I have very bad rocky, clay soil. To dig in this is like prison work. We rototilled the area and put in topsoil and now it is like quicksand. I am going to build up my beds but want to break some up to get trees and other plants to take root. What are you supposed to use or do with hard clay? I love plants, and would like to get gardening, but I can’t think of how to solve this problem.
There is no immediate solution. It may take a few years of adding good amounts of organic matter and compost to improve the soil quality. Here is some information that may help you along the way.
A Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, ‘The well-made bed: Pile on the compost’ by Ann Lovejoy, provides some tips for improving your soil with compost.
Washington State University Extension horticulture professor Linda Chalker-Scott has a cautionary tale on how NOT to amend clay soil, plus tips on improving it slowly over time.
Fine Gardening has an online article on improving clay soil.
Lastly, a Home and Garden Television article entitled, “How to plant in rocky soil” may help you overcome the rockiness of your yard.
I live in a condo. The conifers on the site are beginning to obstruct the view of the neighbors. Our covenant with these neighbors says trees must not exceed a height of 25 feet. Last year several of the conifers were topped and others removed. Our concern now is that we may have to either top or remove more trees. We don’t want to block the neighbors’ view but we also don’t want to destabilize the ground – we all live on a hillside. What can we do over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years to decrease the number of conifers and replace them with other trees that will be neighbor-friendly and keep our hill stable?
The short answer is to plant shrubs and groundcovers.
The long answer is that slope stabilization is a serious concern and deserves expert advice. Get started in your research by reading the articles produced by the Washington Department of Ecology:
Slope Stabilization and Control Using Vegetation.
Your condo association may want to hire a consulting arborist and/or a civil engineer (“To locate technical experts such as experienced registered engineers specializing in geotechnical and/or drainage projects, use local telephone directories or call the Seattle or Kitsap branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for membership references.” from DOE site)
For an arborist referral try:
Plant Amnesty
The Pacific Northwest chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture has information about hiring an arborist.
The International Society of Arboriculture can also help to narrow the search to your area.
While living in Japan and practicing flower arrangement, I often used a branch known as ossified broom. It was always available at flower stores there. The color is gray-green, has the typical multiple straight stems as Scotch Broom but also had some thick and twisted branches that are very attractive in arrangements. I would like to plant it so that I would have a ready supply. Can you help me find the correct name?
I consulted a number of books on Japanese flower arrangement, including The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide to Japanese Ikebana, by Shozo Sato (Harry N. Abrams, 1965). ‘Broom’ may be the common name of a number of different plants, such as Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), and broom cypress (Kochia scoparia). Unfortunately, these plants are considered noxious weeds in the State of Washington.
You may want to consider a type of broom (Genista or Cytisus) that is not considered invasive.
From your description of the branches, I wonder if the appearance would be similar to Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (Henry Lauder’s walking stick).
I am an Ecologist with Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, a non-profit stream restoration organization. I am creating a planting plan for a golf course in Snohomish County. My constraints: Low-growing native shrubs with extensive root systems to help filter out the golf course irrigation water before it enters the stream. Willow would be an obvious choice, but it would grow too tall and out of control. I was looking at such species as Snowberry (Symphoricarpos), Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana), Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), etc. It would have to be a FAC+ (streams and wetlands). Any thoughts?
FAC+ is a wetland indicator status term meaning “Facultative,” i.e., more likely to occur in wetlands but also found in non-wetlands.
I found a list in Restoring Wetlands in Washington Publ#93-17 and picked out the FAC-identified ones, eliminating all the tall trees and shrubs. Symphoricarpos (Snowberry) would be a good option, but Rosa nutkana (Nootka Rose) and Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry) get too big for your purposes. A different rose I could recommend is Rosa gymnocarpa (Baldhip Rose). Many of the following recommendations are grasses of one sort or another. (See the USDA Wetland Indicator status definitions.)
Allium geyeri (non-native) FACU
Athyrium filix femina FAC
Carex aperta (non-native) FACW
Carex stipata FACW
Deschampsia caespitosa FACW
Juncus effusus and ensifolius FACW
Ledum glandulosum FACW
Sambucus racemosa var. melanocarpa FACU
Spirea douglasii FACW
You might also try the Snohomish County Conservation District website.
