One way to beat ‘em is to eat ‘em!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Laura

My 15-year professional life in natural areas restoration and native plant landscaping has included a fair share of managing/treating/removing and generally hating invasive species. I have a visceral reaction to a solid patch of garlic mustard or the pink hue of a wetland invaded by purple loosestrife. All too often, my skin has been stained by an errant buckthorn berry making its way under my collar. There is no love lost between me and a waving field of reed canary grass.

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Garlic mustard (Allium canadense)

Though, fighting these tenacious plants and animals is a lesson in perseverance and adaptability. Some folks have taken their adaptability to a whole new level. Check out this MinnPost article on a rather positive approach to these overly abundant plants and animals.

Inspiration for Garden Design Round Table

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Douglas Owens Pike

One of my great joys in life is spending time in nature.  I find this is the best way for me to be recharged and inspired to solve the many riddles we face as landscape designers.  Studying how plants, rock, water, and sky combine in a place with little human disturbance gives me the best clues to move forward with design details.  This includes land shaping to move water.  Transforming it from a waste, where it is not needed, to a resource, where it gently soaks into the soil, providing long-term benefits to nourish those plants as well as recharging that watershed.

Raingarden at work
Raingarden at work

ESI Raingarden June 2012 Raingarden in Bloomprairie-5

This knowledge from nature helps me discern proper selection of plant diversity that, when added back into a highly disturbed site, will thrive with only minimal care.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of backpacking through the Olympic Mountains in mid-summer.  There was plenty of snow still melting in July.  On one south facing slope, covered with fine rock scree sliding down the steep pitch, we hiked through a stunning display of wildflowers.  There were masses of color all artfully arranged by a designer who knew how to hold back this temporary moisture, and ensure a gorgeous display of blooms to attract the essential pollinators.  Without them there would be little viable seed.  Of course, we were in the middle of a million acre wilderness.

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This designer was the time required for colonization and succession ever since this valley was full of glacial ice ten thousand years ago.  The natural process of selection guided an assemblage of plants that could thrive despite a short growing season, freezing overnight temperatures even in mid-summer, and other stresses we rarely face as garden designers.

 

Now, when I recall that mountain slope, it is my dream to recreate as much beauty when faced with urban challenges of hot pavement and walls, drought followed by floods of runoff, winter deicing chemicals, trampling by pets or people, and grazing by too many rabbits and deer.  Natural settings give me the inspiration to create a community of plants that can stand up to comparable challenges and stresses.  Taking time to find settings where plants have evolved to handle similar conditions is a key to successful urban ecological restoration.

Nursery growers inspire me.  Those experts who are able to harvest seed from plants adapted to these tough conditions, get them to germinate, and grow seedlings up to a size that are viable when we transplant them out into our projects.  Without their expertise we would not have the diversity of species to choose from when we are planning our roof top meadows or raingardens.

Educators inspire me.  They are the wondrous few who have the special ability to translate their understanding of plant ecology, landscape design, and construction techniques; and then communicate those ideas in books, lectures and projects they design and install to inspire us to go beyond what we had thought possible.  I am grateful for all these ways I’ve grown, and will continue growing, as an ecological designer.

Please follow these other links to other Garden Designers Roundtable blogs and hear how other designers have been inspired.

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Jenny Peterson : J Peterson Garden Design : Austin, TX

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

MNLA’s Scoop features article by Douglas

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Laura

The January 2013 issue of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association’s “The Scoop” Magazine features an article by Douglas Owens-Pike. The article focuses on the changes we will encounter in the economy this new year, and how sustainable and cost-efficient landscape design responds appropriately to these new challenges. We can improve our profits as we learn to create landscapes that are more resilient and beneficial to the environment.

“The Scoop is MNLA’s monthly magazine that provides insights and information for green industry professionals. Mailed to approximately 1,900 addresses and sent via email to 2,500 addresses, it is the most widely read, locally-written, green industry trade publication in the region.
“The Scoop is MNLA’s flagship publication, delivered to all association member companies. If you’re the employee of a member company and would like to receive the e-version of The Scoop each month, please email Jon Horsman” at jon@mnla.biz

Last Minute Winterizations

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Tamara

Given our mild weather you still have time to do these steps to be ready for a blanket of snow that will stick around.

