In Northern United States and Canada

Now is the time to check out seed catalogs and online along with placing orders. Early in the month sow seeds of Clarkia, Godedia, Larkspur, Stocks and other annuals for Spring bloom in the greenhouse. Toward the end of January sow in the greenhouse Wax Begonias, Lobelias, Vinca roses, Delphiniums and Pansies for Summer bloom outdoors…

Remove pots of bulbs, such as Hyacinths, Daffodils and Tulips, that are to be forced for early bloom, a few at a time, from the cool basement or sand bed outdoors where they have been rooting, and bring them into the greenhouse or house. Shade them for the first few days and give them lots of water at all times. Keep them cool at first; increase the temperature gradually.

As soon as dormant potted Amaryllis bulbs show signs of life, remove a little of the old surface soil, replace with rich new soil, water thoroughly and place the pots in a warm, light location in the greenhouse or house. Pot new Amaryllis bulbs in well-drained pots of fertile sandy soil.

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Landscape lighting is a design trend that has recently gained popularity. One explanation for this popularity is that landscape lighting has the ability to increases your property’s value, by preventing nighttime theft and vandalism. Another is that using lighting at night, you can create an outdoor landscape for safe evening entertainment and you are able to extend the use and beauty of your gardens into the post sun down hours. During hot summer nights, it is a great joy to be able to escape the heat of the house and relax in your well lit garden or outdoor entertainment area.

It is without doubt that landscaping increases your homes value. Many homeowners are willing to pay professionals thousands of dollars to haul in rocks and create dramatic garden features but often overlook the power of light. Light has asmost magical properties in an outdoor setting at night. Lighting gives you the ability to highlight the best features of your gardens, flowerbeds and other landscape features at all hours, allowing you the best return on your significant investment.

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If you’re a Northwesterner or a Northern Californian, put those dreaded memories of spring flood conditions behind you. Determine now to make this the year for a topnotch garden with bright flowers, finer shrubs and greener lawns.

Make this a year of changes. Dont be content with the same old flowers of yesteryear. Take a good look at the flower seed stands at your neighborhood seed store and select lots of those brightly colored packets.

One way to prevent your garden from looking just like every other garden in the block is to select some of the less familiar annuals.

The “big three” - petunias, marigolds and zinnias - may be planted heavily, but at the same time be adventurous and try plants such as the exotic bells of Ireland, linaria and nemesia (especially good for covering a bed where spring bulbs are planted), appealing dwarf dahlias, fast-growing cosmos for hedge effects, and mixed gourds for their wonderful harvest of curiously shaped fruits in the fall.

The cool weather annuals such as calendula, sweet alyssum, larkspur and nasturtium, can be sown in the open ground now. The seeds will germinate quickly if the ground is kept moist.

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There is still time to hunt around your garden, salvage the stray seedlings of hardy flowers and line them out in cold frames. I particularly look for those of Cardinal-flowers, the giant lobelia, for they seem to prefer to seed in my paths rather than the beds where I want them to grow. You may want to look for seedlings of delphiniums, gaillardia, coreopsis, or any other hardy flowers that self sow here and there around your garden. Put them in the cold frame under sash and you will get an amazing amount of growth on them before things freeze up this fall.

Start Woody Plants

It seems odd this fall not to be gathering seeds of trees and shrubs for propagation meetings during November. But you can do it for yourself. Whenever you see an interesting woody plant that has some fruits on it, gather a few seeds. Some time before Christmas you can plant these. I like the system of using small pots. Fill the pot with a mixture of about one-third sand and two-thirds soil to within half an inch of the top. Remove all the pulp from the seeds and plant a dozen or two seeds to a 4 inch or 6 in pot. Cover them with a quarter inch of soil. Label them. If you want to read them next spring use a pot label and write on it with a sharpie pen.

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The average homeowner today buys his house from a building contractor. The house is already placed on a rectangular lot and the contractor usually does the rough grading of the lot and perhaps sods the front.

If a few details can be considered before the house is begun, it will help to create a more pleasant property. The most important are the shape of the lot, the direction that the house faces on it, the grade relationship between the house and the street, and the location of trees, if any.

Choosing the Lot

A corner lot may be considered a position of importance, yet it leaves most of the property exposed to one street or the other with little opportunity for privacy. There is also more lawn to cut, for the benefit of the neighbors. The same applies to a lot that is wide in the front and narrower in the back. From a garden point of view, it is better to have a lot that is narrow in front and wider or irregular in shape in the rear.