I have an uncommon maple (Acer ukuruduense) that I planted two years ago, and which one year ago started sending out long stems from the base, so that now it has a vase shape. One month ago the main (original) stem turned black almost to the ground (the bottom two feet or so are still green), and all its leaves turned brown and fell off. Some of the buds still seem viable, but it seems to be dying at the tips. The rest of the plant is so far showing no signs of trouble. I have not been able to figure out what is going on.
Questions:
1. What is causing this?
2. What, if anything, did I do wrong, and what can I do differently?
3. Might this problem spread to other trees: I have several other small maples in the vicinity.
Other information: The tree is so far just surrounded by bare dirt. This year I watered it frequently with a soaker hose throughout the summer, but last year I was not watering it regularly. It is in full sun, which it is supposed to like.
I am having trouble growing Silene (do not know the species). It has magenta flowers with notched petals on two foot stems and hairy basal foliage. I have killed four plants that were planted in four different locations. I am able to keep hundreds of other plants alive in my garden, but not this one! It flowers profusely from mid April through July. Then the leaves start wilting, and before long, it is dead. The only thing I can think of is that it needs superior drainage. Could I be overwatering it?
You may have one of the annual types of Silene, which die after setting seed. It is really hard to know for sure since there are over 500 species. You may be able to identify your Silene in the book Lychnis and Silene in the Garden, by J.L. Jones, 1999.
There are some magenta-colored species of Silene with notched petals (Silene dioica and Silene hookeri for example), as you describe. These are alpine or rock garden plants that prefer well-drained conditions and do not like highly acidic soil. It is certainly possible that you have overwatered or that the soil in which they are planted doesn’t drain sharply enough or is too acidic.
My question is about Oplopanax horridus. I planted one last winter in deep shade. It has lost its leaves and appears to have gone dormant. 1) Does devil’s club go dormant in the winter? 2) If not, then could it come back with watering in the winter climate or am I better to rip it out and put in another one? 3) How frequently should devil’s club be watered in a normal summer and assuming good loam soil?
Devil’s club does lose its leaves in the winter. Quoting from the source cited below, it is hardy down to at least 5 degrees F, although the young growth is likely to be cut back by spring frosts…On cool moist soils, it forms tall, impenetrable thickets…Plant in sun or part-shade.
(Source: The New Royal Horticulture Society Dictionary of Gardening, Vol.3, 1992, p. 378)
Additionally, devil’s club “grows in well-drained to poorly drained soils with sandy, silty, or loamy textures,” which indicates that it will appreciate regular watering that ensures moist soil in the summer.
(Source: Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants, R. Rose, et al, 1998, p. 129)
![[Pistacia] cover](https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/graphix/Pistacia.jpg)
Can you tell me the botanical name of the tree that produces these oil-rich turquoise lentil-sized seeds? The trees grow in Amadiya, on a high plateau in Northern Iraq, near the border with Turkey. I grew up snacking on the seeds, and I know the Neo-Aramaic and Arabic name (butma or butum) for it, but not the scientific name.
The tree is a species of Pistacia, most likely Pistacia atlantica ssp. (subspecies) kurdica. There are various English common names for the tree, including terebinth, Persian turpentine tree, and Mount Atlas mastic tree. There is a documented population of this subspecies of Pistacia growing in the town of Amadiya, Iraq. (It does well on steep, dry slopes in high elevations.) These trees are often found growing in association with oak and walnut trees. (This document uses the synonym, Pistacia eurycarpa).
According to Avinoam Danin’s Plant Stories on Flora of Israel Online, only female trees of this dioecious tree produce fruits which are red when young, turning turquoise once successfully pollinated. “When the thin skin is removed the thin but hard brownish stone is reached. When the seed is opened, its green food reservoir is seen. In color it resembles the seed inside the pistachio nut. […] The common name in Arabic for three of the species known in our area is ‘butum.’ This name has preserved the ancient Talmudic name ‘botnim’ or ‘botnah.’ The scientific name Pistacia is also a derivative of a vernacular name [used in Iran].” Danin mentions that the fruits are gathered in fall, dried, and sold in spice shops in Israel. They are also pulverized and used to flavor special sweet cakes.
