‘In The Garden’ — Help For Problem Areas
By AMY MUNCY
Master Gardener Intern
Whether a new or old garden, you will need to decide which of the existing features you want to keep, such as an old swing, an old tree or a garden shed. Other items like a fuel tank, an unattractive view or an overgrown area you may need to remove, try to screen or change the look of it depending on the rest of the gardens you intend to put in.
Most sites have a variety of conditions: sunny, dry, boggy, wet or shady. Other influences to your outdoor space could come from high walls nearby, trees or both. Careful planting can change these areas into assets instead of eyesores.
SHADE – There are shady areas in almost all gardens, and this should not cause problems unless the shade is very dense. If this is so, use an uncharged solar light where you want the garden and see how bright it is the next night. If very bright, you should be ok with shade loving plants in this spot. You can also trim trees and bushes to let more light in. Some plants for shade are lungworts (Pulminaria), spiderworts (Tradescantia), bergenias, anemone hupehenis and ajugas.
HOT, DRY AREA – and poor soil to boot. Try to improve growing conditions in these areas before you plant. Improve your soil by incorporating bulky organic matter, well composted materials and compost teas. All will help fertility and retain moisture. Choose plants such as grasses or succulents that are drought/heat resistant and can take direct sun in shady areas.
SLOPE – Put in terraces on steep slopes or plant with ground cover. Other plants could be achillea (Yarrow), eryngium, rosemary and thyme. All will help with erosion.
OVERGROWN HEDGE/UGLY VIEW – Cutting a hedge back should be done in a slow process of pruning over two or three years to minimize shock to the plants. Overgrown conifer hedges are tricky. Cutting into the heart where the dead leaves are may result in the death of the plant. There would likely be no new growth as there are no dormant buds formed in this area most times.
Removal and replanting of small hedges could be done with a temporary fence behind them until they grow up. Masking brown patches with crawling vines or plants that scramble over them would work also.
Ugly views can be immediately covered with a trellis or fence planted with quick growing climbers. Long term things to do would be plant hedges, bamboo, trees or the trained fan shaped fruit trees. Look into the fruit trees online or ask to see one at your favorite nursery.
UNSIGHTLY FEATURES — Items like fuel tanks or gas cylinders are often in unsightly places. Moving them is not usually an option. You can buy a plastic rock kit that covers them as long as it is rated for what you are covering. To be sure, call your local utility. Some covers can also be used as a plant stand, so can old stumps you can’t get rid of yet.
Compost heaps or containers for your garden may be disguised with carefully selected plants, trees and shrubs. You can encircle the entire area with trellises or some type of fencing and grow climbing plants leaving room to maneuver inside.
To be continued…
Amy Muncy was born in Wabash County and lived there for close to 40 years. Muncy grew up in the country, has always enjoyed gardening and mowing the lawn. She has been gardening since a small girl. She moved to Kosciusko County in 2000. She is a master gardener intern at this point, but will be a full master gardener before long.
“I enjoy all aspects of gardening. I really don’t have an expertise on any one thing. I make compost. I can, freeze and dehydrate. I like to grow veggies, flowers, herbs and houseplants. I like to plant trees everywhere I can. I know a little bit about a lot of gardening. I would say most of my experience has been on composting and different ways to do it. I believe we must conserve our land for our future generations and composting is a great way of doing this. The more we become self sufficient, the better off future generations are and we need to be teaching them by example.”