Spring has sprung, and with this warmer weather comes our first selection of water plants. If you have a water feature with plants, you have probably been waiting for our plants to arrive! Join us at our pond plant oasis.

For those who have been dreaming of installing a water feature, large or small, here are a few tips to follow. There are three main categories of water plants, and each category of plants fulfills a very particular role in your water garden.

A water garden can be as simple as one pot filled with water and a few water plants, or a small bubbling fountain with room for a few floating plants placed in a quiet corner of your garden next to your favorite chair. It can be as elaborate as a large pond with koi, frogs, and other of nature’s creatures. What do they all have in common? Peaceful serenity and quiet beauty.

Once you have decided upon the scale of your water feature and the area of your garden that it will inhabit, the next step is learning about all of the different water plants and their functions--including beauty, of course.

When you choose plants, apply the same rules that you might to any other area of your garden. Consider color, profile, and the eventual size of the plants. Remember to take into account that some water plants are deciduous, just like some trees and shrubs in your garden. You will want to have a good mixture of evergreen and deciduous (dormant in winter). Don't over-fill your water pond with plants, making it too full and crowding out your favorite plants.

Water plants are categorized or grouped into their "home" locations in and around the pond.

The main types are listed here:

Floating plants: These are divided into two types, those with their roots in the soil and leaves floating, and those that truly just float, leaves and roots both. Examples of the latter are water hyacinth and water lettuce.

Oxygenating plants: These plants are submerged beneath the water surface. Many bloom with small flowers above the water. They are much needed, as they take in the carbon dioxide and release oxygen, necessary for the other plants or for pond life such as fish. Pondweeds and eelgrass are two examples.

Marginal/bog plants: These live at the pond's margins, with their "feet" in the shallow water and their "heads" up out of the water. They prefer water that is 2-6 inches deep. Bog plants are marginal plants, too. They prefer to grow in wet, wet soil rather than in the standing water. Among many examples of marginal plants, here are just a few: canna, sedges, cyperus, Houttuynia cordata, irises, juncus and many more.

Many homeowners revel in the glory of their garden in spring, only to be disappointed when plants start to dry out and look stressed in the heat of summer. The natural reaction is to pour more water into the garden to "moisturize" the plants. This in turn can lead to root rot and/or the continuous lowering of soil temperature to the point that plants aren't stimulated to grow--or just plain die (overwatering is one of the main causes of plant death). But these problems can be greatly reduced or, in many cases, prevented by summer mulching.

The goal of summer mulching is not only to reduce summer heat stress on plants, but to create an environment for plants that will be conducive to good growth. Mulch is to a garden what a roof is to your home. We couldn't heat or air condition the home without the roof. The same seasonal temperature variance occurs in your garden. A 2" layer of mulch not only retains moisture in the soil but it maintains a cooler temperature in the summer and a warmer temperature in the winter.

Mulching also brings many other benefits to the garden. It gives the garden a tidier appearance and greatly improves the growing conditions for plants. Mulch helps suppress weeds and helps to conserve moisture. It creates an environment where earthworms can thrive and enhance the soil's condition. Nature provides this for us in natural settings; when we apply mulch to our garden, we mimic what is naturally done on the forest floor.

The strategy is to stimulate the growth of good soil bacteria, which in turn digest plant foods that the plant will recognize as nutrients and absorb. By keeping moisture in the soil you will attract earthworms and beneficial microbes and bacteria. The earthworms loosen up the soil, easing compaction, while the beneficial microbes help digest nutrients more efficiently, making them more readily available to the plants. Maintaining "moist" soil as opposed to "wet" soil keeps the temperature of the soil at a more consistent level for optimum growth. Mulch also provides a blanket to the soil that protects against soil crusting, as it decomposes and adds humus to the soil.

We recommend spreading a 2" inch layer of mulch or bark over the top of the native soil. There are many mulching materials available. Color, particle size, and nutrient exchange are considerations when choosing your material. Non-organic decorative mulches such as rock or gravel may be an attractive addition in gardens but give nothing back to the soil. Note: make sure not to place mulch right up against plant stems or tree trunks.

When mulching is incorporated with a good organic fertilizing program, the plants in your garden will not only survive the stress of summer and winter, but will thrive in it. Mulch will also give your garden a more "finished" look, adding to its overall beauty.

Can you grow grass in shade?

Answer:

That depends how much shade you actually have. Fescue types of grass will tolerate shade better than most grasses. You can also use a shady blend grass seed, but even shade-tolerant grasses need a certain amount of sunshine to grow. Ultimately, the way you manage your shady lawn is more important than which seed type you select.

Five practices that will help your shade tolerant grass survive in the shade:

• First, mow your grass higher. Grass in the shade should be cut approximately 1/2 to 1 inch higher than the grass growing in full sunlight. This will allow more leaf area to intercept the limited amount of sunlight.
  
