Author Archives: Driftwood Garden Center

Problems With Your Compost Pile? Fix Them!

A compost pile should be part of every gardener’s yard, since it adds so many benefits for recycling and providing organic material in the garden. There are times, however, when it can be tricky to keep a compost pile in peak condition and breaking down material most efficiently. If you encounter any of these common problems, you can easily correct them and keep your compost pile at its best.

  • Pile is Too Dry
    Without adequate moisture, beneficial microorganisms cease to function and decomposition stops, turning a compost pile into a clumpy mess that does not decay into usable organic material. Keep the pile moist at all times, but not overly wet. A dampness like a squeezed sponge is ideal. It may be necessary to use a hose to water your pile occasionally, or a tarp or piece of plastic over the top of the pile can help keep moisture in the pile instead of evaporating.
  • Foul Odor
    A stinky compost pile is no gardener’s friend, and over-watering the pile will compact the material. When air space is decreased, the pile becomes anaerobic, resulting in an unpleasant odor. Turn the pile frequently to increase aeration and add larger pieces of dry, porous, carbon-rich material such as wood chips or straw to absorb excess water and improve air circulation.
  • Pile is Cool
    Check all the items required for a hot, quickly-decomposing pile: carbon, nitrogen, air and water. Correct any deficiencies. Another issue may be that a pile that is too small will have difficulty insulating itself. Increase the size of your compost pile by adding more material so it can generate sufficient heat from decomposition to keep itself warm.
  • Pests in the Pile
    While insects and worms are welcome helpers in a compost pile, a poor pile may also be attracting mice, rats, squirrels, raccoons and other wildlife. This usually means that the wrong material was used for composting. Never add meat, fish, bones, dairy products or oily food to the compost pile, all of which can have strong odors that will attract unwanted wildlife. Similarly cat or dog manure should be added to the pile. Avoid adding weeds or diseased plants as well, since those weed seeds or disease spores could be transmitted to your garden or landscape when the compost is spread.
  • Poor C/N Ratio
    When planning the optimum conditions for compost decomposition, the standard recommendation is 3-to-1; three parts carbon to one part nitrogen. Carbon-based material is brown and nitrogen-based material is usually, but not always, green. Chopping or shredding additions to the compost pile will speed up the decomposition and help keep the pile balanced.The best materials to add to your compost pile include…

    Brown Material (Carbon-Based)
    – Dried, dead Leaves
    – Shredded paper, including newspaper
    – Wood ash
    – Sawdust
    – Eggshells
    – Chipped brush and wood chips
    – Straw and twigs

    Green Material (Nitrogen)
    – Grass clippings and sod scraps
    – Vegetable and fruit peels, scraps and rinds
    – Disease and insect-free plant material, such as clippings and prunings
    – Horse, cow, chicken and rabbit manure (herbivores)
    – Coffee grounds and used coffee filters
    – Used tea bags
    – Used potting soil

No matter what issues your compost pile may be having, problems are easy to correct, and you can quickly adjust your pile to be productive and efficient. Before you know it, you’ll have plenty of rich, nutritious compost to nurture your garden and landscape all year long.

The Fall Vegetable Garden

Fresh vegetables are thriving this time of year in SWFL – fall is the best time to plant an autumn vegetable garden. Many vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower are of a higher quality when grown in the fall, while others, like kale, develop better flavor after cooler nights. Spinach, chard, kale, collards, mustard and rapeseed all grow rapidly and flourish at the end of the season, ideal for autumn gardening. Loose-leaf lettuces do well, too.

To prepare your bed, spade or till the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches, rake the area lightly and work in a light application of composted manure, like Black Kow, to provide adequate nutrition for rapid-growing fall veggies.

Broadcast a mixture of seeds like mustard, kale and rapeseed, or combine seeds of several types of lettuce to allow you to harvest your salad already mixed. It works best to plant greens in blocks or wide rows, because they’re easier to harvest and you’ll have fewer weeds. If you plant blocks each time a new space opens up, you’ll have staggered plantings that can produce over a long time.

Some autumn vegetable varieties will tolerate cooler weather better than others. Read seed packets before you purchase them to determine what will be best in our area, but don’t be put off by such notations as chard’s taking 60 days to mature. The greens are good when they’re younger, too.

