Plants!!

[MuirView Design]

We are lucky to have quite a few plant gurus here. There is something about plants that I find so rewarding, from choosing them in the design process, to hand picking them at the nursery and finally giving them a new home. One of my most favorite parts of my job is going to the nursery. I love stone and all, but I just feel like I have a special connection to plants. Any of you guys feel the same way?

I wanted to start a thread to share plant knowledge so that guys who are a little lost when it comes to planting design, will be able to become a little more "well rounded" in the business.

Instead of doing something cheesy like Plant of the Week, I figured the best way would be through members posting pictures of plants, or combinations of plants, we like to use and maybe a little bit of information about each plant we post. It would eventually be a good resource to page through when doing landscape design.

So, if you guys have any pics of plants you've planted and are doing well, post them in this thread.

[GreenMonster]

Adam, I couldn't have said that better myself. I'm a big fan of unique and interesting evergreens, especially Chamaecyparis nootkatensis in many cultivars. Saw one at the nursery this year, 'Glauca Pendula'. Beauty.

I've put two in at my new house already that I bought for our show booths earlier this season.

Also a HUGE fan of perennials. Rudbekia I would say is my all time favorite. As soon as it starts flowering, it does so until frost. Check out these pics. This is one season of growth.

[Harmony Design Group]

Great perennial pictures. I think the best part of the pictures is how plant material really adds to the hardscape. The hardscape looks much better with lush plants surrounding it. My favorite perennial is Nepeta my favorite ornamental grass is Calamagrostis Karl Forester.

[Harmony Design Group]

Another great combo is yellow daffodils with yellow daylily. The beauty of this combo is that the foliage of the daylily covers up the stems of the daffodils once they are finished flowering.

[mrusk]

Adam you go pick out your plant material always?

[MuirView Design]

Matt, yes, I usually pick out all my plants.

Here's some pics I took about 2 weeks ago.

First is of a Serviceberry that I planted 2 years ago. I happened to be at the job mulching while it was in bloom. They do well in sun to partial shade, get a nice edible berry that attracts birds and can reach 15-20'. This particular variety is Amelanchier - Autumn Brilliance, aptly named for it's great fall color.

Second is a Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry, that had just finished blooming. I love these because they stay more compact than the larger Higan Weeping Cherry. The bloom is white, hence the name.

Third is a picture of a Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar formed into a serpentine.

Fourth pic is of a Korean Spice Viburnum. While we were on the job, you could smell this shrub from 10' feet away. It gets a nice reddish flower in the spring and has typical Viburnum characteristics the rest of the year.

Last is a pic of Helleborus that I have at my house. These were the first things to bloom in my garden and they are still blooming. Flowers are not too showy, but the big leaves make for an interesting shady perennial.

[GreenMonster]

Fourth pic is of a Korean Spice Viburnum. While we were on the job, you could smell this shrub from 10' feet away. It gets a nice reddish flower in the spring and has typical Viburnum characteristics the rest of the year.


I love having fragrance in the garden. I also put in a Magnolia Stelleta at my house, and you could smell it literally 25' or more away. My wife says I have a sniffer like a bloodhound and claims I was making it up, but I wasn't.

Here's a few others great for fragrance:
Magnolia, Syringa vulgaris, Lavandula, Monarda, Clethra Alnifolia, Russian Sage, Buddleia.... I know there are many more, but those are some we use frequently.

[ClearValley]

Other good fragarance Syringa Meyeri Paliban, Viburnum Burkwoodi, Wisteria, Viburnum Carlessi, Lemon Thyme (ground cover)Plant a paliban Lilac w/ Vulgaris and Miss kim and you'll extend the fragarance period. I like using native palnts as much as possible. For example Butterflies will feed off the nectar of native and non native butterfly bush but non native species will not support butterfly larvae. Hence no butterflies. Spruce is also a great plant because it supports a very large amount of insects which are feed upon by birds and other predators and as result are highly sustainable.