GARDEN CARE
1. Leave the Leaves. It’s likely that you already picked up most of your leaves in your yard. If not, please don’t! At least, not in your garden. The leaves are a great way to help insulate plant roots and provide biomass for natural decomposition. The leaves will break-down in the garden creating compost the way nature does in forest. In spring, you can add a light layer of mulch to cover leaves if you prefer.

2. Don’t Dead-dead. Removing the dead vegetation on a flower/plant at the end of the season (dead-heading) is a common practice among gardeners. However, these are the winter homes for many beneficial insects that live in your garden. Many insects spend the winter in immature stages – as eggs, larvae, or pupae (the large silkworm moths such as the Cecropia moth). Some insects spend the winter as an adult (lady bugs and mourning cloak butterfly) seeking out a protected spot to lie dormant until the weather warms again. Your dead garden stalks are ideal places for all these life stages to shelter during the harsh MN winter. Plus the stalks and seed-heads create winter beauty for you to enjoy. Cut the stalks back in late spring when the insects have had a chance to warm up and come back to life.

TREE CARE
1. Water your trees. Watering trees, especially evergreens right up until the ground freezes, is the best thing you can do to protect against winter injury. Evergreens are dormant during the winter like deciduous trees, however, they can loose moisture from their needles in the winter winds.

2. Mulch your trees. A good 6-8 inches of wood mulch will insulate roots from the extreme temperature changes that can occur in winter due to solar radiant heat. The sun will heat up the soil surface during the day, but temperature drop dramatically at night. These temperature swings can kill new roots. Create a large mulch ring around trees by placing biodegradable weed barrier in a circle around the trunk (the larger the ring the better for your tree!). Then add 6 inches of wood mulch on top the paper (do not put any mulch up against the trunk of the tree to prevent stem-girdling roots from forming).

3. Wrapping your trees. Young trees and trees with softer woods (e.g. maples) are prone to Frost crack and Sun scald. These are terms for a deep crack forming along a tree trunk due to the temperature changes that can occur in winter due to solar radiant heat. Again, the sun will heat up a tree trunk causing different tissues to expand or contract. The result is a big crack in the trunk of the tree. To prevent sunscald, wrap the trunks of young trees with light colored tree wrap (don’t confuse it with burlap). This material helps to insulate the trunk from the excessive warming effect of direct sunlight. Wrap the trunk in late fall, and remove the wrap in early spring.

TURF CARE
Weather you have our popular “No-mow” fescue or a regular turf lawn, removing leaf debris is essential to ensure the turf survives. Leaf debris is great on the garden, but it can smother and create dead spots in a lawn. Rake the leaves to your garden, compost bin or mulch them up with a mulching lawn mower.

PONDS AND WATER FEATURES
Cleaning up your water feature is best done in fall. Taking this time to clean filters will prevent the debris from becoming dried and difficult to remove. Vacuum all dead and decomposing material in lined ponds to avoid algae bloom come spring.

Native Plants, Our Future

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Noah

Native Plants, Our Future
Garden Design Round Table
Written by Douglas Owens-Pike

We are blessed to be present during one of the greatest upheavals in nature during the several billion year history of this planet.  Blessed, because we have the opportunity to make a difference.  Mounting evidence shows that we either change our habits and move toward more sustainable fuels (probably not corn ethanol), or the massive redistribution and possible extinction of the plants and animals we depend on for food, as well as native plant communities, will be upon us.  The shift in rainfall from the breadbasket of North America further north this growing season could be a glimpse into a hotter planet.  Some theories suggest that this shift is a result of less ice covering the Arctic Ocean which in turn may be forcing the jet stream to guide rainfall north.

Photo Courtesy of US Global Change Resource Program

What does this ecological upheaval have to do with landscape design?  Let’s begin with trees. Trees are one of the primary ways we can cool our planet and make outdoor living spaces more comfortable in the face of increasing heat.  Unfortunately, in recent history, many regions of the United States have suffered from tree decline due to the combined forces of introduced insects and diseases together with the stress of mixed up weather patterns.  Trees should live for several human generations, if we pick the right species.  Right requires some understanding that our future climate will probably be quite different from what we have known.  As an example, here in Minnesota, we have a tension zone that separates the prairie region of the SW from the northern hardwood forests of the NE.  The current expectation is that this boundary will shift from the center of our state to the farther NE corner. In light of this boundary shift, we should think about planting trees that will prosper in this new, hotter, and probably more drought ridden climate.  What choices do we have?  We can begin with native trees usually found on the edges of drier habitats: several oaks come to mind as well as hackberry.  Additionally, Boxelder which is normally thought of as a weed colonizing bare soil, could be ideal for some areas.

