Winter Dreams of Prairie Gardens

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Brad Guhr

ThinkingMan2

We are near the longest nights of the year when your landscape is cold, brown, and sometimes snowy with few creatures stirring. But soon, if not already, you will be having visions of coneflowers and ground plums dancing in your head.

Since landscaping labor is not taking up your free time at the moment, now is the perfect time to be thinking about and planning the logistics of your spring or fall prairie garden.

Here are a few things you can be doing during the months of winter to prepare for your prairie garden:

Identify Desired Area

Identify the area you want to plant and measure the square footage. With a generally recommended planting rate of one plant/2-4 sq. ft., knowing your planting area will allow you to estimate the number of plants you need and help establish a budget (~$4/plant).

Install Edging

Edging around your prairie garden is not only aesthetically pleasing, but functionally critical to establish where you should stop weeding and start mowing. Garden center options include plastic, metal, wood, or brick, but my favorite is Kansas limestone. A good source in Central Kansas is the Florence Rock Quarry where I last acquired an inexpensive load for $20.50/ton.

Embedded limestone for a garden border.

Acquire Mulch

Mulch is essential to reduce water and nutrient competition for new prairie plants, reduce weeds, and slow soil moisture loss. Garden center mulch is always available in easy-to-transport bags but, you also have to pay for it. Many municipalities offer free self-serve mulch or a friendly request to a local tree-trimming contractor may get a pile delivered right to your desired location. A layer of newspaper under the mulch will give a bit more biodegradable weed protection in the first year.

Newspaper under mulch is a great first year weed barrier.

Plan for Bermuda Grass Eradication

Believe me, you don’t want it in your prairie garden. If your site gets plenty of sun you most likely have it; delay your planting till late summer so you can eradicate this species during its growing season. This is the one scenario for which I use herbicide and plan for two to three glyphosate treatments (e.g., Roundup) in the months of June-September to eliminate this very difficult-to-weed warm-season grass.

Killing Bermuda grass is essential before planting.

Hardscape Features

Water features and feeders attract wildlife, seating allows you to relax in your garden, and weatherproof artwork adds beauty.

Leopold Bench (http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/LeopoldEvents.shtml)

Petersen Elementary’s Artwork by Erin Dresher Dowell

Consider Sun Exposure and Other Notable Features

Sun exposure and notable features that affect soil moisture such as low spots or downspouts will affect your plant choices. Consider structures or tree canopies that will block sunlight anywhere from straight overhead to about 45 degrees off the southern horizon. Prairie plants can thrive with at least six hours of sunlight. With less sunlight you should consider more shade-tolerant woodland understory species. Water from downspouts will wash away mulch.

Consider the amount of sunlight your garden area receives (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_altitude.svg)

Pick Plants

Peruse our Dyck Arboretum plant library and keep an eye out for our spring and fall plant sale lists. Have fun choosing the plants that fit your preferences with regard to season of bloom, flower color, height, dormant season texture and color, wildlife attraction, and more. See our website for further tips and ideas on landscaping with native plants.

Attention to these items in advance will make your native landscaping endeavor much more successful and enjoyable. Enjoy your winter planning during the darkest days of winter and signs of spring will be here before you know it!

Is Your Yard Pollinator-Friendly?

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Scott Vogt

It is true that pollinators are important for many reasons, including food production. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council in a report from March of 2011, “more than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, alfalfa, and almonds. U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million in honey annually.” It is also true that populations of pollinators are declining throughout the world.

There are many reasons for these declining populations, but what can we do to help them? A few simple steps can be taken in our own gardens, landscapes, and neighborhoods to create healthy ecosystems for pollinators to thrive. Our own backyard can provide the safe habitat they need to rebound from these startling declines.

Tiger swallowtail and bumble bee on Liatris pychnostachya

5 Key Elements of a Pollinator-Friendly Landscape

1. Plant a variety of flowering plants:

The importance of flowering plants, especially native plants, to pollinators is well documented. Pollinators seek these plants out in the landscape. A recent butterfly survey for Harvey County found 17 of the 22 recorded species at the arboretum. We attribute this to the many native plants we have growing here. They don’t have to search to find food. They can find food throughout the year because the prairie is continuously in bloom with overlapping wildflowers blooming from early spring to late fall. Other low maintenance perennials add to the diversity of nectar-rich plants utilized by pollinators.

2. Water, Water, Water:

A water source gives life to pollinators. It can be a bird bath, pool, water feature or small stream. The type of source is not as important as its location. Place your water source in a semi-shaded area protected from wind along with a place to land and sip up the water. Any water in close proximity to the food they need will reduce stress on pollinators.

3. No Pesticide Zone:

This seems obvious, but it is important to note. When our plants are being eaten by insects or foliar diseases appear, we often grab the spray can to immediately solve the problem. Here at the arboretum, we spray as a last resort. By spraying sparingly and infrequently, we minimize the risk of harming pollinators in the garden. Think carefully about when, why and how you spray.

