Landscaping with Grasses = Unusual Spring Garden

I know, we all – you and me – are craving for the spring flowers. While looking for spring harbingers, despite, or maybe rather in addition to that, I found something else and would like to bring to your attention year-round attractive garden that looks magical even at this most difficult season, end of winter and beginning of spring.

I thought it was worthwhile to present this great example of a well planned plantings, attractive throughout the year, not only when the flowers appears.

See the pictures.

Late February and early March is one of the worst periods in the garden here in Poland, when visually nothing happens, and most plants are bare and sad. Look at this garden, do you find it not attractive?

A well-designed garden looks good throughout the year, such as this one. Though this is the beginning of March and in the gardens there is nothing, apart from the first small harbingers of spring in warmer regions of the country, this garden looks attractive.

The combination of evergreens (boxwood, pachysandra, moss) with deciduous plants (grasses, geraniums, shrubs) gave a unique effect. In December and January, the dried grasses are beautifully rustling in the wind.

Hooray for designers!

If they would add some spring bulbs, I would be completely satisfied.

As the legendary Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf said, you need to plan planting not according to the way they are flowering but the way they are dying. Why? Because most of them are dead for most of their life cycle.

You can admire this great landscape at Qbik in Warsaw, Poland.

  #QbikWarsawPoland #SpringGarden #Landscaping #Landscapingwithgrasses

Santolina on my way, gardening in Algarve, Portugal

Santolina is an evergreen scented shrub. Remember to prune it bravely in the spring to maintain the dense shape. Santolina is Mediterranean native plant, but it will survive in cooler climate as well. Tolerates from 6 climate zone. Very popular in UK gardens, not so popular in Algarve.  

Santolina chamaecyparissus can be planted in stone gardens, because in these harsh conditions it will feel very well. Sparse water needs make it great xeriscaping plant.

Photo taken in Loule, Algarve, Portugal.

Low maintenance succulent vertical garden

For those seeking illusive no maintenance garden, low maintenance is the solution.

While seeking ideas for current project I am working on, which is designing green in the office, I found those adorable photos.
Idea of vertical garden is great, but doing it yourself needs additional skills for installing all those watering and fertilizing pipes etc.

Non thorn succulents are beautiful and safe, almost don’t need care to keep on going and look smashing!

Look at those photos – don’t you want something like this? I want!

Photos by FarOutFlora

Green design solutions - moss carpets

Living green design solutions are fresh and inspiring. More and more architects and designers show their extraordinary imagination in designing green interiors.

I love especially the below one, designed by Makoto Azuma, Japan-based flower artist, who has created a moss carpet system that can flow through your home in any design you wish, creating a living, breathing textile The carpet is exquisite and it can easily turn any house into a unique and nice place to live in.

It was presented on Milan Furniture Show.

Photos by China Blue

Photo by Tree Village
This is beautiful example how to change your lawn, which will look miserable anyway in shady area, into stylish nook. 

Photo by Lars Plougmann

Amazing green design solution! But how to get rid of the small critters living naturally there? 

  

 Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs (Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative)

How to grow alpine strawberries from seeds

January last year, I was squeezing white envelope in my hand. On the poststamp there was a bicycle and written "Holland" - I closed my eyes and said to myself "the most unusual strawberries of all strawberries have just arrived"....

Strawberries fans get ready – you also would love to harvest all season, I guess. If you want strawberries all season round, go for alpine strawberries – little plants bearing white to yellowish fruits all season, very fragrant and very tasty, evergreen, producing no runners, liking semi shade (4 hours of sun daily is enough). All this sounds promising – right? I planted my grown from seeds alpine strawberries in humus rich compost. 

I got seeds last year from Patrick/Bifurcated Carrot. Alpine strawberries have the fame of germinating terribly, but they are really germinating great, if you place your seeds in the fridge for 1 month, just before sowing.

Help the seeds to germinate and don’t cover it with soil, just let it stay on the surface, keep the soil and air damp. For easy home-made propagator, that suits its job great with no cost, I recycled plastic boxes – see the picture. Easy to open and close, easy to ventilate - ->> easy to germinate any seeds.