Oak Savanna

Underneath these trees we can plan for greater heat and drought stress by adding shrubs that meet our landscape priorities: screening for privacy, flower color, attractive fruit, and food for people or wildlife.  Hazelnut, wahoo, snowberry, and others fit these criteria.

 

Hazelnut

Hazelnut

 

Wahoo

Ground layer can include plants that require little fossil fuel for care like sedges and fescue grasses that stay short without mowing.  Flower beds can be attractive native meadows planted with an eye focused on the soil, sun and moisture available.  The good news is that smart landscape design allows each of us to install landscapes that help reduce carbon emissions by storing them in long-lived perennial roots, as well as tree and shrub wood above ground.

Water is already a scarce resource on much of the planet, and we might want to plan on it getting more expensive here.  If you irrigate your gardens, switch to low water use drip lines to prevent the high levels of evaporation that occur when we spray water into the air.  Of course, with the right collection of native plants you will need no irrigation, except immediately following installation.
How do we determine the right native plants?  Formerly, we looked to surrounding communities of native plants.  While this approach still holds true, we will need to begin focusing on similar species from farther south, up to 200 miles even, of where we are designing.  Many plants cannot evolve fast enough to compensate for changes to our growing season.  Research has shown that people need to get involved if we are to save even a tough, native annual like partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata.  It thrives in desert-like, moving sand habitats from Gulf states to Canada.  Yet, if you plant seed from Minnesota in Texas or the reverse, it will not survive.  By going just a few hundred miles it seems to be just about right for the changing conditions.  Normally, this annual disperses its seed up to 10’ by twisting its drying pods.  Others move further, carried by water, but only people can move this seed north fast enough.

 

Partridge Pea

Partridge Pea

If you have been focused on horticultural varieties for your landscape designs, consider adding native diversity to your pallet.  While doing that, look several hundred miles south of your location for inspiration.  By doing so, these thoughtful landscapes will help some native plant diversity survive the changes ahead of us.

Thanks for reading!

A Native Landscape by EnergyScapes

 

To learn more about designing with natives, please take a moment to read the thoughts of other members of the Garden Design Roundtable:

 

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Washington, D.C.

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Garden in Bloom

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Noah

This Thursday begins the Great Minnesota Get Together! Yes, it’s time for the state fair already and in Minnesota that means the end of August, and school-less summer, is somehow upon us. But, summer is leaving us with some tremendous blooms and harvests to remember her by. Here are some shots from our small demo garden near the office. Notice the 7-foot-tall-and-still-growing Cup plants along the south wall of our building. These giants, together with their smaller colleagues, have managed to soak up much of the summer sun and reduce the temperature of our building between 5 and 10 degrees. They’ve all been excellent companions. All of the plants have brought color to our green space and provided essential habitats for butterflies, birds, and many other animals and insects. Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.

 

Rethinking Yards and Yard Work

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Noah

We know that sometimes our landscape designs can look wild. The first photo in our portfolio shows a front yard abundant with native flowers and grasses and the rest of our portfolio is hardly less exuberant. For those of us raised on green lawns with symmetrical mower lines, these images can come as a shock. How on earth do you begin to care for a yard like this? The good news is that wild doesn’t mean difficult. At the end of the day, the question is one of mowing vs. weeding. This means putting your mower in the shed and getting up close and personal with the plants you want and the ones you don’t. In fact, our landscapes are designed to be low maintenance. At first, plan on weeding as often as you would have mowed your lawn. Then, when your native plants are fully established, having beat out the weeds in the fight for sunlight, you’ll spend even less time. Unless you enjoy mowing because it drowns out the noise your neighbors have been making all day, you’ll probably have a much more peaceful time with weeding. You’ll even get the chance to pay attention to all the butterflies that have begun to visit your yard.

A prairie landscape highlighted in our portfolio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butterfly on Blazing Star

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have You Noticed Any Creepy, Crawling Insects Devouring Your Annuals?

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Noah

What do you do?