Dividing the Property

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After many years of pinching pennies and saving where you could, you have finally put aside enough money to afford a home away from the city in the suburbs. You have moved in and have everything looking swell, but look outside and suddenly remember that you are now responsible for your own lawn care and you do now own a lawn mower.

When you get to the hardware store you realize that there may be more to buying the right lawn mower than you expected. There are several mowers available.

If you have a small lawn, you may find that a push mower that has no power other than what you supply does great. These lawn mowers have the advantage of actually cutting the lawn with a scissor action and help to avoid the brown tips at the ends of the blades of grass. One disadvantage is that mowing must be done regularly as these mowers do not do well in tall grass.

For a larger lawn, you may want to add power to that lawn mower. One of the easiest ways to do that is to add a gasoline motor. Gasoline mowers take less of your energy and are excellent at cutting grass. If taken care of, they are dependable for a long time.

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In Northern United States and Canada

From now on garden wastes will become available. Stems and foliage of crops that have been harvested, annual weeds that are hoed off and raked up and later leaves fallen from trees are examples of this material. Unless it harbors pests or diseases that are carried over in the soil, these wastes can be turned into valuable fertilizing and soil conditioning compost by piling it in a suitable bin or heaping in an out-of-the-way corner and allowing it to decay. Greenwood leafy cuttings of a great many shrubs, trees and perennial herbaceous plants, including ground covers, taken in July root readily.

Now that the weather is warmer, raise the cutting height of the blades of the lawn mower so that the grass is cut not less than two inches high. Apply selective weed killers and practice hand weeding to eliminate Crab Grass and other lawn weeds. Lift and divide bearded Iris shortly after they are through blooming. Toward the end of July Siberian Iris may be treated in the same way. Iris of these types normally require this treatment every three or four years.

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The email reminders full of images and fall catalogs have been arriving. Ah! What pleasant reading. What feasting of eyes at the luscious fruits and blooms as they are illustrated!

Although the variety of things that lend themselves to fall planting is not so wide as in the spring, there are some things that are strictly for fall planting. Heading this list, of course, will be the various bulbs. Naturally one first thinks of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, probably in that order. Far be it from me to distract or disparage any of these.

My personal observation leads me to believe, however, that many are overlooking the possibilities of greater enjoyment from hyacinths. What is more breathtaking than a long solid spike of florets with the heady perfume of a deep blue hyacinth? (Or you choose your favorite color.)

Some people explain their lack of enthusiasm for hyacinths, saying they don’t do well the second year in their part of the country. There are two observations I’d like to make to that lame excuse. First, so what? They pay their way from the enjoyment you get from them the first year. Second, this excuse just isn’t so, at least, not so far as our experience is concerned.

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No matter how carefully the garden has been planned on paper, hard practical work must be done by someone before you can see the dream break into flower.

If you moved into your new home during the fall or winter you will probably be pretty discouraged when the snow leaves in spring.

Grading - Rough Grade

Though most building contracts call for the rough grading to be complete, this may be pretty rough. As a bulldozer is used, the surface is usually packed hard, with bricks, wire and boards pressed into it. Leave it alone until the mud dries out quite well, as working it too soon could ruin the texture of the soil.

As soon as you can walk on it without getting stuck, pick up and get rid of all the rubbish. You may find that a few knolls need to be shoveled into low spots. This rough grade should be 3 to 4 inches below where you want the finished grade. Excavate shrub beds and others to 9 to 12 inches below the finished grade.

Usually poor earth, either sandy or clay fill, is used to make the rough grade. The good topsoil is either buried or scraped off and sold as topsoil to someone else.

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Very often the discussion on the uses of plants is devoted to woody plants. They have more or less permanent value as they give substance and form to the garden. They form the walls and the more substantial framework and furnishings. At times woody plants also form bright displays, but usually these are provided by herbaceous perennials, annuals or flowering bulbs.

Perennials

In large gardens, herbaceous perennials are most commonly used in borders in front of shrubs or hedges that mark the boundaries of the lawns. Sometimes they also flank the paths that lead from one part of the garden to another. On smaller properties they are usually combined with annuals. to provide bloom before the annuals reach flowering size and after they have been touched by frost.

The chief joy in a perennial border is the recognition of old friends as each species appears, blooms for a few days and then passes. They are charming and informal, and take comparatively little labor from year to year. However, they take up a lot of room; a good perennial border for continual bloom and satisfactory grouping of plants for height, effect of foliage color and habit of growth. must be at least 6 feet wide. Most owners of small properties want to get a more spectacular show from this large an area of ground and they prefer masses of color and flowers that last longer. For this reason perennials are not very popular in modern gardens.

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