Ask Sharon your gardening questions! What kind of apple trees do best on the island? Will my boxwoods come back to life? What options do I have for a dry, windy, seacoast area? Should I prune my boxwoods before or after I move them? Can you could give me a list of specific plants that the deer on Guemes prefer not to eat? What is the best way to get roses to thrive on Guemes? Is there anything that will thrive under my large cedar trees? Has anyone ever compiled a comprehensive list of plants that our island deer don’t eat? When is the best time to transplant woody landscape plants? What is the best way to prune rhododendrons?
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Ask Sharon! Will my boxwoods come back to life? We live in Cheyenne Wyoming and are experiencing another year of drought. Las year we planted 3 boxwood bushes and they did well during the summer and fall. Now that spring is here I am waiting for signs of life. I think they are dead. There is nothing but dried branches and leaves. Is this how they look during the winter and will they come back to life? Boxwood bushes (Buxus)
are evergreen shrubs, so your bushes may be dead. Before giving
up on them though, I would suggest you give them a hard, rejuvenative
pruning in late spring, followed by an application of fertilizer and a
mulch. If the roots are not dead, the pruning will force new growth.
Thus, it's possible
that boxwoods may not survive a cold winter in Wyoming.
Is
it time to prune my roses?
What options do I have for dry, windy, seacoast area? I’ve just had some topsoil trucked in to rehabilitate a garden that had surrendered to weeds and brambles. I had hoped to plant small broadleaf or deciduous trees in a fenced portion of my yard that gets full southern sun and sits about 30 feet from the high tide mark. The fence and house will shelter the yard (somewhat) from winter winds, but light salt spray is inevitable. I’d like to avoid using well water to irrigate after the trees have established themselves. (I have a few rain barrels set up, but the supply won’t last the summer.) I have a good sense of the native trees that are available to me. Do I have any other options? How about large shrubs?
I’ve done some research, primarily with Sunset Western Garden Book, looking at plants for windy areas, seacoast gardens, and dry areas. The best matches I found for all three categories are as follows: Trees: Pinus, and in particular, Pinus Contorta/ Shore Pine, Quercus ilex/ Holly Oak Shrubs: Arbutus unedo/Strawberry tree (8-35'), Cistus/Rockrose (3-6'), Cotoneaster (to 25'), Elaeagnus (10 - 15'), Rosmarinus officinalis/Rosemary (To 7'), Westringia fruticosa/Coast Rosemary (3-6') I hope you find this helpful.
I’m getting ready to transplant some scruffy looking 4' boxwood bushes and was wondering if I should prune them before or after I move them?
The best time to transplant the boxwood bushes would at the beginning of the dormant season, i.e., late fall to early winter, and prune or renovate just as they are coming into growth in spring. While we haven’t had a cold winter in some time, pruning forces new growth, and if the plant is trying to produce new growth while a cold snap occurs, it could weaken the plant. The primary focus for a plant after being transplanted is to establish new roots to support the plant. After pruning in the spring, apply a balanced fertilizer and mulch to replenish the plants’ food reserves and ensure strong regrowth.
Can you could give me a list of specific plants that the deer on Guemes prefer not to eat? I understand that if they are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything, but that given choices the deer will usually leave certain plants alone. Also, would it work to “companion plant” to keep deer away? Example: roses encircled in some kind of purple plant (I’ve heard they don’t like anything purple) or will they just walk through the purple plants to get at the roses?
Prior to fencing my yard I planted some lavender around a plant the deer had previously chewed on (a young crabapple tree). They ignored the lavender, but loved the crabapple!! Following is a list of plants that Sunset Western Garden Book publishes as deer resistant (with emphasis on resistant). I’m hoping to compile a deer proof list for Garden Time, but maybe just posting the Sunset list will stimulate some response. If anyone has had experience with deer eating any plant from this list, please let me know.
What is the best way to get roses to thrive on Guemes?
Thank you for your question. In my experience, the first and most important thing is to plant roses in a deer proof location. Roses may be the all-time favorite meal for deer. Secondly, as much as possible, buy roses rated to do well in our area, with as much disease resistance as possible. This will minimize the time, labor and expense of maintaining roses, and maximize your enjoyment! Most nurseries in our area can direct you to such roses. In our area, plant in a location where they will receive maximum sun, in an open area where air circulation is good. Allow room for growth, ideally 3 feet apart, but not less than 2 feet apart. This will help to discourage mildew, rust and black spot, the diseases prone to our location. Plant in soil that has reasonable drainage, amended with organic materials such as compost, peat moss, etc., to hold moisture, and aerate dense soils but not drown roots. Once properly planted,
a regular feeding program maximizes healthy growth, flower production,
and disease control. I use a 4-step feeling program recommended by Cottage
Creek Nursery, Woodinville, Wa, with excellent results. It is as follows:
Anyone reading this answer, please share any suggestions you might have to successfully grow roses on Guemes. I'm sure there are many excellent ways to enhance roses, and hopefully we'll all get some new ideas.
Everything I’ve planted under my large cedar trees has died–vinca, hellebore, evergreen huckleberry, sweet woodruff, and even ferns. The salal hasn’t died, but it’s growing extremely slowly. I have heard that cedars drop something that makes the soil unfriendly to most plants. Is there anything that will thrive there?
Great question! The condition whereby a plant is toxic to nearby plants and can kill them is called allelopathy. There are bona-fide examples of allelopathy in tree species, probably the best know being black walnut. This condition has often been referred to regarding cedar wood chips in popular publications. However, there is virtually no documented evidence for allelopathic activity in either Thuja or Cedrus. Therefore it is unlikely that wood chip mulches containing cedar, or cedars themselves, will have negative effects on established plants. The allelopathic activities attributed to cedars may actually be due to other factors such as nutrient and light limitations. With this in mind, our search for plants that have the potential to thrive under cedar would lead to looking for plants tolerant of nutrient, light, and probably water limitations. Many thanks to Marianne Kooiman and Cascades Biomes, Inc. for the following list:
Christianson’s Nursery also suggested:
Hopefully one or more from this list will work well.
Has anyone ever compiled a comprehensive list of plants that our island deer don’t eat? With the understanding, of course, that because they didn’t eat them last week doesn’t mean they won’t start tonight! General lists like Sunset’s just seem way off the mark. Anyone interested in doing it as a fund raiser? Sell it at the plant sale?
Another great question! This is one for which I’d like community response. Since I installed deer proof fencing, I’ve lost touch with what the deer won’t eat. Prior to fencing Narcissus-daffodil, and Lavandula-lavender are two plants that deer did not eat in my garden, nor did they eat any variety of chamaecyparis-false cypress or pinus-pine. Please send me your list of plants that, to date, the deer haven’t eaten. Let’s see how long a list we can compile!
When is the best time to transplant woody landscape plants?
Generally speaking, the best time to transplant is fall and early winter. Since evergreens do not go truly dormant, they can be moved early to mid-autumn. Deciduous plants are best moved after they are dormant. My own preference is November through February. By this time, a mild freeze may have occurred to better assure dormancy, and regular rains have returned to support a newly transplanted plant's need for water.
On the end of a branch
that has not flowered, the growth (or vegetative) buds that are there
will start to grow. Sometimes there is only a single center bud
growing and if this is in an area of the plant that could stand to be
more dense, this center shoot can be carefully pinched out when 1/2"-3/4"
long. This will tend to stimulate the other lateral buds there to
grow, filling in that area with more growth, and giving more blossoms.
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