Moss & the Color Green

As spring continues to approach we all feel infused with new energy emanating from increased sunlight, warmth, and the blossoms of early flowering trees and shrubs. With such, our gardening to-do lists and landscape ambitions are again awakened from their long winter hibernation. 

Snail in Moss, Lord Hill Regional Park, Skyler Westergard

For many of you in cooler and wetter climates such as those here in the Pacific Northwest, one of the perennial influences on gardens this time of year is moss & the color green.  Even in the hot, arid climates of Utah and Idaho I have seen moss growing in wet, shady, and poorly draining areas.

There is no doubt that the wide range and variety of moss in the Northwest typifies its climate and has unlimited photo ops for calenders, art, book covers, and blogs.  How could there really be so many different shades and tones of green?  Moss's green is unbelievably beautiful and restorative.


Arguably, green is one of the colors that we see the most often.  The grass, shrubs, flowers, mosses, and tree leaves all around us radiate this wonderful color. Color theorists and psychologists teach that the color green is the symbol of healing, health, balance, and renewal. Green is the color of life and restoration. It is the balance and opposite of bright intense colors, especially red.  It balances and restores the eye.  What a blessing to have so much green all around us both as a symbol and literal source of renewal and life.

Olympic National Park, James Gaither (2008) Flickr

So why would anyone ever want to get rid of moss, a source of so much green? 

Without getting into the differing ideas of its correctness or the cultural roots of the idea of why, which would be the topic of another post, there are indeed times and contexts where moss is not desired. Besides on roofs and gutters, in our lawns would be at the top of the list. Most people desire a healthy strand of grass...moss free. If you are dealing with moss in your lawn, spring is the best time to treat it.

Moss loves to grow in soil that is constantly wet, cool, shady, and in areas with low pH levels.  To control moss three main steps are necessary.

Buffalo Grass Lawn, Robert Wallace (2006) Flickr

1. Iron Sulfate - Most often applied in a granular form, it also comes in liquid.  Water granular applications in well immediately after applying.  Apply when conditions are dry and DO NOT get this on your clothes, house, or concrete as it will nearly immediately and permanently stain. (I speak from experience).
2. Rake - After moss turns black from the iron sulfate application take a good stiff leaf rake or rent a power rake/dethatcher and work the moss out of the lawn and dispose of it.
3. Lime -  Lawn grows best in soils with a near neutral pH of about 6.5 or 7.  In low pH situations, which is most often the case where moss is present, add lime to your lawn in order to raise the pH and discourage future moss.  Lime is more of a longer term piece to the puzzle, as it will not do anything to kill moss that already exists.

It must be noted that moss is epiphytic, meaning it can grow on other plants yet is not harmful to them. It photosynthesizes on its own and so is not parasitic to plants.  Many professionals get as many questions on how to grow moss as how to kill it.  I myself live this double standard in some gardens I maintain.  One month I may be applying iron and lime to one area, while at other times I am testing new web searched moss recipes on other garden paths to start moss growing. For better or worse I have been successful at both and should well dedicate a post on how to grow moss for those who wish to do so.

In your garden this spring whether you're trying to kill moss, grow moss, or couldn't care less about moss, take time to appreciate the beauty and influence of green all around you.  It truly is one of God's gifts to us as earthly beings.

 

Hydrangea Pruning: Its as easy as 1, 2, 3

Believe it or not, Spring will eventually come. There are signs already.  Up here in the Pacific Northwest early daffodils are already in brilliant bloom.  If you're in a little colder climate you might have noticed a crocus bulb or two peaking their ambitious heads through the snow or the Birch trees shedding their cinnamon-like debris on top of the winter wonderland. These are the subtle signs that nature gives us, helping us hang on in hope for just a little longer, waiting for the plant world to again resurrect back into vibrant life. I can't wait.

With Spring undoubtedly on its way, this is a great time to do some dormant pruning of plants such as spirea, fruit trees, dogwood shrubs, roses, and especially your hydrangeas, arguably one of the most spectacular flowering shrubs.

