windows movie version

Here it is:

Inspiring Design

Lisa's Design Movie

Lisa's movie is on the web in Quick Time format. It will automatically open on Macs but on Windows machines, unless you have or install QT you will not be able to view it, and depending on your browser it may still not work. Please let me know if you are able or unable to view it. I am also posting a version that will work in all Windows Explorer browsers but it will not be up for a another day or two. If you are on dialup then you will also have trouble viewing it. Let me know if you are having trouble and I will do what I can to make it available. It is certainly worth viewing so please do try. You will also need speakers to hear the sound.

Inspiring Design Movie

Sowing Seed

Setting Up:



Filling Pots:



Finishing Pots and Sowing Seed:




Watering In:

Grafting Russian Olive and Chokecherry

I have access to fine specimens of grafting. Two i would like to try is grafting Black Cherry, Prunus serotina, to Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana, both are in the same subgenus.

I'm not sure what i have but it might be Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia, but it could be Silverberry, Elaeagnus commutata. I want to see if a Goumi, Elaeagnus multiflora, could be grafted onto our invasive Russian olive or native silverberry.

also, are there native relatives of the Goji berry here?

Lisas Plant List

APPEARING SOON IN THIS SPOT- LISAS FAVORITE PLANTS WITH IMAGE GALLERY!

Lisa's pdfs on our page- Google still not working

Here are the files posted on our class page:

Design Concepts

Design Examples

Design Example 1
Design Example 2
Design Example 3

Species for a living deer fence

I am looking for ideas for a living physical and chemical barriers for use in a large unprotected garden. Preferably any that detere deer from going over or through it.
The area is right next to a native sage/pinion/juniper habitat. bringing in native bushes, cacti would be desirable to blend this barrier into the background, but i would like to incorporate cultivated sunflowers and running bamboos to physically block sight of the garden (and slow wind, provide shade).

any ideas?

Bulb tricks and deer-proof bulbs

An article I wrote for the Durango Herald, appearing on Oct. 27, 2005. Thought you might like it. - Mike Smedley


Dig deep and reap a big payoff from spring bulbs

Just be thankful it's not Holland in the 1630s, when "Tulipomania" reached its most absurd zenith. Back then, tulips were the country's highest status symbol, and countless Dutch citizens spent everything they had plus took on massive debt to invest in bulb futures. Such greedy speculation drove prices to obscene levels. One large bulb of the tulip variety, "Admiral van Enkhuijsen," sold for 5,400 guilders, the equivalent of 15 years' wages for the average Amsterdam bricklayer. The bubble burst in 1637. Plunging prices drove the country and many people to near economic ruin. Today you can buy premium tulip bulbs for less than 75 cents.

Four Corners gardeners are just as mad for tulips and other fall-planted flower bulbs. But the impetus is springtime splendor rather than financial gain. Beauty is its own reward, and it's easy to become smitten. Bulbs are among the toughest, most abuse-resistant of flowers, offering waves of bold, bright colors when they’re needed most. All you have to do is four basic things:

• Plant most bulbs three times as deep as the widest part of the bulb, pointy side up.
• Don’t grow bulbs where they will be soggy all the time. Virtually all bulbs hate “wet feet.” However, water the ground thoroughly after planting.
• Give bulbs a proper home. Some prefer shadier locations or “woodland” areas under trees (winter aconites, snowdrops and scilla), while others do better in the sun (tulips and alliums). Daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths will flower in part shade or full sun.
• Don’t braid, fold over or cut off the fading foliage after flowering unless you want to kill your bulbs.

That’s pretty much it. The ridiculous ease of bulb gardening prompted one arrogant wag to call bulbs “the garden equivalent of fast food.” Bulbs are certainly care-free and gratifying. But the color explosion of 1,000 blooming crocuses during March’s early gloom is a far cry from a Happy Meal. I’d call bulbs the ultimate savings account, with minimal upfront investment that offers huge payoffs in outrageous flowers in just six months. And that’s the catch.

In order to have a fabulous spring bulb garden, you have to plant now, when the soil is cooler, but at least six weeks before the ground freezes. In Durango, planting bulbs around Halloween is ideal. I’ve even planted small-species tulips on Thanksgiving Day with success that spring, but that’s really pushing it.

While you want the earth to be soft when you plant, you want your bulbs to be firm. A squishy bulb is a dead bulb. Size matters. Select the biggest bulbs available. Runt bulbs mean smaller or fewer flowers. You also get what you pay for, so it’s best to purchase top-quality bulbs, corms and tuberous roots from knowledgeable merchants like Durango Nursery & Supply, Native Roots Garden Center, San Juan Mountain Nurseries and other professionals.

A quick check of area nurseries showed good last-minute selection on daffodils, crocuses, alliums, hyacinth, iris, grape hyacinth and many varieties and colors of early, mid-season and late-blooming tulips. But stocks are dwindling fast. Make your final bulb run ASAP.