[bigvictu]

Clearvalley, just don't tell your customers you are planting spruce to attract bugs or you'll never get another job again! I love going to the nursery, always end up buying too much I love the planting aspect as well. Here its concentrated on summer color so I plant tons of annuals as well. Going to start next week, have about 25 houses to get done before Memorial day.

[4seasons]

Adam you have mulch on the light by the vib.

[NCSULandscaper]

here is what i specialize in

[Harmony Design Group]

I have never seen ornamental grasses lined out in a field. Was the first grass beach grass?

[NCSULandscaper]

the first is pink muhly grass

we are a niche market nursery that sells mature B&B clumps
www.plumeridgenursery.com

[ClearValley]

Vic, need any help?

[Harmony Design Group]

Do you dig your grasses B&B or do you put them in pots? Are you a grower or is that a nursery you buy from? I love Calamagrositis Grass Karl Forester, also love pennisetum karly rose, panicum north winds.

[NCSULandscaper]

yes, we dig B&B, i am the grower, and i have all of the grasses you mentioned

the last pic is a small clump of karly rose

[Harmony Design Group]

How much are your grasses. Can you send me a price list? Do you ship out of state?

[NCSULandscaper]

visit www.plumeridgenursery.com yes, we can freight ship across the country

[ClearValley]

Plantings from 2006 The lilacs smell great.

[bigvictu]

A couple of my houses the annuals are showing bug damage, especially the white wave petunias. Anybody have ideas on what's behind this? Jap beetles?

[danf]

I don't know for sure about your area, but it's still too early for Japanese beetles here.... Bug damage varies from bug to bug, pictures would be helpful.

How wet has it been? Petunias are pretty susceptible to root rot- not saying that's the issue, but it could be a factor.

[NCSULandscaper]

green hornworms can eat the leaves pretty quick on a petunia. They are somewhat small caterpillar that should be easily seen. However down here in NC, the jap beetles are out full force

[bigvictu]

Its been pourin hear. Definately some type of bug since I see alot of holes in the black eyed susan leaves as well.

[MuirView Design]

I've got holes in my Hosta, my Hibiscus, my Canna lilly and my Hydrangeas. Nasty hail storm last week ravaged my garden. It was heartbreaking. Haven't seen any jap beetles yet.

Anyone know how early to treat for powdery mildew? I bought some David Phlox for a job yesterday that are showing signs. Is it too late to treat them?

[ClearValley]

Adam, I used Benomyl years ago and got moderate control. Powdery M. likes high humidity low air circulation. Avoid overhead watering although with all the rain not much you can do. Ortho and Bayerr make some products you may want to try. Good feedings will help increase vigor and as a result the damage won't be as severe. Plant resistant varities ( general rule in high prone areas/locations.)

[ZX12R]

Adam,you can spray Bayeleton for powery mildew.Most fungicides should be sprayed every 7-10 days for optimum contro,but how many clients would be willing to pay for that? I use Bayeleton for both plants and lawns.Its good for a month and works well. A bit pricey though.

[MuirView Design]

Thanks Jon and Larry. I think what I got was from Ortho. I sprayed 'em once, but I'll hit them again in a week or so. Luckily I go by this job almost daily, so I can keep an eye on things.

On a side note, I had about 15 Stella D'oro's open up in my garden yesterday, along with my Apricot Yarrow starting to turn red. Hydrangeas look as if they are only a few days away from bursting open as well. I love this time year!

[NCSULandscaper]

its amazing the time difference in when plants bloom. Our daylillies have been blooming for over a month now, and have long finished the first heavy bloom. Hydrangeas are on the downturn for first blooms as well

[danf]

We've had some daylilies blooming for a couple of weeks, but they are no where near done with the first go-round for the re-bloomers.

Just saw the first live Japanese beetle of the year this evening too. :(

[GreenMonster]

so, what's everyone doing right now with planting? Great time to plant, but hard to get customers to buy in right now. We are buying a ton of stock at DEEPLY discounted prices, with which I'm planting my backyard with. We'll also heal in and envelope for the winter and hopefully sell at full price in spring.