• Second, fertilize less often, at half the normal amount so the grass won't try to grow what it can't support.
  
• Third, water more (and deeply) in the hot summer months, so the grass is not stressed by heat.
  
• Fourth, selectively prune and thin limbs of heavy shade producing trees to allow more light to reach your lawn. Remove all limbs below ten feet. Rake and remove leaves or needles before they accumulate.
  
• Finally, try to minimize traffic and activities in the shaded grass areas during the summer months. This will reduce the wear stress on the turf. If the grass is in a path where traffic cannot be avoided, place stepping-stones or pine bark to create a trail.

If you combine these suggestions, you should notice a much healthier lawn. If none of this works, consider replacing your shaded area with shade-loving flowers, groundcover, or mulch.

Potting soil, planting soil, cactus mix, acid mix, harvest mix, soil building compost, rose planting mix. Oh my gosh, this is confusing! Which product do you use and when?

Important piece of information: All of these ‘soils’ or ‘mixes’ are meant to supplement and improve quality and health of the native soil in your garden, except for the potting soil. They are not real ‘soil’ as you read about in Soils 101- Part I. They are not made up of minerals; in fact, most of them do not have a mineral content at all (except for the dolomite and oyster shell pH adjusters).

Man-made, they are composed of organic composts (in different percentages depending upon the product and needs of the intended plants), and other products for fertilizers (source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium or NPK) such as worm castings, chicken manure, bat guano, and kelp meal. The ingredients in any of these products are listed on their packaging in order of greatest to least quantity.

In general, most of the products are also pH adjusted with dolomite and oyster shell limes.

Most of these amendments also contain mycorrhizae, "good" fungi that can live on the roots of your plants carrying out a symbiotic life. The fungi take up nutrients from the soil that the plant needs in turn for an exchange of nutrients from the plant to the fungi. The end result: the fungi increase the root surface area, making plants healthier.

As you read further, you will notice one reoccurring term: Amendment.

Amending your native soil with products such as these will increase the organic compost content, thereby providing habitat for all of the creatures we discussed in Soils 101 – Part I and increasing soil health through the addition of nutrients, air pore space, and much needed fertilizers.

Potting Soil: For indoor/outdoor potting or containers. Most potting soils contain organic ingredients such as peat moss, worm castings, real topsoil, chicken manure, and kelp meal. A percent of perlite in the mixture helps to add air spaces to this man-made soil. Potting soil can be self-sufficient for a plant in a pot. It is not usually mixed with native soil in your garden.

Planting Mix: For soil amendment and/or direct planting into the ground. Most planting mixes contain a blend of natural composted materials such as peat moss, worm castings, chicken manure, bat guano and kelp meal.

Vegetable/Flower Garden Mix: For top dressing, mulching and feeding in your vegetable or flower gardens. Like the planting mix, it is a blend of natural composted materials (such as fir bark and forest humus, etc.), chicken manure, bat guano and kelp meal.

Acid mix: For soil amendment and/or direct planting into the ground. Most planting mixes contain a blend of natural composted materials which include fir bark and sphagnum peat moss, pumice stone, worm castings, chicken manure, bat guano and kelp meal. It is intended for bare-root planting, mulching and soil amending when planting azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons, gardenias, maples, etc.

Rose Planting mix: A different blend/formulation for roses that contains organic composted materials, alfalfa meal and worm castings.

Cactus Mix: For cactus, succulents, palms, and other plants that need very good drainage. This is a mixture of organic forest products, pumice, and sand.

Soil Building Compost: All-purpose organic composted materials including redwood and fir bark, chicken manure, bat guano and kelp meal. The intended use is to break up clay soils and add micro-nutrients to your soil. Used for top-dressing, bare-root planting and mulching.

We hope that you have a little better understanding of these general "soil" product categories. There really is a reason for each of the variations, although some of them can do overlapping jobs. They are not real soil, in the literal sense of the word, but they will improve your soil health significantly, which in turn will create a lovely, healthy garden.

Answer:

Most homeowners bag lawn clippings because they think that the clippings add to the buildup of thatch. This is not true. Clippings that remain on the lawn quickly decompose and release valuable nutrients and beneficial bacteria that actually feed on the thatch layer. Fertilizer needs can be reduced by 20 to 30 percent if the clippings are left on the lawn. The shorter the clippings, the deeper they fall into the turf.

The use of a mulching mower and/or frequent mowing will produce the smallest clippings. If you don't have a mulching mower, consider mowing your lawn twice at one time. This will further reduce the size of the clippings and distribute them deeper into the lawn. Mowing when the grass is dry, and proper fertilization are other ways that will help to prevent an excess buildup of thatch.