Buy unfamiliar tulips like the green-flowered Groenland or “Viridiflora” variety, the fringe-petaled “parrot” type, a lily-flowered variety or a small wildish “species” tulip. Try the exotics. The tropical-looking Crown Imperial, “Fritillaria imperialis Rubra maxima,” is a showstopper. There’s always a place for a couple dozen squills, crocuses or snowdrops. The globes of alliums would look smashing in a border or amid shrubs. Most bulbs are perennial, which means they come back for years. Ask your nursery pro about bulbs that “naturalize.”

The point is, go crazy with bulbs. Every gardener I know sadly admits in April they should have planted more bulbs. Last season, I planted more than 2,000 bulbs in my tiny townhouse garden. The show was spectacular. This year, I found room for 400 more. I hope that will be enough. We’ll find out in spring.


Oh deer! Tricks to thwart the petal snatchers

Many Southwest Colorado gardeners have to deal with the scourge of deer.These hungry animals can wipe out a garden in one night, and tulips especially are deer candy. But that’s no reason not to plant bulbs. There are several varieties that deer shun. Some are actually poisonous to the four-legged marauders.

Snow drops (galanthus), glory-of-the-snow (chionodoxa), star flower (Ipheion uniflorum), all daffodils, all alliums, grape hyacinth (muscari), large flowering hyacinths and squills (scilla siberica) are the generally accepted "deer-proof" bulbs.

But a starving deer after a harsh winter might eat anything in spring. As bulb expert and author Rob Proctor said, "The only deer not interested in your bulbs is headed down the highway strapped to the hood of a pickup."

Various deer repellants have been effective in protecting my tulips, including Deer-Off and Bobbex. You must apply repellants every third day during spring or deer will eat the top new growth. Caches of predator urine seem to have worked last winter. (Really. It’s available in coyote, bobcat or wolf from legupenterprises.com.) I wouldn’t trust my garden protection to scatterings of human hair and bars of Irish Spring soap, although some say these are effective too. An 8-foot-high fence is the only sure-fire way to keep deer at bay.

Just a heads up... This weekend will be absolutely ideal for planting species tulips. Species tulips are the small tulips from the "Stans." (Northern Pakistan, Kurdistan, Uzbekistan, etc... the Near East countries along the Silk Routes from which all tulips trace their heritage.) Species (or "wild") tulips are tough as nails, reproduce by offsets and by seeds, and are about the size of crocus. Most bloom early here (April-ish, depending on the weather and the tulip). And yes, now is the best time to plant! The ground is moist and workable, and species tulips can go in the ground very late. I have planted them as late as Thanksgiving with success. They like crappy soil, hot and dry summers and freezing winters. These are conditions we can provide quite easily! I called around and found that Durango Nursery and Supply has a few: Tulipa chrysantha and T. clusiana (slim, elegant tulips with red stripes on the outside of yellow flowers – 9 inches tall) and some T. saxatilis- pink flowering and best grown in confined spaces, such as between or against some rocks. Saxatilis require dry in summer and incinerating heat. Seriously. These bulbs demand a harsh conditition. When happy, they will spread via roots, forming happy colonies that last for years. At Native Roots, there are T. turkistanica (tiny white and yellow multiflowering and very early bloomer - in the first photo); T. batalinii 'Bronze Charm' (a May-blooming delightful bulb colored sulfur and with very modest leaves that lie flat to the ground. They like it dry and like lots of sun. It is in the second photo above with the giant leaves of Salvia argentea or silver sage); and T. 'Lilac Wonder' (which looks like the Saxatilis tulip, but is less demanding and with a sunny yellow interior.... a great friendly tulip!)

Monday's snows pretty much flattened the fall crocus, but here is a photo for reminiscing.

Design Notes for Nov. 12 class

Here are Lisa's notes for Wednesday:

Design Notes

Alpines for the Four Corners

Here are some of last night's fotos.

You may find watching the slides easier at the gallery itself:

that is also the link that pops up in the lower left corner (Rockies Tundra)

test for images2

test for images

Fall-blooming crocus

Fall-blooming crocus, (Crocus speciosus), offer a splash of late season color. Here is a photo from Saturday evening, just before sunset. These bulbs flower without foliage in autumn; in springtime, they send up the typical grass-like crocus follage but no flowers. They naturalize when happy, which can be just about anywhere except in soggy, soil or well-watered gardens. They like to be bone-dry during summer dormancy.

checking in

Lisa and Jeff,

Just wanted to let you know that I am in and using this blog site. Good job!

Dianne

until google works

Or for those who don't want to have to get a google account, I have also put the notes here for now.

Our own download page for class notes

Native Lawns

FLAT SQUARE LAWNS ARE BORING!!!

• Add soil and contour or work existing soil and give the ground some interesting levels. That are still mower-friendly if you plan to mow.
• Add boulders to offer extra seating or a place to contemplate.
• Add obelisk(s) or a sculptural trellis to lift a trumpetvine or fall clematis from the sea of green
• Use tall ornamental grasses to artistically lead you from the one end of lawn to the other or to act as an interior green fence or structural accents. In a sea of green grasses, tufts of blue fescue or little bluestem can be powerful in drifts or as stunning artful accents.
• Add small spring and fall bulbs Crocus (spring/fall), dwf daffodils, species tulips, muscari, snowdrops to warm-season lawns to bring color to the dormant grasses.
• Include wildflowers or preferably a single species to dress up a wild lawn (California Poppy, Buckwheats-Eriogonums),
• Naturalize with shrubs like rabbitbrush, manzanita, sages (including salvias), yucca, grolow or rocky mt. sumac. These work best in the unmowed lawn or grouped within lawn left as unmowed islands.

