… York-based landscape design firm Deborah Nevins & Associates, and include examples of its work to create landscapes with a purpose that extends beyond the simply beautiful. As part of its ethos, the firm is deeply committed to creating sustainable landscapes. Ease of maintenance, function and performance, safety, and …
Type: Item Detail
… winter in the bark of the sunny side of trees, particularly on the side of the trunk oriented to the south or southwest. Frost cracks are injuries caused by the expansion and contraction of bark and underlying tissues in response to warm daytime temperatures and cold nighttime temperatures. Timing & Life Cycle Frost cracks are a winter problem that is especially severe if warm afternoon sun is followed by a rapid drop in temperature at sundown. …
Type: Plant Info
… Training plants is a garden art form. At its most ornamental and intricate, the art of training plants becomes … shrubs grown either as standards or as tightly pruned topiaries. A standard is a plant trained to a single trunk or stem with a distinct shape created by its leaves and flowers at the top of the trunk. Standards lend a formal air to a patio or pool, walkway, or front door. Plants suited to this style of topiary are ivy, tree …
Type: Plant Info
… In general, gardeners are game folks—always ready to grow a new seed, experiment with an unusual plant variety, or to give a fresh cutting a try. What's often called a lily pad is actually a floating leaf: Nymphaea 'Arc-en-Ciel' is sometimes grown specifically for its …
Type: Plant Info
… upright oval tree that can reach a height of 50 feet with a spread of 35 feet. The sugar maple is an excellent shade tree for lawns and parks. Tiny yellowish-green flowers appear in spring … the leaves emerge. The tree's winged fruit, or samaras, matures in the fall. Autumn color is highly variable, ranging from yellow or orange to red, but it is always outstanding. One of the best known trees of eastern North America, sugar …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This spectacular plant is a Gregori Hambali medinilla, derived from a jungle plant from Papua New Guinea where it is a semi-epiphytic shrub. The large veined leaves have burgundy undersides which enhance the … degrees Fahrenheit but is easily overwintered and is considered one of the easier medinillas to maintain in a home environment. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Garden , or in other garden byways. Wise gardeners plant this shrub near a path or doorway to enjoy the full effect during the two weeks or so when its small white flowers, opening from … Viburnum carlesii ) also offers an attractive wine-red fall foliage on a compact, spreading 4- to 5-foot-high shrub. It's just one of the hardy, adaptable viburnums, a group of easy-care … Grows program chosen for more reliable fall color, among other good qualities. Arrowwood is a big shrub, often reaching 10 feet high and wide, so give it lots of room. Wayfaring tree …
Type: Plant Info
… need a windbreak, but a row of evergreens, like arborvitaes, can provide privacy and a nesting site for songbirds. A blanket of snow on their boughs adds winter enchantment in our garden. Eastern arborvitae or northern white cedar, ( Thuja occidentalis ), is a native tree east of the Mississippi. Western arborvitae, ( Thuja plicata ) is found in … hours) but some will tolerate part shade. Depending on the cultivar, mature size ranges from 3 to 25 feet tall and 3 to 15-feet wide or so. Yews (Taxus—pronounced Tacks-uss) Canadian yew ( T. …
Type: Plant Info
… in your own back yard? Not the grocery store kind. But the fruit of 'Hardy Red' kiwi vine is a cousin. The berries have the same sweet-and-sour taste, maybe a little sweeter. And they're … can eat them like grapes. 'Hardy Red' kiwi vine is female, and that's important if you want to grow it for the fruit as well as the flowers, because you'll need a male vine for pollination. 'Hardy Red' is hardy to -25, so you can be confident Chicago winters won't faze it. And it's happy in full sun or …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Did you know you can grow kiwis right in your own back yard? The fruit of 'Issai' kiwi vine is a cousin of the familiar grocery store kiwis. The berries have the same sweet-and-citrus … Unlike so many kiwi vines, 'Issai' is self polinating. It doesn't need a male vine nearby to bear fruit. 'Issai' is hardy to -25, so you can be confident Chicago winters won't faze it. And it's happy in full sun or …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
