Fall Is For Planting

Ok, so I borrowed that line from a friend.  But the main premise is what's important.  This video explains it well.  Planting in Summer is the most stressful on your plants, but fall planting gives plants the head start they need to be prepared for next Spring and Summer!  We still have planty of time, so get out there and plant that garden you've been wanting.  Now is the time to plant spring bulbs too.  If you plant them at different depths, they will give you blooms for weeks.  Happy Gardening.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist, ISA Certified Arborist,  and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Fall Garden Care

Hello all!  It's been a busy time here at the Nautilus Garden designs Household.  We welcomed the newest member to the team Zephaniah Lucas Griffith on October 15th.  He and Rachel are doing great.

I want to give you all a couple tips as the weather cools and your tender perennials start to recede.  One of the first things to do is go through your irrigation and reduce the frequency of your watering.  Cooler temps mean less water loss through evaporation.    Less frequent watering encourages your turf roots to grow deeper seeking water.  This will increase drought tolerance for next summer.

Start cutting back some of your perennial flowers as they brown out.  For daylillies,  I always wait until all the green has gone out of the leaves.  This indicates that the plant has translocated all of it's energy and carbohydrates back to the root zone.  Then cut them to the ground.  Waiting like this will give your daylillies more energy to greet you with awesome blooms next year.

Last of all, mulch.  Mulching to a depth of 3 inches in the fall insulates your plants from the cold, protecting them from damage.  Mulch suppresses weed growth naturally, diminishing the need for chemical herbicides. Mulches also prevent sudden changes in soil temperature, which helps prevent tender premature growth during winter warm spells. Using a good hardwood mulch is best.  Dyed mulches will work, but sometimes the dyes can be an irritant to the microbes and earthworms that our garden need, so if you can, go for the natural hardwood mulches instead of dyed.  Buying Bulk is much more cost effective than buying bags, and you don't have the plastic to throw into landfills.  Bag mulch is usually just a couple of cubic feet for 5.00 or so.  Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard (27 cubic feet) and is usually around $30.00 a yard. (Delivery and installation add to this of course).  Be sure to keep mulch away from the root flare on your trees.  Piling mulch into "Mulch Volcanoes"  can harm trees by holding moisture against the bark inviting pests and diseases, so be sure to keep about a 1" space between  the trunk of your trees and the mulch.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist, ISA Certified Arborist,  and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Caterpillars everywhere!

Fall webworm on a Cherry Tree

You may have seen them while you were driving, you may even have them in your trees.  It's the FALL WEBWORM.  This unsightly little guy is a communal caterpillar.  They live in groups in the webs that they form at the ENDS of tree branches. The fall webworm is known to feed on more that 100 species of forest and shade trees.  In the eastern U.S., pecan, walnut, American elm, hickory, fruit trees, and some maples are preferred hosts; in some areas persimmon and sweetgum are also readily attacked.  I have them every year in my River Birch (Betula nigra).  

The initial reaction is "Oh man!  I gotta do something about this!  It looks horrible!  The reality of the fact is that this is a mainly "aesthetic" pest.  That means that trees are seldom killed by the fall webworm but can they be unpleasant to deal with.  Trees can actually be defoliated by them, but as their name "Fall" weborm implies, they do this just before the trees are going to drop their leaves in the fall. Healthy trees can actually handle this happening and will recover just fine.

The key to identification is this:  Fall webworm build their tent at the END of branches and usually are more ugly then harmful.  Eastern tent caterpillars, which appear in the Spring, form their webs in the crotches of branches close to the trunk of the tree.

So there you have it.  They're ugly, but not harmful.  Don't waste a lot of effort and money trying to eradicate them.  Welcome them to your trees as a new food source for birds.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Do You Have This in YOUR Lawn??

