Ok well it's fully official once my new license comes - and I take it to the bank to change the name on the business account - after which the checks will then need to be written to Box of Rain Landscape LLC......But that should be any day now and I got my new business cards today so I got excited :)  (one can also use the new Pay Pal button on the home page to pay invoices and skip the checks altogether!)
Will be sending out a announcent in the mail with copies of the new card to clients soon! But here is the new card with the new Box of Rain logo - drawn by yours truly.
Picture
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Well Cliff Mass says that if the fronts hold this weekend, he is going to start on his vegetable garden! These are the things that make me go Whooot! (He is better than that old Groundhog any day for trying to nail down your garden schedule.)

So that means the Spring clean up is ON - and early - which I really hopes translates into a normal Spring.....not like last year, coldest on record, that really was not fun and the gardens hated it.

Spring clean up does need to be done with a gentle hand though, especially in years where it starts early, so dont go nuts yet ,as it is still 6 weeks until "actual Spring":

We usually start full on Spring clean up right along with the start of the rose pruning season - which normally starts on Presidents Day, which is still 4 weeks before the Vernal Equinox and the start of actual Spring. So we are a good 5 weeks away from the usual "last frost date" right now......I would be really happy if we didn't get at least one more frost, but I also don't count my buds before they open, so I think a cautious hand would best serve my clients right now.....even though I know it is making some of them crazy to see "dead stuff" in the garden still! (and as always, I appreciate their patience and trust in me!)

For now the work is taking down the perennial foliage left up for Winter, cutting back grasses, cleaning up leaf litter left on beds to protect them through the Winter and doing only light pruning on shrubs; as in only cleaning up any Winter/snow damage they may have sustained and taking out dead branches -  DONT start pruning the shrubs yet. (see my post on Sping Pruning from May of last year below) This is also the best time of year to get at the weeds.....with a warm Winter (second warmest on record for the whole country) the weeds can and will get ahead of you very quickly once the weather warms up just a little.

Flower and Garden show was also  this last weekend - which is the official start of the nurseries stocking up for Spring - I think they will be stocked early this year too as they will be wanting to make up for the bad Spring last year and wont have as much fear of a late freeze. Right now there is the usual fare of primroses, potted bulbs, pansy and viola......yawn.....but this will change soon.

So if I were you I would wait until the perennials come in.....or even better check back in with the new BOX OF RAIN STORE
in March to see our container garden offerings!! (and Vertical Wall hanging plantings that we are working on right now!!)



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Well Cliff Mass says that if the fronts hold this weekend, he is going to start on his vegetable garden! These are the things that make me go Whooot! (He is better than that old Groundhog any day for trying to nail down your garden schedule.)

So that means the Spring clean up is ON - and early - which I really hopes translates into a normal Spring.....not like last year, coldest on record, that really was not fun and the gardens hated it.

Spring clean up does need to be done with a gentle hand though, especially in years where it starts early, so dont go nuts yet ,as it is still 6 weeks until "actual Spring":

We usually start full on Spring clean up right along with the start of the rose pruning season - which normally starts on Presidents Day, which is still 4 weeks before the Vernal Equinox and the start of actual Spring. So we are a good 5 weeks away from the usual "last frost date" right now......I would be really happy if we didn't get at least one more frost, but I also don't count my buds before they open, so I think a cautious hand would best serve my clients right now.....even though I know it is making some of them crazy to see "dead stuff" in the garden still! (and as always, I appreciate their patience and trust in me!)

For now the work is taking down the perennial foliage left up for Winter, cutting back grasses, cleaning up leaf litter left on beds to protect them through the Winter and doing only light pruning on shrubs; as in only cleaning up any Winter/snow damage they may have sustained and taking out dead branches -  DONT start pruning the shrubs yet. (see my post on Sping Pruning from May of last year below) This is also the best time of year to get at the weeds.....with a warm Winter (second warmest on record for the whole country) the weeds can and will get ahead of you very quickly once the weather warms up just a little.