Water seeds after sowing and keep the ground evenly moist until the seedlings are up and growing. Seedlings may also need to be sheltered from extreme heat. Protect them by shading them from the sun with Reemay fabric or in some partial shade until they are established.

Although insects tend to be less bothersome in late fall, some vegetables in the cabbage family, including mustard, kale and collards, may attract cabbageworms. Apply Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) sprays for an organic method of control. As the plants begin to fill out, thin them enough to allow air to circulate and dry off moisture. This helps prevent insect problems too.

Harvest your fall vegetables as soon as the plants reach edible size. Keep harvesting to enjoy the yield of your extended-season garden.

Top Fall Vegetables

  • Arugula
  • Broccoli
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Swiss Chard
  • Collards
  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Spinach

Birdscaping

As wildlife habitats are threatened by development, the creation of a bird-friendly environment that provides food, water and shelter is crucial to the existence of our wild bird population. Caring for our feathered-friends is an educational and enjoyable activity for the entire family that brings beauty and song to our lives.

Benefits of Wild Birds

Birds are great guests to have in your yard, garden or landscape, and they provide more benefits than many homeowners and gardeners realize. Wild birds can…

  • Control insects by feasting on both flying and crawling insects, as well as spiders, slugs, snails and other creepy-crawlies.
  • Pollinate plants by flitting from flower to flower as they seek out insects or eat seeds, taking pollen along between blooms.
  • Manage weeds as they consume copious amounts of weed seeds before the seeds ever have a chance to sprout.
  • Control rodents when raptors visit the yard in search of mice, rats, or other unwanted pests.

Attracting Backyard Birds

Fortunately, it is easy to attract a wide variety of backyard birds when you offer them what they need most – food, water and shelter.

Food for Birds

Wild birds rely on both natural and supplemental food supplies so it is important to consider both when birdscaping. Feeding the birds is most important in the winter when natural food is scarcer, but they will visit feeders at any time of year. Migratory birds require additional food in the spring and fall as they pass through the region and nesting birds will utilize feeders in the summer.

Tips:

  • Provide a variety of natural foods for birds by planting berry bushes, seed-bearing flowers, nectar-rich flowers and sunflowers. Leave windfall fruit on the ground for birds to nibble. Minimize pesticide use so birds can feast on insects as well.
  • Add supplemental feeders to your yard, such as birdseed feeders, suet feeders and nectar feeders. Clean feeders weekly to avoid mold that can be dangerous to birds, and be sure feeders are full when birds need them most.

Water

Improve your backyard bird habitat by adding water. Birds require a constant supply of clean water for drinking and bathing. This is especially important in early summer, when it’s hot and dry.

Tips:

  • Place bird baths in a protected location safe from predators, and keep the baths filled at all times so a fresh supply of water is constantly available.
  • Scrub off algae as soon as it is appears and thoroughly was the bird bath each week to minimize feces contamination or other messes in the water.
  • Provide motion for greater attraction by using a bubbler, wiggler, dripper or fountain. Birds will see the sparkles of the moving water and will hear the splashes from great distances, so more birds will visit.
  • Use Mosquito Dunks to safely prevent mosquito larvae in warm weather. A clean bird bath with moving water will also harbor fewer insects.

Shelter

It is important to offer safe and comfortable shelter for your wild birds to nurture their young, protect them from predators and shield them from the elements. Planting evergreen trees and shrubs and providing bird houses, along with roosting boxes and pockets, are all beneficial additions to your birdscape.

Tips:

  • Choose both deciduous and evergreen landscaping trees and shrubs to offer birds different types of shelter in all seasons.
  • Minimize pruning to give birds denser, more secure shelter to take advantage of when they feel threatened.
  • Plant in layers and create thicket-like pockets or corridors in your landscape so birds can move around freely without feeling exposed.
  • Supplement the shelter in your yard with good quality bird houses, or nesting pockets to give birds even more options to stay safe and secure.

When you meet birds’ needs for food, water and shelter, your birdscape will soon be home to a fun and friendly flock of backyard birds.

Designing the Flower Garden

Spring is here, and gardening is on our minds. Flower gardens are exhilarating, bringing color, scent, and nature back into our lives after a lengthy and dreary winter. A well-planned flower garden can provide beauty from early spring straight through to late fall.

