Transcript Lazy Landscaping - University of Minnesota Extension

Lazy Landscaping
• Created by: University of Minnesota Extension
Master Gardener-Anoka County
What Can We Do?
To Do Less
• Cultural Practices: What
you do or don’t do makes a
difference
• Plant Selection: the right
plant for the right place
and for you
• Plant Placement: What
works best for you and the
plant
“The gardener in him sold out
to the nature-conservationist”
Visit Your Garden
Regularly
Stop Treating Your Soil
Like Dirt
Compost improves
moisture retention
and fertility of soil
Minerals 45%
Air 25%
Water 25%
Organic matter 2-5%
Composting
• Does not requires elaborate,
expensive structures
• Does not need to be turned
• Does not have to smell
• Materials do not need to be
added in exact proportions
• Do not require special
chemical starters or activators
Compost bins provided
by Anoka County
Watering
Irrigation can lead to problems
when performed incorrectly
• Water early in the morning
• Install a watering system
-With a timer and moisture
indicator
• Use soaker hoses or drip emitters
when possible
Mulch
• Suppresses weed growth
• Maintains soil moisture
• Stabilizes soil temperatures
• Prevents spread of soil-borne diseases
• Prevents soil compaction
• Improves landscape appearance
• Increase soil fertility (depending on mulch
used)
• Reduces bark injuries on trunks
Organic Mulch
• Wood chips
• Shredded bark
• Pine needles
• Cocoa bean hulls
• Straw
• Leaves
• Grass clippings
Inorganic
Mulch
• Rock
• Landscape fabric
• Newspaper
• Plastic
• Shredded Tires
Hen and Chicks
variegated bishop’s weed
Living Mulches
Woodland
Phlox
Lamium
Mowing
• Leave clippings on the lawn
• Keep blade sharp
• Keep grass about 3” tall
• Low maintenance grass mixes only need to
be mowed 2-4 times per year!!!!
Pesticides
There is no such thing as a weed-free or
insect-free lawn
• Routine chemicals are not necessary
• Avoid broad spectrum insecticides
• Know the difference between annual and
perennial weeds
• Use edging around gardens
Fertilizers
• Routine chemicals
aren‘t necessary
• Know the right time
to apply
• Some plants can do
the job
Pruning
• Prune only when
necessary
• Choose plants that need
minimal pruning or can
be pruned at times when
you are least busy
• Pruning produces tender,
succulent growth, which
bugs prefer
Pagoda Dogwood
Cornus alternifolia
In the Garden
Bleeding Heart
Dicentra spectabilis
• Don’t walk where you
plant
• Let some flowers go to
seed for volunteers next
season
• Leave some volunteers to
create more diversity
• Let some herbs and
vegetables bolt (flower)
• In fall, leave some plants
and all roots in the soil
Wild Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis
Selecting The “Right” Plant
• Select plants suited to your
region, soil conditions and
microclimate
• Know each plant's ultimate
height and spread at maturity
• Observe plants in your area or
at the arboretum
Lead Plant
Amorpha canescens
Plants With Deeper Roots
Kentucky
Blue
Brass
Lead
Plant
Little
Blue
Stem
Compass
Plant
Big Blue
Stem
Switch
Grass
Liatris
Go Native
• Easier and
cheaper to
maintain
• Fewer pest New England Aster
and disease (Aster novae-angliae)
problems
• Require less
supplemental
watering
Pearly Everlasting
Anaphalis
margaritacea
American Painted
Lady
(Vanessa
virginiensis)
Dixie skipper
Atrytonopsis hianna
Little bluestem
Andropogon (Schizachyrium)scoparius
•Indian Grass
•Sorghastrum nutans
Use
Grasses
•Prairie Dropseed
•Sporobolus heterolepis
•Bottlebrush
•Hystrix patula
What Trees and Shrubs Can
Do For You
Kentucky Coffee Tree
Gymnocladus dioica
• Improve air,
thermal and
acoustic
environments
• Enhance
occupant
comfort and
health
• Contribute to
overall quality of
life
• Kentucky Coffee tree
American Linden
or Basswood
Tilia americana
Trees
What you should know
• Mature size
• Soil Preferences
• What is going to happen
under them?