Flower and Garden show was also  this last weekend - which is the official start of the nurseries stocking up for Spring - I think they will be stocked early this year too as they will be wanting to make up for the bad Spring last year and wont have as much fear of a late freeze. Right now there is the usual fare of primroses, potted bulbs, pansy and viola......yawn.....but this will change soon.

So if I were you I would wait until the perennials come in.....or even better check back in with the new BOX OF RAIN STORE
in March to see our container garden offerings!! (and Vertical Wall hanging plantings that we are working on right now!!)



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Box of Rain will be making some BIG UPDATES for 2012!

Box of Rain will become Box of Rain Landscape LLC in January! (mid Feb. at the latest)
(Checks will need to be written out to the new name and we will be sending out an official email to current clients when all changes are in place)

We also will now be able to accept Debit or Credit card payments here on the website through PayPal - and you dont have to have a paypal account to use it.

We are currently working on the Box of Rain Shop on the website!
Plants and Pottery, Tools and Books - we want to sell our favorite things that we have already tested in the field and we know work, as well as make our customers aware of specials we find and can pass on for plants and pottery!

CAD design - We upgraded to CAD design last Fall so we can now do designs faster, make changes easier and can now send the design via email (as well of photos of what the garden will look like when it grows in!)

On the Horizon: I'm currently OBSESSED with vertical plantings and have been doing self study this Winter on how to achieve creating them - This Spring I am going to start creating some small "picture frame" vertical plantings and will have them for view and (hopefully) for sale Summer 2012! Check back in to see how this goes!
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I cant help it, I hate Winter.
Just the part right now - when Seattle has seen a big cold snap and we dont know, but can be pretty sure, that there will be another one.....so you just have to sit on your hands. Which is really hard because it's been such a mild Winter up until now that even the plants got confused and got ahead of themsleves a bit.....(I had a maple BLEED on me 2 weeks ago! - if you dont know what that means email me and I'll explain!)....watching the early buds go black is just painful, even my espallier apple tree started to leaf out a tiny bit - it's on the S. side of the house in a very protected spot and for sure thought it was Spring already just a few weeks ago. Sigh.
So what is a gardener to do? Sit on those hands and especially those pruners until Feb. (with the exception of your deciduous trees of course, but it's getting real close to the end of that pruning season so get on it.) The urge to cut back the grasses and the foliage you left up on the perennials is strong, but hold on just a few more weeks! If we do get another cold snap that natural cover is the best thing for the plants.
For the more delicate plants that wont take the cold you should provide a little extra cover, like a pile of leaves. If it gets really cold go out and put a sheet, or hay, or fern fronds, or something to shield those plants each night before the temps drop.....and take them back off the next day when it gets above freezing (if it doesn't go above freezing leave it on for the day) This is a serious commitment but if you want your Gunnera, (for example) to live over the Winter and have those 5 foot leaves next Summer......you have to protect those plants.
(My Gunnera is wrapped in: it's own leaves from the Summer, which I just piled ontop of the plant and did not break off the stems and then fern fronds over the leaves.....then I also created a 'tee-pee' of sticks over the plant which I drape a old down filled sleeping bag for night and day time cold snaps......It's kinda nuts but so far it is still alive in there!)
Think Spring!!
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 Lawn:

If you have read my earlier posts you know I think you are crazy to still have the big lawn you think needs to look perfectly green all the time! But if you do have a lawn and you were good and watered it sparingly through the hot summer months you are definitely noticing that it is greening up on its own now that some fall rains have started.

The lawn is coming out of it's natural dormancy period right now and that makes it a great time to rake out the thatch from this summer and give it a fertilizing. Fall is the best time to fertilize the lawn and be sure to use organic fertilizer (because we are feeding the soil, not the grass itself) and use the rate described on the bag as a guide, but don't worry about any fancy applicators or the amounts too much, just throw it liberally around and water in well.