SELECT A SITE

As you dream and scheme your new flower garden, there are several important factors that you will undoubtedly want to take into consideration.

  • View. Where will the garden be most viewed from? Will it be from a window, a porch or deck, front, back, side yard, or somewhere else? Determining your view will help you decide where to place plants so that the primary view is not blocked.
  • Light. Observing how much light your selected site receives will help determine whether you will incorporate sun or shade-loving plants.
  • Moisture. Is the site particularly moist or dry? Awareness of this will also aid in selecting flowers that will do well in either of these situations.
  • Soil. Dig in and have a look at your soil. Sandy soil has difficulty holding on to water and nutrients. Clay soil holds too much water and provides reduced air space for healthy root development. Most plants prefer loam soil. To amend your soil to achieve the quality most plants require, turn a generous amount of compost into your native soil. Not only will this exceptional natural and organic modifier increase the nutritional content of your soil, but it will also increase drainage and the soil’s water-holding capacity. In addition, it is a delight to plant into! Adding a fertilizer recommended for flowers into your bed at planting time and then again monthly throughout the growing season will ensure happy, healthy, vigorous plants with lots of blooms!
  • Hardiness. Familiarity with your USDA Hardiness Zone will allow you to select plants known to survive and thrive in your area of the country.

SINGLE OUT A STYLE

After considering site selection, the next step is to decide which type of garden style you would like to replicate, and there are many to choose from, such as…

  • annual, perennial, or bulb gardens
  • mixed beds and borders
  • cutting garden
  • rock garden
  • woodland or wildflower
  • formal or informal
  • native garden
  • sun or shade
  • tropical style

and the list goes on and on.

Singling out a garden style before choosing your plants will help narrow the selection down and ensure the design is cohesive.

LAYOUT YOUR LOOK

Once the garden site and style have been identified, it is time to lay out the garden. Doing this on paper before investing time, energy, and money into the final project is a good idea. The selected style will determine the garden’s shape. The size will be determined by how much time and energy is available to invest each week in garden maintenance.

Once the garden perimeter is decided upon and drawn, fill the interior with a proposed plant plan.

  • Consider Diversification. Annual flowering plants last just one season. Annuals, planted after the last frost in the spring, will continue to bloom until hit with the first frost in the fall. Annuals must be replaced each year but are inexpensive and can provide the opportunity to change the look of your flower garden each year. Perennials will return year after year, often spreading or reseeding, making them very useful in the garden. Perennials, however, can be costly and have a limited bloom time with most blooming for just a couple of weeks during the growing season. It’s a good idea to select perennials with attractive foliage that will still look good in the garden when not in bloom. Hardy bulbs are another great addition, with most returning year after year but, as with perennials, they possess a limited bloom time. A well-planned garden, delivering a long bloom time, will include a mix of annuals, perennials, and bulbs.
  • Consider Plant Color. Add bubbles or circles to your paper plan to represent the flower color you would like to use in that area. Colored pencils are helpful in this step. Make sure that the selected colors look good next to each other. Silver-leafed plants make a great transition between colors that do not look particularly well up against one another.
  • Consider Drama. Large sweeping drifts of color add awe and drama to the flower garden while simplifying the design process using lots of flowers but less variety. Drifts are best planted with an odd number of plants to prevent the garden from becoming symmetrical.
  • Consider Repetition. Repeating plants and colors throughout the garden gives it a soothing and consistent appearance.
  • Consider Plant Size. For beds and borders predominantly viewed from the front, tall flowers will be selected for the back of the garden, with medium height in the middle and short plants toward the front of the bed. For island beds viewed from all sides, tall plants will be placed in the center of the bed, surrounded by medium-height plants and low ones around the perimeter. Be sure to leave enough room for each plant to grow to its full potential.

SPRING SUPERSTARS

Annuals
These spring-blooming annuals will provide exceptional early-season color in the flower garden and may be planted while there is still a chill in the air.

  • Bachelor Button
  • Calendula
  • Icelandic Poppy
  • Sweet Pea
  • Larkspur

Perennials
Perennial plants will bring the earliest color to the spring garden while also providing unique blooms.

