Your Monthly Grow-zine
September 2018
Things to do in the garden this month...
Vinca 'Ocean Black Moon'Stop by your locally-owned nursery for gardening tools, fertilizer and pesticides as well as plants (like the new vinca variety pictured). This is a slow time of year for most and they can use your business to stay afloat to be there when you need them.
Wait to fertilize...if your local area is under restrictions. Much of South Florida is under a fertilizer blackout till the end of this month - check with your county extension office for rules in your area.
If you have azaleas and/or gardenias, buy your fertilizer now...they need to be fertilized October 1st. Normally they should be given their last feeding of the year before October 1st but with the fertilizer blackout that may not be possible. Buy fertilizer specially formulated for these plants.
Water? Some areas are dry pockets with rain all around them - if this is you, make sure your landscaping gets a good drink twice a week.
Stake small and/or young trees in case we get any tropical storm winds.
Cut things back...especially Knock Out roses and other plants weary of rainy season.
Knock Outs like a hard pruning now and will start to sprout beautifully when the weather cools down.
Also trim plants that have grown shaggy from their summer growth spurt.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN SERIES
Landscape Layering:
Creating "Stair Steps" of Plants
Pygmy Date Palm, Bromeliad, Dwarf Ruella, Vinca, CrotonI run across lots of people wanting to plant around a specimen plant - usually a tree, palm or large shrub out in the yard, or one at the end of a garden bed.
Plants of tiered heights around a specimen draw the eye from the ground up to really set off the center plant.
If you want a somewhat symmetrical look, two tiers is usually sufficient. Depending on the height of the specimen, you can generally use groundcovers or low perennials on the outside edge and then small shrubs for a not-too-tall center plant.
For a more casual landscape, you can do what the homeowners did in the photo above. They used mostly low plants of varying heights and colors that create more natural layers, with the croton at one end helping the transition from taller hedge plants to lower things around the palm..
Not all specimens should have stuff around the base...some larger plants make a statement all on their own. Little bitty plants around a mature massive palm may end up looking like an amateurish afterthought...and actually take away from the "centerpiece."
If the specimen you want to highlight with surrounding plants is fairly tall, enlarge the bed around it to balance the height - you can use more plants and provide more impact to the layered look.
(NEXT MONTH: Layered landscaping in foundation plantings)
Pagoda Flower
The flower clusters of this fast growing shrub can resemble a pagoda (my photo doesn't do it justice) - those picturesque tiered buildings in China.
(Floridata has a better pic - scroll down to "Features")
Though you may come home with a cute little plant from the nursery, be ready for some size. Clerodendrum paniculatum quickly becomes a large, wide plant with big leaves and red blooms on and off all year, more in warm months. The flowers attract butterflies.
Best in partial shade with regular water, Pagoda Flowers look their best in Zone 10, though you can grow them in Zone 9 and if there's winter dieback they will return in spring.
This plant can spread but doesn't get crazy-invasive. It can have a somewhat short lifespan, but offshoots usually take over when the mama plant dies.
These plants aren't usually a stock item at nurseries but they may be able to order it - or look for it at rare plant sales or get cuttings from a friend.
What's new at South-Florida-Plant-Guide.com
I've added a new picture of a big Desert Rose in bloom to the Plant Page on this drought hardy plant..
Other new pics on Plant Pages include European Fan Palm and Dwarf Allamanda.
My latest ebooks are here!
"Best of the Grow-zines"
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Garden Ideas & FAQs
Landscaping Tips & Problem Solvers
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This new edition features 146 plant varieties - palms, shrubs, trees and flowers - with photos and information about each one.
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A visitor asks...
"My weeping bottle brush tree is approximately 8 feet tall and planted about 3-4 months ago. It was staked but maybe not properly. It blew over and split the trunk about 1 1/2 feet from the ground. The trunk did not snap in half, but it is split and won't hold upright. What can I do to save it?"
I asked a grower friend for advice and he said these are tough trees and you should be able to save yours if you do this:
Wrap the split trunk area very tightly with burlap and rope.
Stake the tree with a heavy duty stake.
And keep the top cut back regularly so it doesn't become top-heavy - he says this is often the cause of this type of young tree falling over from rain and wind, especially if it's not sufficiently staked. But he's had them fall and the trunks split and the wrapping works wonders - and the tree recovers just fine.
I asked if the burlap area should be kept wet and he said definitely NO.
When shopping at a plant nursery...
Don't wear perfume or cologne. A bee might mistake you for a flower.
Avoid wearing fancy shoes. Plants have to be watered and you might step in muddy spots. I once had a customer who completely lost her bejeweled sandal in a deep mud puddle.
Never wear white pants or shorts. if your nursery uses golf carts to take you around, the seat may have been carrying dirt-filled pots of plants before you sat there.
Call first to see if you can bring your dog. Some places welcome them, others don't. Just because it's a mostly outdoor business, don't assume - there may be other factors in play.
For example, a nursery where I worked had an attack cat and small dogs were his favorite snack. Yet people ignored the No Dogs Allowed sign and we had the hardest time trying to convince them they need to leave the dog home or carry him in their arms.
If you do bring Fido, make sure he doesn't mistake a plant for a fire hydrant. And you will have to buy that plant.
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