deer resistant?

Hmmm. It's more honest than saying "deer proof"! Deer are crazy- let me say that first. If they are hungry, nothing in your yard is safe! In normal years, when food is available, many deer won't stray into your yard. On the other hand, if you live in a housing development that has lured you in because of its natural setting, you are in THEIR yard. So, we have to make peace somehow. 

As a designer, I am a realist. If you live in a highly populated deer area, do not plant hostas and then complain when they get eaten again and again! There are lots of plants that are just not as appetizing to deer and are great landscape plants. Let's talk about them!

A great landscape starts with great structure. That means trees and shrubs. Here are some trees I like for our Midwestern Kansas landscapes:

-American Holly Tree (like a Foster's Holly)- Ilex opaca is best but not as beautiful as a Foster's Holly. 

Black Gum in full color

-Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

-Birches- River birch, etc

-Buckeye (Aeschelus paviflora)

Black Gum

-Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica)- Under utilized, gorgeous native.

-Dogwood- Kousa, Red Osier (shrub red twig dogwood)

-Hawthorn

-Sweetbay Magnolia- Another multi-stemmed tree for semi-shady spots, loves wet too.

-Pines

-Spruce: White, Colorado Blue, Norway

-Sweet Gum

-Sycamore

-Tulip Tree (Liriodendron)-  largest native tree, can reach 70' and up!

--Witch Hazel- Under utilized! 12-15' multi-stemmed, loves shady spots, blooms in February/ March.

Trees that I've marked as under utilized means they are hardy, gorgeous and unique. Many are woodland natives. They add something special to the landscape- it's like the girl who has the perfect hair and perfect outfit. You can't quite figure out why she looks so good and like she's not even trying! Well, that's what these plants do: they look natural, yet are interesting, unique and rich looking.

Beautybush

Shrubs:

-Beautybush- Under utilized! Can grow to 8' H x W. Arching and lovely.

-Barberry- over utilized but useful.

-Boxwood

-Butterfly Bush

-Forsythia

Fothergilla

-Fothergilla- under utilized and my favorite!

-Grape Holly (Mahonia)- Also under utilized around here.

-Holly (Blue Holly and Inkberry Holly)

-Juniper (Blue and Green)

-Leucothoe- under utilized, shade loving. watery rich sites. Shiny leaves and is actually EVERGREEN. Uh huh.

Leucothoe

-Lilac- the common variety has more deer resistance.

-Nandina- oh the lovely Firepower! 2' H x W

Nandina

-Pyracantha- oh the color, oh the thorns.

A rule of thumb for deer and rabbits: they don't like thorns or especially fragrant plants (essential oils, etc). Also, please don't yell at me when these don't work and get chomped. What works for one may not work for others. It is worth a try!

Bulbs....

Bulbs!!

Why Bulbs?

Lots of bang for your buck- or lots of return for not much initial investment. They are fairly cheap- the more expensive bulbs can run you $12 for three. Commonly you can buy 50 bulbs for $30! You plant in the fall, when the weather begins to cool AND the ground is cool. And they return every year, in the spring when most other garden flowers are still asleep. Bulbs are unfussy (when you choose hardy ones)!

How do I make them look, uh, good/ right or natural? 

Naturalize! In gardening, naturalizing often refers to an informal-looking, unplanned plantings of bulbs. Naturalized areas will flourish when planted with self-propagating and spreading bulb species (like crocus, daffodil, grape hyacinths, snowdrops, Glory-of-the-Snow, squill)- choose varieties that will spread freely in fields, meadows, lawns, and along wooded paths. Choose varieties that require little to no care after planting time! YES. (Not tulips, folks.)

Plant under established trees to achieve an effortless “meadow” look! In time, these plantings will redesign themselves, rearranging themselves into a natural, native pattern with nearly no effort on the gardener’s part!

Plant large quantities- not just three or four, think 10 or 25.

Choose varieties that will make you happy (obviously) but keep in mind bloom time- think early, middle, late and make sure you plant varieties that bloom in each period. I simply let the package description guide me- approximate size, early-middle-late bloom time and color. (Also- choose varieties that

How do I actually plant them??

One- get a bulb planting tool. This makes planting en masse much easier. Lots of people use regular hand trowel/ spades. Not me! I have my handy dandy old-lady cone shaped, tin can planter!

Two- out line your planting area (I use marking paint, lots of people use hoses). Choose areas that are not boggy and are not in deep, evergreen shade. Early spring tree shade (from deciduous trees) is usually pretty light- trees will not have leaved out yet. Make a natural, rounded shape- I always design beds with soft serpentine curves to mimic natural shapes and also make mowing and edging easier. Keep shapes minimal (not too many curves here).

Three- scatter bulbs (a mixture of sizes, varieties and bloom times) around areas. Adjust your spacing to reflect the size of the bloom. Check out the chart and make sure the bulbs are spaced far enough away from each other! Largest bulb/ blooms will be your focus, so plant those first and put all the other small bulbs around them. Put a few outside your planting area to make it seem really informal!

Four- kneepads and digging tool time! Make sure you pay attention to the size of the bulb. This tells you (as does the packaging) how deep to plant the bulb. 3 times the height of the bulb- rule of thumb. (little bitty 1” grape hyacinths are planted 3” below the surface) Leaves holes open, as you will be adding fertilizer and compost on top. Choose Bulb Fertilizer or high phosphorus fertilizer as it won’t leach into soil and is available to the bulb roots. Always plant bulbs with the tip up! This is where the stem comes from; don’t injure it when you are putting your soil back on top.

I like Bulb Tone- a natural fertilizer (not synthetic) that has some bone meal and blood meal BUT includes alfalfa meal and seaweed. Seems to help enrich the clay soil….

My choices for cool naturalizing bulbs:

Chionodoxa

Drumstick Allium

Fritillaria

Galanthus

 

 

Daffodil, Narcissus, Jonquil

Grape Hyacinth

But I love Tulips? What to do? They keeps petering out….

Tulips take more work in Kansas… we have tough clay soil. It is rich with nutrients but it’s all bound up in the clay! So to get a successful tulip stand started you just have to turn over and amend the entire bed. Mark it out, turn it over (tilling usually) then work in great compost. This needs to be the rich stuff- it can include manure but Choice Compost, Cotton Burr work best. They include alfalfa meal, hay meal and the like. I don’t usually use peat moss but you can… this adds more acid, at least temporarily, to the soil. 

 In other news:

October 15, 2011 Tree Farm Grand Opening/ Field Day

Kid friendly, family time: pumpkin painting, trebuchet. Lunch in our kitchen!

50% off all container stock, in stock cash/carry, no warranty.

25% off crabapples and pear trees. Limited stock of red maples!

8 a.m.- 5 p.m.