Here are some shots from our employees as they go about their work, with a few client photos mixed in.
05/24/2013
03/20/2013
Beautiful, Worry-free Perennials
Perennials are the mainstay of an interesting landscape. With the endless array of choices available, it can be hard to figure out just which ones will perform reliably and add beauty at the same time. Here's a list of tried and true varieties that we come back to time and time again.
Becky Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum 'Becky') - The typical daisy can have an almost ragged appearance at times, but this one is an exception. It has an upright form with clear white flowers. The foliage is a nice glossy green and it doesn't expire in the heat of summer.
Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) - If you are interested in butterflies, you should plant this plant. The bright pink spikes of Blazing Star, add a nice verticality among other perennials and are long blooming. This plant tolerates a wide range of soil and is drought tolerant.
Honorine Jobert Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert') - This plant rises out of the late summer garden like a vision. Anemones have a sophistication and beauty about them and this one is exceptional. Creamy white flowers dance on long stems and make the flowers seems to float above their neighbors. Great choice.
Magnus Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus') - While any coneflower is a great addition to the perennial bed, this one is especially nice. It has nice bright rose-pink colored petals which are horizontal to the cone instead of the typical drooping look and it blooms and blooms and blooms from June to October. Goldfinches love the seeds in the fall.
Georgia Blue Speedwell (Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue') - A lesser known little plant is a welcome sight come the end of winter when it blooms with the bulbs. A low growing plant, it has a rare blue color that simply shines. The plants have small, fine foliage and slowly form a clump that is a sight to behold in bloom.
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium dubium ‘Little Joe’) - 'Little Joe' is a cultivar of one of the native Joe Pye weeds that only grows to be 36 or so high. It has lavender-pink flowers that bloom in late summer and early fall and attracts lots of beneficial insects. When in bloom, it is almost always covered in butterflies. A really pretty addition to the perennial bed.
Arkansas bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) - Blue Star is a hardworking plant that looks nice three seasons out of the year. It has a lovely fine texture with light blue flowers in the spring. Butterflies love it and in the fall, the foliage turns a bright yellow orange color. Its hardiness and carefree nature make it a winner.
Dark Towers Beard Tongue (Penstemon 'Dark Towers') - Beard tongues are magnets for hummingbirds and butterflies in the landscape and this one has beautiful wine-red foliage to complement its pink flowers. It blooms spring into summer and the foliage holds its color nicely in the heat of summer. Great choice for mixing up the foliage in a perennial bed.
Caesar's Brother Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica 'Caesar's Brother') - Siberian Irises add a beautiful vertical texture to the garden. This variety is an old one and has dark bluish purple flowers that appear in spring. The seed pods are interesting after the flowers have faded. Can't go wrong with this one.
Allen Bush Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginiana 'Allen Bush') - This plant is a low grower (8") and is great for edging walkways and for naturalizing. It has bright yellow flowers and fuzzy green foliage that spreads slowly over time. Bloom time is spring and then again in the fall and also has the added benefit to being native to the southeastern U.S.
Wild False Indigo (Baptisia australis) - Baptisia is one of the most long lived and easy to grow perennials you can chose. Its pretty blue flowers, and attractive black seed pods, make for a long season of interest.
Firewitch Pink (Dianthus 'Firewitch') - From growing in the front of the garden bed to spilling over walls, this dianthus can't be beat. The beautiful blue foliage is topped with bright, magenta-pink flowers that appear in spring, continue to bloom through summer and into the fall. 'Firewitch' is virtually trouble free.
May Night Salvia (Salvia x sylvetris 'May Night') - A very nice plant with upright violet-blue spikes that has a long bloom period and grows 18-24". The flowers attract butterflies, bees and birds and are great for cutting.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida) - Black-eyed Susans are a garden staple, but this particular one has characteristics that make it special. The foliage is finer and the flowers are smaller than some of the more common ones and it has a later bloom time. You can expect to enjoy yellow flowers with a dark brown center from mid-summer until the frost gets it in the fall.
Written by Terry Stalcup, Gardening Supervisor, at Snow Creek Landscaping and Angie Bell-Merrifield.
08/09/2012
Nonnative Invasive Plants
The definition of a nonnative invasive plant is one that has the ability to thrive and spread aggressively outside its natural range. Such a plant often colonizes the area where it has been introduced since the naturally occurring predators and diseases that keep it in check in its home range are nonexistent.
In the Southern Appalachians, we have many nonnative invasive plants that wreak havoc on local ecosystems. Most everyone is familiar with Kudzu (Pueraria montana) which was introduced in the late 1800s and spreads at the rate of 150,000 acres annually. Oriental Bittersweet (Celastris orbiculatus) is quickly becoming just as problematic with its habit of creating thickets and killing host trees with its circling, strangling vines.
If you're familiar with these plants, then chances are you know how problematic they can be in the landscape. The next few posts will help you identify the invasive plants in your yard and we'll provide some information about how to control them.
