My rhodies are way thirsty. Their leaves keep curling up pitifully. I dash out and water, the leaves straighten out... for a while.
I have two, the neediest rhodie is in a really bad spot, I think -- at the top of an incline, and erosion is a huge problem. Water tends to rush by rather than seeping in. One thing I figured out was to turn down the hose very, very low, like a tiny trickle, set it near the (not stem, not trunk, whatever it is on a rhodie... base?), and leave it there for a while. The ground would be nice and saturated when I was done, that way. (Lots and lots of fine soaking rain lately, rhodies are fine, haven't had to water in quite a while.)
Leave hydrangeas, right?
And mums?
What's the consensus on Japanese maple? Leave the fallen leaves? Clear the leaves and lay down mulch?
A cut-leaf maple? Little leaves? I'd leave them down.
The rhodie: Does it have a well around the root ball? If you build up a little wall of dirt to make a circle around the base of the plant, that could help retain water. If the slope is so great that the ridge you made washes down it, perhaps you could support the well with well-placed rocks. Hydrangea benefit with wells around their bases also.
I wouldn't bother making wells now, wait till spring. When you do it, make the well as wide as you can, rhodie and hydrangea rootballs tend to be wide. I'd try to make the well at least half-way between the base and the outermost reach of the branches.
Ooh, very helpful!!
Thanks!
I have just left it to grow wild
Actually, nothing to do with winter. My gardener has retired and moved to warmer climate
Time for a new gardener, mr fancypants.
General question about leaves:
I don't have a leaf blower, and while raking leaves off of the lawn is no biggie, they're also all up in shrubs and general undergrowth. I mean, if I look at my back yard I see a rectangle of just leaves -- the lawn part -- surrounded by leaves with green things sticking up out of them (ivy, columbine plants [oh what do I do about columbine?], peony plants, etc.)
How much of that should I try to clear out? Does it matter?
Looks pretty messy. :-?
If it looks messy to you, try and clean it out. Think about buying a smaller (5-8 inch wide rake) for getting under and between bushes.
And, about that clematis - when did it bloom?
Clematis. Clematis. We have clematis?
We have small bushes out front, the names of which I have forgotten, but I don't think they're clematis.
We moved here mid-July, all that's bloomed since then has been the hydrangeas and the mums.
Oops, the COLUMBINE. Sorry. Just leave the columbine. It'll keep shooting up little green leaves until it get truely and finally nailed for the winter.
Excellent, thanks!
You know your plants!
Yeah, except when I get plant name dyslexia. I do it with dahlias and zinnias too.
OK, so say I get all of the leaves out of the backyard, then I should lay down mulch, right?
It's more likely that I'll get the leaves off of the top and sides of shrubs and things and leave it on the ground, but wondering what is optimal...
There's a really nice rake, most stores carry it, inexpensive, with an adjustable head. Very handy for getting into tight spots.
Cut the mums back after flowering and then leave them alone til spring. Cut them down to the ground with the violets/crocus are in bloom. They'll be baaaaaaaaack.
Most of the perennials can be left alone quite nicely until spring. Try to think natural woodlot.
Sozobe--
Stop
Your rhododendron leaves are not curling up because they are thirsty--they are curling up because the temperature is below 60 degrees.
Do not water them. Show them to Sozlet as Absolute Proof Positive that She Must Wear A Coat.
You water--warm the soil--the leaves uncurl. You turn your back and the leaves think, "Oh, good. She's gone. I can now conserve surface area."
No, actually, the curling was happening August and Septemeber or so. They haven't curled since it's gotten below 60. (Been a wet late fall.)
There seemed to be a pretty clear correllation -- hot and dry, leaves would curl. Rainy (as it's been), happy flat leaves.
(Just checked -- happy flat-leafed rhodie after lots of rain and lots of below 60 temps... though turning burgundy-ish.)
Never answered this, sorry.
That area doesn't have optimal soil, I don't think. More towards sandy/ small rocks. I'm still getting to know the garden throughout, though, so not really sure.
Trying to do the final yard work this weekend. Plus -- I have an outdoor outlet!!!!!!!!!! This is really big news for me. :-D I had a thread on Abuzz I think about this one -- I remember Jesusgirl being shocked and appalled and suspicious that I really was so clueless about how to have outdoor lights without an outdoor socket. I've always lived in old houses, and never had one. <shrug> This old house has had enough upgrading though that there 'tis, an actual socket. Woo-hoo!
OK, so this was the big weekend, got a TON done. More to go, though. (10 bags of leaves and that's still only maybe halfway done! What happens when you have a trio of giant cottonwoods.) (Which I love. Have concentrated almost exclusively on my front and side yards so far, first time I've really gotten to know the backyard, it's kinda wild and wooly but I like that.)
The backyard is liberally covered with vinca, and I'm still not completely sure what to do with it. I'm evidently in zone 5b/ 6a (right on the boundary), and vinca is classified as an evergreen. But my online research is divided so far as to how much protection it needs. I think I'm confident in leaving the thickest clumpiest parts uncovered, but what about where it is more sparse and reaching out to cover bare ground?