  Yellow Nutsedge.  There, I said it.  I know I shared with you a month or two ago about this topic, but I think it is worth going over again.  With the droughty couple of weeks we had (killing your cool season fescues), followed by rain, nutsedge is taking hold in many lawns right now.  If you have an irrigation system, and you have a low spot in your yard, that is probably the first place you will see it.     Nutsedge is a great indicator of poor drainage, over watering or leaky irrigation, as it thrives in waterlogged soil.
     To identify this pest, the first thing you will notice is it is more yellow than your fescues or Bermuda grasses.  It comes up with leaves of three, and has a triangular cross-section.  It grows faster than turf grasses so it will be a taller area of your lawn, often growing twice as tall within a week.
     If you can, hand pull small plants before they have 6 leaves.  By the time they have 6 leaves, they are already spreading underground.  If you have a bad infestation, nutsedge will kill out your turf, allowing weeds, and common Bermuda to take over your lawn.  Chemical control is successful using SedgeHammer herbicide.  This will knock out nutsedge without injury to turfgrass, established ornamentals, shrubs, and/or trees.  SedgeHammer provides post-emergence control of both purple and yellow nutsedge.  SedgeHammer also controls many broadleaf weeds and suppresses kyllinga.  It should be applied by licensed chemical applicators.  Check with your landscaper to see that they have a applicators license from the VA Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services, then ask them about treating your nutsedge.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Color in Design

Greetings from my Gardening Couch! It is Sunday morning and Mark and I went to new church. Part of what of the offering was to ask yourself what can I do to serve. Earlier in the morning I was thinking about the blogging series that has been taking shape. And I thought maybe I should just write, you can just pick plants out and put them in the ground. But, I do not do this when designing, I do not feel it is that casual. I feel it is a personal experience that can inspire, uplift and connect one with the Divine:) Trees and plants offer us oxygen, ( this just being one of the offerings)  we in turn can offer them direct attention and gratitude! Part of my service  is to share my experience with nature, to let others know a beautiful landscape is awesome, and yet direct intent and the desire to be more fully who we truly are and connect to the Divine and our own Divinity through gardening in Possible!!!
Now Color~ I hope you found a few colors that you are highly attracted too and perhaps even took notice of colors you prefer to avoid~ This is great information to have, it will help shape your garden design and give you some insights into your soul.
Eastern philosophy has so much information on color and its potential to affect our consciousness. From Hindu to Chinese to Japanese culture color has significant meaning and purpose. I am going to pull from several philosophies to give you a general view! Very Briefly Chakra's are energy centers  or wheels within the body, there are seven major chakras~ I have been working the Chakra system for several years as means of self awareness with a highly gifted lady,  and they are also a part of Yoga, Hinduism and Eastern Philosophy.
RED~associated with the 1st/Root chakra (Hindu), is grounding, stabilizing, promotes trust and balance and harmony, a warming color, increases ones connection to the earth, stimulates the sensory system, liver stimulant, increases red-blood-cell production
ORANGE~ creativity, play, freedom, abundance,joy, creation, sexuality, connected with the 2nd/Sacral chakra, can assist with healing reproductive organs
YELLOW~Stimulates higher intellectual functioning, clear thinking, balanced personal power, 3rd/Solar Plexus chakra, 3rd charka about your identity and who you truly are,
GREEN~ love, purity, soothes the central nervous system, calming, balances mind, body and spirit, 4th/Heart Chakra, unconditional love,
BLUE~ Cooling effect, increase sensitivity, associated with the throat chakra, speaking one's truth, finding your voice, can help with healing issues with throat, neck, mouth,
INDIGO~ connected with the 6th chakra/third eye chakra, stimulates parathyroid glands, color of devotion, intuition, transcendent vision, purposefulness, seeking after truth.
VIOLET~ Stimulates spleen, helps lift anxiety and depression,7th Chakra/Crown
*some color information came from the book Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber, M.D.

Green Roofs and the Navy

I was recently at a local restaurant having lunch, alone, so I had to read something while I ate. The only thing available was The Flagship, a local Naval publication. I never served in the military but have a deep respect for those who do. I flipped the pages to find something I could at least understand, since most of this newspaper has to do with base news and command information. On the front page of section "B" of the Flagship, called "Front & Center" was an article about Naval Station Norfolk's Green roof project.

A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane.
Modern green roofs, which are made of a system of manufactured layers deliberately placed over roofs to support growing medium and vegetation, are a relatively new phenomenon. However, green roofs or sod roofs in Northern Scandinavia have been around for hundreds of years. Modern green roofs were developed in Germany in the 1960s, and have since spread to many countries. Today, it is estimated that about 10% of all German roofs have been “greened”.
Modern green roofs use succulents, or relatives of cacti as their main vegetation. Many sedums are used as they are drought and heat tolerant.
Benefits include longer roof lifespans, reduced storm water run-off, and energy savings as the building is better insulated. The Regional Legal service office at Naval Station Norfolk is scheduled to be completed this December.
It is awesome to see the government is focusing on things like this on our military installations. The day is coming that these will be commonplace, at least I hope so.....