Late Winter Hydrangea, ready for pruning

For most people who don't spend everyday caring for plants, pruning can be a little overwhelming. When do I prune? What do I prune?  How much can I take off?  Will this kill the plant?  These are all great questions I have been asked.  The following are my three simple pruning steps to get your hydrangeas in shape, ready to produce breathtaking blooms this coming summer.









STEPS 1, 2, 3

Cut just above a pair of healthy buds

1.  The first step is to simply take your favorite pair of sharp hand pruners and cut off all the dead, spent flowers. Cut just above a pair of healthy buds being sure not to damage them.  If your hydrangea is a bit overgrown then go ahead and cut down the stem a little ways to reduce the height, but be sure to leave a couple feet of stems with buds on them. I should mention here that I like to keep the brown, dried out flower heads on the plant all winter to add color and texture to the garden during the dormant months.

This is what you have after step 1.

Remove oldest/largest branches (about 1/3 or less of the total).

2. The next step is to take a pair of loppers (larger, long handled pruners) and cut back about 1/3 or so of the oldest and largest branches on your plant.  These you will cut back to the base, leaving only a few inches or so left of the branch. Cutting these back will open up the plant and allow younger more energetic branches to flourish and will also encourage new branches to come up from the base. Removing about 1/3 of the oldest branches every year will keep the plant healthy and vigorous.

Finished hydrangea ready for a spectacular summer

3.  In the last step simply go back, grab your small hand pruners and simply prune off any remaining small dead branches. Also, take a second to step back and look at the overall shape and balance of the plant. If there is a branch or two that just look out of place, are too low or high, or just otherwise don't look right go ahead and prune them back and remove them. Once you're happy with the shape dispose of the removed cuttings in your garden waste bin or mulch pile, pat yourself on the back, and wait patiently for your hydrangea summer blooms to wow friends and neighbors.


Hydrangeas are great plants and there are many varieties. For an overview of hydrangeas read my earlier post; Hydrangeas: The Embroidered Globes. Hydrangeas like to be in moist rich soil and part shade. In the spring, add a light application of a balanced fertilizer or a couple inches of good compost mulch.

Design Principles and Elements: TEXTURE

With winter upon us and the garden more or less asleep for the time being makes this a great time to do some planning and design of what you would like to do with your garden this coming year. Having either a professional design on paper or just a personal, thought-out landscape to-do list will help you stay focused and have an action plan for transforming your garden to what you dream it could be.

All successful design incorporates the usage of universal design principles and elements. I believe this is true whether your creative outlet be pottery, painting, sculpture, photography, landscape gardening, or many others.  A few months ago I wrote a post introducing these design principles entitled What language are your speaking?  You can begin now to speak the language of design and use these principles and elements in your garden. As a resource I would like to dedicate a post to every one of them and give helpful examples of each. Lets start with Texture.

TEXTURE

In its basic definition think of texture as referring to how smooth or rough something is. Fine texture would be running your fingers across a glass marble. Course texture would be running your fingers over one of those mouth murdering, yet visually stunning sugar crystal rock candies. Has anyone really every actually eaten one of those? I digress...

                                              Glass Marble by Hans Splinter 12/24/2007 Flickr Creative Commons.                                                                               Rock Candy by Sabrina S. 5/18/2008 Flickr Creative Commons *

Texture also refers to the visual smoothness or roughness of an object (or group of objects) and in landscape design this visual aspect is what we are most often interested in. Even in the example above you can see that visually the rock candy has a more course texture than the glass marble. This course texture (taking color out of the equation, to be discussed in a later post) causes the rock candy to stand out over the marble.

Fine, so what do candy and childhood games have to do with design?  Because course or rough textures stand out and hold the eye longer in comparison to the more subtle, consistent, softness of fine textures we can play back and forth between fine and course texture in order to create interest, variety, excitement, and focal areas in the garden. Successful garden designers have mastered the use and balance of texture...... and probably how to play marbles as well. 

IN YOUR GARDEN

Although texture is considered and used in all garden materials including water, stone, wood, paving, and plants the most inexpensive and easy to manipulate and enhance are arguably plants. Don't misunderstand that to mean that other media carry more weight, plants are likely the most commonly used textural element in the garden.

So lets put plant texture to use in real terms.

