Hedge ideas - windy location, mild climate and acidic soil...
Kaspar Wimberley
8 years ago
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Embothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
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Beautiful Burgundy Rose for a Hot, Dry Climate
Comments (38)Ingrid: I'll be anxious to hear how your Wild Edric do. Yucaipa is just a bit east of us, and Beaumont is about 30 miles east. Most of the orange groves are gone; it's such a shame. When they started ripping them out in Orange County, I started planting small ones there. Not so popular then, but I love the fragrance and feel of an orchard, and of course, the fruit. The whole time I've lived in this area, they've been ripping out orange groves. I have a small citrus orchard in the Garden of Forgotten Dreams, and I'm so glad. It's like saving a tiny scrap of our heritage. And the fragrance of orange blossoms and roses -- heavenly! Speaking of fruit, does anyone like poison Apples??? (below)...See MoreWinner & losers roses for your soil /climate/rootstock
Comments (15)Hi Carol: I read your posts 3-times, since you gave very valuable info. Many thanks! You are right that no conclusion can be made as to own-root or grafted is healthier, it depends which one has a bigger root compared to the mass above. The ratio of top growth versus root growth is what determine health. Someone grew 2 Love Potion floribunda, one grafted, and one own-root. The own-root got BS due to wimpy root, the grafted one is healthier. In contrast, Jude the Obscure as Grafted-on-Dr. Huey became a 7 foot monster in its 3rd year, with black spots late fall, despite their spraying every 10 days at the rose park. Three people reported own-root Jude the Obscure as very healthy, 3' x 3' as in my zone 5a, to 4' x 4' warmer. When the mass above is too big for the root to support, diseases can occur. Grafted roses can be healthy if pruned right, or if they don't face a harsh winter like my zone 5a. I dug up many Knock-outs, most lost their Dr. Huey if buried deep in wet clay. One in a dry spot had only Dr. Huey. One in a perfect spot had both Dr. Huey and own-root together, but Dr. Huey's root is many times bigger than the own-root that grew above. It's LOSE-LOSE for roses grafted on Dr. Huey in my zone 5a. If I plant them at ground level, they die, then Dr. Huey takes over. If I plant the bud-union 4 to 6" below ground level, Dr. Huey disintegrate, leaving a wimpy own-root. See below picture of Yves Piaget x Bohemia Rhapsody by breeder Robert Neil Rippetoe in CA. It's a 6-months old rose that I grow from the seeds that he sent. It's 100% thornless, dark green, and twice bigger than all the bands I bought. As to soil test, Carol, I wrote the procedure to test your soil pH using 50 cents of red cabbage and $1 of distilled water. It's more accurate than litmus paper. Even the $200 pH meter needs re-calibration, that's why I wrote the procedure below for English Roses Forum: Here is a link that might be useful: Cheapest way to test soil pH using red cabbage This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, May 28, 13 at 13:06...See MoreAnswers to Questions About A Holly Hedge
Comments (15)Enjoying nature, I never have tried pruning hollies to a certain size. I let mine get to the full size and shape that they're meant to attain. You probably could prune them to any size and shape you want, but after a few years you end up with big thick branches with leaves sticking out of them and it looks unnatural unless you like tightly pruned hedges. I still can hear Neil Sperry's voice in my head on his radio show saying that if you want to prune shrubs into square green boxes, why not just go out and build a plywood box and paint it green. (grin) Who am I to defy Neil Sperry and try to prune my hollies to a certain arbitrary size? So, mine were spaced as far apart as they needed to be in the first place because I had a good idea how big they'd get and they are fine now---roughly 12' tall and 5-6' apart. Those are the Burford hollies on the south side of the house. They shade the south porch from the summer sun, which is precisely what I wanted them to do. On the east side of the house, which is where the front part of the wraparound porch and the front door is located, I planted Dwarf Burford hollies in 2011 and they seem more like the size you'd want. I wanted a naturally shorter shrub there so we could sit on the porch and look out into the yard somewhat at least. Mine have really had to struggle through drought (i think I planted them in April of 2011 and it stopped raining soon thereafter and didn't rain for 90 days that summer) so they have grown relatively slowly for hollies, but now are about 5' tall and about 3-4' wide and they haven't reached their max size yet. I expect them to top out at around 8' tall and 4' wide, but time will tell. They are a loose informal hedge, which fits with our country Victorian house....all relaxed and sort of cottagey. It is your house, though, and they are your shrubs, so you should plant what pleases you and maintain them in the way that makes you happy. I'm a firm believer that a person's landscape plantings should reflect their tastes and anyone who doesn't like it can just go mind their own business. Well, except, I still have Neil Sperry's voice in my head and I agree with his comments about picking the right shrub to begin with so you don't have to prune your shrubs to an unnatural size or shape. That's