Gardening Today on Wellington/Preston

Bed creation – complete clean out – all new perennials. It is a new beginning. The ground cover up front is called Blue Blanket/Creeping Mazus. It loves full sun. So imagine that the front section of this bed will become a very full look with sweet little bluish/purple blossoms. Two Salvia and one Speedwell are the background. And in the center we are encouraging a very small transplanted Peony. We have planted Morning Glory seeds in the bed and will encourage them to climb up our new metal trellis. On the far left we have planted a larger perennial called Gaura Lindheimeri (Rose Jane) a native hybrid. Slender stems with white/pinkish blooms. Very whimsical. Maturity of 24” to 30”. We like the balance Rose Jane will provide on this side of the bed, across from a very mature white Azalea bush. And on the right-center is a Lithadora “Grace Ward” with Azure blue flowers. Lastly we added four Lobelia (Riviera Rose), all full sun and spaced around to give the bed a nice full balance. Now for everything to grow and fill in. Fresh garden soil about one inch thick has been added to this cleared bed. And because the squirrels “love” to dig up new plantings, we use a product called Blood Meal to deter them from digging up bed. It works. They will not come round to dig up or bury their nuts. They do not like it’s aroma. It is non-toxic, but it does keep them away. New shredded hardwood bark mulch will be our final addition to this bed. It’s taking shape and our homeowner seems very pleased. Watering daily for the first week with new plantings is essential.

A beautiful day so far…..

”contessa”

AJUGA – also known as Bugleweed/Ground Pine

A lovely creeper that moves around quickly and crowds itself so that it becomes a great “filler-inner.”  We happen to really like it. I found a patch just this morning while out and about. So I photographed it so that you could see how tightly it grows. If you want to cover spots where grass just won’t “take”  this ground cover will not disappoint. We love the green/purple contrast. It’s normally sold in flats of 20 but you can purchase singles. There are three color variations. Dark Plum/purple, green/purple and a variegated green/cream. Frankly,  mixed together, they make a very pretty and very interesting pattern. Growing mostly close and tight to lthe ground, except for the blooming flowers that peek up……this plant is so durable you can walk on it. It has a wooded area look, and fits in nicely if your property is near a wooded and shady area.

Seedlings……ready for planting today

 

Baby Zinnia’s going to be planted today. They are ready……!!

Virginia Native Plants, Webinar Series

Good Morning Fellow Gardeners

Arlington County Government Announces……

2021 Spring and Fall Landscaping with Virginia Natives

Webinar Series

Have you heard that using native plants in your yard helps improve the environment for you, your community and Virginia’s wildlife, but you are not sure where to start? This entire series of Webinars is $10 and a huge value. Just have your personal calendar ready and schedule your time…..

Plant Virginia Natives partners are collaborating to offer a series of 12 webinars – 6 this spring and 6 this fall.

The webinars will guide you through the why and how to turn your home garden into a beautiful retreat for your family and a native habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Details and registration here.

• Common Invasive Plants in Virginia:
• Tuesday, April 20, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
• The Right Plant in the Right Place:
• Tuesday, May 4, 6:30 – 8:00 pm

We plan to participate and we invite you to do the same.

”Contessa”

Gardening Today….a continuation at Preston/Martha Custis (revised)

A new day and a continuation of our project on Preston/Martha Custis.  Continuing to plant ground cover, lay ten bags of mulch today and prep the patio pavers with a mixture of baking soda/vinegar/Dawn detergent mixture to remove the weeds. It’s a homemade remedy that not only kills the weeds, but it also lightens the color and cleans the pavers/bricks. It’s an inexpensive “miracle worker” for a gardener. And it works on cement as well,  and is totally non-toxic.

Looking forward to pretty much finishing up this client today. But we will be “Shepherding” this property for the next month, as our homeowner is in NY until early May.

4:37 pm – Monday Afternoon  

Well today we did not finish the mulch as we ran out and we will accomplish this towards the end of the week along with cleaning the patio pavers.  Not quite there yet, but we are getting close. Four hours and 30 minutes today  A good day all and all.

Tomorrow……,moving to Mount Eagle Place to start our next  project.

 

Attention Natives…..buy native plants

• Want to beautify your yard? Then it’s time to go native! Choose from a great selection of plants that are accustomed to local climate and wildlife including sun or shade, and even deer resistant plants. Order here. Orders must be placed by April 13. Pick-up plants Sat., April 24 from 1-4 p.m. at Kenmore Middle School. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no plants will be available for purchase on the pick-up day.  You will be contacted before the 24th to schedule a pick-up time between 1-4 p.m.Orders not picked up will not be refunded

Gardening Today on Martha Custis

Exciting… a new client. She wants to learn. We are going to transplant an Azalea today, remove a brick border, cut back last years growth, trim existing bushes, level her beds and cultivate existing growth by abating the soil. Lots of things to transplant so the beds will be more evenly distributed. Finally we will mulch her beds and talk about a few new plantings. It should be fun. Her enthusiasm has been encouraging. She even recruited permissions from her next door neighbor to pitch in on the project. Both are new homeowners and now that they are both working at home, they want to spruce up their places, so that they can sit on their front stoops and “take in” spring. It should be fun because they are very open to learning. We arrive at 11 and will add some photos to this post later today. Fun…..fun!!