Fine Texture Plants:

• Have small leaves and stems that are closely packed together
• Are relaxing rather than stimulating
• Recede into the distance creating a sense of more space in the garden
• Area of light, airy, expansive and soft character

Coarse Texture Plants:

•  Have the largest leaves and thickest stems
• Are bold, dominate, attention grabbers
• Advance into the foreground
• Create striking patterns of light and shadow
• Are solid, stable, anchoring plants in the landscape

In your garden try combining fine and course texture plants together to create more interest and appeal. If you would like to make your garden feel a little larger try installing course texture plants up a little closer and fine textures plants in the distance.  Perhaps if you have a birdbath, stone water feature, or bench help it to stand out by surrounding it with finer texture plants.  If your garden seems for some reason just to be too boring and monotonous no doubt you're lacking variety of plant texture.

BY WAY OF EXAMPLE

Bloedel Reserve, Skyler Westergard 5/5/2012

In this picture I took at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington you can see how the course texture of skunk cabbage is used along the boardwalk to create visual interest and dominance in contrast to the fine textured hemlock tree in the center. The skunk cabbage also contrasts with the fine texture of the boardwalk timbers.

Bellevue Botanical Garden, Skyler Westergard 7/5/2012

At the Bellevue Botanical Garden near a waterfall I snapped a picture showing a good example of the contrasting textures of Ligularia (right) and Artic Willow (left). Notice how the striking patterns of light and shadow are much more magnified on the coarse textured Ligularia making it stand out strikingly.

Flower World, Skyler Westergard, Summer 2013

On one visit to the the nursery I grabbed a couple container plants and threw them together for a picture showing another example of how texture can be used in the garden with plants alone. The smaller, fine textured leaves and soft feathery flowers of the pink Astilbe contrast near perfectly with the bold glossy course textured leaves of the Bergenia. This would be a great combination for any garden.




Take time to let your creative juices start flowing this winter and set aside a few enjoyable hours for some planning and design work on your garden. Next time you are out visiting your favorite nursery consider what plants you could combine to add more texture and a bit more zing and flavor to your outdoor space. I promise it will be well worth your time.


* http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Plant Profile: Profusion Beautyberry

When answering questions or giving advice about choosing plants for a landscape or when working on a design for a new landscape installation, I always talk to people about the need to have year-round garden interest. We are all certainly reminded of the need for such as the stunning fall colors fade and leaves dancingly float to the ground while the relative barrenness of winter seems to quickly approach.

Winter landscape interest can be accomplished in a myriad of ways including: winter berries, stem and bark color, plant texture, winter flowers, interesting branching habits, and architecture. Today I wish to highlight a plant that displays arguably one of the most breathtaking berry clusters imaginable.

In fall and through early winter Profusion Beautyberry boasts a prolific display of  hundreds or thousands of small violet, purple berries that resemble some sort of magical pearl.  It is one of those plants whose berry display simply cannot be comprehended without experiencing it in person. I highly recommend giving serious consideration to beautyberry as part of your garden's fall and winter interest display.

Profusion Beautyberry ( Callicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion')

Profusion Beautyberry. Skyler Westergard Residence, WA. Fall 2013

Growing 6-10' tall and wide this plant likes good loamy, moist soil especially when flowering and during fruit set.  For a better fall and winter display the plant needs a fair amount of sunlight and can be planted in full sun or part shade and loves long hot summers.

Beautyberry gets its violet berries on the current seasons new growth so pruning about a third of the plant down to the base every year will promote its profusion of berry pearls.  On that note, if the plant gets too large and unruly the whole thing can be cut back to the base in late winter to reset its size.

In the summer the berries are preceded by loads of small pale pink flowers. Every flower will produce one berry so the quantity of midsummer flower display can be appealing as well.

The berries themselves are not poisonous, but are quite bitter as supposedly are the leaves. For this reason the shrub is listed as deer resistant. The berries can also attract birds. The American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), a close relative, is better suited for making jellies, for which recipes are easily available online, and is know also as the French Mulberry.

In the landscape, use Beautyberry as a woodland planting, massed together for more berry display, or combine with other fall and winter berry plants such as Red Winterberry, Cotoneaster, or orange Firethorn.

