Going Native In Your Garden

Gardening with native plants - that is, with species that grew here before the first settlers arrived from Europe - has always had its supporters, Landscaping Services but it’s a trend that’s getting stronger as part of the eco-friendly movement. Advocates argue that because native species have adapted to local conditions, they’re easier to grow, less likely to invade other parts of the garden, and require less water, pesticides and fertilizers. They also maintain that native are the best choice to attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

Does this mean we should dig up our non-native perennials and shrubs and replace them with , , and ? Not according to two Ottawa . They say that while native do offer advantages, the most practical approach — and sometimes the most eco-friendly — is to integrate them with non-native species, finding the best location for each plant.

“There are a lot of about native , but these aren’t always true,” says , owner of Artistic Landscape Design. Take the statement that native are hardier. “A species from a country like Russia may be just as hardy as a Canadian native, perhaps hardier,” she says. Nor are native necessarily less invasive.

“Some natives spread very quickly,” says Adele , design centre manager at Rockcliffe . “An aggressive, self-seeding native may be fine for a , but not for an . You can try to stop a plant from spreading by creating a barrier below the soil surface, but in time, it will over-root and won’t survive.” While she believes that native are the best for wildlife,

Ms. Schmitz considers this to be a , too. “ are attracted by colour and shape. They don’t avoid a plant because it’s originally from Europe or Asia.”

Rather than focusing on whether it’s native or not, both women stress the importance of picking that will suit their location in the garden. How well any plant does, they say, depends on whether you have the light, moisture, and other conditions it needs. Native white spruce, for example, flourishes

in the forest, but can’t take city pollution; red lobelia thrives in water, but will die in a dry location. “Many native Ontario grow in woodlands with rich,

organic and plenty of water and shade,” Ms. notes. “They won’t succeed in dry, full sun environment.You must provide similar conditions or a native species can wind up being high maintenance.”

In the wrong space, natives may be as susceptible to disease as other . “If you have a native, upright phlox in an area with poor circulation, it will get mildew,” says. “Again, it’s about putting the right plant in the right location and keeping it healthy. That’s also the best way to eliminate the use of toxins such as pesticides. I don’t spray any plant.”

Besides being a practical solution for many gardens, integrating native with other species boosts can boost variety and visual appeal. Natives can be straggly and inconspicous-looking, and depending on the plant, may take as long as five years to bloom. “Natives that have been hybridized often provide bigger blooms,” Ms. Schmitz observes. “They may also be taller, more compact, and have stronger stems and healthier leaves. In fact, native can be made richer with hybridized versions.”

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Friday, May 9th, 2008

Landscaping No Comments

Beauty unfurls in English-style garden

The stone walls and terraced beds, the ponds and shade garden of the Morton-Bush home off Pike were rumor and remembrance nine years ago.

Now reclaimed, replanted and rebuilt, the gardens combine formal terraces reminiscent of an English garden with a hillside informally filled with perennials and wildflowers. Stone steps lead down four terraces accented with sculpture, rose arbors and benches.

Oaks, elms and other massive trees shade and shelter the 3A 1/2-acre property. Dogwoods, hollies, and 70 hemlocks add to the feeling of being in the woods. Overall, the atmosphere is more like that of a country estate than of a location minutes from downtown.

But what Betsey and Condon Bush first saw when they purchased the house in 1996 was a jungle of plant-smothering, tree-choking kudzu, wisteria and poison ivy. “And every weed you could think of,” she says.

The Bushes bought the house built for industrialist and former Knoxville mayor Ben A. Morton and moved in in 1997. (Condon Bush, who led Bush Brothers and Co. as chief executive officer for 25 years, died in 2003.)

With the house came a 1936 book whose three black-and-white photos hinted at what the gardens had once been. The Mortons had created the gardens, varying slightly from a 1934 design by landscape architect Alma Alison. (Alison’s design, found after restoration had begun, now hangs framed in the family kitchen.) But years after their creation, the gardens, stone walls and ponds had been filled in and covered with dirt.

“We knew there had been a garden at one time. But we didn’t know the extent of it,” says Betsey Bush. “You absolutely did not have a clue.”

The renewal began, according to a note Bush wrote in a notebook, on Jan. 18, 1999. Pulling weeds and digging out overgrowth led to surprises. Behind the garage, Norris hit a large stone. It was the start of steps down the sloping yard.

Stacks of stone that were once walls, millstones set in paths, bricks and even ponds were discovered under as little as a few inches and as much as 8 to 10 feet of dirt. At the bottom of the hill were buried trillium, and snowdrops still eager to bloom.

“Once you got into it, the bones are so good you were compelled to do something with it,” says Bush.

An old plant inventory that had been found was used as reference as the gardens were renewed. But this is a restoration, not a re-creation. Norris and Bush plant what they like and change seasonal selections each year as the garden retains what Norris calls “the feel and scope” of the original design.

Two iron arches with red Don Juan climbing roses frame a path that goes down to the terraces and meanders through the shade garden.

While each terrace flows to the other while stepping down the sloping backyard, each is its own outdoor room. The highlight of the first level, whose flowers include spring Siberian irises and summer daylilies, is an original rectangular pond. A second terrace’s center beds hold more Siberian irises, while its borders include peonies; dahlias are highlighted in a third. Roses and a knot garden (a garden of boxwoods designed so they appear to form a geometric design, or knot) grow in the fourth terrace, which was built by using dirt moved from other parts of the property.

Phlox grows down stone walls; neatly trimmed hollies and groundcover ivy help create the feel of separate, yet connected, spaces. that include coleus, begonias and impatiens make for changing colors. Where the garden’s curving rows of pale blue pansies now bloom were tall yellow tulips earlier this spring.

Rows of white and pink iceberg roses help transition the formal area with the less structured shade garden where , “Becky” Shasta daisies, wild geraniums, , lilies of the valley and daylilies grow amid ground covers. A pond with a heron statue is under shade garden trees. Solomon’s seal, hostas, Lenten roses and oak leaf hydrangeas are among the area’s larger varieties.

Norris thought he had found all the garden’s secrets, but then he came upon one more. Although the yard’s lower slope had been grassed, he kept hitting a rock in a spot near the shade garden. Digging revealed one more set of steep stone steps. They led to a fourth, secluded pond in what’s called the property’s “secret garden.”

Every spring and fall, planting in the garden “is huge,” says Bush. “We don’t plant the same thing every year. We plant different colors and variations, just have fun with it.” After that, the garden requires weekly maintenance.

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Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Garden Landscaping No Comments


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