Recent articles have prompted questions from some of our clients about mulches for their landscapes. Indeed, there is such a variety of mulches on the market today, that some confusion is bound to arise concerning their use. While there are a myriad of technical issues (i.e., boring issues) relating to mulch, overall it can be said that mulch generally helps conserve moisture, buffer erosion from rain and irrigation, and inhibit weed proliferation. And by and large, you should use what looks good to you in the landscape; some products will last longer and stay in place better than others, and some products are better for the soil structure than others. But most people just want their flower and landscape beds to look nice, and the mulch you choose will probably fill that requirement. We would like to clear up a few cloudy issues, however, using our 40 odd years of experience as a guide.

Cypress and cedar mulch, contrary to recent statements, are not particularly attractive to insects—in fact, both have tiny amounts of chemicals that deter insect activity and slow degradation; also, neither product adds much in the way of nutrients to the soil because they do, in fact, degrade slower than most mulches. Pine needles, or pine straw, is a popular mulch in the South because that’s what they have in the south—pine trees. In the Kansas City area, we are in the midst of the Ozark plateau and our forests are primarily oak and hickory—hence, we have primarily oak based mulches readily available. Oh, and by the way, pine needles do very little in the way of lowering the pH of the soil. Cocoa hulls have been mentioned lately as a newly popular mulch, and while it is true this product is uniform in appearance and does smell good to chocolate lovers, it has some hidden and rather unappealing drawbacks. Because cocoa hulls are so rich in organic materials, it is very attractive to insects of all kinds. Fungus gnats are quite a problem in cocoa hulls, and for some reason unknown to us, flies love to lay their eggs in this product and you can often find maggots in large numbers crawling through cocoa hulls. These hulls tend to be rather slick and slimy under the relatively dry top layer, and can be a hazard to walk across if you are unaware. On top of all these drawbacks, cocoa hulls presents the same toxicity hazards to your pet as other chocolate products.  Rubber mulches are sometimes presented as a good option; our opinion is this: putting copious amounts of anything that has been in contact with road chemicals for its lifespan, and adds nothing of benefit to the living, breathing soil is probably not a good idea.

We like to use mulch products that both look nice and provide some benefit to the soil. Cotton burr compost products enrich the soil and have a dark brown, uniform appearance, which makes for a desirable mulch. They do however have a strong “aroma” when first applied, so they might not be the best choice if you are having an outdoor dinner party the evening following application. Fine pine bark and pine bark soil conditioning products make excellent mulches and since they are softwood products, they degrade fairly quickly, adding texture and some nutrients to the soil. A word of caution, though, since they are lightweight, they can “float” during heavy rains or on steep slopes. Finely ground oak and hardwood products are plentiful, relatively inexpensive, and hold the ground quite well. Its texture and consistency allow this product to “knit together” and hold slopes in place, and if it is finely shredded, it breaks down to add tilth to the soil. Hardwood mulches do lose their rich, dark color over time though, and need to be replenished occasionally to look their best.

Finally, a word about artificially colored mulches. In lower maintenance gardens or where property owners can’t mulch regularly, they offer a pleasing appearance for long periods of time. When installing, caution should be used when applying around concrete or other surfaces that might be stained by the product’s dyes.

Remember, Greenleaf offers a full array of mulch products to add beauty and functionality to your garden. Our crews can give your tired landscape a quick mulch makeover so you can just sit back and enjoy the view! Happy gardening!

Contributing editor: Don Archer, Don Archer Designs in partnership with Greenleaf Garden Services

Last fall, we wrote a blog with the humorous (hopefully!) cartoon shown below.  It is obviously a cartoon of Noah herding the animals into the ark; we said at the time, that if you don’t see Noah herding giraffes around your neighborhood, you need to keep watering all of your plants!  Well six months later, we are unfortunately in the same boat (pardon the pun).  While we did receive some moisture in early winter, this was the lightest snowfall for a winter in history! And most of us have received almost no rain this spring; coupled with unusually warm temperatures and relentless winds, these conditions might very well spell disaster for Kansas City landscapes.  Just over a year ago, our area suffered through the worst heat and drought we have experienced in 50 years.  While that fact is disturbing enough, the sad truth is the weather extremes we are seeing now are cumulative—a warm, dry, windy spring on top of a dry winter on top of a brutal summer will lead to devastation.  As spring arrived, we began to see the effects of mother nature’s wrath: large evergreens (especially spruce) are rapidly dying out; shallow rooted and thin barked shade trees like red and hybrid maples are failing to leaf out; many other varieties of trees and shrubs are simply puny with small and misshapen leaves and dead terminal shoots.  We can’t stress to homeowners enough—WATER! WATER! WATER!  Newly planted landscapes need special attention, but even established landscapes need supplemental moisture!  And this does not mean turn on the sprinkler system and hope for the best—you must manually soak your landscapes.  We recommend hand watering for new landscapes and using a hose running gently for a couple hours on established plantings.   If you have specific questions on how to properly water, please contact your Greenleaf horticulturalists—we are glad to help.  In special cases, we are recommending aerification and fertilization for large trees, especially if they are in high traffic lawn areas or in close proximity to driveways, parking areas, or sidewalks.  Your plants need at least an inch or two of water per week, so please, help mother nature out this season and water your landscapes until she can catch up and provide us some free water!

