It seems that our unseasonably warm spring has resulted in more than just an early awakening of our spring blooming favorites like daffodils, magnolias, and forsythias.  Not surprisingly, some of the pests are emerging early this year too.  Yesterday we had the first reported sighting of pine sawfly in the area.  Pine sawfly normally emerges in May & June and can be extremely devastating to pine trees.  Take a minute to review our previous blog post on European Pine Sawfly then head out and start scouting your landscape!

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By Ann Davenport

Container gardens are all the rage these days.  You can’t walk into a garden center without seeing the endless selection of pots and of course, plants with which to fill them.   Containers make great additions to the landscape.   A well placed display can bring an entirely new dimension to a space.  Here are some things to think about when selecting and placing containers in the landscape.

• Welcoming Entryways

Containers placed at the entry of a home bring focus to the front door, creating a warm and welcoming entrance.  Planting combinations can be anything from simple to elaborate.  The possibilities are endless!  Because of the high visibility of a front door, it’s an excellent opportunity to select and change out plant material according to the season.

• Define a Space

Use containers to create separate “rooms” in an outdoor space.  For example, containers can be placed as a perimeter around a seating area, creating a defined space separate from other parts of the garden.  A cluster of containers can turn an area into a lush, intimate, oasis.  In small spaces where “real estate” in the yard is at a premium, think about going up.   Green walls are another great way to define a space, create a focal point, and try something new and different.

• Soften a Hardscape

Placing containers along a section of wall or fence helps break up a long horizontal line, providing a focal point for the eye.  Think about using clusters of pots of varying heights to provide visual interest.

• Conversation Starters

Think outside the box when it comes to containers.  There are endless opportunities.  Look for something whimsical and fun.  Bright colors, interesting shapes, and things you wouldn’t likely think of as a plant container.    Almost anything can be used to hold plants.  Get creative!  Just remember that your plants will need adequate drainage to be happy so if you choose a “non-traditional” container you may need to drill a few holes in the bottom to allow water to escape.

• Kitchen Gardens

Love to use fresh herbs in your cooking?  How about growing a few of your own veggies?  Containers provide a good opportunity for those with limited space.  Combine several herbs in a pot.  Maybe choose a theme and select ediblies that fit that theme:  “Italian Extravaganza”, “Salad Garden”, “Tea Time”…..  There are many possibilities to add color to your garden and your plate by growing your own herbs and vegetables.

With these ideas in your head, you are well on your way to transforming your containers from “just another pretty face” to hard workers in the garden.  Happy planting!

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By Carolyn Johnson

Summer is finally in full swing.  It sure feels like it with all this heat, doesn’t it?  We are now noticing in the garden, the effects of our cool and rainy spring.  Some things to watch for right now in your garden include magnolia scale, Japanese beetles, and cutworm on creeping jenny.

"Wooly" covering of the magnolia scale

Magnolia Scale:  We have seen evidence of scale on magnolias recently.  The scale is shiny and smooth, and often covered with a white, waxy coating.  Branches can become heavily infested which results in weakened or dead wood.  Scale creates a substance called honeydew which is excreted on the plant’s foliage and branches.  Sooty mold, a dark fungus, then develops on the honeydew on the leaves, thus detracting from the ornamental value of the tree.  You can rid the plant of scale by scratching them off (though you would have to remain diligent about this practice), applying horticultural oils in late August, or systemically spraying in late August or early September.

Japanese Beetles: We have begun to spot these insects on ornamental

plants in the past week.  The beetles are shiny, metallic green insects with tufts of white under their wing covers.  Most beetles tend to congregate and can do large amounts of damage by chewing on leaves and flowers of your prized roses.  Don’t think they are limited to roses for feeding, however.  Their taste palette includes more than 300 species of plants ranging from trees to shrubs to non-woody plants, including annuals.  The most effective method of controlling Japanese beetles is to hand pick them off your plants and drop them into a container with soapy water.  There are some contact sprays out there, like insecticidal soap, but if the beetle isn’t hit directly with the spray then it will not be controlled.  If you notice a large infestation of Japanese beetles, you may want to check your turf.  The beetles start as grubs in your turf and can cause the turf to die.