• What is going to happen
around them?
• Particular habits
• The species and cultivars
Trees
What you should know
• Mature size
• Soil Preferences
• What is going to happen
under them?
• What is going to happen
around them?
• Particular habits
• The species and cultivars
“Messy” Trees
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Oaks
Willows
Catalpa
Maples
Crabapples
Mulberry
Fruit trees
Common Mulberry
Morus alba tatarica)
Catalpa
Catalpa speciosa
Weeping Willow
Salix alba tristis
“Cleaner” Trees
• Firs
• Blue Beech
• Honeylocust
(thornless or
fruitless)
• Tamarack
• Crabapple
(fruitless or
persistent fruit)
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Tamarack
Larix laricina
Ironwood
Spruce
Pine
Cottonwood
(cottonless)
• Japanese tree
lilac
• Littleleaf
linden
• Arborvitae
Small Trees
Prairifire Crabapple
(Malus sp. "Prairifire")
Red-spotted
Purple
Limenitis arthemis
Serviceberries
Amelanchier spp.
Japanese Tree Lilac
Syringa reticulata
Bristlecone Pine
Pinus aristata
American Hornbeam
Carpinus caroliniana
Evergreens
• Exposer to wind on
hilltops or on western
walls can cause stress by
cold and drought
• Position as winter
protection for delicate
plants or wind breaks
• Know the growth habit
of the cultivar (varieties)
• Know the mature size of
plant
Shrubs
•False spirea
•Sorbaria sorbifolia
Things you should know:
• Mature size
• If they “sucker”
• Lilac Miss Kim
Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’
• When they bloom
• Soil preferences
• Light preferences
• The species and cultivar
Common Lilac.
Syringa vulgaris
Site Conditions That Can
Stress Plants
• Winter winds
• Hot, dry, southern
exposures
• Roads, driveways, or
sidewalks
• Foot traffic
• Other plants
Under Trees
Under
Trees
• Reduced light levels
• Limited moisture and nutrient availability
• Tree species with finer foliage and more open
canopies let more light through than more densely
foliaged species
• Use perennial species to keep soil disturbance to a
minimum
Hydrozone
Group Plants
According To
Their Water
Needs
Group Plants by
Their
Maintenance
Needs
Blanket Flower
Gaillardia Grandiflora
Coleus
Solenostemon scutellarioides
Group Plants According to Light
Prickly Pear Cactus
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Needs
opuntia cymochila
Arisaema triphyllum
•Wild ginger
•Asarum canadense
Yucca spp.
Containers
• May need more
watering
• Use polymers to help
hold water
• Slow release fertilizer
pellets or potting soil
containing fertilizer
helps
Make Things Easy
• Place gardens according to
your needs
• Plant only what you can
maintain
• When do you go on vacation?
Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle
Make Things Easy
• Get kids involved
• Invest in ergonomic
tools
• Get a good wagon or
wheelbarrow
• Get something to
carry your tools in
Low Maintenance Lawns
Most lawn mixes grow best in full sunlight or very
light shade
Routine Maintenance
• Once established water only during periods of hot, dry
weather
• Fertilize sparingly, if at all. When necessary, use a
balanced, slow-release fertilizer in early spring
• Mow to 4 in. when seed heads develop (end of spring)
then monthly to 4 in. or simply leave it alone
• Remove leaves in the fall
• Try a small patch as a trial first, for 1 or 2 growing seasons
UofM Extension Links
• Choosing Landscape Evergreens
• Native Trees for Landscape Use
• Trees, Shrubs & Vines For Minnesota
Landscapes
• Effects of De-icers on Trees & Shrubs
• Pruning Shrubs
Dropmore scarlet honeysuckle
Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet’
• Tough Trees and Shrubs for tough sites
Useful Links:
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http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/
http://www.BlueThumb.org
http://www.sustland.umn.edu/
http://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues
http://plantselector.dot.state.mn.us/
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/
http://www.for-wild.org/
http://www.northerngardening.com/
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/nr/index.html