  • Baptisia
  • Bleeding Heart
  • Columbine
  • Hellebore
  • Peony

Bulbs
Favorite bulbs for the spring garden should be planted during the previous fall season.

  • Blue Bells
  • Daffodil
  • Fritillaria
  • Hyacinth
  • Tulip

Sometimes planning a flower bed for long-term beauty and enjoyment can feel overwhelming. There’s no reason to worry! Driftwood Garden Center is available to assist with knowledgeable staff, an outstanding selection of flowering plants, and everything necessary to grow the perfect garden.

Top 10 Florida Natives

We are fortunate in southwest Florida to have a wide variety of gorgeous native plants to choose from, and it can be hard to pick just the right plants for your yard. This top 10 list of choice Florida natives is a great starting point for your Sunshine State landscape.

Why Choose Native Plants?

Native plants are uniquely adapted to the challenges of our 10b hardiness zone with the high heat and humidity during extra long summers, the year-round growing season, sandy soil, ocean spray, coastal flooding, torrential tropical rains, and the occasional hurricane. Florida native plants can tolerate many of those conditions and still flourish with lush foliage and beautiful blooms. Furthermore, native plants nurture wildlife and can better resist regional pests and diseases. As an added bonus, they are typically lower maintenance and can look their best even with minimal care.

Top 10 Florida Native Plants

It is important to note that not every Florida native plant will thrive in the southwestern part of the state, as the growing zones vary dramatically from north to south and from central Florida to the coast. Each of these plants, however, is uniquely suited to zone 10b and can be a beautiful choice for your yard or landscape.

  1. Beautyberry
    The brilliant purple clusters of berries in late summer and fall make beautyberry a surprising stunner in the yard. These shrubs grow to 9-10 feet tall, making them perfect as a privacy screen or to fill in larger spaces.
  2. Firebush
    The long, tubular flowers of firebush add a bright red pop of color in the yard and attract both hummingbirds and butterflies. This makes them a great addition to nurture wildlife, and the berries the bushes produce in fall will also feed other birds.
  3. Railroad Vine
    Also called beach morning glory, this vigorous vine with its bold blooms can serve as a groundcover, especially across dunes, and is also a hearty climber when provided support through a trellis, arbor, or fence.
  4. Gumbo Limbo
    A unique, beautifully shaped tree with copper-colored, papery bark, the gumbo limbo is an iconic south Florida tree and remarkably wind tolerant, making it ideal in areas subject to tropical storms and hurricanes.
  5. Black-Eyed Susan
    These nostalgic flowers with their sunny yellow petals and dark centers thrive in full sun and will bring cheerful color to a Florida landscape. As an added bonus, they are great flowers for butterflies and plenty of beneficial insects.
  6. Blanket Flower
    The bold red, yellow, and orange blooms of blanket flower can easily blanket a yard. Butterflies and hummingbirds love the nectar, while other birds will enjoy the seeds produced later in the season from these salt-tolerant flowers.
  7. Passion Flower
    The intricacy of passion flower is immediately eye-catching, and the beautiful blue, purple, yellow, and white of the flowers is a relaxing and lovely color palette in the These perennials are great climbers to hide a fence or fill in a trellis.
  8. Coontie
    This palm-like cycad shrub adds a great tropical vibe to any landscape, and is a versatile option that can grow well in any level of sunlight, from full sun to full shade. As a salt-tolerant plant, it’s also a great choice for coastal yards.
  9. Muhly Grass
    For ornamental grass in southwest Florida, muhly grass can’t be beat. Perfect for borders or filling in beds, the fluffy, cloud-like blooms in fall come in shades of delicate pink, purple, and white and add both color and motion to the space.
  10. Sabal Palm
    No Florida landscape is complete without a palm tree, and the sabal or cabbage palm is an iconic choice. These trees grow 40-50 feet tall, so be sure they are planted in a space where they have room to reach their height without interfering with anything overhead.

These are just a few of the amazing plants that are native to southwest Florida and can be beautiful in the landscape. Check with your local nursery or garden center for more varieties throughout the year, as new options are always available!