Fertilizing the Gardens:
In general a mature garden that is being mulched on a regular basis will not need any supplemental fertilizing- and too much can create unnatural growth that is unhealthy and unsustainable so if things are not as green or lush as you would like them to be try a year of mulching and proper watering before you use any fertilizers. If there is a deficiency in the soil and the plants still look "sick" consult a gardener (ME) to help you diagnose the problem. Throwing fertilizers around usually ends up hurting more than helping. In a new landscape the soil should have been fertilized upon planting and can be gently fertilized the next fall as well - usually two to three "doses" of an organic fertilizer coupled with regular mulching is enough to restart the natural biotic web of food production in the root zone that then will sustain itself with regular mulching.

　
Perennials:
Cutting back the perennials is a standard of fall clean up but it needs to be done at the right time for the best growth for the next year. Remember that the leaves of your daylily or daisy etc. are making food for storage during the winter for the plant and should be left on as long as they are still green. Cutting back the whole plant after it is done flowering robs the plant of this important food gathering time so wait until they die back on their own or the first frost browns them. You can of course leave the foliage on the plant until Spring as the dead foliage is the plants natural protector from cold - but some find it unsightly and it can create a habitat for slugs and other critters to live over winter - so better to cut it back when it is ready and then mulch for a cleaned up garden look.

Leaves:
Once all the leaves have come down you can either use them for mulch thru the winter or compost them. Be sure to rake them off of the tops of plants and shake them off of the shrubs. To use as mulch spread the leaves to a depth of no more than 2-3 inches on the bare soil areas of your garden. Leaves do an excellent job of protecting your soil from harsh winter rains and protects the shallow root zone of perennials and bulbs. But don't smother your perennials with leaves, rather just apply them as mulch right up to the perennials base. In severe cold weather save a pile of leaves in a compost heap that you can place on top of perennials during cold snaps and take them off when the worst has passed. In the Spring when the first bulbs start to come up rake up all the leaves from the beds and pile them to compost and be dug into the soil when you do any future planting or transplanting.

Pruning:
Lots of people let the garden go in the later summer and then do a bunch of pruning and cutting back of summer growth when they clean up for fall. However Fall is not a good time to prune. There are a small host of plants that can be pruned in the fall but in general you don't want to be doing any big pruning and certainly NO renovation pruning in the Fall. All your Spring or Summer flowering shrubs should have been pruned by now and your deciduous trees and shrubs will be running sap as they start to go dormant for the winter so fall is a very detrimental time to prune those plants. (Maples especially) Wait until winter for the deciduous plants.

If you prune any of your Spring flowering shrubs in fall you will be pruning off where the buds have set up, or will be setting up, for the coming Springs bloom. If you have to make some cuts then just cut what is really in the way - for example; you have a few branches that grew over the phone line this summer and your worried a winter snow on those branches might put undue weight on the lines. Take off as little as possible to relieve the line but don't prune the whole tree right now and only do as few cuts as possible to relieve the immediate problem. Then wait until winter to take any big cuts needed.

Weeding:
Fall is one of the best times of the year to weed, because with weed control it is all about getting out the weeds before they set seed. Summer blooming weeds are full of seeds that are drying on the vine this minute and the next wind or rain scatters them far and wide. So concentrate on getting at the weeds hard core in the fall....and get to any that are in bloom or just about done blooming as soon as you can so they don't scatter seeds. Learning to see when certain trouble weeds bloom and eradicating them before they do is a great tool for seriously diminishing your weed problems.

Plant bulbs:
Wait until Oct., at the earliest, to plant bulbs - especially in a predicted El Nino winter (when it is warmer than normal in the Fall). Bulbs need to be kept chilled until you plant them, in a garage or a shady spot that gets no sun at all, then they should not be put in the ground until the soil temps are constantly low enough to keep the bulbs from warming and thinking it is time to grow.