Contributing editor:  Don Archer, Don Archer Designs in partnership with Greenleaf Garden Services

The winter months give us the opportunity to slow down a little and evaluate all the occurrences of the hectic spring through fall seasons.  As landscapers, we sometimes forget there may be very basic questions in our clients’ minds concerning why we do things in a certain way—why we choose some materials over others, or why we plant plants in a particular fashion.  So, over the next month or so, we hope to offer some primary information about how we landscape and why we do the things we do.

One of the questions we are asked by clients most often is one that we honestly don’t pay very close attention to, and that is, “What kind of edging should I use to line my landscape beds?”  Quite frankly, we sometimes gloss over this detail because, generally speaking, we don’t really like most edgings of any type.  We find them artificial in appearance and an intrusion on the garden; at best, they are a necessary evil. That having been said, we do realize that in order to maintain a neat and orderly landscape “picture”, edgings are often necessary—especially for the homeowner who doesn’t have time to putter around the garden. The following are the primary types of edging we use on our landscape installations.

A natural or “shovel cut” edge is probably our favorite type of edging.  It is simply a sharply defined cut or trench in the yard that clearly designates the landscape bed, but naturally blends into the overall garden.  It is attractive, easy to maintain or change, and can be dug to any depth: shallow for annual or perennial beds, quite deep for large tree and shrub beds if so desired.  Unfortunately, this option also requires periodic maintenance to keep it looking its best, and is not the best option if you have an aggressive turf like Zoysia or Bermuda grass.

Plastic edging became popular around 25 years ago because it was cheap and relatively easy to install.  That is where its desirable properties end.  Cheap.  It looks artificial, it is easily damaged by lawn mowers or string trimmers, and has a tendency to heave out of the ground, thanks to our Midwestern winters.  We generally discourage using a product that doesn’t last, is unattractive, and wastes natural resources.

For homeowners who like a clean, neat, and low maintenance landscape, steel or aluminum can be a good solution for bed edging.  While it costs more than plastic edging, it lasts much longer, and more importantly, it virtually disappears into the gardenscape.  Metal edging can heave over time and may need to be reset after a few years; steel edging can and will rust, though its very narrow profile prevents this from being an eyesore. (One note of caution: if you have small, bare-footed children, walking on or standing on steel edging can be quite uncomfortable.)

Our final types of edging are perhaps the best and most useful types, but need to be used with caution and restraint.  Brick and stone edging are very long lasting, can be quite attractive in the right situations, and can be effectively used to help control drainage or water issues.  However, the style of house and overall landscape should dictate the possible use of stone or brick.  If the house is of brick or stone construction, then a solid edge of comparable material can be quite pleasing, or if the property contains hills and valleys with stone outcroppings, etc., then stone edging can be very appropriate.  Additionally, if water is being introduced into the landscape, then stone is often a natural choice. However, ranch homes with wood siding often do not make the best backdrop for rows of granite or limestone rocks lining the yard.  Brick and stone tend to be quite expensive, and though installation is usually not complicated, it can be quite labor intensive.

The above are the primary types of edging we install.  These of course are not the only types available on the market; in some instances, especially where water is involved (man- made features or naturally occurring) decorative gravels can be used in “bands” to delineate edges, provide buffers, offer walking surfaces, and blend together stone areas with turf.  Other options include poured concrete borders (think “forever” and I hope I don’t ever change my mind or the plants ever grow too big) and various types of wood edging—none of which work very well in the Midwest.

If you are in doubt about which edging version may be best for you, call one of the Greenleaf professionals and we will help guide you through the decision and even show you examples of what might look best in your landscape.  Happy gardening!

Contributing editor:  Don Archer, Don Archer Designs in partnership with Greenleaf Garden Services

Well, the inevitable is finally occurring—we’re going to talk about climate change.  But, not in the context one might expect; you see, we are of the opinion that it is indeed getting a little warmer outside.  Not because it was 60 degrees in January in Kansas City (remember the last two Januaries when everyone thought the Ice Age was coming?) but rather, looking back over the past 40 years or so, it’s just not as cold in the winter and we just don’t have as much snow as we did when we were kids growing up.  Does that mean we believe in the trendy new, man-made carbon dioxide falderal? No, far from it.  Temperature swings are cyclical.  They come and  they go; we distinctly remember in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s that we were being warned of a new Ice Age coming before the end of the century.  Did we just miss that cataclysmic event?

