Bringing blues into the garden is soothing. Blue has a recessive, calming quality in the garden.
A Brooklyn garden design by Todd Haiman Landscape Design. Gathering area within a city garden property. photo©ToddHaimanLandscapeDesign2016
Here are some tips gained from professional experience on using the color blue in your planting schemes.
1. Small containers will need to be watered more often than large flowerpots. Planters made out of porous materials such as a terra cotter planter will need to be watered more often than a plastic container. Plastic and glazed pots are slower to dry out because water doesn't evaporate through these non-porous materials.
These beautiful planters found at Wave Hill Gardens in Bronx, New York are made of stone which is a porous material.
2. When the outside temperature approach 80-90 degrees; in the sun (and shade) you may need to water a small container more than once a day. A garden container with more soil means your plants can grow a bigger root system. Plants with lots of roots tend to be healthy, happy plants.
Using various plants in a large planter design can be effective in a large terrace garden planter
3. A light-potting medium is recommended with addition of natural cedar mulch as a topping to retain moisture and mitigate temperature extremes.
4. Fertilizer is essential for having the best plant containers. Remember that with constant watering, nutrients are consistently leeching out of the soil of your beautiful container planting. On a regular basis, you should be feeding these plants -- unless they are plants that prefer low nutrient soil (such as lavender.)
5. Typically, the more plants you have in a single planter design, the greater their need will be for irrigation.
Large terrace planters need a significant amount of irrigation to be successful. They also need a constant application of fertilizer.
For over forty years Ralph Snodsmith of the Garden Hotline radio show uttered the phrase "a 50¢ plant for a $5 Hole". As a longtime horticultural extension agent this was his philosophy for planting trees and shrubs and just about every other plant in the garden. I had the distinct pleasure of studying with him in New York City at the Botanical Gardens.
Here are his 9 factors to consider when planting..
What is the function of the plant? To provide shade? If so, what kind of shade? dense or filtered, summer or year-round? If used for screening, is it for summer screening?, If so, a deciduous screen - one that drops foliage during winter -may do. If the plant is for year round screening in a NYC landscape design, choose an evergreen.
Is the plant hardy in your area? Review the USDA hardiness Zone map. It is important to identify your location, compare your zone to that of the species and variety you want to plant. (As an addendum to Ralph's words, consider that these maps have changed 3x in the last 15 years.. consider global warming.)
How long does the plant live? Longevity is relative.
How fast does it grow? How long will it take to produce the desired effect? A 10ft tall Willow tree in ten years can reach 50 feet tall with a 50ft. spread, while an Oak tree may struggle to reach 20 ft tall in the same amount of time.
Is the plant relatively pest free? Spend time researching the benefits and challenges about a plant. Lilac shrubs come down with powdery mildew, scale and borers. Roses are confronted with aphids, japanese beetles, blackspot and mildew. The only plant claimed to be pest-free is the Gingko.
What are the maintenance requirements of the plant? Does the plant need constant pruning? What are its irrigation needs. Fertilization needs?
What is the preferred culture of the plant? What are the light needs of the plant? Where does it typically grow in the wild? If grasses typically grow in full sun they can do fine on a roof garden if irrigated properly. In vertical landscape design a plant will have to deal with high winds, dessication and full sun. This is somewhat similar to plants that grow near a beach such as Myrica pennsylvanica.
Japanese maples, Flowering dogwoods, Magnolias are all trees that grow well in shady front gardens of Brooklyn Brownstone gardens. Brooklyn garden design typically require part shade trees, or trees that are understory trees. Remember to consider the other plants around it in your landscape design.
Are there mitigating factors? Is it in a high traffic area? Are there four legged creatures around? Dogs, cats, squirrels, voles, deer, etc. can have a major effect on the success of the plant your choose.
But most importantly, consider what type of soil the plant in question performs best in. Want blueberries? Azaleas? These are ericaceous plants.. they want acidic soil. Cornus sericea will grow best in moist soil.
**adapted from Ralph Snodsmith's "New York Gardener's Guide"
Planting designs by Gertrude Jekyll
Stumbling upon this book in a London bookshop was just short of a miracle. The book contains several fold-out "tissues" of her planting plans! Enjoy perusing them below. I've had the great pleasure of sharing them with friends and happy to share with other fellow gardeners.
1. Enhanced value
The most obvious advantage of a roof garden is as a valuable amenity that enhances the worth of the structure it occupies for a relatively modest expenditure. A roof garden substantially enhances re-sale or rental values. It raises property values. It is additional or reclaimed usable space. A bonus is the ability to gain promotion and marketing benefits via a green roof.
2. Increased Life Expectancy of the Roof
One of the great benefits of roof gardens, vertical gardens and green roofs is that, by protecting the underlying roof covering, they extend the life of the existing roof fabric by up to 200%. A green roof protects the roof membrane from climatic extremes and physical abuse, thereby greatly increasing the life expectancy of the roof.