just me, though. Some people love formally pruned hedges and they should have what they want. All those years of reading Neil's newspaper columns, his magazine and his books when we lived in Texas (as well as listening to his radio show and attending his Garden Shows) trained me to be a certain way as a younger gardener, and I have his voice in my head the way I have my dad's voice in my head, even though he is long gone. Scott, We have native possumhaw hollies and I love them, but they sucker like the devil and we've got one in the front yard we're going to take out. I hate to take it out because it is the bird feeder tree where we hang the feeders, but we'll just move them somewhere else. It just suckers endlessly and I'm tired of dealing with it. We'll leave the ones on the edges of the woods because it doesn't bother us if they form thickets, and the birds love the berries in late winter and early spring, though they won't touch them until all the other berries are gone. When the cedar waxwings are migrating through in spring, they get pretty much drunk on those fermented possumhaw berries. I feel like pretty much everything we plant has one poisonous part or another, so I plant what I want. If kids are around, I keep an eye on the kids, and teach them not to eat plant parts without checking with an adult first. No child has poisoned themselves on anything we grow yet, so I try not to worry about it. (And I grow several types of brugmansias and daturas, but the spiny seed balls are so hideous that I don't think I have to worry about kids getting hold of them and accessing the seeds.) When we were kids we ran all over the neighborhood and played and we all knew to go home immediately when our parents turned on the front porch light. None of us died or ever got seriously injured or ill. It was a wonderful childhood, and we had a woodland, a neighborhood pond, rocky cliffs to climb, etc. I appreciate that we got to be kids with no one hovering over us too much. Times have changed. And, just so you know, most poisonous plant parts have a bad taste, making it less likely kids will eat them. Or, they will cause you to throw up if you ingest them, so kids are not that likely to eat and swallow them. (However, some dogs will eat anything, so that is one thing to keep in mind if you have dogs.) It is a sad commentary on life in this century that kids cannot play tag. No wonder so many children have a weight issue. It is hard to stay physically fit if you cannot do anything because you might get hurt. That is just sad. Dawn...See MoreWhich Austin roses are real successes in a hot mediterranean climate?
Comments (30)So far, Darcey Bussell has been my best DA performer. She’s not a favorite, only because I prefer softer colors. She remains “fairly” compact, relative to most DA’s here. She never seems to mind pruning, no matter when or how often. She blooms all the time and makes a better cut flower than most DA’s. I don’t get any disease on her here, although Embothrium has big problems with something like downey mildew on Darcey Bussell. I don’t think that’s in a dry Mediterranean climate, though. Mine is always healthy and happy. She’s in a rather small bed, so she’s cut back often. She doesn’t receive more water than anything else does, and doesn’t seem to need it. My soil is clay, so it does retain water well and is full of nutrients. Abraham Darby on the other hand, DOES want extra water here. I have never experienced rust(other than on hollyhocks), until recently. I’d been very busy over the past month or so, and must have slacked off on watering, just a little. Nobody minded except for AD. This, combined with the wind and 3-5% humidity produced a spectacular case of rust on Abraham Darby. Even though I’ve never seen rust on my roses before, it’s so bad that there’s no mistaking what it is. I’m not even sure what to do about it. I’m giving him lots of extra water, and thinking of pruning him down to almost the ground. I’m worried about spreading the rust, even while pruning. Last night, I went out late to move the hose with my headlamp on. I removed a spent bloom from AD, and in the light beam I could see tiny dust like particles floating off. I can only assume they were rust particles. I fear that while pruning the rust will blow everywhere. So AD definitely wants extra water. He’s brought me my first case of rust on a rose bush. And oh yes, of course, he grows huge in our kind of climate. Lisa...See MoreKaspar Wimberley
8 years agowisconsitom
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agowisconsitom
8 years agoedlincoln
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agowisconsitom
8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agoedlincoln
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoedlincoln
8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoMike McGarvey
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoedlincoln
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
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8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoedlincoln
8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoSmivies (Ontario - 5b)
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agotete_a_tete
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoMike McGarvey
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoKaspar Wimberley
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years ago
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