Summer
In summer, flowering perennials, such as the white and purple coneflowers, lilies, and coreopsis shown here, add spots of color to the otherwise green landscape. To coax as many flowers as possible from these plants and to keep the garden tidy, cut or shear off older blossoms as they fade. Summer weather is typically hot and humid throughout this region, but droughts are not uncommon. Water new plantings at least once a week during dry spells, and water older plants, too, if the soil gets so dry that they wilt. Pull any weeds that sprout up through the mulch; this is easiest when the soil is moist from rain or watering.
Fall
Fall foliage season lasts for a month or so in the Midwest region, starting in mid- to late September. Trees and shrubs such as the serviceberry, burning bush, and azalea shown here paint the landscape in shades of red, orange, pink, purple, gold, and yellow. Meanwhile, fall-blooming perennials such as asters and chrysanthemums, or the Japanese anemones and October plants shown here, produce colorful flowers that stay fresh-looking for weeks in the cool, crisp autumn weather.
Sometime in October, the first hard frost will kill tender plants to the ground, signaling the time for fall cleanup. Toss frosted annuals on the compost pile. You can cut perennials and grasses down now or wait until spring. Rake fallen leaves into a pile or bin and save them to use as mulch in spring.
Winter
In winter, when plants are dormant and snow covers the ground, you appreciate the evergreen foliage of conifers, such as the juniper shown here, and the twigs and bark of deciduous trees and shrubs. Clumps of rustling grass or shrubs and trees with bright berries are welcome in winter, too.
Spray broad-leaved evergreens with anti-desiccant before the weather gets too cold, and build burlap shelters around any young or exposed evergreens that need extra protection. Once the ground freezes, spread some pine boughs or coarse mulch over newly planted perennials to keep them from frost-heaving. During the winter, if a heavy snow or an ice storm snaps or crushes some shrubs, you can trim away the broken parts as soon as convenient, but if plants get frozen during a severe cold spell, wait until spring to assess the damage before deciding how far to cut them back.
As Your Landscape Grows
Landscapes change over the years. As plants grow, the overall look evolves from sparse to lush. Trees cast cool shade where the sun used to shine. Shrubs and hedges grow tall and dense enough to provide privacy. Perennials and ground covers spread to form colorful patches of foliage and flowers. Meanwhile, paths, arbors, fences, and other structures gain the comfortable patina of age.
Constant change over the years—sometimes rapid and dramatic, sometimes slow and subtle—is one of the joys of landscaping. It is also one of the challenges. Anticipating how fast plants will grow and how big they will eventually get is difficult, even for professional designers, and was a major concern in formulating the designs for this book.
To illustrate the kinds of changes to expect in a planting, these pages show one of the designs at three different “ages.” Even though a new planting may look sparse at first, it will soon fill in. And because of careful spacing, the planting will look as good in 10 to 15 years as it does after 3 to 5. It will, of course, look different, but that’s part of the fun.
At Planting—Here’s how the deck planting (page) might appear in late spring immediately after planting. The rose and clematis haven’t begun to climb the new lattice trellis. The viburnum and lilac, usually sold in 2- to 5-gal. cans, start blooming as young plants and may have flowers when you buy them, but there will be enough space that you may want to plant some short annuals around them for the first few growing seasons. You can put short annuals between the new little junipers, too. The switchgrass and perennials, transplanted from quart- or gallon-size containers, are just low tufts of foliage now, but they grow fast enough to produce a few flowers the first summer.
Three to Five Years—As shown here in midsummer, the rose and clematis now reach most of the way up the supports. Although they aren’t mature yet, the lilac, viburnum, and junipers look nice and bushy, and they’re big enough that you don’t need to fill around them with annuals. So far, the vines and shrubs have needed only minimal pruning. Most grasses and perennials reach full size about three to five years after planting; after that, they need to be divided and replanted in freshly amended soil to keep them healthy and vigorous.
Ten to Fifteen Years—Shown again in summer, the rose and clematis now cover their supports, and the lilac and viburnum are as tall as they’ll get. To maintain all of these plants, you’ll need to start pruning out some of the older stems every year in early spring. The junipers have spread sideways to form a solid mass; prune them as needed along the edge of the lawn and pathways. When the junipers crowd them out, move the daylilies to another part of your property, or move them to the front of the bed to replace the other perennials, as shown here.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
