I love my job

I love my job.  It may sound corny but it's true. 

A couple of weeks ago a client called me up to help her plant some annuals she had gotten but hadn't been able to plant because she had gotten sick.  She lives on a five acre beautiful property in the vicinity of a red tail hawk nest and the pair would present themselves every afternoon. 
She had a few flats of lovely annuals and basically let me get on with planting them into the containers on her deck.  I love putting together little vignettes of color!  And since I had seven or eight containers I could really get into doing a "variety on a theme".  How fun!
Next she explained that she wanted her front bed to be full of color, gave me a budget (a budget is very important for people like me as I enjoy nothing more than buying plants with other people's money...) and off I went to the nursery to select the best plants for her location.  When I got back and had everything planted in a subtle and attractive pattern, I couldn't help thinking that I am extremely lucky in my choice of profession.  I got paid to plant flowers!

But of course it isn't that simple.  I did repair and modify some irrigation and mulched the flower beds as well which created a lovely mix of technical work, manual labor and garden design.  I call that a great day of work.

Yesterday I got to go back up to another beautiful property near Sisters to help put the finishing touches on a garden that will be on the Sisters Garden Tour the 8th of July.  These clients have maintained a lot of the natural landscape and have worked hard to create an organic landscape that does not deter from the natural beauty of the area.  Their home is straw bale, full of soft corners and big windowsills and is embued with a sense of peace and beauty.  They thank me for coming to work and I thank them for having me there, I love being at their property.
I had been there earlier in the season to get things under control (mainly weeding) but also some irrigation work as well.  They had two big overhead sprays to water the edible fenced garden and it was quite inefficient.  I converted it to a drip/microspray system and then mulched the beds.  Those two things will go a long way to combating weeds and lowering water usage.
But going back yesterday and seeing the garden areas bursting with flowers and seeing the work I had done previously was extremely satisfying. 

I have found my passion.  I love my job.

Spring has SPRUNG!

With the temperature hitting 50 degrees latey it sure feels like spring is on it's way.  My tulips are beginning to poke through the soil, the insects have started coming out from their winter hiding and I'm thinking it's time to paint the toenails again.
Wait, but isn't it just March?  Yes and this is one of the most unusual winters we've had in a long time but rest assured, the freezing and snowy weather will return, and hopefully before we all become too accustomed to these unseasonally warm days. Though, I am getting very, very accustomed to these nice days and the temptation to forget cold days is getting more and more difficult to resist.  But do remember, the only predictable thing about Central Oregon's weather is its unpredictability.

With all of that in mind, it is time to begin a bit of the spring clean up.  That means its time to trim back all your ornamental grasses and perennials and to get on top of your weeds.  There is a reason weeds are weeds, they are the most tenacious little buggers.  How they could have survived that deep freeze we had in December I don't know, but I'm predicting this will be a bad year for weeds (good for them, bad for us).  Make sure to stay on top of them because with this lovely spring weather they are really get a good start to the growing season.
My favorite weeding tool is the Hula Hoe.  It cuts the bottom of the roots of the young weeds and scraps along through the soil rather well and does a great job in pea gravel.  Just remember to get at the weeds while they are young and then it will be a much easier job.
Here is a picture of the Hula Hoe:

 

For cutting back your spent perennials such as your daisies, iris's, and the like, cut them back quite close to the root crown to allow room for the new growth.  For your grasses, cut them back leaving 1 to 4 inches of old grass depending on the size of your grass.  Idaho Fescue grass can be sheared back rather shortly, a string trimmer works great for this job. Karl Foerster grass is a larger grass and should have a few inches of old grass left.  You can use a hedge or string trimmer for the bigger grasses but just be careful not to let the string get tangled in the tall grass, that's a mess.

It is also time to prune your shrubs.  The first steps to pruning (same for trees) is to prune out any dead, broken or diseased branches.  Then take a look at the overall structure and see if it needs to be opened up. Some shrubs like to be prune well every year, but others can go a few years without any serious pruning.  

The spring blooming shrubs like Lilac should be pruned right when their flowers begin to fade since they form buds on old growth.  Redtwig Dogwoods are mainly grown for their lovely red color during the winter time, and that good color comes from new growth, so prune those now.  Prune out up to one third of the oldest branches down to the ground for the Dogwoods.

A good website for general pruning techniques can be found at Sunset Magazine Pruning Techniques ( I love Sunset Magazine!).

Now that you have your weeds under control and your plants cut back, it's time to add your yearly application of compost or bark mulch to help suppress weeds, retain moisture, and if using compost, add nutrients to the soil.

If you have fewer plants, just spread the compost around the base of the plants, but if you have a more densely packed area, spread the compost all around.  Remember that plants get their nourishment from the soil and the healthier your soil, the healthier your plants.  Compost is a better option for overall health of the garden.  Synthetic fertilizers are temporary fixes and create fertilizer addicts out of plants and deplete the soil over time.  Using compost and organic fertilizers works to create a whole web of happiness from the worms, to the insects, birds and bees who all work in unison to help you create a healthy and happy garden.

If you have more specific questions about your landscape, or would like to talk about getting a design, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Send me an email from my profile page.  Happy gardening!