We are noting the climate change for one reason:  the USDA has re-drawn the Agricultural and Horticultural Hardiness Zone maps for the United States.  For virtually the entire country, the local zone hardiness has been raised one step to a warmer hardiness region.  For example, the Kansas City area has traditionally (at least for the last 30-40 years) been designated as zone 5.  This means our lower cold limits were -10 to -20 F; our new zone 6 designation means our lower cold limits are 0 to -10F.  For those professionals in the industry, this doesn’t really mean too much—we have learned through experience that many parts of the Kansas City area were zone 6.  But for homeowners and backyard landscapers, the new, official designation might give them the courage to go forth and boldly plant new varieties!

The addition of zone 6 plants adds a tremendous new palette of materials with which to work; hollies, azaleas, and other broadleaf evergreens comprise much of this new group.  In addition, a number of ornamental trees that thrive in zone 6 will be of great interest to local gardeners.  Japanese Snowbell (Styrax japonica) is a typically zone 6 grown tree that does very well in Kansas City, as does the Japanese Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia).  Crape Myrtles are another traditionally southern plant that is making its way into Kansas City gardens—and not just as a woody perennial that needs to be cut back to the ground each year.  Our slightly warmer winters are allowing Crape Myrtles to actually grow into large shrubs or (might I dare venture) small trees!  Though professionals have grown these trees for years in Kansas City, many home gardeners have been timid about trying them—hopefully our new zone 6 designation will encourage many to try these and other adventurous varieties!

Of course all news has to come with a whole group of qualifiers—and this zone 6 news is no exception.  We will state what we tell many of our clients:  Plants can’t read.  They don’t know what zone they are in and if it gets really cold outside—they may not like it!  We would temper our enthusiasm slightly by advising that gardeners don’t go out and buy 50 Encore Azaleas and renovate their entire garden with them.   Try some new varieties and see how they perform before discarding the old standbys, but do venture out into the new zone 6 world!  If you have questions about particular varieties or if you would like some help with cultural suggestions for temperamental plants, contact your professionals at Greenleaf—we’re always glad to help.  Happy Gardening.

Contributing editor:  Don Archer, Don Archer Designs in partnership with Greenleaf Garden Services

We are back at the market this weekend for Widgeonwood’s “My Funny Valentine” Mid-Winter Party.

Saturday, February 4th from 10am – 4pm
The Prairie Village Shops
(Inside the old Macy’s Home Store)
3935 W. 69th Terrace
Next to Einstein’s
In the “Heart” of Prairie Village

Receive a free gift just for stopping by!

♥  Pick up an orchid for your sweetheart — or yourself!
♥  6″ annual pots available for purchase
♥  Gift certificates make a great Valentine present

This mild weather is keeping us working.  Let us work for you.

• Update or enhance your landscape
• Arrange for on-going landscape and garden maintenance services
• Schedule a one-time clean

See you Saturday!

P.S.  Are you our friend on facebook?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenleaf-Garden-Services/314116962109

What a difference a year makes!  Last January Kansas Citians were constantly digging out from snow after snow, and this year we’ve enjoyed 60 degree temperatures!  No matter what the weather is like outside though, the winter months are the best possible time to plan that new landscape or garden renovation.  Landscape designers are generally looking for something creative to do this time of year, and your contact with them will not only be welcomed, but you will enjoy a more leisurely, and probably more rewarding experience since they are not so distracted by peak- season, time induced deadlines.  And, though it is somewhat rare, if mild weather conditions do persist, preparatory work for that new landscape project can be accomplished during the dormant season.  Photographs of continuing projects accompany this blog to give the reader an idea of what can be completed this time of year.

Some possible winter projects include removal of existing unwanted plantings, fertilization and improvement of existing soil profiles, delineation of use areas and installation of edging materials, pruning of pertinent deciduous plants, as well as developing “wish lists” of plants, hardscape materials, and garden accessories.  If you are considering an improvement to your outdoor environment, contact Greenleaf’s design team now during the off-season and let us help bring your ideas to life!

Contributing editor:  Don Archer, Don Archer Designs in partnership with Greenleaf Garden Services

Are you taking advantage of these mild days?  You should be!  We have had little moisture recently so your plants could really use a drink.  Pay particular attention to evergreens.  Although we haven’t had rain, we have seen lots of wind which will make many evergreens especially thirsty.  Temperatures are predicted to stay unseasonably warm into next week so get that hose out.  Your garden will thank you.

                          Liz, Sandy, MJ, Eric and Jennifer

If you have been following us on facebook, you’ve seen us transition outdoor arrangements from summer to fall and now to winter.  Here is a beautiful example of front door containers first in July, then in November and finally last week.

We would welcome the opportunity to do this for you.

Call us at 816-916-5171 or ‘Contact Us’.