One good rule of thumb for proper planting depth to follow is to plant the bulb half as deep as the height of the flower that bulb will produce. So a short little 3 inch Crocus should only be planted 1.5 inches deep and a tall 1 foot tulip should be planted 6 inches deep.

Enjoy:
If you have been working on achieving diversity in your garden then you will have a large array of plants that will be putting on their best show this time of year as they change into winter outfits. Colors changes, berries come from summer flowers, seed pods look beautiful with the dew on them and scents all have their best moments in the fall.

Here's a tip for a great tree to plant if you like scents in the garden and gorgeous fall color; The dried fallen leaves of the Katsura tree ( Cercidiphyllum japonicum) smell like cotton candy when shuffled through! I kid you not - and it is strong, not one of those "oh I kinda smell it" smells! The fall leaf color of this tree is also amazing.

 
Native Plantings 05/23/2011
 
 
Native Plantings 05/23/2011
 
Native plantings are the best of all worlds.
Beautiful, extremely low maintenance, economical, water efficient and benefits the environment.
Native plants, once established, require little help to thrive IF properly planned. They will attract native species of bird and butterfly, handle the native weather (like our varying situation here in the Pacific Northwest - drenching rains to a few months of drought ) and require much less prep work since they don't need fluffy beds of worked soil to do well.

For the Pacific Northwest garden, here is a quick list of of native plants for each layer of the garden that are sure to please!

TREES: Acer Circinatum ( Vine Maple) Cornus nuttallii (Pacific Dogwood) Tsuga mertensiana (Mountain Hemlock)

SHRUBS: Cornus stolonifera(Redtwig Dogwood) Gaultheria shallon(Salal) Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape) Ribes sanguineum(Pink Winter Currant) Vaccinium ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry)

GROUND COVERS: Cornus canadensis(Bunchberry) Fragaria chiloensis (Beach Strawberry) Asarum caudatum (Wild Ginger) Maianthemum dilatatum (False Lily-of-the-Valley)

PERENNIALS, FERNS and GRASSES: Aquilegia formosa (Western Columbine) Blechnum spicant (Deer Fern) Dodecatheon (Shooting Star) Fritillaria camschatcensis (Black Lily) Iris, Pacific Coast (Pacific Coast Iris) Lilium columbianum(Columbian Lily)Smilacina racemosa (False Solomon's Seal) Trillium ovatum (Wake Robin)

Your yard may offer enough diversity in growing conditions to open up the palette of natives you can plant too as well; a hot dry rockery or well drained slope will be the perfect environment for some, while a low damp spot or shady area is perfect for others.

Native plants will thrive with a good start and good care as they establish. Here are a few tips to get you going:

When purchasing container grown plants choose young plants that are not root bound in the pot - a young plant will adapt much more successfully than a large plant or one that is already root bound. As with most plants, and especially with trees, planting when the plant is young is best as they given the chance to adapt to the specific climate of your garden as they mature.
Do check that  your native plants have been harvested in an ethically sound practice. If your source is your gardener you should be sure they are licensed so they are able to get plants from the proper sources. (as in not just going out in to the woods and digging stuff up.......this happens and was actually becoming a problem in some of the local parks)

Water immediately after planting being sure to saturate the soil - this eases the stress of planting and helps to settle the soil around the root ball, ensuring there are no large air pockets under the plant.

Water evenly and steadily the first two summers- don't inundate them with water, but don't let them dry out. During the first two years your natives will be doing mostly root work, growing wide for stability before putting on height and growing deep to search for water.

After two years, assuming they have been planted where the natural conditions suit them, native plants usually don't need any supplemental watering in the summer.

In general native plants need no fertilizer - and in some cases applying fertilizer may cause unnatural bursts of growth resulting in weak, poorly matured plants.

Mulching is good, BUT make sure the mulch is not piled up around the base of the plant - burying the crown of the root ball under too much mulch can result in crown rot.