The first choice with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is to get that critter identified. You want to know what the brightly colored larvae will turn into vs. just knowing that it ate your whole display of pansies in your front door pots.

Yesterday, I discovered this was true. We had lost all the foliage of our annual display in a pot filling a hole in our entryway. I took some photos of the larvae, sent them to our Ag Inspector, since we have a nursery license, and they promptly told me that it will become the beautiful variegated fritillary butterfly that normally feeds on weeds like purslane (quite tasty for people as well), violets, lambs ear and flax.

Here are some photos:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Euptoieta-claudia

If you want to pursue your own insect identification, as you learn more about IPM, this book is highly recommended for people living in the upper Midwest.

http://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/ipmbook.htm IPM of Midwest Landscapes is from Univ. MN Press.

And here’s a photo of those specific critters that enjoyed my annuals.

Fritillary Butterfly

 


Garden Designers Roundtable: Texture

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Noah

Written by: Douglas Owens-Pike

 

Our specialty at EnergyScapes is planning and transforming landscapes for sustainable results.  This aim most often focuses on a native plant diversity designed to bring benefits beyond the plants themselves.  For example, native plants provide habitat for insects that are the base of food chain, supporting birds, butterflies and other wildlife that people can enjoy viewing in their yard.

 

A challenge to this approach,  especially in the shade garden, is that flowering is focused on spring ephemerals.  These plants do their work early in the growing season, flowering before the leaves emerge on mature trees.  After the spring blush of blooms we are primarily left with a variety of leaf shapes and sizes, or texture.  Of course, there are fruits beginning to form and other woodland plants that do bloom later in the growing season.  For this post we want to focus on one of our projects located near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis to see how texture adds depth in this woodsy setting. The below images and captions tell the story.

 

In 1997 EnergyScapes designed and installed all visible plants except for the two mature elm on boulevard and arborvitae at left front corner of home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closeup of front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maidenhair fern interspersed among foliage.

 

Meadow rue is another native woodland plant known for its sensual foliage. Its blossom is very inconspicuous chartreuse, but these leaves persist for the full growing season in good woodland soil and with enough water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this view the neighbor’s more traditional, horticultural approach to a formal landscape contrasts starkly with design elements in a native garden. In this case, strikingly bright blooms of Astilbe direct the viewer’s attention and create balance with the orange mulch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view illustrates the complexity of this native garden. Several layers of green come into focus before a ground covered with last season’s decomposing leaf litter. Here we have finely serrated foliage of ‘Regent’ serviceberry, airy pairs of maidenhair fern leaves on either side of their black stalk, and finally the smooth arc of wild ginger closer to brown leaves. Notice splendid rain drops from last thunderstorm that bring another sparkling quality to this low light setting. The fruit of the serviceberry provides a treat to birds and people alike. They taste akin to blueberries.

 

 

This image displays a closeup of the bark of musclewood (“Carpinus caroliniana”) Fluted bark has developed over the 15 years since it was planted in this garden (started at 1” caliper vs. 4” in this view).

Notice the papery, hop-like fruit produced by the musclewood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water feature below was built in the early 1970’s using concrete and limestone.  Limestone was set directly into concrete during the initial construction. The two rocks expand and contract at different rates and over the years extensive cracks developed. The feature was badly leaking and we repaired it by covering the old concrete basin with resilient rubber (EPDM) pond liner.  We salvaged the beautifully aged limestone and set it back on top of the waterproof membrane.

 

 

Reflections of the fence top and utility pole on the pond surface contrast with biomorphic shapes of foliage and rock at the water's edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urns of pink coral bells contrast spiky juniper and the round rock underwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the heat of the summer bears down upon us this week, take a break to stroll your neighborhood (early or late in the cool of the day). Note how textures of natural or horticultural gardens influence your mood as you walk. We welcome your feedback.

 

Don’t forget to see what others on the Garden Designers Roundtable have posted on this subject:

 

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Washington, D.C.
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI
David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM
Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA
Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA
Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA
 

 

Transforming an Unsightly Liability Into an Asset

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Noah

 

 

 

 

At a residence in the Highland Neighborhood of St. Paul, EnergyScapes is in the process of transforming a precarious stairway into an asset by installing Chilton Flagstone steps. Check out our Facebook page at EnergyScapes, Inc to keep track of the progress via a photo log.