To see a video of the sunny, open part of the back garden, click here. 

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They certainly require the most maintenance of all the plants I’ve ever grown, trying as I do to avoid high-maintenance plants altogether.  

Hardy Kiwi

But let me make my case.  On the left in this photo the bright green foliage is just a hint of the vigor to come from three hardy kiwis that I struggle to keep from eating my house. Over the course of the summer I’ll fill 8 to 10 full-size trash cans with the trimmings, and that’s a lot of trimming.  No wonder the standard advice is to prune it back HARD in early spring - which I don’t do because I’d have to retrain it to where I want it every year.  After eight years it began producing flowers, but so far, no fruits have appeared.  Yes, I supposedly have at least one male and one female - if tags are to be believed - so I still have hope after 12 years growing the stuff.   It’s the most commented-on plant in my garden, hands down.

English ivy 

And what’s that ugly brown stuff on the trellis but good old (ugh) English ivy, the ground cover/climber that blankets the land in large parts of my county, including the wooded valley my garden is part of.  Seeking to cover the crappy metal wall of my tool shed, the walls with the ever-peeling paint no matter how what type is used, I added a trellis and trained some of my existing ivy up it.  You know how mistakes can look fine the first season and bite your ass the second?  That’s the story of this mistake, and now the vines have covered the window and are quickly covering the roof, too, and there’s no way to trim it coz it’s out of reach.

So last fall I removed what I could reach and just let the unreachable parts die over the winter - but LOOK at it!  Now I’ll be seeing those dead leaves all season, at least.  When I did the same cut-and-let-die trick on the ivy covering my trees it took at least a year for the stuff to fall off.  Though finally there was a pay-off when birds made good use of the dead stems for their nests.  So, a happy ending, I guess. 

Crossvine/bignonia

Now look above the tool shed over to my neighbors’ trellis and you see a vine I’ve been coveting for its huge orange tubular flowers, its green leaves all winter, and the fact that it’s native.  (It’s always nice to find another native that does well in the garden to add to the great sustainable nonnatives I’ve collected over the decades.)  I’ve already bought one, in fact, and it’s now at the base of the trellis, getting settled in its new home.  But I’m leery of even this seemingly perfect vine.  Will it, too, become a headache, a chore, an unruly mess?  You know, like the trumpet vine I just bought - also a native - is predicted to become?

But enough of my plant rant.  What’s YOUR most demanding plant or plant group?

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You may remember that I gave up on my chimnea because I’d only used it twice in 10 years and it was just taking up space on my deck. The plan was to stick it in a border and cram it full of plants.

Well, here’s what I tried first.  With the chimnea upright I had to fill it completely with soil so it would support the trumpet vine planted in the upper opening.  But how do you keep the soil from spilling out the lower opening?  With the very, very awkward use of wire mesh and landscape fabric.  As if that weren’t bad enough, after punching holes into those layers and cramming these sweet potato vines in the opening, it became crystal clear that there was no way to keep them watered, and they’re not exactly succulent.  So, next bright idea? 

Ah, that’s better.  First because it looks more natural (to me) but also because it’s plantable.  So here the trumpet vine’s coming out of the larger opening on the right and nothing’s crammed into the smaller opening on the left.

Now if you’ve ever grown trumpet vine you already know it can be shall we say problemmatic if not massively invasive?  Yeah, I know it’s native but I’ve never seen such angry feedback about a plant in my life - see for yourself.   So I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

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Andrew Bunting has a long career in horticulture (for such a young guy) including 10 years as curator of the famous Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College.  He recently shared the story of his garden’s makeover - into the stunner you see here - and it just made me want to see it in person.  So next month I’ll be taking a little horticultural road trip, a two-day whirlwind tour of some major gardening destinations in Pennsylvania - Andrew’s own garden, the Scott Arboretum itself, the Rodale Institute headquarters and growing fields, and the growing and breeding fields of Knock Out roses.   Can’t wait.

Enjoy these shots of (top two)  his front garden and below, his back yard.  Click here for my notes of Andrew’s talk, and an amazing before-and-after pairing of his front garden.