Dan doesn't know yet, but we're gonna have fun unloading monday morning :D

[danf]

Dan doesn't know yet, but we're gonna have fun unloading monday morning :D:rolleyes:
Wonderful. Did you leave ANYTHING at the nursery?

[GreenMonster]

:rolleyes:
Wonderful. Did you leave ANYTHING at the nursery?

As a matter of fact I did. A jap maple, couple shadmaster locust, half dozen crabs, few hundred perennials, couple 8-10' serbien spruce, the last big azz weeping blue cypress.... and a few other things I can't recall. don't worry though, they're going to deliver those on Wednesday.

[Terraventure]

Are you buying out Northern or what. Stratham Circle has some nice stuff and 50 -75% off. I gotta buy some plants this week for a job. Mostly perennials and broaleaf evergreens.

[GreenMonster]

Are you buying out Northern or what. Stratham Circle has some nice stuff and 50 -75% off. I gotta buy some plants this week for a job. Mostly perennials and broaleaf evergreens.

yeah, I got a list of specimen stuff from David at some real nice prices. haven't been able to get down there though. Yes though, I am buying out Northern :D

Oh Dan, that last big blue cypress -- Tammy got it for $25.

[danf]

Oh Dan, that last big blue cypress -- Tammy got it for $25.
Ryan musta been there! :pound:

[GreenMonster]

yeah, lol. he was pretty happy to see things go, though.

any crabapple in the place, $25. We're talking up to 3"-3.5" caliper.

[JimLewis]

Well, I am not sure there's much value in listing actual plants for in and around hardscapes. Plants vary so much from one climate to the next. What grows well here in OR probably doesn't do so well in most of the other states.

But I like the topic of planting in/around hardscapes. One of my designers came up with a unique idea last year of building little pockets of planting into a large paver patio we were installing. The patio was around 3,000 sq. ft. total and would have seemed way too large and sterile if we hadn't have inserted these little islands of plants and trees into the hardscape. So I thought I'd share a few photos.....

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http://www.lewislandscape.com/photos/gallery/albums/album58/PaverPatioNorthSideB.sized.jpg

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http://www.lewislandscape.com/photos/gallery/albums/album58/PaverPatioNorthSideA.sized.jpg

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http://www.lewislandscape.com/photos/gallery/albums/album57/PaverPatioOverallC.sized.jpg

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http://www.lewislandscape.com/photos/gallery/albums/Lake-Oswego-Project/BackLawn_YardB.sized.jpg

[Meanix]

Its a good idea and it looks ok but I would have made the pockets round or square. How to you put edging on this?

[MuirView Design]

That's one way to save money on saw blades!!

Jim, regarding plants....several of my nurseries buy a lot of their plant material from Oregon. What zone are you?

[joeymaze]

I know it's not your work but man I like the stonework on the overhead deck. That was very well designed and executed.

[JimLewis]

Its a good idea and it looks ok but I would have made the pockets round or square. How to you put edging on this?

I know. Most everyone would have. But the landscape designer we had on this project had this unique idea of using the natural edges of the pavers as the border, rather than making cuts. The clients loved that idea because it was different than any other paver patio they had seen. And the wife wanted a less formal look. She almost didn't even go with pavers because she thought they looked too formal. But when she saw the design (below) she was finally convinced that the pavers could actually look rather natural and not quite so formal. She wanted to blend the formal look of the home with the more rustic look she was after in the landscape together. So there was a lot going on there as to why we went that way.

How do you install the edge restraint? Just lots of bending, cuts, 90s, a lot more spikes than you would normally use.

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http://www.lewislandscape.com/photos/gallery/albums/Landscape-Design/BackYard.sized.jpg

[cgland]

Jim - You could also do a wash of portland, but I'm not sure of your freeze/thaw situation

[JimLewis]

Instead of edge restraint? Yah, some hardscapers around here do that. I just haven't ever done it before so I wouldn't know quite where to begin.