A natural hedge makes a lovely border around your property or a section of your property but a flowering hedge is even more attractive.
Flowers are always a good thing in the landscape. They feed pollinators and attract insects which are an essential part of nature's life cycle. Shrubs are specially good because they tend to be dense and provide protection for birds and small animals. Many varieties have thorns so consider this when selecting your variety.
Some of these flowering hedges also produce berries which provide food in the late season and winter for birds and other animals.
Some of the hollies make great hedges although there flowers are almost unnoticeable. They're easy to maintain and drop tolerant.
The mountain laurel is a broadleaf evergreen with beautiful pink and white flowers. You cannot trim laurels into a hedge shape because you will cut off all the new growth and they do not do well. They will look very bare afterwards.
Some deciduous shrubs that are used in hedges are rows of Sharon and forsythia. If you don't mind a bear hedge in the winter time than these can be very dense and effective as a hedge. Forsythia only blooms in the spring whereas Rose of Sharon bloom over a few months.
Lawn Grubs
If you are out working on your lawn you will often see small grubs. They tend to be curved and white with a little bit of orange at the head end. Their legs are also all up at that end
These are the larvae of a few species of beetle including the Japanese beetle. They can do a lot of damage to your lawn because they eat the roots of the grass.
A safe way to control them is to spread milky spore which is a bacteria. It absorbs into the ground and the grubs will eat the spores and die. It does take time but it will work. You could also use nematodes. Be sure to get the proper type of nematodes because not all are effective against grubs.
Grubs are something that take a little bit more work to get rid of. Make sure that you keep an eye out for them and use the proper natural or chemical controls. They will not damage the soil so you can simply replant your lawn again.
Tent Caterpillars
Tent caterpillars are the pupal stage of the Gypsy moth. During this phase of growth, the caterpillars spin webs that look like tents. These tents protect the caterpillars from weather and many predators.
The caterpillars will devour all vegetation in and around their tents. If there are enough of them or if the bush or shrub they are on is weak or young than they can easily stress it enough for it to die.
Tent caterpillars like trees in the Rose family. That includes fruiting trees such as peach, plum, apple, cherry and crabapple as well as hawthorn.
In early spring take a look around trees that tend to have tent caterpillars. Look for the eggs which are laid in clumps around small branches. The clump will look like a black jelly Bean.
If you don't find the eggs and the caterpillars appear, remove the tense manually and crush the caterpillars. I have used a high power hose to remove the tents but the caterpillars remaining will just spin new ones if you don't get rid of them
If you spray pesticides, the tents will often protect the caterpillars. It's best to remove them manually.
Birds love them so if you have a lot of birds in your area then you will have assistance from them.
Tomato Hornworms
A common pest of the tomato plant is the tomato hornworm. That is the caterpillar of the five spotted hawk moth which has a 5 inch wingspan. Very impressive.
The tomato hornworm can devastate a plant. It grows fast and large and needs a lot of food to do that. It can defoliate a whole plant.
Hornworms also like other plants in the nightshade family including potatoes, peppers and eggplant.
The hornworms color allows it to blend in with the plants very well. So if you see your leaves disappearing take a close look for the hornworm. Be careful however because they will bite.
The moths hibernate in the soil and then lay their eggs on the plants in spring. The eggs hatch in a few days and then the caterpillar spends the next month eating your plants until it is full grown. Then it will dig into the ground to spend the winter and emerge in the spring as an adult moth.
The easiest way to get rid of the hornworm is to just pick it off and kill it. If you have an ongoing problem year after year then you probably have a population in your soil. The best way to get rid of that is to turn the soil in the fall to disrupt the pupae underground.
Control includes spreading a bacteria called BT, parasitic wasps and birds.
Blossom End Rot
If you're planning your vegetable garden this year and planting New Jersey's favorite crop then you need to get your soil ready to avoid potential problems.
Have your tomatoes ever gotten those black spots on them? It's an ugly rough looking spot that spreads and eventually makes the fruit inedible.
This doesn't just happen on tomatoes but also on other vegetables such as peppers and some of the vining vegetables like squash and cucumbers.
This is not caused by a fungus or disease but rather by growing conditions which could easily be remedied. There are two things that cause blossom and rot. First is lack of calcium in the soil and the other is irregular watering.
Sometimes nature has a big hand in this. If you have a wet spring that leads into a dry summer it can cause the problem.
As far as calcium deficiency, it may not be that your soil doesn't have a proper amount of calcium but rather the plant is unable to absorb it. Make sure that the pH of your soil is correct. It should be around 6.5.
If you have too much nitrogen in your soil it can also impair the absorption of calcium, so don't over fertilize.
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Check your soil now and you should be prepared for the growing season.
Three Sisters Garden
I just ordered seeds for this year's vegetable garden last night. Normally I would plant tomatoes, chili peppers, Basil, tomatillos and a few other plants but I never have great success. I suspect that my garden is not in the best area. It doesn't get enough sunlight and yet is it is the sunniest place in my yard
So this year I've decided to plant a Three sisters garden. A Three sisters garden is a traditional native American garden consisting of three crops. Corn is the foundation for the garden. The corn stocks will act as a trellis for the beans and squash that make up the other two crops.
The varieties I've selected are fortex Pole bean, purple pod Pole bean, American dream corn and black zucchini.
I know that I'll probably wind up with a few chili pepper plants and maybe a tomatillo. I'm looking forward to a great growing season.
Moss
Do you have a shady spot in your yard where nothing grows and that needs a little "something" to improve it?
Think about adding moss.
There are many different types of moss.
Shade or sun tolerant
Moisture environment or drought tolerant
Foot traffic
Soil type
A nice green mossy floor would add a lovely backdrop to your plantings. It always looks very lush.
It is also easy to install. You can get a "milkshake" of moss and liquids to help it get started and just spray it on your ground. Keep it moist and it will grow.
If you have a garden path it would look wonderful to have a moss walkway in a shady spot. It looks wonderful underneath a pavilion or or pergola.
Once it's established, it can dry out and then be revived unlike other plants.
Moss can also grow without any soil. It looks great on boulders.
Think green, think Moss.
Sunflowers
Yes, it's an odd time of year to be talking about sunflower plants. You typically think of them in a summer field with those massive yellow flower heads waving in the breeze.
However once the blooms finish those big flower heads will turn into a massive repository of sunflower seeds. Flowers like this are important for feeding the birds during fall migration and into early winter.
Your seed catalog should have started to arrive now and so this is the time to pick up the varieties you would like to grow for next year. Not all varieties of sunflowers produces massive seed heads. Some are more for looks.
The Helianthus is mostly native to North and Central America. Most are annuals in our area however their sturdy stems can stay standing until the weight of snow causes them to topple.
In addition to the common yellow they come in all sorts of colors from orange through bronze, creamy white and maroon. Some have many rows of petals and some only have a single layer. Some are multi-stem with many flowers branching from the main stalk. Some even look like marigolds.
Depending on the variety of the plants can grow anywhere from 1 to 18 ft in height and flowers can grow from 2 to 18 inches across.
Just be sure to protect your tender seedlings from birds and wildlife because everything will eat them. Once they're sturdier you still need to protect them from the deer.
They do make a beautiful garden backdrop so start planning now.