Best plants. Favorite plants. Go-to plants.  This month's edition of the Garden Designers' Roundtable is all about the plants!  Be sure to visit our web site for a wonderful introduction to this topic and the links to today's participants.

Most landscape designers keep a mental Rolodex of plants on call for specific sites and uses.  This file is constantly being updated and edited as new plants are introduced to the market and others fall out of favor. However, there are some plants that I know I can depend on; they are hardy, relatively trouble free, and have multiple growth (cultural) or decorative qualities to recommend them.  So, without further ado, here is my list of go-to plants:

Deciduous Trees                                         

Deciduous Shrubs

Evergreen Trees

Evergreen Shrubs

Perennial Flowers, Grasses and Groundcovers

By now I think everyone knows the value of adding organic matter to their soil to improve its structure and provide nutrients for better plant growth. Gardeners can use their plant cuttings and kitchen waste to create their own compost or worm castings. Most compost and vermicomposting pros have lots of little rules and regulations designed to help you maximize your production but frankly, the Lazy Gardener* can't be bothered.

The Lazy Gardener* finds a protected location outdoors that has afternoon shade in the summer and warming sunshine in the winter. The Lazy Gardener* gathers 3-5 large plastic containers (these are 3' diameter nursery pots, but anything will do) and drills the bottoms and sides with holes for drainage and air circulation. The Lazy Gardener* fills the containers - keeping one container empty to use in the turning/harvesting process - with alternating layers of green garden/grass cuttings, kitchen waste, garden soil, a bit of water, dry organic matter (i.e. leaves from last fall and "clean up" waste from this spring, shredded paper, fine wood mulch, etc) and redworms (borrowed from the garden or purchased at the bait shop.) The Lazy Gardener* then stands back and lets Nature take its course, occasionally supplementing the containers' mixture of organics and water.

Eventually, even the Lazy Gardener* has to put a bit of muscle into the project in order to harvest and distribute the wonderful "wormost"**.

Jim made this "shuffle sieve" to fit my "baby sized" wheelbarrow

my precious pets

chunky stuff goes back into the containers, layered with fresh organics

ready to distribute in the garden

This method of creating an organic soil amendment is cheap and easy, and has the added satisfaction of knowing that less waste is bound for the landfill.

thank you, worms!

*Um, that would be me.
**a made-up term:  the result of cold composting supplemented with worms.

I know it isn't official yet - not until March 20th, in fact - but for me, Spring begins today. Hip, hip, hooray!  The days are getting warmer and longer and I'm itching to spend more time outdoors. Some of the things I'll be doing in the garden before the official start of spring:

Finish pruning woody plants.  A few shrubs need some light shaping, and the grape vine will get cut back severely. Here's a link to a great grape growing manual (pruning info begins on page 32). Although it's geared towards vineyards in Western Colorado, the manual has excellent information for the home hobbyist as well (and it's free!).

grape vines in need of a good whacking

Cut back ornamental grasses. I have LOTS of ornamental grasses, and I like to get them trimmed as short as possible before the new growth is tall enough to be in danger of getting whacked off too.

love my Fiskars shears for cutting grasses

Later in the month will be the time to:
Rake planting beds clean of their temporary winter mulch. All the leaves that were thrown into the beds last fall will be gathered up and sent to the recycler/composter.

Transplant a few perennials that need to be relocated. My pink Maltese cross (Lychnis chalcedonica) in particular, have been slowly enveloped by shade and need to be moved to a sunnier spot.

I hope you're able to get out and about in your garden this month too. Yea, Spring!

Fruits and veggies, and herbs . . . oh, my! Today the Garden Designer's Roundtable is talking about how to incorporate a bounty of food into your garden and keep it looking fabulous. Although I'm not contributing a post today, I'm eager to read what my design pals have to say on this timely topic. Won't you join me? Click here to read the introduction and find the links to all of the participating bloggers.

Then, join me tomorrow at my garden forum (click on the "forum" page listing above for all the details), and we'll pick up the discussion live and in person!

Hot off the Press!

This new study was created for landscape professionals by a committee of landscape professionals from four disciplines: landscape architects (CCASLA), nursery and greenhouse growers (CNGA), municipal arborists (via the Colorado Tree Coalition), and horticulturalists (CSU Extension). The study creates a working list of readily available trees "...with the ultimate goal of a healthy, diverse,  and geographically appropriate landscape and urban forest." The study focused on Colorado's Front Range, from Colorado Springs north to the Wyoming border and from the foothills to the eastern plains.

Nearly 300 trees were evaluated and rated as:
A - Generally recommended
B - Conditionally recommended
C - Potential/Unproven
D - Not recommended
Thirteen different cultural factors that could affect the ratings were listed as critical or cautionary. Water needs and availability were also noted.


 So how did the trees in my own garden rate?

Japanese Tree Lilac, Syringa reticulata - A

Red Oak, Quercus rubra - B (develops chlorosis in alkaline soils)

Autumn Brilliance serviceberry, Amelanchier x grandiflora - B (basal suckering;use as shrub)

Apricot, Prunus armeniaca - A (rarely sets fruit)

Autumn Purple ash, Fraxinus americana - B (susceptible to sun scald)

Common hackberry, Celtis occidentalis - A (re-seeds)

 Looks like I'm on the right track!

