We’re visiting with Lilli Hazard today in southern Indiana.
21.07.2023 - 22:49 / awaytogarden.com
TAKING STOCK: That’s how my July starts in the garden–with a good, hard look at how I’m going to get things (myself?) through the usually hotter, drier weeks of high summer that lie ahead, Japanese beetles, powdery mildew and all. I’m raising the deck on the mower to a longer cut; soaking beds deeply then cleaning up their edges and topping up the mulch; and in many spots I’m being downright brutal with more “edits” and cutbacks. July is also a big month in the vegetable garden, and not just of harvest: Soon I’ll plant fresh crops to enjoy this fall (like more peas!).First, though, I recommend a long, hard look. I walked around outside the last week of June with a pad and pen–and a critical eye. In the flurry of spring prep, planting and pruning, I’d been working around some problems rather than tackling them properly.
Where perennials or even worse, shrubs, are bulging out of the beds and drooping onto the lawn, it’s time for a decision. (And no, the decision cannot be “mow around them and deal with it later,” which is what I always do in a few spots in spring.) Time to either reduce the plants by division or pruning, or make the bed bigger, easing passage around its perimeter. I’m doing some of each (but waiting for fall weather for the divisions if it stays hot and relatively dry here).
NOW, ONWARD! JULY STARTS OUT as Throw In the Trowel Month here, with June’s cutbacks still looking pretty rough. But then summer shapes up and the heat-lovers have their day.
FIRST, THE HAIRCUTS: If you were squeamish about cutting things back as spring faded in June, you may be regretting it now, and facing floppy, exhausted plants in certain spots. Some things (like certain perennial geraniums, for instance) do better if hacked back
We’re visiting with Lilli Hazard today in southern Indiana.
Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden
Despite my garden being full to overflowing after the spring rain I have decided to create a new area for a Japanese Garden. When starting a new project I was advised to have a name that may colour the end result. I opted for the grand title of ‘Japan Land’Â This will be a long term project and I won’t rush it as I have on other projects in the past.
This summer has been damp and the plants have grown lush. In some way this has contributed to a dramatic cut in the number of greenfly on my roses and other plants (perhaps they found other feeding grounds or did not mate as prolifically).
Lilacs are members of the Syringia family and are named for the colour. There are deep lilacs verging on violet and light pinkish lilacs even some pretty floriferous white flowering Lilacs.
London Holland Park’s water feature in Kyoto Garden.
Previously I have stuck to traditional names for bits of my garden. Veg plot, rockery, orchard (when I feel posh), rose bed, border, hedge and similar names have delineate what and where I was trying to grow.
Also known as the Japanese rose, Kerria Japonica it is a cottage-garden regular that grows dependably almost anywhere. The flowers are a distinctive single or double yellow flowers in April and May. The arching stems are thin and the leaves serrated.
Holland Park has some Zen like features but fails my Zen test. The classic elements of a successful Zen are stone, sand or gravel, water, plants and space. Then there is a question of balance between yin and yang. Cramped or cluttered gardens inhibit the flow of spirit so space is potentially the key ingredient of a Zen garden.
I will use Shangri-la as an all encompassing name for spiritually based gardens and areas of harmonious natural beauty stealing a name from James Hilton in his novel Lost Horizon.
My name is John Rohde. My garden is located 15 miles north of Baltimore in Towson, Maryland, in Zone 7b. This is the second full year for this pandemic garden. I enjoy mixing annuals and perennials with trees and tropicals in containers. There is a water feature, tubs of lotus, a patio, and a vegetable garden at the rear of my house.
Everyone is familiar with the potted greenhouse mums offered at many garden centers that end up in the trash after the flowers fade, but are you acquainted with old-fashioned garden mums? These hardy heirloom mums have been shared by gardeners for generations. Blooming in the fall, they are excellent garden perennials that also provide food sources for pollinating insects.