2010 resolution: a ‘no-work’ garden?

There's nothing like the back to school season to get you thinking about new desk organization solutions. Whether you're hoping to reorganize your home office, set up a new dorm room desk, or looking to freshen up your work space, there are plenty of creative accessories to draw inspiration from.

Looking to add some life to your home without having to put in too much effort? Why not try a succulent garden? These water-storing plants are perfect for those who want to enjoy the beauty of nature without having to put in too much work. Plus, they come in a wide variety of textures and colours, so you can easily find the perfect look.

What can gardeners do in winter? The answer lies in the soil! but to old gardeners it is still ‘Beyond our Ken’. I often spent too long polishing my good intentions this includes planning to send my mower for servicing and sharpening’ a shame I do not plan to polish up my other important gardening implements.

Peace is not just the absence of war it can be a reflection of a personal inner tranquility. To many gardeners peace may be a state of harmony with nature. It is a theme of several ‘hard landscape’ projects and sculptural works as shown by the selection of Peace gardens below.

Achilleas, or yarrows, are traditional border perennials. They have long been valued for their feathery foliage and the beautiful, flat-topped flowers that bloom right through the summer months. But in recent years, they have become fashionably popular, used widely in perennial and wildlife planting schemes.

Do you have an unsightly spot in your yard plagued by erosion? Or, how about an area that captures the majority of rain from your rooftop, driveway, or sidewalk? Rain gardens are the perfect management solution for these types of areas. Planted in depressed areas, rain gardens intercept stormwater runoff before it has the chance to enter our waterways, which often transports pollutants, such as sediment, fertilizer, and herbicide. Rain gardens slow down runoff, allowing it to infiltrate down into the ground and deeper into the groundwater. This helps to control erosion that may be problematic in the landscape, thus reducing the potential of flooding. As the water infiltrates, the soil filters nutrients and bacteria. The sediment is captured, and native plants remove the excess nutrients for their growth. This contributes to improved water quality downstream of the site.

Recently, an impressive amount of rain has fallen in South Carolina. With excess rainfall, also comes an increased potential for stormwater runoff. A landscape feature that can help mediate stormwater is a rain garden. Rain gardens are landscaped depressions that receive stormwater runoff and allow the water to infiltrate the soil slowly, eventually reaching the groundwater table. (See Figure 1). A rain garden can add both beauty and functionality to any landscape. Multiple plant species can be used in a rain garden, including shrubs, perennials (both shade and sun-loving), and grasses. Please see the plant lists below for rain garden plant recommendations.

THE NEW SEASON IS HEATING UP, at least visually, even as temperatures trend downward. Cleanup is (hopefully) under way in earnest, with time out to cook up the last bits from the vegetable garden into a batch of ‘Tomato Junk’ or soup, or local/homegrown apples into easy applesauce, checking on the kettles between rounds of raking and cutbacks outdoors. With such delicious reminders of summer and fall in the freezer, and the right plants in the garden, there’s no “end” to fear. Some of us even feel happy about the coming riches: berries and other fruits, bark, new birds. PEAK PLANTING TIME for bulbs and for many woody things continues through month’s end or so; make that work include some focus on the addition of fall and winter plants to the landscape.GARDEN CLEANUP, though, is the primary order of the day—and don’t forget: quickly stash your tender things as frost threatens or just after, depending on the plant, to carry them through the winter. Here we go:TREES & SHRUBSCLEAR TURF OR WEEDS fro

OR TRY THIS ESCAPE: Force branches of spring-blooming shrubs and trees like pussy willow, forsythia, apple and cherry once buds have begun to swell. Cut on an angle and put indoors in water. I submerge them overnight, then place them in a bucket of water in my mudroom, draped with a plastic bag, until the buds push off their coverings. The closer to actual bloom date you try to force things, the higher the success rate (no big surprise).COLORFUL TWIGS from shrub dogwoods and willows would make good indoor arrangements now, and many want stooling (cutting to maybe 8 inches from the ground) every other or third year.TAKE A WALKABOUT, unless the ground is muddy (I don’t walk on sodden soil; it does such damage). Check to see if mulches are in place or if they’ve heaved, or if burlap and other protectors have come loose, exposing vulnerable plants to possible heaving damage or windburn.MOLE PATROL CONTINUES, in perpetuity: I am still re-baiting mousetraps under boxes, buckets or cans in the gard

BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE BLEW IN SATURDAY, with its relentless 50-plus mile-per-hour winds, there was a brief moment of sanity. The snow was finally melting, revealing the first bulbs, and the very best part: I got my knees wet in the process of going to have a closer look.

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES lies just ahead. Gardeners, like their gardens, benefit from a bit of dormancy, and the time is upon us. Enjoy it.THIS YEAR I’M MARKING where the beds and paths meet, and where the driveway meets lawn. I bought a bundle of tall, flexible fiberglass rods to drive into the ground as markers to try to keep my shoveling and plowing in bounds. Wish me luck!SEED-CATALOG SEASON GETS GOING in earnest later in the month, so early December is prime time to inventory leftover seeds and store them in a cool, dry place. A friend stashes

AS YOU BEGIN to wind down and clean up, take notes of what worked and didn’t. Mark areas that would have been easier to maintain with a workhorse groundcover in place, for instance, or areas where more bulbs might fit. I have already made a walkabout and identified a few shrubs whose days are numbered; just not enough bang for the buck (well, for the space they take up).TREES & SHRUBSBE SURE TO WATER trees and shrubs now through hard frost, so that they enter dormancy in a well-hydrated state–particularly if you have had a dry season as I have. Evergreens (needled ones and broadleaf types like rhododendron, too) are particularly vulnerable to desiccation and winterburn if not well watered before the cold and winds set in.DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS start to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tr