Your Monthly Grow-zine

August 2018

Things to do in the garden this month...

Enjoy summertime flowers! This time of year, when things are blooming like mad, is a good time to pat ourselves on the back for all our garden endeavors.

Visit your local nursery for new plants - and unusual ones like the Medinilla myriantha pictured, with its unique flower clusters appearing during warm months of the year.

Also called "Malaysian Orchid," this plant likes warm temps and full shade. Good drainage is a must! Grow in a protected area in Zone 10, or in a container anywhere in South Florida to bring indoors during cold spells.

Check your mulch. Rainstorms tend to move it around, so see if mulch has gathered around the base of your plants. If so, move it away at least 6 inches so plants don't stay too wet.

Try to stay ahead of the weeds! They love summer's heat and rain - and it's important to get to them before they go to seed.

Caterpillars love Snowbush!

You might walk outside one summer morning and find your Snowbush has been eaten...what to do??

First, cut the plant back.

Then apply Thuricide, a natural bacteria product that combats caterpillars.

You can find Thuricide at your local nursery or home center.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN SERIES

Landscape Layering:
Creating "Stair Steps" of Plants

Ground Orchids, Orange Bird of Paradise, Silver Buttonwood

An island bed can be seen from all sides, so typically we think to plant taller things dead center, with shorter plants in rings around the edge.

But this creates a more formal look. Most island beds in South Florida have a casual look with an elongated curvy shape, rather than straight rectangles or even squares or circles.

So rather than a "tiered wedding cake" look - circular sets of plants in stair step heights - island bed design is much more interesting if each side provides a little scenario of its own.

The taller plants in the middle can be a backdrop for each side's "scene." They can be several different plants of varying heights if you have the space. If you use a single center plant, it doesn't necessarily have to be planted dead center.

Vary textures as well as heights. A group of finer-textured plants along the edge, with coarser texture toward the middle, helps the island transition visually into the lawn around it. This makes the island look like a natural outgrowth of the lawn, rather than appearing to "float" there, lonely and forced.

One mistake people make when creating an island bed is going too small. A larger bed will look more professionally done, and with layered landscaping of varying heights and views, it can be your landscape's showpiece.

(NEXT MONTH: Layered landscaping around a palm or other specimen)

A visitor asks...

"I am on a landscape committee for our community. We need a small flowering tree for a small courtyard space. There is indirect sun, mostly shaded. We can come out from the house by 4 feet. Can you suggest some trees for us?"

There aren't a lot of small flowering trees for shade. Gardenia, Cape Jasmine, or Azalea in tree form would probably work as long as the indirect light is bright.

Gardenias and Azaleas can be somewhat fussy plants. Crape Jasmine is pretty easy-going, and you can plant a shrub that grows into a multi-trunk tree or buy one already trained to a single trunk.

Confederate Jasmine

Crape Jasmine

Or you might consider doing a tall narrow trellis (like a tower or obelisk) with a vine like Confederate Jasmine, which blooms in spring with beautiful fragrance. Bleeding Heart vine would also work there.

Another option might be Cordylines (Ti plants) for height and Crotons for additional color. A grouping like this wouldn't take up much space.

What's new at South-Florida-Plant-Guide.com

My latest ebooks are here!
"Best of the Grow-zines"

All the best info and ideas from past issues of our monthly newsletter - The Grow-zine!

Garden Ideas & FAQs

Landscaping Tips & Problem Solvers

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Learn more!

Are you a Snowbird?

Want to know more about growing a beautiful landscape with only part-time care?

Check out the new, updated edition of my paperback book,
Snowbird Gardening.

I've added more plants, more photos and up-to-date info for South Florida Snowbirds.

This new edition features 146 plant varieties - palms, shrubs, trees and flowers - with photos and information about each one.

Now available as an ebook! Find out more...

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Chase Landre

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