Cutworm and feeding damage on creeping jenny

Cutworm: We have been noticing a lot of cutworm damage to the creeping jenny ground cover as well.  It’s seems to be worse this year than in the past and possibly due to the wet spring we’ve experienced.  The leaves are practically chewed to nothing leaving the stems of the plant looking very sad, indeed!  We spread a natural product called Diatomaceaous Earth that you can find at your local garden center.  The product has an abrasive feel that when the exoskeletons of pests, such as cutworm and slugs, cross over the product it causes the insects to dehydrate and die.

We hope this gives you a few things to be watchful for in your gardens.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

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What is the difference between a pergola and an arbor? If you look up the words in an on-line dictionary you will find arbor defined as something like, “A shady resting place in a garden or park, often made of rustic work or lattice work on which plants, such as climbing shrubs or vines are grown” (The Free Dictionary by Farlex). A pergola is defined as, “An arbor or passageway of columns supporting a roof of trelliswork on which climbing plants are grown.”Landscape design writers such as Gordon Hayward and Cynthia Cash define the strict usage of the work pergola to refer to a colonnade or passageway.  About.com quotes Cynthia Cash, ”The primary difference in an ‘arbor’ and a ‘pergola’ is that an arbor is a free-standing structure (also used to support vines), whereas a pergola is a long linear structure over a garden pathway.”

Judging from images pulled up using Google, common usage of the word pergola defines it as a “substantial” columned structure which can either be over a walkway or, more commonly, over a sitting and dining space adequate for a group of people. While this could also be called an arbor, the word arbor is generally reserved for smaller structures over gateways or individual benches. Both arbors and pergolas are used as a structure to support climbing plants.No matter how you use the words, arbors and pergolas are important elements to define, soften and divide both small and large spaces. Arbor gates create a defined transition between “outside” the garden to the intimate interior. They also frame a view into the garden at this threshold. A pergola’d sitting area, either attached to the house or freestanding, creates a defined outdoor room as well as breaking up horizontal lines of fences and garages.

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Shannon and I were driving to a client site yesterday via 42nd St. in south Minneapolis. WOW! The entire street is lined with crab apples – and, in this high season, is literally draped in pink and white flowers. I think our crab apples must rival the Japanese cherries in this glorious time. The flowering doesn’t last long so if you have time head down 42nd St. between Hiawatha and the river, or the east side of Lake Nokomis, or the MN Landscape Arboretum or the Japanese Garden at Normandale College.

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Well, its official: spring has arrived. We were able to get a crew out on Thursday and two crews out on Friday starting on garden clean-ups. Its exciting to start a new season. We have a GREAT group of employees and, as always, great clients who provide us the opportunity to beautify their landscapes and gardens.

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I thought the worst conifer burn I would see was when a client threw an old Christmas tree on her fire-pit last summer. But the amount of burn we are seeing on garden conifers this spring is rivaling that blaze. And it isn’t just yews, Alberta spruce and newly planted trees. We are seeing it on Scotch and Mugo pines and even on low growing junipers. One client has a beautiful arching stand of Juniper ‘Saybrook Gold’ that is probably 10 years old…. torched.What can you do to protect your prize conifers? Well… do you want the short answer or the long answer? The short answer is that wrapping with burlap works. We just pulled burlap off a ‘Golden’ Black Spruce (Picea mariana ‘Golden’) and it looked fresh as can be (last year it had a lot of burn due to reflection off the adjacent building).The long answer would question the importance of the winter landscape and what the conifer is accomplishing in the design of the space. Is it there for winter interest? Screening? Specimen or accent? How jarring is it to see a  tree mummy out your window? This is probably a personal judgment and depends on how the tree was wrapped.  One thing is for sure — the Minnesota climate is not very friendly to conifers.

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