Choosing Native Plants for Your Yard

No matter what natives you prefer, be sure to select plants that will thrive in your yard. As with any landscaping, consider your overall space, sunlight levels, drainage, and soil quality. Also note each plant’s care requirements, as well as pest and disease resistance to be sure you can give it everything it needs to thrive. With a careful choice and proper care, Florida native plants can be amazing additions to your yard that will bring many years of tropical lushness to your landscape.

Salt Tolerant Plants

Salt can wreak havoc on landscaping and gardening efforts in southwest Florida, especially in beach and coastal communities. Fortunately, there are plenty of salt-tolerant plants that don’t mind a bit of spiciness in the air or soil, though their overall tolerances can vary. Which ones will thrive in your yard?

How Salt Affects Plants

Salt can impact plants in different ways, depending on their overall health, natural salt tolerances, the salt concentration they are exposed to, and how they may be exposed to the salt. For example, there is a difference between an occasional salty spray in the air and a storm surge flood or regular inlet tidal changes.

Plants may show salt stress through burn-like lesions on foliage, generally dry appearance, damage to tender roots, dieback, browning, or stunted growth. These signs can also indicate other diseases or pests, but a soil test would be a good step to see if salty soil is a concern. Of course, a beachfront landscape or yard on a coastal inlet is almost certain to have some salt impact, and choosing salt-tolerant plants is a great way to keep your yard looking great, even under such stressful conditions.

Salt-Tolerant Plants for Southwest Florida

Many plants of all types – trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, and grasses – can be salt tolerant and thrive in salty yards. Any landscape within one-eighth of a mile of the coast or a large inlet is a prime candidate for salt-tolerant plants, particularly in flood zones.

Trees can anchor the landscape, serving as centerpieces or focal points and providing shade. In salt-prone regions, more salt-tolerant trees include live oak, southern red cedar, mangrove, Magnolia, native cabbage palms, and saw palmettos.

Hedges and shrubs are great choices for a protective screen or privacy. Different types of like hibiscus, fire bush, plumeria, lantana, saltbush, yucca, prickly pear, sea lavender, juniper, and wax myrtle are all salt-tolerant shrubs, though their overall heights can vary.

Likewise, vines can also provide a great screen if a fence, arbor, trellis, or other support structure is available for vertical growth. Otherwise, they may spread as a groundcover and can be an alternative to turf grasses in salty areas. Railroad vine, sky-blue cluster vine, cat’s claw, Bougainvillea, and coral honeysuckle are all salt-tolerant vine options, though several different species of morning glory vines can be similarly resistant to the effects of salt.

If ornamental grass is preferred, choices such as saltmeadow cordgrass and smooth cordgrass are great for salty areas, as are coastal favorites like sea oats. If planted in thick clusters, ornamental grasses can also have some low screening benefits, though they don’t typically grow tall enough for an actual privacy screen.

Nothing beats flowers for a touch of color in the yard or landscape, and there are lovely and colorful salt-tolerant flowers. Indian blanket flower provides a warm palette of red, orange, and yellow, while beach verbena is a pretty pop of purple. Beach sunflower is the classic brown-and-yellow bloom favored for its nostalgic sunniness, and tropical milkweed is red, orange, and yellow. Lantana is one of the most colorful options for salt-tolerant flowers and comes in shades of pink, yellow, red, orange, purple, and white.

These are just a few salt-tolerant plants that can work well in a southwest Florida landscape. Stop by Driftwood for updated options and new choices in different seasons.

Using Salt-Tolerant Plants in Your Landscape

No matter which salt-tolerant plants you choose, you can use them to great effect in your landscape. Ground covers, vines, grasses, and flowers can help stabilize dunes and minimize erosion, while larger shrubs and trees provide windbreaks and privacy screens. The tallest trees can also eventually grow to be amazing shade. Shrubs and flowers also add color and texture to the yard, helping personalize it to your own style without sacrificing the quality of healthy, vibrant plants.

As with any plants, however, select ones that will thrive in your soil quality and sunlight levels and provide the proper support, watering, wind protection, frost protection, fertilization, pest control, and other resources each plant may need throughout the year. With appropriate care, salt-tolerant plants can give you many years of enjoyment, even in more challenging landscaping conditions.

Growing Mint in Your Herb Garden

Many of us love mint. With many different flavors of mint available at garden centers, it is easy to want to plant one of each. Planning ahead makes this possible to do, but lack of planning may have you tearing them all out.