Although the list is not exhaustive - for example, I was surprised to see that no ornamental plums were included -  it's a great starting point and is meant to be a work in progress. If you are interested in viewing and downloading a copy of the Front Range Tree Recommendation List©, click here.

 As the weather turns cold, most of us will be spending more time indoors reading about plants and gardens than doing any actual gardening.  My favorite garden reading right now is Gardens Illustrated magazine, from Great Britain. As an experienced gardener it's easy for me to discard the gardening/plant information that's not appropriate for my region, yet glean plenty of new ideas worth trying.  Mostly, I appreciate the magazine's focus on British and, especially, European design. The ideas seem fresh and different, yet readily adaptable to our plants and climate.
What is your favorite gardening magazine, and why? Do you depend on different magazines for different aspects of gardening, such as design, plant profiles, and gardening how-to?

• Blow out automatic sprinkler system and insulate tap. Our first hard freezes are predicted for mid-week, so get crackin'!
• Remove hoses from faucets; drain.  Store hoses and sprinklers in a handy location for winter watering.
• Winterize water features.  Drain, clean and store or cover fountains and pots.  Remove plant debris from ponds and set up a bubbler (a submersible pump with a short piece of pipe attached to the outlet) to keep some surface area free of ice.  Disconnect pumps to recirculating waterfalls---especially if the water volume is fairly low.  Ice buildup can divert water and cause problems.  Moving water will also make your pond colder, which may be an issue if you have fish.
• Empty all containers of annual flowers or veggies (add healthy vegetation to the compost pile, dispose of the rest).  Remove soil – or the top 8-10” from large pots - (again, off to the compost pile!), and put containers into storage.  My “storage” is the back corner of my covered patio.  A shed or garage would also do the trick. 
• Remove leaves from lawn areas.  I rake my leaves directly into my garden beds for a loose, temporary mulch.  I’ll remove them in the spring for composting.  You can also run your lawn mower over them and leave them, or rake them up for mulch or to compost.
• Winterize lawn mower.  After the last mowing, run it until the gas tank is empty.  Clean mower and sharpen blade.
• Add organic soil amendments  to planting beds.

• Plant bulbs. I'm planning to wait another week or two for this project; once the soil temperature cools down a bit more we'll be good to go.  Here's an amusing take from landscape designer Deb Roberts on how you can tell when the time is right for bulb planting.
•  Wrap young trees.  I don’t need to do this anymore, but here are the directions for “how-to”.
• Clean up/cut back perennials.  I do most of this in the spring, because I like the structure and texture that many plants offer during dormancy.

this beautiful Asian pear tree screens the entry garden from the side yard dining area

Viola 'Purple Showers' left, blooms all summer

a bubbling water pot adds a light, refreshing sound along the path

a beautiful textural contrast; a fern and lady's mantle

overgrown patty-pan squash looks charming here, and will soon feed the goats!

gate with dog door

run and play, run and play!

hunt and peck, hunt and peck!

a small patio seating area in the heart of the garden. bags of grass trimmings ready to be spread as mulch.

red runner beans

Barbara Miller displays her greenhouse with crops growing directly in the soil floor.

Pinot Noir pepper, a summer crop in the greenhouse

sanitation and safety are critical

doesn't that look cozy?!

The Art Garden blog is celebrating it's 4th anniversary today! As a special thank-you to my readers I'm giving away a copy of Durable Plants for the Garden, A Plant Select Guide. 

I'm a huge fan of the Plant Select® program in that it combines plant exploration, research as to regional adaptability, and timely propagation for retail availability (none of that "Gee, cool plant, too bad no one sells it!" stuff).  Although the program focuses on plants for the High Plains and intermountain states, many of them are appropriate for use in other regions as well.  Trees, shrubs, perennials - including grasses, vines, and groundcovers - and even annuals are included in the program.

Durable Plants for the Garden features the first seventy-four plants promoted by Plant Select® Each plant profile includes a detailed description with multiple color photographs, cultural requirements, recommended landscape use, etc.  I especially like the background information about why each plant was chosen and what it's advantages and disadvantages are. Go here to take a peek a some of the featured pages.  Isn't that great?! I think it's wonderfully designed, easy to use, and inspiring.


Here are a few of the Plant Select® plants that I'm growing in my garden:

Zauschneria garrettii, orange carpet hummingbird trumpet

Chamaebatiaria millifolium, fernbush

Berlandiera lyrata, chocolate flower

Sibiraea laevigata, Siberian spirea

Fallugia paradoxa, Apache plume

Phlomis cashmeriana, Cashmere sage

Veronica liwanensis, Turkish veronica

Wouldn't you like a copy of Durable Plants for the Garden for your very own?  Plant Select® has generously donated a copy for this special blogiversary drawing.  Leave a comment for me here by midnight on Tuesday, September 7th, and I'll use the Random Number Generator to select a winner.

When you're ready to purchase Plant Select® plants for your garden you can find a list of retailers here.  Plant Select® is a Colorado nonprofit organization.