QUESTION: “I have spent waaaay too much money applying redwood bark and cocoa hulls to my front and backyard landscape and flower beds only to find that the cool fall weather has caused the bark to mold and mildew, plus the neighborhood cats are using my landscape as their litter box. Is there anyway I can save my investment? Please help!” – Sandy Davis

ANSWER: Cool, damp weather can cause mulch to mold and mildew. I suggest you investigate ways to improve drainage to divert water (whether it’s from rainfall or supplemental watering) so it will move away from the mulched areas as quickly as possible. Turning the top part of the mulch from time to time will help to prevent more moldy areas.

Now, onto the feline problem. There are a few things you can try and all are humane and safe. The first one is to lay down chicken wire on top of the mulched areas. Cats, generally, will not walk or stand on the horizontal wire fencing and of course can’t dig so they are likely to move to another yard.

Two other things that will help but must be used consistently to be effective are putting cayenne pepper flakes on the mulch or spraying it with the urine of a known predator of the cat, such as fox or coyote. If you don’t happen to have a fox or coyote handy, you can find bottled urine at hunting stores or army surplus stores. I hope you are able to reverse the problem with your mulch.

QUESTION: “What plants and shrubs are available for landscaping near a house where the soil has a clay loam that holds moisture so much so that many plants roots rot?” — Carl

ANSWER: “Most plants do not like wet feet. The first thing I would recommend is to loosen the soil. You can use a product such as Prosper Soil Conditioner. It increases friability and resists crusting, allowing water and air to permeate soil. Use this product and then begin to add some soil amendments to your soil to build up the organic matter. Once you have good healthy soil you will be able to grow many types of plants not just the ones that might or might not survive in adverse conditions.

Like cures for hiccups, it seems almost everyone has a “lawn recipe” that they swear by! Recently, I included a recipe from a reader serving with the armed forces overseas. That brought a lot of reader response, and here is a slightly different cocktail from another reader:

COMMENT: “I searched high and low, and found this lawn recipe. It works miracles. In a 32-oz. sprayer, mix one can non-light beer, one 12-oz. can soda (non-diet), 4 oz. Palmolive dish liquid, 4 oz. mouthwash (it has something to do with killing grubs, etc) and 4 oz. ammonia (think nitrogen, and hydrogen).

“I believe that this is the ultra-professional recipe. I always use the Palmolive, as that and the beer seem to be the only constant of all the recipes that I have found. My neighbor fertilized with Scott’s Organic within 2 days of me using my wonderful-smelling lawn recipe, and MY lawn sprung out of it’s brown coma in 3-4 days, filling in patches previously brown from the neighbors cats. In a week, there were NO brown spots.

“Ammonia can’t be beat, especially delivered through the 32-oz. hose sprayer, because of the jolt of nitrogen and hydrogen it gets, especially when applied with the beer and soda for the carbonation. It gets through even heavily thatched lawns. I’m glad to spread the word. Maybe winter will be a little greener for all of us! I’ll let you know how my grass holds up in comparison with the neighbors.” – Susan Glenn

Thank you, Susan. I’m sure many of our “turf-challenged” readers will want to try your recipe, or submit recipes of their own. If you want to read the column that started it all, you can find it archived at my Web site www.landsteward.org Look for the column titled, “Grass will go green with this lawn cocktail.”

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

The names given to plants can be highly evocative, creating a delightful mental image before we have even seen the plant. Shakespeare’s Juliet might have believed that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but the folks who develop new plant hybrids know the importance of creating exactly the right name that will strike a chord with gardeners.

I must confess that I can be influenced, at least initially, by a plant name that suggests striking colors or exotic perfumes, but over the years I’ve learned to withhold judgment until I’ve seen the plant in my own landscape!

Today I’ll tell you about some plants that do live up to their very apt names.

The first four are members of the Hibiscus family. Hibiscus (sometimes called rosemallow) is a genus of about 200+ flowering plants that are native to warm, sub-tropical and even tropical areas of the world. In the USA, most are hardy in USDA growing zones 5 through 9.

For many peoples of the world, the Hibiscus is more than just a pretty face. The variety known as Roselle is used in the West Indies, Egypt and Sudan to make jams and herbal teas and the Hibiscus species Kenaf is used in paper making. White Hibiscus is believed to have medicinal properties by the proponents of the traditional Indian system of Ayurveda and Hindus use Hibiscus as an offering to the goddess Kali.