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It’s a glorious mid-spring day here in Maryland, perfect for the Open Garden and Plant Giveway I’m throwing for my coaching clients.  This is the first of its kind, though,  I’m not sure why because my garden yields lots of passalongs every year and who better to give them to?  Also this year I’ve started sending clients seasonal to-do lists with links to full instructions.  Rather than write up names and instructions, I’m sending everyone to this page to find out what they have and how to keep it alive. 

Your new plants

• New England asters are native to this area and love the sun.  
• Celandine poppies are native to this area.  They only bloom once - now - but the foliage looks fabulous all season.  They’re shade-lovers that’ll seed vigorously for you.
• Solomon’s seal  do bloom but are primarily grown for their green and white foliage - though they’ll disappear completely after the first hard frost.  Their tuber-like roots spread and make this plant quite drought-tolerant, but those tall stalks may flop after you’ve planted them.  If so, you could cut back the stems by half or even stake the stems til the roots are settled enough to hold them up.
• Astilbes like shade or part-shade (preferably not hot afternoon sun).
• Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae (Robb’s Spurge) is what I have the most of.  I’ve trimmed off the chartreuse flowers on the giveaways because otherwise, they’d flop (not liking being moved in flower).  These evergreen beauties can’t tolerate any hot sun directly on them.   They spread by those long tendril-type roots.
• The assorted hostas have to go because I now have deer.   Except for a couple of short green and white ones, they’re all large cultivars, blue or chartreuse.
• Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ are 15" tall, love sun and attract swarms of pollinators.  Their cauliflower-like flowers start creamy in late summer, then turn pink, red and rust in succession.  You can leave the dried flowers up all winter for "winter interest," but cut off the dead ones in early spring. 

How to keep them alive
Get them in the ground as soon as possible, with good soil-root contact (pat them down) and give ‘em a good soaking.  Then keep the soil around them wet for a week - longer if they’re in the hot sun (and you might even construct some temporary shade for them.)  Then keep an eye on them for the first month in their new home.  Especially when the temperatures are near or approaching 90, like now, transplants are in danger of not surviving the move.  Water, water, water. 

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In observance of Earth Day and to promote the campaign Green the Grounds.org, here’s my report about a green governor’s mansion landscape in my own state, Maryland.

Back in 2004 a Maryland Master Gardener, eager to promote landscaping practices that protect our beloved Chesapeake Bay, wrote to Joseph Altemus, horticulturist at the governor’s mansion in Annapolis, to inquire about the landscaping practices there.  The upshot was a visit to the grounds by Master Gardeners of  Howard and Anne Arundel Counties to see how the landscape scored using Maryland’s excellent BayWise certification and turns out, it scored 68 points - far more than the 30 needed to be certified as BayWise.  We’re talking double!  Kudos to the governor’s horticulturist for his good stewardship.  In fact, we’d love to hear from him to learn more about this success story.

A recent interview with Georgia Eacker, Howard County Master Gardener Coordinator, revealed that five years later the landscape still looks great and still proudly displays the "Bay-Wise-Certified" sign.  She told me she has a photo of then-Governor Bob Ehrlich and horticulturist Altemus, both beaming with the Bay-Wise sign, and we’d love to get a copy  to display here on Green the Grounds.

This Just in - a Veg Garden Next

From a press release of April 21, 2009: First Lady Katie O’Malley will celebrate National Gardening Month and Maryland Grow it Eat it Month by planting a food garden at Government House.  First Lady O’Malley will be joined by beginner gardeners who will learn basic techniques of gardening from Maryland’s Master Gardener Coordinator, Jon Traunfeld. April is National Gardening Month, Earth Month, and Governor O’Malley has also declared April to be Maryland Grow it Eat it Month,” said First Lady O’Malley.  “In celebration, and together with the University of Maryland, I encourage all Maryland families to plant their own garden to save money, to eat healthy, and to protect our environment.” 

