A lecturer once told our Master Gardener group, “Mulch is like underwear: we need it, but we don’t want to see it.” Ideally, the ground is best covered with plants, but it takes time for small starts of groundcover plants to spread and fill the areas we want. If the soil is left bare between […]
Read More…
Nancy Norris Common name: Dwarf hardy jasmine, Parker’s jasmine Latin name: Jasminum parkeri Plant type: Shrubs & small trees USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-11 (overwinter indoors in lower zones) Cultural needs: Regular moisture, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, sun or part shade Plant size: 8-18″ high x 18″ wide Many plants are called jasmine but stem from […]
Read More…
1 Marcus and Vanessa Kollmann model European railroads on their Landschaft Gartenbahn. Living scenery wraps around the structures and cozies up to the track for a lush landscape. At left, a cut-leaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum’, Zones 5-9) stretches over the street for bright, dappled lighting. After winter, the Kollmanns shape this tree while […]
Read More…
Unpruned Nancy Norris Common name: Blue Pyramid cypress Latin name: Cupressus arizonica ‘Blue Pyramid’ Plant type: Dwarf conifer USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-9 Cultural needs: Average-to-poor well-drained soil; sun or light shade Plant size: Fast growing to 20′ in 10 years but easily pruned annually to stay under 3′ Pruned Nancy Norris Blue Pyramids are just […]
Read More…
Nancy Norris Common name: Coastal white cedar, Andy’s cedar Latin name: Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Andelyensis Conica’ Plant type: Dwarf conifer USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-10 Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, neutral or slightly acidic soil; full sun Plant size: 3′ x 1’6″ in ten years, without pruning Jack Verducci The heritage of Andy’s cedar goes back to […]
Read More…
1. A five-to-six-year-old Washington hawthorn tree on the author’s former railroad. Don Parker 2. A potted three-to-four-year-old hawthorn growing in the Hoot ’n’ Holler railroad garden. (Note the use of double potting to aid in getting the tree out of the ground for root pruning. Also note the thorns.) Don Parker 3. A dawn redwood […]
Read More…
Nancy Norris Common name: Sanders Blue dwarf Alberta spruce Latin name: Picea glauca ‘Sanders Blue’ aka P.g. ‘Sanderi’ Plant type: Dwarf conifer USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9 (winter protection in Zones 3-5) Cultural needs: Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, sun or part shade Plant size: 4-6′ high by 2-3′ wide in 10 years, if not pruned […]
Read More…
Nancy Norris Common name: Thyme-leaf rockspray, small-leaf rockspray Latin name: Cotoneaster microphyllus var. thymifolius Plant type: Shrubs and small trees USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-11 (marginally in Zone 4, with snow cover) Cultural needs: Average, well-drained soil; sun for fruit Plant size: Less than 12″ and spreading, unless trained Nancy Norris Although the common name of […]
Read More…
1. Hardy African iceplant makes a great groundcover, here blooming in late May. On the right is Angelina stonecrop, with yellow-green leaves, rising to 4-5″ tall. (All photos were taken on the author’s Hoot ’n’ Holler Railroad unless noted.) Photos by the author Don Parker 2. This small, yellow-flowering stonecrop (probably Sedum acer ‘Aureum’) is […]
Read More…
1. White moss thyme (Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’), 1-2″ in height, with tiny white blooms in June, trails over the water’s edge. No need to trim this thyme, with the possible exception of shearing old growth in early spring. Two months beyond blooming thyme, Dan Saporito left a few gray twigs in place to give it […]
Read More…
Photo 1 Keith Yundt Photo 2 Photo 3 Keith Yundt Photo 4 Keith Yundt Photo 5 Keith Yundt Photo 6 Keith Yundt Photo 7 Keith Yundt Photo 8 Keith Yundt We wanted to create a sort of English formal garden, with the various patterns and geometric designs that make them interesting (photo 1). The plants […]
Read More…
1. The Rhaetian Railway’s (RhB) Bernina Express runs from the Chur area in Switzerland over the Alps to Italy, here modeled with 12 varieties of thyme and other herbaceous perennials from the Mediterranean. Top left, pink fanflowers (Scaevola sp.) hang over pink stems of golden oregano (Oreganum vulgare ‘Aureum Crispum’, Zones 5-9). Underneath, lining the […]
Read More…