I have heard that red Hibiscus has been used to treat dandruff and that dried Hibiscus is considered an edible delicacy in Central America, not that I have ever tried either of those uses personally.

As you can see, Hibiscus has quite an exotic pedigree. If that wasn’t enough, growers have given creative names to some of the newer Hibiscus varieties.

Hibiscus Rose Satin
This is quite the showy plant featuring large, single, deep rose-pink flowers with a blazing red center. The petals have a wonderful silky, satin sheen that you just want to stroke. Rose Satin has the richest true pink bloom of any Rose of Sharon that I’ve seen.

Hibiscus Violet Satin
Like the Rose Satin, the Violet Satin was hybridized by Claude Bellion and this is another real eye-popper. Covered with deeply saturated red-violet flowers, the color looks almost electric when the light catches them just so. This variety adds a burst of color to a mid-summer garden.

Hibiscus Blue Satin
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a blue Hibiscus with richer, more vibrant color than the Blue Satin. The saturated bright blue color of the blooms will add a tropical accent to almost any landscape

Hibiscus Blush Satin
Rounding out the quartet, the aptly-named Blush has delicate pink “cheeks” around a bright red center.

All four of the Satin hybrids seem to be more vigorous and hardy than older varieties. If necessary, they can be quite heavily pruned in late spring or early fall, but left to their own devices will top out between 6 and 10 feet at maturity. They are tolerant of most soil unless it is very dry or very wet.

Moving from Hibiscus to a Hydrangea with an evocative name…

Hydrangea Lemon Wave
With this plant, the foliage is more spectacular than the blooms, and if the name evokes images of dark green leaves irregularly splotched with creamy lemon yellow, then the hybrid developers who named it have done their job well. Amid those lemony leaves, waving gently in the breeze, you see delicate lace-cap floret clusters in July and August. The blooms are on the pinkish side in neutral to alkaline soil and a light blue in acidic soils.

For more information about Hydrangeas, particularly the dwarf varieties, see last week’s column. If you missed it, you can find it archived at my Web site, www.landsteward.org

Yes, plant names can conjure up delightful visions in our minds. Start planning now to add an exotic element to your landscape next season.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Picture this: It’s next summer and you’re proudly taking a friend for a stroll around your landscape. “Here’s Vienna,” you say, “And there’s Berlin. That’s Venice over there. Oh, and here’s Paris.” Ooh la-la!

Not bad for a half-acre lot somewhere in America. Before you start humming “It’s a Small World After All,” I should explain that I’m talking about four varieties of hydrangea, each with unique characteristics that you might want to add to your garden next spring.

Ah, spring! It might seem a long way away right now, but it will be here before you know it. That means that now is the perfect time to be planning (and even pre-ordering) the plants that will grace your landscape next season.

Let’s start with those four Euro-centric hydrangeas.

All four varieties were developed by the German plant breeders Franz-Xaver and Konrad Rampp. Their objective was to create tight, full plants without chemicals that need no pruning and little or no special care.

They are considered “dwarf” hydrangeas as they top out between 12 and 36 inches tall at maturity. They prefer moist but well-drained soil and are hardy to USDA zone 5, thriving in full sun in northern climes and in afternoon shade further south. They look good as groupings, in a perennial border or even as a colorful low hedge. They are also compact enough for containers and are well suited for fresh or dried indoor flower arrangements.

Although all of these varieties have flowers in the pink to red range, the pH value of the soil will affect the color of the blooms. A more alkaline soil will produce blooms of a deeper pink, whereas a more acidic soil tips the color scale towards blue. If you prefer to see blue flowers, here’s a grower’s trick: add a tablespoon of aluminum sulfate to a gallon of water and soak the roots in early spring. You’ll need two applications.

Hydrangea Cityline Paris

The Paris is the most mildew-resistant of the Cityline series, worth noting if mildew seems to be a problem in your garden. In a fairly alkaline soil, Paris will produce blooms of a deep, rich red that is unusual for a hydrangea. As it matures, it will turn a pleasant shade of green.

Hydrangea Cityline Vienna

Although Vienna is a dwarf variety, the flowers are unusually large in proportion to the plant, making them appear much larger when in bloom. It’s a real eye-catcher with giant pink blooms that start out with cream-colored centers gradually maturing to solid pink (or blue… see above!)

Hydrangea Cityline Berlin

Berlin is the most robust and colorful of the Cityline series with large rosy-pink flowerheads on a plant topping out between 2 and 3 feet high and spreading to maybe 3 or 4 feet wide. The large blooms look as if they’d be too heavy for such a small plant, but all these varieties are bred for stronger stems that hold the flowerheads upright.

