It'll Grow

A bad haircut. I am sure that many of us have ‘been there, done that’; perhaps more times than we would like to admit! Maybe it was the result of an adventurous whim to ‘try something new’ or one too many bad hair-days that finally led to an emotional snap, regardless of the motivation, at one point most of us have walked into a salon with a clear and simple directive: CHOP IT!

Regret soon follows: “What was I thinking?”

You beat yourself up a little: “I must have been crazy!”

And you try to find a solution: “Maybe I can cover this up somehow…”

Luckily (and thankfully), with time the bad haircut fades away to become a little blip in your hairdo history.

What on EARTH does this have to do with gardening you ask?

Well, one of my latest gardening tasks- completely cutting down perennials to rejuvenate their foliage- may conjure up feelings similar to the aftermath of a bad haircut… but I promise you that it will all work out in the end.

Now it may seem totally crazy to completely ‘whack back’ a perfectly lush plant in the middle of the growing season, leaving a gaping hole in your garden… but that is precisely what we do! The reason? The foliage of certain perennials can deteriorate once their flowering period wraps-up. Cutting these worn-out looking plants down to the ground (being mindful to not chop new growth that is already emerging from the base) is a great way to encourage a new flush of leaves that will look fresh and continue to look great for the remainder of the growing season.

When cutting perennials to the ground, it is important to be mindful of new foliage that is already starting to grow from the base of the plant- such as these tiny Alchemilla mollis leaves.

Common perennials that respond to this seemingly harsh treatment include:

• Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)

• Centaurea montana (bachelor’s button)

• Geranium cvs. (various ‘sprawly’ cranesbill geranium cultivars such as ‘Johnson’s Blue’)

• Nepeta spp. (various species of catmint)

• Papaver orientale (oriental poppy)

• Pulmonaria (lungwort)

Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle) after flowering (left) and cut down to the newest leaves, as shown in the photo on the right (Gasp- what have I done?!?). .

Another example of a patch of Alchemilla mollis after flowering (left) and cut down to the youngest leaves (right).

A patch of Pulmonaria showing the plants immediately after flowering (left) and with most of the old leaves cut down (right). As the new growth continues to flush out, I will go back and cut out the remaining old leaves- this two step approach is not so jarring to look at, and a little kinder to the plant too.

I will also use this technique on other plants under certain circumstances. For example:

• Aquilegia spp. (various species of columbine)- the leaves of these perennials are often feasted upon by leaf miner (little bugs that live and dine within the leaves). The tracks of feeding damage on the leaves can look quite interesting when feeding is minimal, but the leaves can look quite ratty when the infestation is severe. Chopping the plant down to the ground helps reduce the insect population and the new growth is generally not affected by the pest (or affected to a much lesser degree). .

Leafminer damage on Aquilegia (columbine).

• Hemerocallis spp. (daylily)- daylilies look amazing up until they bloom at which point their foliage begins to die back. The unsightly dead foliage can be remedied by dead-leafing (removing the dead leaves) but some plants will die back so extensively that the resulting ‘stringy look’ is hard to bear. If a daylily gets to this point, the plant has usually started to sprout new growth at the base. I will cut all the old leaves down to allow this new growth to take over.

A daylily in flower that is starting to show leaf die-back (left). At this point, the aesthetics are improved by dead-leafing (right). If die-back becomes extensive, I remove all the leaves to make way for new, fresh growth.

A word of caution

It is important to remember that removing leaves from a plant means removing the abilty of the plant to make food for itself. This is tough for the plant! Help the plant rebound quickly by minimizing other stressors. Ensure the chopped plants stay well watered; drought-stressed plants will not be able to respond with new growth. Additionally, you may choose to add some nutrients to the soil in the way of compost or manure to ensure the plant has what it needs to grow.

And there you have it! Now it is time to grab your secateurs and chop down some foliage (if you have any of the plants listed above). Afterwards, step back and stare at the hole you just made in your garden with some regret, but keep in mind that little tidbit of consolation that was offered to you repeatedly during the days following your bad haircut…

“It’ll grow back”.