Recommended Read: The Garden of Invention

As summer slowly slips out of reach and the cool temperatures and spectacular fall leaf colors quickly reach their pitch there is no doubt our gardens will in time enter their annual slumber. For the discouragement of knowing I have to wait these several months of increased darkness accompanied by rain and snow and cold are significantly enlightened by knowing I can always grab a good book to dive into. Gardening books of course can always be found close to my bedside.

This weeks article is the first of what I plan on being many posts containing reviews and recommended reads. I share with you the perfect gardening book to be picked up during this time of year when perhaps we are not as consumed by the details of what temperature the soil should be before the peas go in, or how to prune that unruly Rhody, or what is causing those scarlet tomatoes to rot. Jane Smith's book The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants is an exciting and most interesting leisurely read not on the details of how to garden, but on the life of Luther Burbank accompanied by a most delicious historical slice of America, agriculture, and plants during the early 20th century.


Although mostly long forgotten, Luther Burbank is responsible for the breeding and introduction of many of the plants that most gardeners work with on a daily basis and take for granted as a long time part of the plant buffet. Most famous of the more than eight hundred new varieties introduced by Burbank include: Shasta Daisy, Rainbow Corn, Elephant garlic, and the Russet Burbank Potato. The last of which is arguably one of the most used plants in the world. According to Smith, McDonalds restaurants specify only Russet Burbanks. It is hard to imagine a time when such a plant, or the french fries they represent, did not exist.

In this book you walk along with Luther Burbank in his Santa Rosa, California, garden as he nearly stumbles upon and markets the now well known Russet potato, breeds and grafts new fruit trees, pollinates poppies, and creates one of the largest gardening mail order catalogs in the world. A most welcome inclusion in the book are many original photographs of Burbank including him entertaining Thomas Edison and Henry Ford at his home in Santa Rosa as well as many great prints of magazine covers featuring Burbank, as well as original plant advertisements and seed catalog marketing efforts before the introduction of high quality photography and color printing.  One of my favorites portrays Burbank on the cover of Success Magazine in 1905 described as the High Priest of Horticulture.

I highly recommend picking up this book as a great fall or winter gardening read. Jane Smith's writing style is smooth and eloquent. She effortlessly keeps the attention and interest of anyone interested in plants, and you're guaranteed to finish your walk through Burbank's Santa Rosa garden more knowledgeable about the history of American horticulture as well as some of your favorite plants.

Corn Smut and Truffles: Disease or Delicacy?

Photo taken by AJ Cann, 2/19/2012, Available on Flickr

I recently received some questions from a reader with accompanying pictures of a most disgusting, alien looking gray and black growth on their corn. If any of you have seen this on the ears of corn in your garden, as this picture shows, it can be quite astounding.  When a plant disease is big enough you can hear it mocking you and you think it may be growing eyes it sparks a bit of curiosity and possibly resentment. Would you believe that this alarming growth is also used quite intentionally in cooking and there is a good chance that you have probably eaten some? Why don't we get to that in a minute?

Corn Smut

For must of us trying to grow a few rows of our favorite sweet corn along the sunny garden path, this growth is considered a most undesirable part of our summer gardening experience. As a disease this is called corn smut.  Basically it is a fungal growth caused most commonly by the fungus Ustilago.  

Inside the smooth gray covering lies black spores of Ustilago. According to The Ohio State University these spores overwinter in the soil for up to 2-3 years. When the gray sac or gal ruptures these spores are carried to and fro throughout your garden and soil in any manner of different ways.  Combine this with warm temperatures and moisture in early summer and wa-la: you have corn smut. Growing like yeast, the fungus can be noticeable on your corn within ten days of infection.

SO NOW WHAT?

If you happen to have corn smut on your ears and you don't want to keep it in an effort to really add some pizazz to your fall door-step halloween decorations there are some things you should do.

• Remove infected plant parts or entire plants immediately. Remember the spores can live for 2-3 years in the soil so getting rid of them means putting the infected plants in garbage bags and throwing them away. Don't compost them.
• Be careful not to injure plants by cultivating too close to the roots and stocks. These injuries create openings where the fungus enters and then multiplies.
• Incorporate crop rotation. Don't plant corn in the same location in the garden every year, but switch everything around from year to year. This also helps with many other garden problems and diseases.
• Probably most important is to plant varieties of corn that are much less susceptible to corn smut.  Disease resistant plants can do the bulk of the work in reducing disease problems and pesticide use in most plants.

