How Do You Contain Bay Leaves?
Suzieque
2 years ago
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'Staging' your plantings - how do you do it for containers?
Comments (7)OOS - it's cool to find someone else interested in gardening in So. Westchester. I find remarkably few people garden in the area. What's your favorite nursery around here? I like Nabel's in Mamaroneck. Putting plants together in a container is like flower arranging with a moving target - how can I economically and easily keep a series of mixed containers in continuous display? Maybe I'm over-thinking this (it wouldn't be the first time), but I practice intensive cultivation on my vegetable beds, why not in my containers? My interest in mixing annuals and perennials is in part because I bought a bunch of dwarf bulbs on sale and need to justify it to my wife ("it's an investment, sweetheart!") and because I enjoy seed starting annuals and need a new project once everything's planted in the veg garden. Redneck and Gary, I think what you do is closer to my goals than the style OOS uses, since I'm interested in a mix of plants in a series of larger planters (although OOS's backyard filled with a variety of individual containers is maybe the same thing on a larger scale). But you're both from more temperate zones - I don't even think about winter for my outdoor containers (although maybe I can overwinter some ivies and such in the house). I love the idea Redneck proposes of using ferns (I love ferns but haven't ever grown them), but most of my containers are in full sun so they would probably bake. BTW, yes, they are dwarf cannas. I guess utlimately what the original post was trying to ask is whether the best way to maintain a larger mixed container is to plant it up all in one go with enough foresight that it looks good for 4-6 months or whether you should constantly be moving new plants in and out as I do in my veg beds. And if you're going to move new plants in and out, do you start in a series of smaller containers and move them to new containers when they're at their peak? With either approach, what plants work well? It's interesting that everyone named perennials for the most part - I had envisioned more reliance on annuals. I'm going to follow up with a separate post asking for ideas for good container annuals started from seed......See MoreHow do you do it? Those glorius overplanted containers?
Comments (7)I may have a longer growing season but it is not a particularly hot one. In fact, our weather this spring has been so crummy I am only now starting my seasonal containers. There are only a few secrets to successful container growing and you have already discovered most of them - combine plants that prefer similar growing conditions and start off with a good quality potting medium. Since my seasonal containers tend to feature annuals or half hardy tropicals that need to come on strong quickly, I use a good dose of a slow release fertilizer (something like Osmocote) mixed into the potting soil. It depends on the combo as to what size plants I select. Generally I pick something already pretty well developed for the focus and then fill in with smaller but fast growing material. And for the seasonal containers, I overplant for immediate impact - they are only going to around for a few months so go for impact rather than long term growing conditions. I also pinch back a number of plants to encourage fullness or bushy growth - coleus, perilla, plactranthus, helichrysum, petunias/calibrachoa, impatiens etc. Another little tip is to include something that grows pretty big, even in a small container - cannas, caladiums, melianthus, alocasias, hostas - these will very quickly provide a very full, lush appearance. And keep the containers well-maintained - water often as necessary, deadhead and continue to fertilize with a dilute liquid every other week. You might want to check out the Fine Gardening special interest publication 'Container Gardening' for some ideas and inspiration and some very cool plants to use in seasonal containers....See Morehow do you keep mondo grass contained?
Comments (5)i don't think it is possible to keep mondo grass contained, which is why i tend to avoid it and other similar non-native invasive grasses a lot of plant shops like to sell. mondo grass is just another one of those non-native invasive plants that i don't really feel belongs in our domestic landscapes. to be clear, are you sure you have mondo grass and not liriope muscari? a trip to Google Images will net pictures of each. (rant time) mondo+ivy seems to be a chic thing to do with gardening, and i don't understand why. ivy, for one, is super invasive, i find it unattractive, it will kill and bring down a tree if you let it grow up them, and once it's rooted, your chances for removal are a serious battle. (/end rant time) i have a couple of ideas to share: first, Roundup, when mixed per the label, is absolutely superb at killing off Ivy (and adjacent plants, so be careful); i assume it would be good at nuking mondo grass also, but i've never tried it. i don't think roundup stays around long residually - but i would check in advance. second, per a recent thread here, you may try manually removing "most" of the tops of the grass, then laying down a layer of manure/planting soil, then a layer newspapers over that covering entire area (7-10 sheets thick), wet the paper down really good and mulch over the area to try and kill it off over the next month or two with no work on your part. third, and my personal favorite choice - i personally would use "mechanical removal", i.e. a flat-head shovel. it has worked well to get rid of that ever-persistent yard weed at my house some of us call "fescue" ;) in order to make larger beds, and i've found persistent mechanical removal was the only thing that allowed me to get rid of some incredibly nasty wisteria that some idiot living here prior decided to plant and let roam free (got rid of the kudzu also) any combination of the above will probably work. i usually go for the roundup, let the stuff take a serious injury and start dying off, then remove it with a shovel. for shovelling, i've found a quick and easy way to remove sod (which mondo grass forms). i start by first cutting a line around the entire area that is 2"-3" deep. next, i put a perpendicular slice that is the same approximate width as my flat shovel head, which creates an open-ended "sod square". i then insert the shovel down into my first cut a little over 2", tilt the shovel handle back towards me to wedge the sod square up, and when the head of the shovel is nearly perpendicular to the ground, i kick the head of the shovel forward using the supplied foot provisions. using this method, i can usually clear several square yards of grass per hour. FTR, i'm in my 30's (still young) and fit, but i don't work out - so it's not like i'm a little bag of muscles or anything. just my 2¢...See MoreeBay sellers: How do you handle pictures?
Comments (14)Susan, glad I could be of help. In the description of the classes I teach, I make mention of the material I cover and the things I don't....taking digital photos being one of those things. If they don't have a digital camera I suggest they take regular pictures and have them developed on a CD. I also suggest you have a list of computer skills a student must have before enrolling for your class. It has made my life a lot easier by screening the students beforehand. I do tell my students to use the software that comes with the camera to download the photos and I ask them to create a MY EBAY PHOTOS folder in MY PICTURES and save all of their pics in that folder, being sure to give them descriptive names rather than the generic #'s. I simply insert my photos by Browsing to the folder they're saved in and inserting from there. I can do several at a time quite easily this way. I don't use the Self Hosting option....See MoreSuzieque
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoSuzieque
2 years agoSuzieque
2 years ago
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rob333 (zone 7b)