I sow the seeds in February previous year - in June they were big enough to replant them in separate pots. Some of them flowered and had few fruits. This spring is time to plant them in their containers – big, old wooden barrels. Last year, as I used to be the ornamental gardener, I would plant petunias or surfinias there, but this year I am drifting more and more into veggie gardening, the barrels have different guests. Strawberries will be growing on such a level, that it will be easy to pick the fruits and eat directly from the plant…

Promising….

Do you grow alpine strawberries? What are your tips?

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If you would like to improve your garden to a beautiful paradise, let me help you to design it. We can work online. Contact me at ewamariasz [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Gardening!

Xoxo,

Ewa

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight ~ Benjamin Franklin

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

5 top best evergreen landscaping winter plants, suitable up to zone 4.

In the winter garden, after green leaves are long gone, garden tells you whether you planned it properly and whether there is still green plants that can cheer up your soul.

From my experience I found out, that there is 5 best performing, evergreen, carefree plants, that keep beautiful green colour all winter long and you can't miss to plant in your garden. 5 top plants for maximum effect in winter garden and with minimum work.

1. Buxus (Boxwood) - This shrub looks beautiful all year round. There are different types - some are more suitable for small evergreen hedges and topiaries ("English" - B. sempervirens "Suffruticosa"), taller ones ("American" - B. sempervirens) are better for higher use. There is known 90 species and more than 150 cultivars known, so much different in form and foliage. You can learn more about Boxwood from the website of American Boxwood Society.

2. Hebe - evergreen, grow in perfectly round shape naturally, don't require trimming. Lower temperatures may be harmful. All types and kinds you will find at The Hebe Society.

3. Holly (Ilex aquifolium and Ilex x meserveae) - There is many species (sources say from 300 to 800) and I grow just one of them Ilex meserveae "Blue Boy", that doesn't grow red berries. I am planning to add I. meserveae "Blue Girl" to get more red berries for winter color. They are highly toxic, so beware if there are small kids at your home.

4. Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea) - Not only low maintenance, but also drought resistant, so it makes it great plant to grow close to picea. Suggested uses: city, wallsides. Drought tolerant, good for hedgings and screens, resistant to pollution. Position: partial or full shade or full sun.

5. Yew (Taxus baccata Repandens) - evergreen, dark green foliage throughout the year, small, spherical with horizontal branches, grows up to 1 m height and 3 m width. It regenerates great after pruning, so you can get as creative as you feel. Looks beautiful planted together with deciduous azalea.

Further recommended reading Landscaping Ideas that Work (Taunton's Ideas That Work)

Miniature olive tree and wild olive trees in Corfu

Maybe 'trees' is little bit exaggeration concerning the size... none of them is more than 30 cm :)
Olive tree in our zone can be a house plant only :( which I deeply regret, cos I am attracted by them like bee by some flowers. They are holy and magic.

My 'miniature olive trees are still in the garden, because it is good for them :) No I did not forget them outside. I placed them in a nice place against the warmest, sunny wall and let them chill enough.
I will keep them there until temperature is under -12 centigrades (10F), which is lowest they can take and they are still fine. Older trees can survive even -28 centigrades (-20F).

Why it is good for them?
I would like to get the fruits - olives :) And in order to make the tree happy to bear olives, first you need to have two kinds of them. Olives are semi-self pollinating and single tree will bear fruits, but it is better to have 2 varieties.
Second, they need 300 hours of chill in a year.
According to theory they should bear fruits after 3-4 years, which should be soon :)
OK - I will let you know if that happens.


We do not have the olive tree forests in Poland, so at least I can grow them in pots.
During my travels I saw one very special place.
Olive tree forests looks great the older they are. One of the oldest olive tree forests in Europe are on Greek island Corfu. They were planted by venetian merchants in 17th century, following the decision of Venetian Senate offering money for plantings - tens of thousands of trees were planted at that time. In 18th century the number of olive trees surpassed 4 million. It became the most important tree cultivation for local farmers. Today Corfu and surrounding islands are one endless olive grove.

What is special about olive trees in Corfu?

They are never pruned.
Olives are allowed to drop when ripen, so as a result the trees grow tall and create a unique sensational shapes of the trunks and branches. There are endless relief forms and odd figures which continue for long kilometers of forest. That's one of the most amazing and mysterious views.
Pictures below were taken in Corfu by me in 1999. Little boy on the tree is my son.

