Unearthing 10 "Over the Top" Garden Tips For Spring with Raleigh's Garden Guru Tony Avent
1. "Bee" Unique
There are more than 10 different plants to use in your home landscape. Unimaginative and unknowledgeable landscape designers may try to convince you to limit your palette, but don't buy into this nonsense. These are the same folks who build a subdivision of identical houses and then use different light fixtures to give the home shopper something to choose from. Unless you are a very boring person, explore nurseries and botanic gardens in the area to discover the diversity of plants that you can enjoy.
2. Savor Spring
Real gardeners always keep a glass of sweet iced tea nearby when working outdoors. Real sweet tea must have a consistency thick enough that your stirring spoon will stand upright when the sugar/tea ratio is correct. Canned drinks are unacceptable since bees tend to hide under the lids of the open cans. Canned sodas can however be used if you want to have a little excitement watching your favorite neighbor jump around and holler after swallowing a honeybee.
3. Attack Of The Kudzy!
Kudzu is not a good choice for a groundcover. Okay, it does grow fast and has flowers that smell like Nu-Grape soda. Yes, it doesn't require much water during droughts and is easy to root from cuttings, but there is a dark side. Police reports of missing cars are up dramatically when kudzu is found nearby. Kudzu can cover a standard size SUV in 2.3 hours. Power companies are still looking for service poles swallowed up by kudzu. Please limit your use of kudzu to indoor handing baskets...you won't have to worry about finding the dirty dishes.
4. Transform Trash To Treasures
Yes, that red stuff (clay) that you walk on is actually soil, and yes, you can grow plants in it. I can still hear folks from the Midwest laughing...get used to it. Between glaciers and housing contractors that's all you have so get busy and start a compost pile. Better yet, find a compost pile and have it hauled to your yard. Next, purchase a roto-tiller and pick-up. Not only are you now ready to garden, but you've helped the local economy.
5. Weed Out Wildlife
Deer is not an affectionate term. Deer love plants...especially expensive ones. The best method for dealing with deer is building a tall fence or becoming a venison aficionado.
6. Great Garden Lullabies
You can regulate the growth rate of your plants by subjecting them to music. Be sure to check permissible decibel levels and acceptable times in your neighborhood. Mozart results in slow steady growth, P. Diddy causes more uneven growth spurts, talk radio causes plants to lean to the right, while replays of NASCAR races give the fastest growth results.
7. Art Works!
Seasonal planters are a great way to add and move color around the garden. Planters can be changed and relocated seasonally to coordinate both with the permanent plantings and related garden festivities. Remember that tire planters are not considered proper Objects 'de Art. Regardless of how well they are painted, these are simply not appropriate.
8. Guaranteed Fruit Magnet
If you enjoy insects, and what gardener doesn't; plant fruit. It's amazing the diversity of wonderful insects that will be drawn to your garden. Grapes are marvelous at attracting beetles...beautiful Japanese beetles. Peaches will bring the cutest little worms that you've ever seen...along with a few lovely moths and butterflies. Strawberries will bring out the finest collection of slugs in all shapes and sizes. Let's not forget apples. You'll have more bees than you thought existed along with my personal favorite...apple maggots. I'm sure you can't wait to start growing your own fruit.
9. Crape Murder is a Crime!
Crape murder is a "Capital" crime in Raleigh, NC's state capital, and should be everywhere else as well! You'd think there is a Henry VIII celebration every spring when less than competent gardeners behead their trees. This phenomenon is usually only noticeable on crape myrtles, but this insidious epidemic has now spread to virtually all trees. This voluntary mutilation is rationalized by promises of height control and better flowering. The SPCP (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Plants) will be out in force looking for violators.
10. Flower Faux Paus
City ordinances require that you consult the Plant Police before planting azaleas. Fashion laws are easily violated if orange-red azaleas are planted against pink stucco. Pink azaleas against red brick is also a fashion faux pas. You certainly don't want to offend your neighbors the first spring you're in the area, so pay particular attention to your color schemes.
Discover "Tony's Tour," the guide to the best garden sites to visit on a TGIF weekend getaway to Raleigh, NC!
Enjoy Gardening!
Unearthing Ten "Over the Top" Gardening Tips by Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery, 9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh, NC 27603
919.772.4794;
www.plantdelights.com
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