How Mint Grows
Mint grows as a groundcover. The underground runners spread quickly and are difficult to remove if containment is desired. In other words, mint is often considered invasive and can quickly take over flowerbeds, vegetable plots and even areas of turf near where it is originally planted. Planting in pots placed into the ground prevents its escape, or intensive labor may be needed to help get mint back to its original proportions after it has wandered.

Planting Mint
To help keep mint under control and more accessible for use, many gardeners opt to plant it indoors. Attractive in barrels or pots by the kitchen, mint leaves and flowers can be easily available for cooking or beverages.

To prevent plants from looking rangy, frequently cut or pinch back new growth. Pinching off the flower buds produces more lush leaves and fuller plants.

Mints grow well in sun or part shade, preferring well-drained but moist soil. Although not particular about soil type, enriching clay soil with compost will improve the overall plant appearance and taste. Different soil pH values and organic compositions may also have some minor influence on the taste of different mints.

Most mints grow 18-30 inches tall. Plant at least 2 inches apart to prevent cross-pollination of different varieties and preserve the best flavors. As a perennial, the plant may disappear in the winter, but will return in spring, hardier and more vigorous than ever.

Using Mint
It’s no surprise that mint is an edible favorite. Not only is it popular for refreshing drinks such as mint juleps or mint-infused lemonade, but it is also ideal for…

  • Sauces
  • Salads, especially fruit salad
  • Flavoring for cookies, cakes and puddings
  • Jellies and preserves
  • Smoothies
  • Soups and stews
  • Ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt
  • Garnishes on meats
  • Freezing in ice cubes for a drink garnish

Mint can be used fresh for a strong, vibrant taste, or it can easily be dried and used all year long. Both fresh and dried mint sprigs can also be fragrant additions to cut flower arrangements, wreaths or other greenery decorations as well. With so many wonderful options for mint, you’ll want to add some to freshen up your herb garden today!

Spider Mites

Spider mites are one of the most common pests in landscapes and gardens and feed on many fruit trees, vines, berries, vegetables and ornamental plants, as well as houseplants. These tiny mites are just large enough to be seen with the naked eye, but may just look like tiny, moving dots. For tiny creatures, they can do considerable damage to plants if left unchecked.

How Spider Mites Hurt Plants
Spider mites cause damage by sucking cell fluids from plant leaves. A small number of mites usually isn’t a reason for concern, but plants can sustain heavy damage if populations are high and the infestation spreads. You may notice a stippling of light or yellowish spots on affected leaves and often the webbing of mites can be seen on leaves and stems. As the damage continues, leaves may turn completely yellow, dry up and fall off the plant.

Controlling Spider Mites
Spider mites reproduce rapidly in hot, dry weather, therefore, keeping plants well watered is a good deterrent to heavy infestations. There are also many natural enemies to these pernicious bugs, such as lacewing larvae and some lady beetles that help to keep mite populations under control. Cultivating these helpful insects may be all that is necessary to minimize spider mite activity unless the infestation has already increased and spread.

Because spider mites are too tiny to pick off infected plants, judicious pruning or trimming of infested plants can help remove these pests. In heavy infestations, it may be necessary to discard an entire plant to take the mites with it. Do not put these clippings or removed plants in compost piles, however, or the mites will continue to thrive and will return to healthier plants.

At times, it may be necessary to use chemicals to deter spider mites. Be careful when using broad spectrum insecticides, however, as these will kill any beneficial insects as well as the spider mites, which can disrupt the delicate balance of a garden’s ecology. Simply spraying plant leaves with a blast of water, taking care to spray the undersides as well, can help to reduce mite populations by physically removing the spider mites. Insecticidal soaps and neem oil are also good choices when dealing with spider mites.

Once the mites have been removed, damaged plants may look bedraggled, but they will generally recover within a season or two, especially if the pests were recognized and treated quickly. Don’t let spider mites catch you in their webs – get rid of them today!

Edging and Trimming

Edging and trimming the lawn is like having a manicure after cutting your fingernails. It smooths out any roughness and adds an elegant finishing touch to your landscape, and everything is just more perfect! But which lawn care activity is which, and how do you do them properly to give your lawn that manicured look?