Nursery close to Warsaw, in June

These pictures were taken at one of my favourite nurseries. It was for me awsome experience when for the first time I got there - views were truly breathtaking!
This is a nursery with long tradition - have no idea how they survived communist time.
It was started by grand grandfathers, which among other precious plants brought by ship from US this beautiful Metasequoia glyptostroboides.
The tree itself is very impressive - lightness of foliage and interesting colour of bark. There is one more thing that makes it outstanding - arrangement! It is literally smashing in reality. Small cushion plants, mainly different kind of Calluna, on the bottom - make it more beautiful!
The secret is - you need space to present this tree, otherwise it gets lost and loses impact.

Isn't it real discovery to see mature plants, that in our garden are maily small and we have little chance to see them mature, because they grow very slowly. 2-3 cm yearly is everything that Conica was doing! Today 2 m tall Picea glauca Conica known also as White spruce Alberta.

It looks good here with low growing Juniperus and cushion plants.

Columbine - Aquilegia vulgaris plena here Nora Barlow in large beds make a real true experience.

And now my favourite one - flowering rhododendrons.

Different colours, mature shrubs - real breathtaking view!

Last picture taken there, but not last awsome spot to look at - I didn't take pictures of all of them.
I will do it coming spring, cos place is really worth to mention and explore.

On the picture Himalayan Pine - Pinus wallichiana. Looks amazing during 'candle' stage, while all needles look down.

Yellow - an unidentyfied by now kind of Berberis.

Garden surprises!

Having my pyjama on - I just jumped in the shoes and dressed the coat to see whats going on out there. And look! Suddenly my hedge got much taller! Yes! it took less than 3 years ;)

Unfortunately this is temporary only.

Neighbour is selling Christmas trees, and this is kind of storage.

After Christmas they will be all gone.

My autumn crocus is still flowering.


And look here! This little strawberry is flowering since June and still doing well.
It is Fragaria hybride. 'Dee Rose' - I think.

Rose New Dawn would like since at least 2 months to open this bud, but look how fresh it is still.

Digitalis purpurea getting prepared for new season.

As you can see parthenocissus leafs are still reddish.

Surprisingly, the garden still looks nice.

Colors are more calm, not so vibrant, but still attractive.

Firmly Refusing December

Snow is gone... and I do not like what was hidden under it. Now it became really the greyish of grey! In this situation I would prefer some 'white' back, but it's fully gone.

So to stay in tune with the season and not go back to summer months and make myself garden-sick, I will just travel in time ONE month.
This is October in my garden and looking at this pictures I realised how beautiful October is.
I truly confess, I like flowers, but look below and tell me you don't like colors of October. Look how nice garden can be dressed up - without it or with just minimum flowers.

From the left: magnolia, hebe, euphorbia, pinus nigra, thuja occidentalis, parthenocissus quinquefolia.

This part looks like real garden and this effect is made not with sea of flowers or perennials. Its main bone is trees growing here: 20 years old pear and about same age picea (on th right, out of frame). This corner has fair amount of shade and sun in the summer and it is filler with flowers all year round - here the flowers of hydrangea paniculata Limelight, planted one year ago - the last survivor before winter. In the pot remaining stems of lilies.

Suddenly this flower bed became 'arranged' with different shades of green and seasonal flowers. This autumn we moved Robinia pseudoaccacia Umbraculifera to this spot in order to make it more 'structural' and to add some height - it was too flat.

There is plenty of this kind of birds in the neighbourhood and daily guest in my garden. They very often bring different kind of nuts or other BIG seeds and hide them for worse days - and in the spring I have always few uninvited oaks :)

Until today I thought this bird is Fringilla coelebs but while looking for link, I realised that it is not! And I feel little bit confused. Let me check in the books...
Or maybe somebody knows and can help..

In previous autumns every little leaf on the gras was an enemy... this year they seemed so nice covering the lawn.

Yellow leaf landed on grey lavandula.

Spirea vanhouttei - some memoirs: grows fast and is beautifully covered with white rows of flowers in June.