Rain Dance

It’s hot. Really hot and dry too. Unless of course you have been hit with the torrential rains that tend to go hand-in-hand with the pop-up thunderstorms spawned by this weather. In any case, these driving rains are better at washing away a garden rather than watering it! So the issue of dryness remains…

In my garden, the latest heat wave is beginning to take it’s toll on my plants. Thirsty mature trees slurp up the moisture from the lowly ‘riff raff’ below (i.e. my perennials!) and the sun makes short work of baking other areas of the yard. We have reached the point on our property where supplemental irrigation is necessary.

Oh how we could really use some rain right now! (Photo credit: Pete Nowicki on Unsplash)

Now I should start by saying that gardens need water- but it is the quality of the watering that counts as opposed to the number of times the garden is watered on a weekly basis. In general, a mature garden (as opposed to one that has been recently planted) needs about an inch of water a week. Sure, some plants are thirstier than others (and these plants often display their displeasure for the dry conditions with a little wilting tantrum) but this ‘inch a week’ guideline is one to keep in the back of the mind throughout the growing season- even if it is a very general guideline.

So with this in mind, here are some tips to effectively water a garden:

• Water in the morning. Grab that morning coffee and enjoy the zen that watering a garden can bring. Morning irrigation sessions allow the foliage of the plants to dry out as the day progresses. Many plant diseases require moisture to spread and/or to successfully infect a plant. Reducing the ‘leaf wetness period’ can go a long way in reducing the incidence of disease. Watering in the morning also conserves water- less water will be lost to evaporation (which is a problem when watering midday- the hottest part of the day).

• Use the ‘shower’ setting on your hand-held sprayer for watering garden plants (the ‘soaker’ setting is great for planters). I find these settings create the least amount of mist (mist just gets lost to the air and is ultimately a waste of precious water). Keep this point in mind when choosing a sprinkler setting too.

• One deep watering is far better than many shallow waterings. This strategy encourages deep rooting and ensures that ample moisture has been provided to the plants (rather than chronically underwatering them)

• Water around perennials and small shrubs and don’t forget to water out to the drip line of larger plants (The drip line is the point on the ground to which the farthest reaching branches of the tree/shrub extend. It is out near the drip line where a large proportion of the feeder roots of trees exist and these are the key to taking up moisture.)

• Water the ground not the leaves- afterall, it is the roots that take up the water. This is not possible with a regular sprinkler but if hand watering, you have control over this- exercise that power!

• Do not water flowers…unless you like blemishes; water droplets resting on some flowers can magnify the sun and cause brown blemishes on the petals as a result. This is not a given, but it is certainly a consideration.

• Keep a keen eye on planters. As you’ve likely already noticed- pots dry out fast! The smaller the planter, the quicker it dries out. Additionally, porous planters (such as coco fibre lined baskets, fibre pots or terra cotta) also dry out quicker than non porous ones such as ceramic, fibreglass or plastic. Check on pots throughout the day- they will normally require daily watering, but on really hot days or windy days (when the air essentially sucks the moisture out of the plants and, in turn out of the soil), they could require more than one watering.

Pots lined with materials such as coco fibre dry out quickly; it is not unusual for them to require two waterings a day!

• Water in stages, especially if a planter or part of the garden has dried out. If the soil is dry, it takes time to absorb the water (in a garden, you will often see most of the initial water running off extremely dry soil). To avoid wasting water and ensure the soil is actually absorbing the moisture, water an area or pot briefly, move on to another location/pot, followed by another; rotate through your planters or garden until the plants have received a good soaking.

Final note: At the time of writing this, we were in the midst of a dry spell and heat wave. The forecast calls for the heat and humidity to break today with the arrival of a cold front. (Phew!) Looks like I am saved from some watering chores for now. Instead, I will do a rain dance!