What's New in the Garden for 2013

So what new in the garden for 2013?

Here is what many f the industry experts are weighing in on:

Beautiful, Bright Colours: From flowers to garden ornaments accenting your yard and garden with bright colors is not only a must but easy to achieve.  Over the past five years we have seen the worst economic downturn in history and you might as well be positive about it and bright colors will help out with that process.

Reinventing and Repurposing, One of My Personal Favourites: Have an old fence, cabinet or container? Let your imagination run wild!  Use old boards to make a bench or planter box.  And instead of burning that old log drill some holes in it and plant draping mosses.  So instead of throwing it away look at it from a different perspective to see how you can use it again or see if your neighbours can use it.

Eating for Health:  Growing edibles is a wonderful and rewarding experience.  Vertical, raised, container and in-ground gardening offers a healthy experience to grow most anything, anywhere with an eye on healthy eating.  You may not be able to sustain a garden all year 'round but with local farms and quality vegie marts indulge in things that are good for you and you can share your harvest with friends!

Outdoor Living Spaces: There still is a trend of staying home instead of traveling due to our hard economic times and for me, having an outdoor living space is a must.  Bar-b-ques, fireplaces/pits, outdoor dining, mood lighting and low maintenance yards offer the opportunity to become social with the family and neighbors.  Nature, peace and the beauty of a garden can not be surpassed.

Native Plants vs Water Saving Plants: You do't have to do your entire garden in native plants, which sometimes are not very exciting, but make sure you include them to keep your watering costs down. There is a huge variety of interesting succulents out there to enhance your garden and they need very little water.

Enjoy your 2013 gardening!

Dear Santa.....

What to ask Santa for or give your favourite gardener for the holidays.

The Japanese Hori-Hori, sometimes referred to as a "soil knife" or a "weeding knife", is a heavy serrated multi-purpose steel blade for gardening jobs such as digging or cutting. The blade is sharp on both sides and comes to a semi-sharp point at the end.

The size of the knife varies from eleven to fifteen inches in total length, depending on the size of the handle. The size of the blade can vary, but it is normally around 6⅞” × 1¾” and the stainless steel blade is often polished to a mirror-like finish and is usually paired with a scabbard.

The blade is razor sharp and is serrated for cutting through roots and tough soil. Functions include a knife, a saw, a digging tool, or as a measuring device for planting bulbs.

The Hori-Hori has uses in gardening such as weeding, cutting roots, transplanting, removing plants, sod cutting, and splitting perennials. The blade is made of thick and strong carbon steel or a much stronger stainless steel that is concave shaped to make it ideal for digging and prying. The blade has a large smooth wooden handle for comfortable use with one hand.

You can find Hori Hori knives at many retailers such as Williams Sonoma, Duluth Trading Co. and Garden Tool Company.

It's Christmas Tree Time!

Have a ton of questions about the different types of Christmas trees that are available and how to care for your tree when you get it home? Check out this list of favourite tree types and care to make the best choice for your home.

The earliest choice for Christmas trees was the northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) which is not a true cedar at all. Instead, we commonly call it an arborvitae as it has overlapping scales and not needles. In the late 1800s, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) became popular as a Christmas tree. In the 1930s, balsam fir gave way to the Scotch pine (Pinus strobus), native to Europe and Asia. Douglas fir remains one of the most popular choices today along with a number of other trees.

Douglas Fir
Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesi) has become the most popular Christmas tree and has many good characteristics when used as a Christmas tree. The needles are soft and retained for weeks even in warm rooms. It also has a superior symmetrical form and responds well to shearing in order to create a more compact and bushy appearance. Douglas firs don't retain needles as well as other species, so it's important to keep them well watered.

Noble Fir

(Abies procera) Has the best needle retention of all of the Christmas trees. It stays fresh longer in the home because of its ability to retain water and is easy to decorate because of the spacing between the branches. The needles are generally twisted upward so that the lower surface of branches are exposed.

Fraser Fir

Fraser fir (Abies fraserii) is a uniformly pyramid-shaped tree which reaches a maximum height of about 80 feet and a diameter of 1-1.5 feet. Strong branches are turned slightly upward which gives the tree a compact appearance. Needles are flattened, dark-green and two broad silvery-white bands on the lower surface.It has long lasting aroma, soft to touch needles and excellent needle retention and is easier to decorate than some trees due to it's firm branches.

Norway Spruce
This is the 'original' Christmas Tree and for some people the only tree. It tends to lose its needles quite easily. The Norway Spruce is a beautiful tree but does not hold its needles well, and should be purchased just a week or so before December 25th. Fresh quality trees produce an excellent shape, ideal for decoration and have a lovely pine fragrance.

Scotch Pine

Colour may vary from bright green to dark green ad even a blue green colour. The branches are strong so excellent for hanging decorations and the needles do not drop very much. This tree will stay fresh for a long time and has a nice conical shape.

Living Trees

Living Christmas trees are used indoors for decoration and then planted outdoors in the landscape. It is now popular to consider buying a living tree to be used for Christmas instead of a cut tree, so that the money spent will be an investment in the landscape.

Selecting and Caring for Your Tree

The most important characteristics for choosing a Christmas tree are shape, color, branch distribution and needle retention. The first three are easily evaluated at the lot and are simply a matter of choice. Needle retention, however will depend on when the tree was cut and the conditions of storage or transport before arriving at the lot. In general, you can assume that pines hold their needles longest, next the firs and last the spruces. 