Here are some mixes that have worked well in Durango:

BUFFALO/BLUE GRAMA This mix will work well up to 8,000 ft elevation. This mix will not need soil amendments, fertilizing, mowing is minimal if at all and will look great with just the occasional watering once established. Blue grama germinates first, buffalo fills in over time. Buffalograss and blue grama lawns can remain green for weeks without watering, even during the hottest summer weather. Because the window of green is pretty small (90 days or less) adding other plants will keep this lawn interesting.
Bouteloua gracilis Blue Grama
Buchloe dactyloides Buffalograss

SHORT NATIVE MIX This mix offers a soft look when left unmowed. Wildflowers and shrubs like rabbitbrush, sage, grolow sumac, wild rose, yucca and manzanita look great growing out of it. An annual fall mowing is all that is needed for maintenance.

Festuca ovina Sheep fescue
Bouteloua curtipendula Side Oats Grama
Koeleria cristata Junegrass
Bouteloua gracilis Blue Grama
Festuca arizonica Arizona Fescue
Festuca longifolia Hard Fescue

SHADY DRY NATIVE LAWN
This can be a “patch’ in shady bluegrass areas.
Festuca ovina Sheep fescue
Festuca longifolia Hard fescue
Festuca rubra Creeping Red fescue

DRYLAND MIX
This mix can be used in the home landscape as an ornamental meadow, wildflowers complement and naturalize easy. Can be mowed high to maintain a lawn-like look, when desired. Left unmowed at season’s end offers many colorful foliages and ornamental seedheads.

Bouteloua curtipendula Side Oats Grama
Bouteloua gracilis Blue Gram
Stipa hymenioides Indian Rice Grass
Hilaria jamesii Galleta Grass
Festuca ovina Sheep Fescue
Adropogon scoparius Little Bluestem

Base Map Example

Base Map Example

for now requires a google account that is free

Native Grass Lawns pdf

Here is Lisa's lecture from yesterday evening. If you would like the original pdf please let us know and we'll send it.

Jeff

Native Grasses


for now requires a google account that is free

Create a Basemap

The base map is an accurate representation of your existing landscape, scaled, showing all existing permanent hard or softscape features such as sheds, paths, rocks, or large trees and shrubs. The basemap is a plain view drawing which is a birds-eye view of your landscape. Graph paper helps make accurate measurements and makes it easier to calculate areas. Each square can be used to represent a specific dimension. For example, one square equals one square foot. You can purchase larger sheets of graph paper or attach several 8.5 x 11” pieces together.

Mapping

Current property maps and base information are often found on a property survey, subdivision plat, deed or available from the local planning office. If this is not available, then grab a tape measure and head outside. For this job, a 100-foot measuring tape is helpful.

1. Place an arrow indicating the direction of North.

2. Locate the property corner markers. If none are found, estimate their locations.

3. Measure from each corner point (outlining your property) and record this on a sketch of the property. Make the sketch approximately the shape of the property. (If the property is too large to measure, consider mapping just the area chosen for the landscape project.)

4. Measure streets and sidewalks in relation to the property lines before locating the house.

5. Take measurements of the house by starting at a corner. Sketch in the approximate outline, or footprint.

6. Record distances between each corner on the sketch.

7. Measure from corners of house to street or boundary. Once the house is measured on all sides and it’s position on the property, you can transfer this information accurately on your graph paper.

8. Now you can record measurements of all the remaining features of the existing landscape

the seven principles

Overview- what is Xeriscape™ ?
Here is a quotation from the inventor, the Colorado Waterwise Council:
"What is Xeriscape? This question confuses many people who expect Xeriscape to be a specific look or specific group of plants. Xeriscape is actually a combination of seven common-sense gardening principles that save water while creating a lush and colorful landscape. These principles are:

Plan and Design
Create Practical Turf Areas
Select and Group Plants Appropriately
Improve the Soil
Mulch
Irrigate Efficiently
Maintain the Landscape

plant gallery

Datura meteloides- fragrant, textural, night blooming.

Claret Cup- like glowing embers on a cold night.

Why we grow Rabbitbrush.

A perfect marriage of art and nature.

FLC Xeriscape Workshop 2008

Thank you all for coming to our first class. Once again, we apologise for the slow start and we promise to make everything like clockwork in the future.

To recapitulate- xeriscape is one expression of our own garden dreams. It can incorporate many elements and will be successful as long as we think how to make them work as a whole- group like elements, prepare the space for them, and maintain them. This can include everything from water features to unwatered areas and we can find plants and other elements to make it all work.

A garden can be a celebration, a repose, a refuge, and an inspiration. It can be a lifesaver.

We look forward to seeing you all next week!

Jeff & Lisa