3. Property Tax Credit Incentives
New York City recently passed a city bylaw that rewards building-owners who cover 50 per cent of available rooftop space with a green roof with a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000. The credit would be equal to $4.50 per square-foot of roof area that is planted with vegetation, or approximately 25 per cent of the typical costs associated with the materials, labor, installation and design of the green roof. More and more municipalities and other government agencies are providing incentives that can help offset the cost of a green roof.
4. Insulate against heat and sound
Buildings with roof gardens lose 30% less heat in the winter, are cooler in the summer, and offer year-round sound insulation. Green roofs can improve the thermal resistance of the roof assembly throughout the year, especially in summer months by helping to reduce cooling costs, saving fuel. Reduced noise levels from typical extensive green roofs (3” - 4” growing media) reduce reflective sound by up to 3 dB and improve sound insulation by up to 8 dB
5. Retain and manage rainwater
Stormwater retention: green roofs absorb up to 75% of rainfall, thus reducing the runoff dramatically, and lowering the risk of floods. Depending on the roof garden design, a green roof can typically reduce storm water run-off by 50 to 90%. Additionally, the peak flow volume is greatly reduced and the peak flow period is delayed by as much as 4 hours, minimizing the impact on existing sewer systems.
6. Provide social benefits
Green roofs expand the usefulness of buildings via patios, gardens and vistas. Planting gardens, both at ground level and in the sky, provide not only great spaces for relaxation and enjoyment, but also are great to look at!
7. Improve air quality
Plants produce oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the air. They also trap up to 85% of airborne particulates on their leaf surfaces. Plants, soil, and air trapped in the soil are great acoustic insulators.
8. Modify urban micro-climates
Cities, of concrete and tarmac, retain heat and create "urban heat islands", as much as 10F warmer than surrounding suburbs. Plants, through transpiration, directly cool the air, and can reduce surface roof temperatures by as much as 75F in summer.
9. Provide diverse habitats
Roof gardens, when planted with indigenous flora, can provide important habitats for native bird and insect populations. Green roofs create biodiversity.
10. LEED Certification
Opportunity to assist in achieving LEED certification in several categories
Essentially within a dense urban environment one needs green space. Gardens are an ethereal world - they should be calming spaces and transport you to another state of mind within an urban environment. It can be a Brooklyn townhouse garden design, NYC contemporary patio, a small yard or a comfy and inviting urban roof garden.
A SHORT GUIDE FOR ATTRACTING BIRDS AND POLLINATORS INTO YOUR GARDEN
Nearly one-third of North Americas bird species are in serious decline and the primary reason is habitat loss. As more and more land gets developed, its important to create these biological corridors that connect isolated fragments of nature, building them out of native plants that support the food web, creating a balanced ecological community.
Simple shrubs or thickets tightly grouped emulate plant hedges or hedgerows for bird cover. Mix several shrub species if there is enough planting area, offering a greater selection of nest sites.
Select plant material that offer fruit/seeds at different seasons that provide a varying food supply throughout the year, especially in winter, when other forms of food is sparse.
Varying vegetation levels is important. Vertical layers naturally occur at woodland edges. Plant small trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, ground covers. Some bird species sing and feed in a canopy, others at lower levels.
Multi-layered, bright colored, tubular flowers (Trumpet vine, columbine, bee balm, bugleweed, etc) are the secret to attracting hummingbirds. In a New York City backyard garden the Ruby-throated hummingbird is the most common hummingbird visitor.
Birds enjoy having water available to them, but standing water is also the breeding ground for mosquitoes in Manhattan gardens. A recommendation might be to have a couple of boulders that have a concave surface where shallow water can collect after precipitation for several hours to at most, a couple of days.
If you have a lawn,.. do not consider it a wildlife magnet. Turf grass is a monoculture that provides little benefit to an ecosystem. Consider minimizing it or adding a variety of ground-covers.
If you vary the menu offered, you vary the attraction of the meal to the bird population. This applies to a small backyard garden design or a suburban residential garden design. Variety is truly the spice of life. Goldfinches and Chickadees (and other seed eating birds) feed on the mature seeds of coneflowers, Juncos feast on asters, switchgrass attracts thrushes and sparrows, dogwood fruits are eaten by Thrashers, Waxwings, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, et cetera.
Rather than purchasing mulch to topcoat in fall, leave leaf litter within your planting beds (in your yard) for the food, water and shelter it can provide overwintering birds. Consider that it also breaks down and eventually becomes compost.
If you have the opportunity to plant a tree, try a native Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp). Mulberries are great for birds, but they produce a mess of fruit.. and become a maintenance issue.
Limited for space and can’t put in a huge shrub in your townhouse garden or Brooklyn backyard? Put in a small Mapleleaf Viburnum as a compliment to other shrubs or small trees. It’s low growing, very shade tolerant and has somewhat open growth, maturingxz at 3-4’. The berries are readily consumed, and the foliage) which turns a stunningly beautiful plum-red color in fall) could be a nesting site for Northern Cardinals or Grey Catbirds.
A bird feeder is a great enticer for birds and can be tastefully incorporated into a Brooklyn garden design. With climate change and overdevelopment it has become more difficult for our feathered friends. Planting native plants rather than exotics is a great beginning.