The tree has a long history in the Middle East, where it can be traced back to the Hebrew bible, and to stone steles describing Mesopotamian gardens and palaces.
Some sources, such as this information from University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, say the fruit of Pistacia atlantica is not eaten “directly” (because it tastes of turpentine to some palates), but taste is subjective and varies in different cultures.
There are many medicinal and ethnobotanical uses of this plant’s fruit and resin.
I have planted petunias over tulip bulbs. Is that o.k., and also, how and when can I fertilize tulips this fall?
Your idea of planting a later blooming plant over the tulips is just fine. It will conceal the dying foliage nicely. According to The Plant Care Manual by Stefan Buczacki (Crown,1993), the time to fertilize tulips–if you need to fertilize them at all–is early spring. They can be mulched (with compost, for example) in early fall and spring, and given liquid feed 2-3 times after blooming and while still in full leaf.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Spring-Blooming Bulbs (2002) gives the following general advice:
“Most bulbs do better with regular fertilizing, and bulb fertilizer is one good choice. Some gardeners prefer to use bone meal (though the way it is processed today saps most of its nutrients) or rock phosphate. Even better is a healthy dose of compost–in fact, if you regularly improve the overall quality of your soil with compost and other organic amendments, you don’t have to provide much fertilizer for most bulbs. Mix compost or fertilizer into the soil when you’re planting or top-dress, following label directions. to help boost the bulbs for next year’s bloom, you can also top-dress the soil in spring after blooming. Remember to work any fertilizers well into the soil, and avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers (like lawn fertilizer).”
You may not need to fertilize your tulips if they are the showy varieties (the ones that don’t come back year after year in the garden). Seattle-area gardening expert Ciscoe Morris says the following:
“Don’t fertilize spring-blooming bulbs if you’re going to replace them next fall. Most books recommend adding bone meal and fertilizer whenever you plant spring-blooming bulbs. That’s only necessary if the bulbs you’re planting are the kind that tend to naturalize and return to bloom every spring for years to come. Those bulbs not only need fertilizing at planting time, but also should be fed every spring thereafter. On the other hand, most of the big, showy tulips are ill-suited for our rainy cold winters and rarely perform well the second year. If, like most of us, you treat them as annuals and replace the bulbs every year, don’t waste time and money fertilizing them. These bulbs already contain everything they need to grow and bloom, and as long as the bulbs don’t rot as the result of poor drainage, and nothing eats them, they’ll put on a great display without the addition of nutrients.”
My onions are forming flower heads. Should I pinch these off or leave them alone? Will I still be able to harvest onions?
Onions that are forming flowers are said to be bolting. This might be due to the fairly cool weather we’ve had. Here is additional information from Iowa State University.
Excerpt:
“Onions will occasionally bolt or produce a flower stalk. Onions bolt as a reaction to cold weather stress. Temperatures under 45 degrees F may cause the onion to bolt when the plant has five or more leaves. Some onions are more or less susceptible to bolting than others and the process is not completely understood. Unfortunately once the onion does bolt, the quality of the onion bulb deteriorates rapidly and it should be harvested and eaten as quickly as possible.”
This community garden page has general information on the phenomenon of bolting. Early planting, mulching, avoiding overfertilizing, and providing consistent watering will all help prevent bolting. Onions respond to cool springs followed by warm weather by bolting. An Oregon State resource on growing onions describes the onion’s development as follows:
“All onions are biennial, meaning that they normally take two years to grow from seed, flower and set seed again.
Onions first grow ‘vegetatively,’ forming roots, leaves and other plant growth. Once these basics are established, the bulb, the part that is generally known as an onion, forms when the day and night lengths reach the proper length for each particular type of onion.
Once an onion bulb forms, there are enough nutrients stored for flowering, or ‘bolting,’ usually occurring during the second year of an onion’s two-year life. Flower formation usually ruins the bulb for harvest as an onion, as the resources of the bulb usually are absorbed to send up the flowering stem.”
You may find this guide to growing onions from the Center for Agroecology at U.C. Santa Cruz helpful. It also mentions temperature in relation to bolting.