Hydrangea Cityline Venice

The blooms of the Venice tend towards a fuchsia color that makes a delightful contrast to the glossy green foliage. Again, abundant blooms that are surprising on such a compact plant. If you plant it beneath deciduous trees, check the first year to be sure it isn’t receiving too much sunlight during winter months, particularly in more temperate climates.

I’ve said that none of these hydrangea varieties need pruning and indeed that’s a fact. However, if you want to build a tighter plant or maintain a shorter size, you can take some simple shaping steps.

If the plant seems “leggy” when you buy it, you can shear it back to a half or even a third of its size. Once it puts on an inch or two of growth, pinch the branch tips to remove just the growing tips. Because this tip controls branching, the buds below it will turn into stems. Once these new branches grow an inch or two, repeat the pinching process. You’ll sacrifice a year’s blooms, but will have a tighter plant with even more flowers in the future.

But even without pruning these Euro-hydrangeas bring a world of color to your garden.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

A single night of harsh winter weather can undo all the TLC you lavished on your plants from the spring to the fall. But a little care and attention now can ensure your plants survive to thrive again next season.

My wife Cheryl has compiled a list of Web sites that should provide all the help you need to protect your plants this winter, so I will turn this week’s column over to her. As Cheryl points out, “Every homeowner should know the best way to protect their landscape regardless of which area of the country they live in.”

A frequent question has been on winter rose care and protection. With roses, a little prevention is worth the effort. The University of Illinois Extension site has put together a great page on how to protect your beauties over winter. It has sketches which make it easier to understand if you are a newbie to roses.
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/roses/winter.html

Hydrangeashydrangeas.com, which is my favorite site on hydrangea care, now gives information on winter care specifically for hydrangeas. It also offers great pictures on how to insulate any containers you may have (of any shrubs or trees). If you have any pots or containers on your deck or patio, you will want to check this link out for that reason.
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/winter_protect.html

Those of you, like me, who are just getting around to doing any fall clean up work in the landscape should check this out from the University of Vermont Extension site on how to prepare your garden for winter. It really covers all of your landscape from bulbs to perennials to shrubs to trees to vegetable gardens, listing everything that needs to be done for these plants to help make sure your plants get through winter with the least possible damage.
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmext/publications/oh/oh3.htm

If you are in an extremely cold region with heavy ice and snow, you will find this link helpful as it gives detailed instructions on building A frames for your plants.
http://landscaping.about.com/od/shrubcare/ss/shrub_shelter.htm

One of my all time favorite idea sites is the Fine Gardening Magazine web site. You can read and enjoy many of the articles from the magazine here. We often recommend this site to readers who contact us for tips and ideas on landscaping and gardening design. I keep old issues for reference and the link here is to one of the most informative articles for winter protection. This link will show you how to wrap your shrubs and trees to prevent damage from ice, snow and freezing winds.
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/how-to/articles/shelter-plants-from-winters-worst.aspx

I recommend printing these pages out for future reference. Keep them in a folder for easy access. Fall and winter is a great time to read about gardening and landscaping. Start a tickler file. When you find landscaping ideas, plants or techniques that interest you, print them from your computer or tear them out of the magazine and put them in the file. I started a gardening file years ago and continually add to it. When I want to add a plant or do something special with an area, I pull out my tickler file and go through it. There are always great ideas. After all, I thought they were great to start with. Right?

For anyone who missed our window box ideas last year, here’s a link to it. It’s just basic ideas and pictures to give you some thoughts to go out on your own and create great window boxes or containers for the fall and winter season.
http://greenwoodnursery.com/Images/window%20boxes.pdf

In a recent column, I included a “lawn cocktail recipe” that drew some questions from readers regarding the 20-gallon sprayer that was referred to. I asked the reader who sent me the recipe to clarify. Here’s his response:

“A 20 or a 25 gal sprayer (depending on the make & model) is available at Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. It is about half the size of a football and only holds about a quart of liquid or Miracle Grow granules. The reason they call it a “20 gal sprayer” is because it takes (out of the garden hose) 20 gallons of water-to flush or empty the mixture inside the container. I personally prefer one where you can adjust the spray so it can shoot out a really heavy/course spray for the grass & bushes…not the delicate Miracle Grow one unless it has an adjustable nozzle. However, any one will work.” – TSgt Michael Gray

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org