Mexican Truffle

Photo taken by Ross Grady 7.29.2011, Available on Flickr

Amazingly and quite interestingly in Mexican cooking this corn "problem" is a real delicacy. In Mexico and Mexican cooking is is called Huitlacoche (pronounced whee-tla-KO-cheh), corn mushroom, or Mexican Truffle.  According to the Tijuana, Mexico, restaurant Aqui es Texcoco, Huitlacoche has a smoky, earthy taste and is used in stews, tamales, quesadillas, soups, salads, and deserts. 

It's good for your health also.  Several journals, including Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition and Food Chemistry have published research articles showing Huitlacoche has high levels of the amino acid Lysine, something corn has little of.  Lysine is an essential building block of proteins and plays a major role in a healthy body, yet the human body cannot produce it. 

And finally for the agricultural economists out there, further studies show Huitlacoche to be much more profitable than the corn it grows on. Millions of dollars have been spent in an effort to reduce corn smut from infecting commercial corn production.  Could you believe that some of the most fresh stages of corn smut being sold is bringing as much as $20 per pound?  

Now you can decide for yourself whether your corn fungus is a disease or a delicacy.  I suppose it depends on what you're in the mood for. 

Tomatoes: Rotten Tomatoes

Recently I was asked a question concerning tomatoes which appear to be rotting on the vine. I thought a blog post would be a good way to answer the question as many other people likely have seen this not uncommon problem, or are likely to in the future.

This picture, passed along to me, which is bound to make any gardener a little squeamish, shows the problem which is called Blossom End Rot.

Blossom End Rot on Tomato

Blossom End Rot

The symptoms include a sunken brown or black discoloration at the bottom of the tomato. This particular problem always starts at the blossom end of the tomato, hence it's name. This spot will increase in size with time. It is also very likely that the symptoms will manifest themselves on additional fruit on the same plant and possibly nearby plants as well.

Of the many possible problems a plant can get this one is unique in that it is a physiological problem. It is not caused by insect, bacteria, or fungus. In other words it is not solved by some kind of insecticide or fungicidal spray.  Being physiological, it is not contagious to other plants.

Blossom End Rot is caused by a lack of sufficient calcium during critical stages of fruit development.  Tomatoes get calcium from soil, pulling it in through their roots in solution along with water and other nutrients. Calcium is used by the plant in part to create more complex molecules which hold the cells together.

                                                                                      It's a sad tomato that can't hold it cells together.


CONTROL

Like most problems in life, as in plants, the best control is preventative. In most cases tomatoes don't get enough calcium as a result of dramatic changes in soil moisture levels. Plants whose roots go from really wet to extremely dry are much more likely to get Blossom End Rot. Not enough water in the soil decreases the amounts of calcium taken up by the roots. 

DO:

• Keep your tomatoes evenly moist, especially in times of drought
• Apply a well composted mulch around your plants to keep soil moist for longer periods
• Plant tomatoes in soil that drains well as water logged roots can cause similar problems
• Used a balanced fertilizer if and when needed
• Dispose of all affected fruit on the plant
• In extreme cases spray plants with calcium chloride solution every 10 days
• Keep the soil pH around 6.5 to free up more calcium in the soil. Too high pH ties up calcium

DO NOT:

• Cultivate or break up the soil around the plants roots
• Apply too much fertilizer high in Nitrogen. Too much fertilizer can cause plants to grow rapidly and magnify the calcium deficiency problem as fruit is developing
• Allow plants to dry out too much following periods of rapid growth

Blossom End Rot could be thought of as a tomato's version of tooth decay. Both are caused by calcium deficiencies and are also similar in that, as mentioned above, they are physiological issues. Too bad tomatoes don't drink milk, huh?

Blossom End Rot can also be present in eggplants and sweet peppers. The treatment and preventative measure would be the same as for tomatoes.

If you are seeing other problems with your tomatoes or any other plant you're trying to grow in your garden feel free to share pictures and questions with me and let them be the source for an upcoming blog post.