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Gardening

Fall is time to add color to your yard

This fall weather is great for yard work. While cleaning out the plant bed in the southeast corner of my yard, I noticed that one of the back supports of the wooden swing is rotting away. Instead of replacing it, I think once it gives out I'll remove the swing and use the A-frame support as an area to hang more orchids. See how cleverly I continue to find more space to add a few more orchids? The frame is in great shape. When I purchased the swing, I placed each of the legs on a concrete stepping stone. This has kept them from water damage and it has added years to its life.

By MARY COLLISTER
Published November 4, 2005

This swing is not within sight of the lanai, so it will be a perfect location for those orchids that are not blooming. Once they start blooming, I can move the plant to a stand I have on the lanai.

A large maple tree anchors the plant bed where the swing is located. This maple constantly sends up branches from the base of the trunk. I don't know why this tree does it, when the other maple in the back yard has never sent up such suckers. I spent a few minutes cutting these branches down to ground level but I know in a couple of months I will have to repeat the chore. Just removing those haphazard branches tidies up the bed.

I also trimmed up the jasmine a bit and wrapped some of the longer branches around the top of the swing support. I had recently weeded in the back yard so there were only a few of these pesky plants to remove. The cool weather has slowed down the growth of the weeds.

After cleaning up this bed I took a slow walk around the yard and, of course, found a number of areas where I can tuck some annual color. I made a mental note of what I might plant but will be easily swayed by what looks appealing to me when I head to the garden center. I always like to add some yellows and oranges, as these colors just seem to signal fall to me.

I have three or four pockets in the front yard where I will be adding some color. I think I will add some chrysanthemums and a mounded lantana.

As I look out my front window, I see the red fountain grass and remembered that I had wanted to cut that down. The heavy rain and wind we had from Hurricane Wilma really beat them down. It never hurts to cut them all the way to ground level. They will grow quickly to 2 to 3 feet tall again. This time of year it may slow them down a little, but a good trimming keeps them neater and gets rid of the dead stems. I will attack those one evening this week, as the six small plants will be quickly dispatched using a small handsaw.

The only other problem I had from the storm was my bougainvillea that also is in the front yard. The plant is trained as a standard. The trunk of the plant is only about one-half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter and is about 61/2 feet tall. This makes it very top heavy and I have had trouble keeping it upright in strong winds. It usually ends up lying on the ground. The stem is flexible so it has not broken. I now have driven three stakes into the ground around the stem. I then took a strong tine and wrapped it around the three stakes the entire height of the trunk. This looks like it will keep it upright.

The three stakes wrapped with tine will give the trunk room to move without the weight of the head pulling it over. This movement will help strengthen the cell walls. If you tightly wrap a trunk (whether a plant being trained as a standard or a tree) to a stake and don't allow for some movement, the trunk will not strengthen.

The only other chore necessary after the storm was picking up a few small branches from the maple trees in the back yard. I planted these trees when we moved here 13 years ago. The maple tree is definitely one of those situations of"if I knew then what I know now." I was new to the South and specifically to Florida; therefore, to Florida gardening. I wish someone had told me that the maple was probably not a good choice. I have found that they are easily damaged in the wind and just seem to be aging quickly. I don't see these two trees lasting many more years. I am glad they are not close to the house and when they decide their time is up should not inflict damage on thestructure. I would not plant maples now.

A neighbor has two maples in her front yard and there is no other way to describe them except "ugly." The tops have blown off both of them. Random branches have been lost to our many storms so their shape is extremely irregular and unappealing. I think the cost of removing and replacing them is the only thing keeping these maples in the neighborhood!

The shape of these trees is a good reason to look at mature landscapes when you are planning a new installation or a major renovation. As I drive around, I notice the maples and see that many of them have suffered in much the same way as mine.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 08:48:08]