Edging or Trimming – Which is Which?

Before you pull out the lawn tools, it’s important to know which activity you need to do to create the look you want.

  • Edging
    When you are edging, you define the line between a hard surface (sidewalks, driveways and curbing) and a growing area such as a flower bed, garden or lawn. To achieve this, a vertical cut is made between the two using a spade or edging tool. Some have mastered the art of using the string trimmer to do this. This creates a crease-like separation between the organic (growing) and inorganic (non-growing) surfaces. Properly done, edging will help minimize weed growth in these cracks and crevices and gives the landscaping a smooth, formal appearance.
  • Trimming
    Trimming removes the grass, weeds and other plants from areas a lawnmower can’t reach. Long wisps of grass along the side of the house, fence or other structure aren’t very attractive, and trimming them away will give a finished, uniform look to the landscaping. Most people use a string-trimmer or bladed trimmer for this work, but hand shears also do the job. Trimming is also often done around trees or in tight corners where a lawnmower is less effective.

When to Do Edging and Trimming

How often should trimming and edging be done? This depends upon your own personality. Some people feel edging and trimming is a requirement of every mowing. Others do edging and trimming every third or fourth time they mow, or whenever it may look necessary to give the lawn and landscape a uniform look.

Edging and Trimming Tips

No matter how often you choose to do edging and trimming, it is important to do it effectively!

  • Use only the proper tools for these landscaping tasks. This will help prevent injuries or strain on your hands, wrists and elbows, and will get the job done more quickly and efficiently.
  • Check edgers and trimmers regularly to be sure they are sharp, well-oiled and in good functioning condition. Keep extra string for a trimmer on hand so you can quickly replace the spool when it runs out.
  • Always practice good safety measures when edging and trimming. Wear safety goggles if there is risk of flying debris (as there often is), and keep the tools away from children and pets.

For many people, edging and trimming is all part of good lawn maintenance. Once you know the differences between them and how to do them well, you’ll be amazed at the difference these tasks make to the beauty of your lawn.

Crape Myrtles

No yard or landscape should be without a crape myrtle, or two, or three or… many! How wonderful to have something that blooms so profusely during that time of year when most other plants are looking tired and worn from the summer heat. The versatility of this plant makes it suitable for many types of yards and many uses, and once established, they will go on to add charm and delight to the landscape for many years.

About Crape Myrtles
Crape myrtles bloom in late summer and can be found in flower colors of pinks, lilac, white, reds and purples. Requiring very little maintenance once established, crape myrtles need a full sun location to thrive and they do not like wet feet. Keep these needs in mind when selecting a site to plant them. They will require some supplemental watering for the first year or so to get off to a good start and develop good roots. Crape myrtles are also pretty much pest-free, except for aphids on occasion and these are easily controlled with an insecticidal soap spray. Some varieties are more susceptible to powdery mildew than others but most of the newer varieties are more resistant to this fungus problem.

Planting Crape Myrtles
Although tolerant of a wide range of soil qualities, crape myrtles grow poorly in wet locations so be sure to select a well-drained planting site. Late spring to early summer is the best time to select and plant your new crape myrtles while they are actively growing and can settle in quickly. Plant at or slightly above ground level, spreading the roots out slightly and using mulch to protect and shelter the roots after planting. They do prefer a slightly acidic soil.

Crape Myrtle Types
Crape myrtles can be found in shrub, multi-stem tree and single trunk tree forms. For best results select a cultivar whose growth characteristics and ultimate mature size fit your intended use. Planting a shrub- or tree-like crape myrtle in an area of limited space will require yearly pruning to keep it from outgrowing its place. Single- or multi-stemmed tree-form crape myrtles are ideal as flowering specimen trees or as small, flowering shade trees near patios, walkways and entrances. Shrub forms make an excellent accent in a shrub border when planted in groups.

Pruning Crape Myrtles
If adequate room is provided, little pruning is required except to maintain shape or remove any dead or crossing branches. Remove any suckers or water sprouts to maintain tree forms and elegance. Blossoms are produced on new growth so you can prune anytime the plants are dormant through the winter.

With so much to love about these plants, there’s no reason not to add one to your yard this year! And next year, and the year after that, and the year after that…