4. Provide shelter:

Pollinators need easy access to protecting habitat. Evergreen trees and shrubs with layered vegetation within easy flying distance from flowering plants is an ideal habitat. The layered plants provide protection from the wind and predators. This protecting habitat is a great place for pollinators to make their homes.

5. The more, the merrier:

If you are the only garden in your neighborhood that is pollinator-friendly, it is a start. But just imagine your landscape connected with your neighbors’ gardens, which are connected with hundreds of others within the community – a giant ecosystem that can be freely navigated by pollinators. Pollinator-friendly gardens can have a tremendous impact on reversing the decline of pollinators. Educate your friends, neighbors and children about what can be done to positively impact pollinators. It has to start somewhere, why not with you?

Monarch butterfly on Asclepias incarnata

What to Do with Those Leaves, Leaves, Leaves.

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Scott Vogt

The other day I was driving through town and really noticed the changing leaves for the first time this fall. They are looking particularly colorful this year. The Maple tree varieties like ‘John Pair’, ‘Autumn Splendor’, ‘Table Rock’ and Oaks like Red Oak and Shingle Oak put on quite a show. My favorite tree at the arboretum is the Sugar Maple called ‘Table Rock’. It has consistent orange-red fall color.

Table Rock Maple

These leaves, no matter how beautiful, will eventually fall. Then we need to decide what to do with them. Here at the arboretum we compost them. Leaf compost makes excellent plant food and humus that can be incorporated into your garden or flower bed. Leaf compost is high in valuable minerals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and other trace elements. Analysis shows that leaves from most trees can contain up to twice as many minerals as aged manure.

Gingko biloba, ‘Autumn Gold’

Why wouldn’t you want to make your own compost from leaves? Good compost developed from leaves also adds organic matter to the soil. This organic matter is great for aerating heavy clay soils or increasing water holding in sandy soils. Take advantage of these free gifts.

Steps for composting leaves:

Collect leaves. Shred them into small pieces to speed decomposition. Place leaves on the ground, which will make it easier to turn them and allow beneficial organisms such as worms to infiltrate the pile.
To start your compost pile, your first layer should be several inches of leaves on the bare ground. This helps aerate the entire pile.
Layer with alternating green (nitrogen rich) and brown (carbon rich) material. Green material can be grass clippings, food scraps, algae, tea bags or any nitrogen source. These green ingredients speed the decomposition of the brown material. Brown material can be leaves, newspaper, cardboard, sawdust, or straw. These ingredients are generally slow to decompose and clump together. They need time and moisture for optimum breakdown. As a general rule, try to have one-third green and two-thirds brown. The secret to a healthy compost pile is to maintain a working balance between these two elements. Too much green makes a smelly, anaerobic mess. More brown is better than too much green.
Keep pile moist by either manually watering or allowing rain to infiltrate compost, but don’t go overboard.
Turn the pile every few weeks. This incorporates and mixes all the elements together while aerating the pile. If the pile is never turned, oxygen, which is an essential component in the process of decomposition, will be excluded. Allow the compost pile to reach an internal temperature of 140-160 degrees to kill weed seeds. If your compost pile is not reaching these temperatures, add more green material.
In 4-6 months (next spring) the composting process will be complete.

Leaf house at the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

If you don’t have need of fresh compost, the arboretum is willing to take your bagged leaves. We are again filling our leaf house with our leaves, but we can take more. Just drop your bags of leaves in the bus parking area at the arboretum. We will take them back to the leaf house. The leaf house is a great example of decomposition in action.

Five Things You Should Do Now to Prepare for Winter

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Scott Vogt

This is my favorite time of the year. I love autumn. You can see and feel the changes of the seasons. Prairies turn from green to brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. Trees light up the landscape with vibrant fall color. Asters dot the landscape as pollinators search for the last remaining nectar in the garden. There is so much to enjoy this time of the year. We don’t want to think about the real big change coming when winter arrives, but that change is coming all too soon.

I like to spend some time in the fall preparing our landscapes for winter. By dedicating some time now to your landscape, you will be rewarded with healthier, more beautiful plants next spring.

Here are some things on my checklist for the fall:

#1 Mulch

Fall is a great time to mulch all your plants. Mulching now will help protect roots from extreme temperatures while also helping the soils to retain moisture in a typically cold, dry winter. We apply 2-3 inches of new mulch around perennials, trees and shrubs. Be careful! Don’t allow mulch to contact the stem or trunk. We leave a halo around the plants to aid in air exchange and drying. Too much mulch can cause more harm than good.

Table Rock Maple

#2 Lawn Care

This is the best time of the year to plant a new fescue lawn or overseed an existing fescue lawn. I overseeded my back yard last week. It is just starting to germinate. I used clean, weed free seed and watered it daily. I applied 3-5 lbs. per 1000 square feet. If you are planting a new lawn, apply 5-10 lbs. per 1000 square feet. You have until October 15 to get your seeding finished. It is usually too late to seed after October 31. The cool nights, warm days, beneficial rains and less weed competition make this time of year ideal for seeding grass.