First Lady O’Malley has partnered with University of Maryland Cooperative Extension to promote their new campaign, “Grow It Eat It,” which encourages Maryland families to improve health and save money by growing fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs using sustainable practices.  The campaign hopes to encourage 1 million Marylanders to produce their own affordable, healthy food.  More information on the campaign and the University of Maryland’s Master Gardener program can be found at www.growit.umd.edu.  

Maryland will be one of the first states, if not the first state in the nation, to have a backyard food garden at the Governor’s home.  The vegetable garden will set a realistic example of what Maryland families can do in their own backyards.

More about Bay-Wise Landscaping

Here’s a brief overview, and here’s an even briefer one:

• Fertilize wisely
• Water efficiently
• Mow properly
• Control stormwater runoff
• Mulch appropriately
• Recycle yard waste
• Use Integrated Pest Management
• Plant wisely (with plants suited to your site)
• Encourage wildlife
• Protect the waterfront

They DO seem to have all the bases covered.  Great program!

Photo credit. 

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Blog edition.  The whole newsletter is here.

In the News

• Michael Pollan’s anti-lawn rant made a comeback on the pages of the New York Times; commenters weighed in.
• New green job opportunity!  Most cities are still sending organic kitchen waste to landfills, but not in British Columbia, where Bin to Curb is operating.
• The Women’s Bean Project.  It’s green, it fights poverty - what’s not to love?
• Got more squash than you can eat?  The online VeggieTrader is here to help you find takers.  (Or you could use a neighborhood Yahoo group - which if you don’t have one, why not?)
• To dispel any doubts that fresh, local foods are IN, there’s a $3 iPhone Locavore app to help you find them.
• Due to drought, Tampa, FL has banned the use of lawn sprinklers.  Another reason to delawn.
• Excellent eco-friendly lawn care advice from the New York Times.
• See the  results of the Great Backyard Bird Count here - including 93,000+ checklists and 619 species, including a new invader.
• Scientific American has the definitive update on Colony Collapse Disorder.

  On GardenRant

• I’m reading Michele’s Rules for Beginning Veg Gardeners. (Newbie here!)
•  Here she makes the case that growing food isn’t expensive.
• Then she rants about a bill in Congress that could threaten small-time organic growers.
• After a British blogger bashes raised beds, a discussion ensues.
• Our Buffalo Ranter rallies the troops again - this time for an urban garden.  Oh, and also for urban chickens.
• In D.C. the Obamas and other feds are showing organic some love, and Big Chem isn’t happy.
• Don’t miss Jeff Gillman’s Hort Research that Gardeners can Use, 2nd Edition.

On Other Blogs

• Blogger Tom Alexander does NOT shy away from politics.  Here’s his rant about "wingnut" climate-change deniers.
• Joe Lamp’l’s $25 Victory Garden Challenge is getting lots of (well-deserved) attention. Watch episodes here and here.  Press coverage detailed here.

On the Home Front

• I announced the new national media campaign Green the Grounds.org and called on bloggers to post about it on Earth Day.  Supporting Organizations are coming on board and it’s starting to be FUN.
• And in the garden, it’s all about the mulch - about 150 loads of it from my driveway where it was dumped to the beds.
• And I finally met - at least by phone - one of my favorite gardening gurus - Paul James, the Gardener Guy of HGTV fame.  Story coming soon!

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One commenter to the previous post asked for a close-up of my ex-lawn and hey, I’m here to please.

And to answer some questions raised about it, I assume that the sedum can’t take much foot traffic.  I say "assume" because it’s never complained when I’ve walked on it.  Light foot traffic is certainly no problem.

About how long it takes for this stuff to fill in, Sedum acre spreads so fast it covered the whole area within three months, from small plugs spaced a foot apart.  Because this space is on an incline and erosion was just waiting to happen, I couldn’t wait around for slow-spreaders like thyme.

And about  my neighbors? Imagine a hippie commune of 16,000 people, and you have a sense of the politics and aesthetics in my town.  Here, the nasty looks from neighbors would come if a ChemLawn truck pulled up.

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