick foliage if they get too cold. I’d use the word cuddle but my inner 5 year old who hated the heather at our front walk because it was buzzing with bees . . . won’t let me! Heather provides a lot of nectar for the bees because of the hundreds of tiny flowers on each plant. The flowers are just the right depth for different sizes of bees. Some tube like flowers are better for hummingbirds but the heather flower (which is a tiny little tube) is just right for bees. Here are some early flowering spring heather varieties I like:

‘Bells Extra Special’
Foliage goes to a whiskey color with flecks of orange in the cold, the flowers are a strong purple red and best of all it’s only 4 inches high. It spreads to about 16” wide January to May. This short compact plant is unusual among the spring heather, most are 6 to 8 inches high.

December Red
Clean dark green foliage with Cabernet red flowers – 8” high and spreading to 18” November to April.

Adrianne Duncan
Has a strong violet purple flower and is more compact than typical, 6” high by 18” spread. It flowers later than Bells Extra Special. I like to put these two together for foliage contrast.

Erica darleyensis ‘Mary Helen’
Sports an interesting gold bronze foliage in winter and lots of flower power in February to April. These plants are grown locally by Highland Heathers in Canby, Oregon. This grower supplies retail nurseries, special plant sales such as HPSO Hortlandia spring plant sale and you can buy directly if you make an appointment. You won’t find these varieties at a big box store. The common varieties get too big for most landscape situations and then you end up hacking at them and then they are ugly and out they go.

Three things to pay attention to for success with heathers

Soil prep
Proper watering
Yearly Pruning

A lot of my other early spring flowering plants are Pacific NW natives. Rubus spectabilis, Salmon Berry, has a spectacular colorful spring flower with 75 to 100 stamens which will keep bees busy for a long time. This flower calls the early bumble bees by the droves. This shrub has thorns and needs a bit of room so think first and plant second. Our Oregon grape, Mahonia aquifolium, my evergreen huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, and the hot pink red flowering current edge the light woods around the house and provide for the various local bees. Some people don’t like Oregon grape because the leaves can get winter damage and have ratty looking leaves by early spring. I say no problem, let them flower to provide for wildlife and then cut them down to the ground. They will re leaf into glossy and good looking foliage for the rest of the year.

We know English lavender is great for bees in the summer. Like heather, all lavender has hundreds of tiny flowers and is an abundant source for nectar. Spanish lavender flowers much earlier than English lavender and provides for mid spring to early summer nectar. We need good drainage to be successful with with Spanish lavender but this often just means mounding up a few inches. Don’t over water Spanish lavender. I water mine once a month and am not sure it even needs that now that the plants are old.

Lavender at Joy Creek Nursery

Lavandula stoechas ‘Winter Bee’

There is a newish variety called ‘Winter Bee’ grown by Blooming Nursery, a local wholesale grower. They claim it flowers 3 weeks earlier than other Spanish lavender and have named it accordingly, Lavandula stoechas
‘Winter Bee’ PP #20,840.Up at my vacation house my Spanish lavender flowers in early April to mid summer. I have seen flowers on them in March. After the main flowering, I cut it back about 1/3^rd and get another lovely hit of flowers in late summer into early fall. Here are three spring flowering Spanish lavender varieties I have grown: ‘Blueberry Ruffles‘, ‘Hazel, and ‘Mulberry Ruffle’s‘. Blooming Nursery sells to many of the larger garden centers but don’t look for their plants at a box store; they won’t be there.

This unusual variety is compact and flowers earlier than most Spanish Lavender.

This unusual variety, ‘Mulberry Ruffles’, is compact and flowers earlier than most Spanish lavender.

Last of all, the best early flower for bees at our beach property isn’t what you would think of as a flower probably. It has to be the huge old Oregon Big Leaf Maples down at the edge of the beach. When they flower, the sound of bees is a low roar, I am not kidding. My grandkids are a little nervous and tend to stay out of that area for a while. Bees will earn respect if need be but otherwise I find them easy to get along with. I do flinch when a bumble bee takes a dead run at me… and then I scold them for being bossy. There is enough room in the garden for everyone.

Categories : Garden Tips, Gardening Green, New Improved Plants, Plants I Recommend, Spring Gardening, Winter Gardening

Tags : bee friendly garden, Erica Carnea, heather, long blooming flowers, saving bees, spring flowers, Winter Color in the garden

Archive for Plants I Recommend – Page 17

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