It is also the best time to fertilize your fescue lawn. We apply one pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. Fall fertilization promotes root growth. The roots of the fescue absorb and store the nutrients for the winter. This stored energy will make for a thicker, healthier lawn next spring.

Remove leaves from lawn and place in compost pile. Falling leaves block sunlight to the grass inhibiting growth. Leaves can be shredded and composted into the lawn, but often this causes more problems. It is usually best to completely remove them.

#3 Fall Clean-up

Remove Annuals and Cut Perennials: After the first frost, annuals can be removed from the landscape. Prior to the first hard freeze, tender annuals need to be dug up and stored for the winter (i.e. cannas and elephant ears).

In certain gardens, we deadhead spent blooms on plants such as gray-headed coneflower and coneflowers to prevent seeding. Other seedheads are left through the winter as food sources for birds. We leave ornamental grasses through the winter. They provide texture and movement in the winter landscape. These beds will be cleaned up in the spring.

Keep in mind that fall is NOT the best time to prune trees and shrubs. It encourages new growth that will not get hardened off before winter, making it susceptible to damage. Prune trees in the winter after they have gone dormant. Shrubs can be pruned in the winter as well but only if they bloom on new growth. Pruning spring blooming shrubs in the winter will remove next year’s blooms. Prune these after they have finished blooming in the spring.

#4 Water

It is vital that perennials, trees and shrubs are adequately watered throughout the fall. Newly installed plants don’t have a fully established root system and would benefit from periodic watering. If the top 1-2 inches of soil is dry, the plants need water. Evergreen trees continue to need moisture in winter, so irrigate thoroughly before the ground freezes.

Arizona Cypress

#5 Take inventory and Think Spring

In the fall, I analyze the landscape. This is the best time to determine what your needs will be next spring. What plants did well in the landscape? What plants need help or need to be moved next spring? Are there any plants that would benefit from dividing such as grasses? What areas need to be filled next spring? Does the canopy of the trees need to be thinned to allow more light into the landscape? Install spring blooming bulbs before the ground freezes.

This is a great season of the year. Take some time to appreciate the beauty of fall. There is so much to enjoy, but set aside some time to prepare for the winter. A little work now on your landscape will pay big dividends in the spring.

Four Reasons You Should Plant in the Fall

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Scott Vogt

We just finished our fall plant sale last weekend and I had many people ask if this is a good time to plant. My answer was “No. It is a GREAT time to plant!” In fact, it’s a perfect time to plant just about anything (other than annuals).

I don’t know why this fall planting message is not resonating with all gardeners. We may be worn out from managing the plants we installed in the spring or we are busy with other things and not focused on what our gardens will need next spring. Whatever the justifications, here are my reasons why you will be rewarded for working on your native landscape this fall:

A wildflower display at our front entrance, the first spring after a fall planting.

#1 Warm Soils

Because the soil is still warm from the summer, the roots will continue to develop until the first frost. In our area, this occurs around mid-October. However, trees and shrubs will root until the grounds freezes. In the spring, these plants will have developed root systems that are actively growing and ready to produce flowers and survive the hot summer months. Last fall, we planted twenty-five butterfly milkweed and twenty-three survived the winter. Most of these plants bloomed this summer.

#2 Reduced stress

Transplanting causes stress on plants as they are introduced to a new environment. This shock is reduced by planting in the fall because the plant is entering dormancy. The growth is moving from above ground to below ground and root systems are storing energy reserves for next year. Fall transplants have this vital time for root development before winter. Transplanting in the spring, on the other hand, causes additional stress and plants may hardly recover from transplant shock before the demands of summer are realized. The overall plant health is improved for next year by starting with transplanting this fall.

#3 Less weed competition

We have found that when planting in September there are fewer problems with weeds such as crabgrass and foxtail. This allows plants to get a head start for next season without competing with problematic weeds. Remember to mulch around the plants after the first freeze to help moderate soil temperatures, control winter annual weeds such as henbit, and hold soil moisture through the winter. Keep mulch away from the base of plants to allow proper air exchange.

#4 Beneficial Rains

Warm days and cool nights provide an ideal environment for transplanting and growth. Typically, fall brings several cool, cloudy days with frequent precipitation. Warm sunny days can cause stress on new transplants. Cooler nights and morning dew allow plants to recover each night. Beneficial autumn rains eliminate some daily watering.

The arboretum parking lot median was planted in September.

Here at the arboretum, we prefer to plant in the fall because we have more time and have seen the benefits first hand. We are usually very busy in the spring readying the gardens. It is nice to see plants that were started in the fall jumping to life and even blooming.

Whenever you plant, whether spring or fall, the ultimate goal is to create a landscape you can enjoy. Take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.