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Toxic Plants

I know we have all heard the stories, chocolate is poisonous to dogs(true, but it has to be 100% chocolate to really do damage, a candy bar may be 5% chocolate), or poinsettias are poisonous (a 12 year old would have to eat several hundred bracts to get an upset stomach, and let me tell you, several hundred ANYTHING is gonna put a hurtin on ya!)

Well here are some things to be aware of. I know most of our pets could care less about plants, but our neurotic cat Tico has a thing for Dracenas and risks his life(with momma) daily to chew on her plants. Puppies are probably the biggest risk group as they are big-time chewers. So here are some plants to watch for and their effects.
Azalea- do we even have these in Hampton Roads? Well as many as we have, we still have pets. Seriously, these can cause vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, and death.
Oleander- This one is VERY toxic. It will cause severe vomiting, abnormal heart rate, shock, weakness and death. Be careful with your little puppies around this one.
Daffodil bulbs- if they dig these up, they cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, abnormal heart rate, abdominal pain, and respiration issues.
Lily- Highly toxic to cats and can cause severe kidney failure.

Indoors we need to watch for:
Kalanchoe- Vomiting, diarrhea, heart arrhythmias, and neurological signs (maybe Tico ate some!)

Cyclamen-vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, and heart arrhythmias.

If you're not sure about a new plant, the Internet is a great resource to find out more before putting your pets at risk. Garden safe!!

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Yellow Nutsedge, perennial pest

Nutsedges are common weeds in South Hampton Roads. Thriving in waterlogged soil, they are a good indicator of poor drainage, over irrigation, or leaky irrigation. Yellow nutsedge is found throughout southeastern Virginia.

Identification
Nutsedges resemble grasses, and are often referred to as “nutgrass”. They are not grasses, however but true sedges. Grasses have opposite leaves in sets of twos, whereas sedges have thicker and stiffer leaves, and are arranged in sets of three at the base. Their stems are solid and when looked at in cross sections, they are triangular. Yellow nutsedge has light brown flowers and seed.
Yellow nutsedge produces tubers which are produced on rhizomes that can grow as deep as 8-14 inches below the soil surface. These tubers bud and sprout to form new plants, eventually forming patches that can be as large as ten feet or more in diameter. These tubers are round, smooth and brown or black, and about a half inch at maturity. Only one tuber is formed at the end of each rhizome.

Life Cycle
Yellow nutsedge is a perennial. Its leaves and stems die back in the fall as temperatures decrease, with the tubers and rhizomes becoming dormant until spring, when soil temperatures remain above 43ºF. Research has indicated that most new plants are from the tubers, of which the majority can be found in the top 6 inches of soil. Seeds apparently do not contribute much to the spread of this weed.

Damage
Yellow nutsedge grows faster, has a more upright growth habit, and is lighter in color than most turfgrasses, creating the problem of non-uniform turf. Yellow nutsedge will emerge through bark or mulch in gardens or beds throughout the growing season.
Management

Limiting production of tubers is key to control of Yellow nutsedge. Tubers are necessary for survival. Remove small plants before they have five or six leaves, as new tubers have not formed at this stage. This should be done every two to three weeks. This will force the existing tubers to focus energy on new plant production as opposed to tuber production. If the weed is found in turf in small patches, it is generally best to dig out the patch to a depth of at least 8 inches, and seed or sod the patch.
Shading can be an effective way of reducing their growth. Nutsedges prefer full sun, so in landscape areas a tall dense groundcover can impede its growth.

Chemical Control

Postemergent chemical control can be handled with the use of IMAGE (Ammonium salt of imazaquin). It is best applied to young plants while the plant is still building energy reserves in the tubers. This is the time that the chemical will best be translocated to the tubers for a complete control. If the plant has past its growth stage of the 5th leaf stage, translocation will be slowed or non-existent, killing only the above ground portion. Often more than one application is necessary.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com