 

Hello Gardeners – pretty windy day

We think it’s here. Spring is so beautiful here in our community. Things are popping up by the moment. We are not gardening today because of the wind, but tomorrow we will be, and we are booked for Monday and Tuesday next week already. Sunday looks like rain, but if it isn’t pouring very hard, we may do some bed cleanup gardening for a three-year sustaining client

The wind is “a blowen” and seedlings are flying all over the place. Your beds are going to receive weed infestation, so while it’s still early in the season you can get out there are try to keep ahead of them. Now is a super time to edge the beds, pull weeds, divide and replant, and it’s not too late to cut back Loriape. It has plenty of time yet to fill in nicely, so don’t worry. Go for it. It will come back so nice and fresh and taller and full. Trust us.

We visited four current sites this morning. Hosta are just poking up and Hydrangea have lovely buds right now. Buy fresh garden soil and give your established plants a boost. They will love you putting some new soil around them. It’s a good thing.

Our biggest word of caution is to not put new plantings in the ground just yet. Post Easter is best, or even better is closer to Mother’s Day. 

The nurseries will be filled with things to purchase. Pansies are great, Primroses, Hellebores and some  herbs. Hold on tight just a few more weeks. You will be glad you did. For now, tend your garden as it is.  There is plenty to do. Enjoy the preparation work. It is so satisfying.

Birds and Blooms, April/May

Just Arrived…….

This  publication is a useful reference guide to help you identify birds, it provides useful gardening tips, and it’s a one evening read. But what it really does is get you excited about spring, with its wonderful, all color photography.  It’s a great resource for identifying plants and it’s a super bird identifier as well. This particular issue has articles on Mealworms, new plants for 2021, gardening for a greener earth, amphibian I.d., which birds are just beginning to show up in your garden spaces, food/water/shelter for birds, and debunked garden myths.

The Garden Contessa recommends this magazine if you like learning new things about birds and plants  It’s a mini crash course on both topics, and it’s simple but informative.

We love it when it arrives. It means we have an evening ahead of relaxing reading that brings new knowledge, beauty and simplicity into our mind.

The Garden Contessa

 

 

Good Morning Gardening Friends,

Gardening season is getting closer. We are excited to be already accepting consultation appointments. We had 6 just this week and of course we did garden on the two 70+ degree days that really surprised all of us. Please remember to use caution in planting just yet.  It is a bit too early unless you want to plant cold weather lovers like Pansies, Hellebore, Primroses or hardy herbs. These flowers will give you some curb appeal, bring a smile to your face, and they just happen to love the chill that is still with us.

We would like to take a few moments to express our gratitude for you following our blog and for your generous support of our small gardening efforts in Parkfairfax. It is clear this early in our season, that we will be busier this year. Even today, we have a consultation scheduled for  2:30pm.

One of our recent requests was for “cleanup.”  It’s frankly the nicest thing you can do for your garden and very often requested. If you plan to do any plantings this year, now is the best time for clean up. It can be very frustrating for you, if you wait until flowers and plants are available at the nursery. The very best time to accomplish cleanup is late in the fall. Then when spring arrives you are very close to ready. We cannot stress this enough. It’s so important in terms of your gardening budget as well. Cleanup can add additional cost to your spring gardening effort.  

The Garden Contessa provides excellent cleanup services. But in most cases we prefer to ask you to allow us to provide this service with the following in mind. We are able and willing to provide professional services. Having said that, we will not, going forward, provide less than a professional job. It’s about our personal ethics to provide nothing less than a complete and professional job for each and every client. If you want to save funds and do some of the work yourselves, we ask that you consult with us and make sure you provide this information during our initial free consultation. In some cases jobs are small in scope and we may offer to team with you and complete your work together. We take great pride in giving and offering complete cleanup. Anything less than that would mean we are not doing our best job for you. It’s about professional gardening standards. Many of you live within several hundred feet of parking access. During cleanup several bags of your gardens refuse are collected. We are happy to do the haul away for you. Our fee for this service is $10 per bag – taking into consideration distance, weight and travel to the refuse deposit area at PFF.  If you wish to save some fees, you can take all your refuse to the “leaf mulch” area at the maintenance yard yourselves. Thus….a cost savings for you. But please make your preference known during our initial consultation.

Note:  FYI – txt by phone is best in terms of communication with us, as you will find that most often, from now through late fall, we will be “out and about” in our community.

Finally, additions of new bushes, removal of existing overly large or diseased bushes will require Parkfairfax approvals.  Please use the community “Buildium” module to advance these kinds of requests to PFF management. This Buildium tool was designed for you and its best to start there. We cannot make these decision on your behalf. So do your homework and allow us to complete the beautification of your property. This is our pleasure, and our joy.

Here’s to a wonderful gardening season!!

THE GARDEN CONTESSA