Pictured below are some of the most common invasive woody shrubs and vines you might come across in your own yard:
Oriental Bittersweet
Before seeds open
Chinese Privet or Hedge (Ligustrum sinense)
Privet in bloom
05/17/2012
Attracting Beneficial Insects to the Home Garden
Assassin Bug eating a japanese beetle (photo courtesy of NC Cooperative Extension)
It's easy to think that every insect you see in the garden is there to eat holes in your vegetables or strip your flowers of their leaves, but many common insects actually keep damage at bay. Planning a garden that invites the beneficial insects to set up camp is a smart way to naturally protect your garden against the damage done by aphids, thrips, and mites.
Richard Merrill, Professor Emeritus of Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA is an expert on beneficial insects and has written an article for Renee's Gardens about this topic. It is a practical guide for creating a garden that attracts and feeds beneficials:
04/18/2012
04/06/2012
Our Landscape Renovations
Through the winter, we planned renovations to the site around our office and now the implementation is almost complete. We put in a rain garden that catches run-off from the office building and site. Next up? Plants to fill it all out.
Irrigation lines being replaced
Digging out the rain garden
Mixture of sand and soils to line the rain garden
Curlex mats for lining
It's working!
New garden areas
01/30/2012
01/04/2012
Winter Interest
This time of year when the landscape is relatively devoid of color and interest, evergreens, berries and bark, can change your yard into a place that is almost as interesting as the other three seasons. The most commonly used trees and shrubs for structure are conifers because of their evergreen branches and the nice back drop they lend to the rest of the plants in the garden.
Hollies are great because they combine evergreen leaves, berries and provide food for wildlife. Some hollies are not evergreen (Ilex verticillata cultivars) and drop their leaves to show off beautiful red berries which last all winter, unless the birds get to them first.
Shrubs such as Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) seem to glow on the cloudy grey days of winter. They have nice berries and foliage the other seasons of the year.
A nicely placed specimen tree can provide shade and flowers in the summer and interesting bark in the winter. The peeling bark of a Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum), Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), or Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) can be a beautiful thing to look at when you're stuck inside because of the cold.
There are many such plants available to add to your landscape for the time of year when it seems there's nothing interesting going on outside. You just have to know where to look!
10/24/2011
10/05/2011
Unusual spring and summer flowering bulbs
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While daffodils and tulips are always a welcome sight in the spring, pictured above are some out of the ordinary bulbs that are great for spring and early summer blooms.
1 - Eremurus sp.(Foxtail Lily)- Tall spikes of starry florets; extremely showy and eye-catching; for a sunny, very well drained border; protection from strong winds helpful; makes excellent cut flowers; very late spring or early summer; plant in full sun, 32" tall; hardy in zones 5-8.
Ornamental onions perform beautifully, blooming very late spring through early summer; they add a different, architectural dimension to the garden; many suitable for Heirloom gardens and sunny, well-drained meadows; also wonderful for cut and dried flowers; Giant (volleyball-softball), 1 per sq. ft.; Large (baseball-tennis ball), 5 per sq. ft.; Small(golf ball - marble), 10 per sq. ft.;
2 - Allium 'Globemaster' - sparkling silvery pinkish purple softball to volleyball sized flowers that produce secondary florets; extending bloom life. Premiere hybrid. 2 1/2' - 3' tall; blooms very late spring.
3 - Allium christophii - (albopilosum) lots of loosely formed, starry, silvery amethyst flowers compressed to make one large, round spidery head about the size of a softball; spectacular cut flower and amazing coming up through hostas, Bergenia or other ground covers; 12"-24" tall; zones 3-8; blooms very late spring; introduced 1901.
4 - Allium sphaerocephalon - (Drumstick allium) This dark purple/maroon, tightly formed small, quarter sized flower is a super perennial and looks great with Asiatic Lilies or Hemerocallis; early to mid-summer; heirloom from 1594; 18"-30" tall, zones 5-8.
5 - Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha - (Species tulip)exterior petals are red and the interior is bright, sunny yellow; larger clone of T. chrysantha; mid spring; 8"-10" tall; mid spring, hardy zones 3-8.
6 - Scilla siberica - (Siberian squill) Starry flowers that droop like bells on spikes with strap-like leaves, one of the most shade tolerant bulbs; strikingly blue form that naturalizes freely when planted in suitable location; early spring blooming; Heirloom bulbs 1796; 5"-7" tall, hardy in zones 4-8.
7 - Fritillaria meleagris - (Guinea Hen flower) Extremely variable mixture of solitary, nodding, bell-shaped, reddish purple to black, faintly checkered green, to pure white flowers; great with Marsh Marigolds in damp meadow; 1572; 12"-15" tall, hardy zones 4-8.
Photos and descriptions courtesy of Brent and Becky's Bulbs.