No matter which type of Christmas tree is chosen, the best advice is to pick one which has recently been cut. A popular trend today is to go to a U-cut or Gardencentre. This is one way to make sure that the tree is fresh; these trees can be expected to last several weeks longer than trees purchased off of lots. Lot trees may present a wider selection than you might have at a local tree farm. Most Christmas trees have been cut within the week of their arrival to the lot. To check for freshness, look for a firm tree and bounce the trunk on the ground. If only a few needles drop, then you can assume that it is relatively fresh.

If you can bend it without snapping it in half and the needles cannot be easily pulled from their stem, then the trees is in good shape. Also look for resin at the base of the stump. A fresh, sticky flow will indicate that the tree has recently been cut.

Keep plenty of water in the stand at all times. During the first week, the tree may take up a gallon of water or more. Replenish this every evening as part of a ritual before going to bed. If the tree happens to run out of water even once, re-cut the base and start all over. To further guard against moisture loss, keep the tree away from air supplies and windows with full sun exposures to reduce the drying effects.

After Christmas, the question always arises as to how to dispose of the tree. In the past, many spent holiday trees ended up on the curb to be picked up by the sanitation department. Thousands of trees are ultimately deposited in the landfill. You may consider other alternatives, including reusing the tree or recycling it back into the landscape.

Happy Holiday tree hunting!

A Slight Departure

With fall here and gardening winding down for the winter, I get to turn my attention to other creative endeavours and one of my favourites is working with wood. I recently made this coffee/media table and am very pleased with the results.

Laminated pine was used for the entire table and the 1.5" thickness of the pine gives the table a very solid look even though the design is very simple and open. Casters were also used in place of solid feet to give the table an interesting design element and you can view these as modern or vintage, your call. All joints were glued and connected with wood screws and all screws counter sunk and wood plugs used for a finished look. The overall size of this table is 17' high, 54" long and 23'5" wide and the open storage space is 10" high.

The wood was initially stained with a lovely grey minwax product but after I discovered the Japanese technique of Shou sugi ban, I was hooked an tried my first application of this 'wood burning' technique on the table. The technique did not turn out as intense as shousugiban typically does due to the wood having already been stained, but I absolutely love the effect I was able to create. Check out these links to see the kind of effect you can create with shousugiban. Materia Designs, shousugiban inspired furniture. Houzz.com Japanese burning technique.

The silvery stain in combination with the burned look of the wood is soft and beautiful and the lustre brought even more after 2 coats of tung oil and lemon wax.

If you are interested in having a custom build table similar to this one built for your home we do take orders and you may contact us directly at Lush Landscaping. These beautiful tables can be built in a range of colours and sizes to suit your decorating needs.

Don't Throw Those Cuttings Out!

Not everyone like to be 'crafty' but with a little effort you can take the trimmings from your evergreen trees and turn them into a beautiful wreath for your home.

Stores like Beverly's or Ben Franklin crafts have inexpensive wire wreath frames that you can use as the base for your wreath. Many of these craft stores also have great deals right now on decorative ornaments, plants, ribbon, wire and lights.

For this wreath, cuttings from a redwood were used to created the basic wreath and these branches were attached to the wire frame with very thin florists wire. The branches were over-lapped and layered around the frame to give the wreath a nice 'full' look and the over-lapping helps hide the end of the previously attached branch.

A string of tiny 'rice' lights was draped through the branches and attached where necessary with the florist's wire. These lights are perfect for this application as they run off batteries and there is an easy to access, on/off switch. The next step was to attach the gorgeous purple poinsettia leaves and silver ornaments (plastic for safety) evenly around the wreath, again using the florist's wire to secure them.

Finally, a hook on the back of the wreath so that it could be proudly hung on the front door!

So before you start throwing all your trimmings in the compost bin, take a step back and think of the beautiful, natural displays you can make for your home.

Fall Garden Clean-Up Tips

As it's 'that time of the year', most of us are getting or have gotten our gardens prepared for the winter. If you haven't quite gotten to everything and are not sure what other chores you may have to get your garden ready, take a look at our check list.

• Plant spring bulbs and lilies.
• Divide and replant perennials.
• Transplant summer and fall blooming shrubs and prune shrub roses when they go dormant.
• If not done last month, cut perennials back to 3 to 4 inches.
• Fertilize spring bulbs and lilies when planting.
• Pull annuals when plants cease blooming or are dead.
• Spread compost or other organic matter over garden.
• Mulch trees and plants for protection from the cold.
• If necessary, water newly planted ground covers.
• Clean up plant debris from beds and borders (before mulching!)
• Take down stakes and trellises to clean and store them for next season.
• Take down grapevines and climbing roses, lay on the ground and mulch before the temperature dips.
• Clean up leaves and place them in your compost bin if there are lots of them but go ahead and leave some in the flower beds and on the lawn to become wonderful compost.
• Once the garden is cleaned up sit back with a fresh cup of coffee, admire all your hard work and think about how wonderful your garden will look in the spring!

A Petite Alameda Patio

Having a very small space to work with and a client that wants a very low maintenance  garden may seem like a challenge but this is when you really have to listen to what your client wants and provide the best outcome.

In this case the client had a front yard that was literally nothing but dirt and they wanted a simple space to sit and relax in the mornings with a cup of coffee or in the evening with a glass of wine. The client is also a very busy professional and low care, desert scape plants were high on their list.

The area was made level and a base of sand put down to accommodate the grey Italian lava rock tiles that the client had chosen. Washed rock was then added between tiles and along the borders to add another level of texture and avoid the need of watering and maintaining lawn. Kangaroo paws and fountain grasses were planted to fill one corner, lavender in another, multiple types of aloe vera and hen n chicks planted and multiple containers planted with agave, aloe vera and a delicate fern.

In another summer or two after plants have matured the area will have a lovely, cozy feel and be just perfect for those quite moments!