How to land scape a narrow side yard-The garden hallway

 Question What to do in a very narrow side yard 20 x 5'. 

In your side yard I would use the interior design concepts for a narrow hall way. Increase visual depth and interest. Within our homes we often use chair rails. They are placed 2/3 up the wall. Often below the chair rail is wallpaper, a contrasting paint, wainscoting or molding.

I will tell you my vision for your narrow side yard without knowing your taste or site conditions. I would repeat a row of containers. You may be able to use a narrow plant species and could recommend one based on your site conditions. However here is where my creative juices are flowing today.  In this space perhaps three containers. If they are 36" high they would just the right height to gaze down at your magnificent container gardens as you walk through the yard.  Keep the lighting and point some, if you don't already onto the containers. Use a bright colored plant at the base of the containers. Something of course appropriate to the environment. 

Photo from Houzz.                                  My rendering.

Japanese Beetles-mean lady bugs

Reader asks "How do you get rid of those bugs that look like lady bugs but are really bad "


Japanese Beetles are a problem in most states east of the Mississippi. Here is a description of the adult Japanese beetle. It is about a half an inch long. It's body is bronze outer wings and a green body. You do not want to get close enough to see this so take my word. It has 6 tufts of white hair along it's sides and under the edges of it's wings.  

You may confuse a Japanese Beetle with a June Bug also known as a  June Beetle. This photo illustrates the two. The Japanese Beetle is on the right. 

The USDA recommends using IPM, Integrated Pest management, strategies in the prevention and control of Japanese Beetles. This is a strategy consisting of a few things to keep the problem controlled. If you are having a problem this season then your battle is just beginning.

If you are dealing with a Spring, Early Summer issue with the pests first try spraying your plants and the bugs with soapy water.  If they are focussing on one of your most valuable plants. Cover it during the active season. You can also buy chemicals and beetle traps. The traps are not recommended because they lure more beetles from up to 2 miles away. You will have to judge yourself wether you want to use chemicals. Think about what you are spraying and where. 

NOW -Prevention. 

 1.  If they are in the air now they will soon be in your lawn.  Female Beetles lay their eggs in late summer. The grubs are born in your lawn and eat at the roots. If you identify patches of brown grass in your green lawn check there for grubs. The females are also attracted to wet moist areas to lay their eggs. If you let your lawn remain drier they are less likely to lay eggs in it.  There are pesticides to kill them. Once again it is up to you to judge wether you want to use chemicals on your site. At this stage you can remove them mechanically. That means get close to touching them. Eww. However, the grubs are not moving.  After examining the situation in Fall do the same in the Spring. 

  2. As an alternative to chemicals there biological agents that naturally ward them off.  I know this does not sound easy and may sound a bit creepy but nematodes, parasites, and fungi are used with success in controlling the Japanese Beetle population. Nematodes will prey on the beetles an can be applied to your garden or yard with water. They are available on line at this site http://www.buglogical.com. This is similar to releasing ladybugs to we  prevent aphids. They are also available at lawn and garden shops. 

  3. Changes in the habitat.. The USDA says it is not "...necessary to eliminate the beetle in order to protect your trees, plants, and lawn." Consider what plants attract the pests and what plants don't. This will make them less likely to come feast in your yard. 

Here are there two lists of the best and worst plants. A woody plant is one that does not dies to the ground in the winter. Shrubs and trees for example. 

20 Woody Plants Resistant to Adult Japanese Beetle Feeding

 1. Red maple 
 2. Boxwood
 3. Hickory 
 4. Redbud

 5. Tulip poplar
 6. Dogwood 
 7. Burning-bush 
 8. Forsythia

 9. Ash 
10. Holly 
11. Juniper 
12. Sweetgum 
13. Magnolia 
14. Spruce 
15. Pine 
16. Northern red oak 
17. Lilac 
18. Yew 
19. Arborvitae 
20. Hemlock

Acer rubrum Buxus spp. Carya spp. Cercis spp. Liriodendron tulipifera Cornus spp. Euonymus spp. Forsythia spp. Fraxinus spp.

Ilex spp. Juniperus spp. Liquidambar styraciflua Magnolia spp. Picea spp. Pinus spp. Quercus rubrum Syringa spp. Taxus spp. Thuja spp. Tsuga spp.

Woody Plants Susceptible to Adult Japanese Beetle Feeding

Primary:

 1. Japanese maple Acer palmatum

 2. Norway maple Acer platanoides

 3. Crape-myrtle Lagerstroemia indica

 4. Apple, crabapple Malus spp.

 5. Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia 

 6. Plum, apricot, Prunus spp.cherry, peach 

 7. Pin oak Quercus palustris 8    

Sassafras American mountain-ash Linden (American, European)

Sassafras albidum Sorbus americana Tilia spp.

Cherry Trees-it must of been cold there in my shadow

 The color, texture, and movement in this painting by Edgar Degas "The Four Dancers" reminds me of Spring.  One may think of a Magnolia or Cherry tree when they hear of trees in bloom. These trees are well known for their showy flowers an that is often why we choose them for our landscape. 

When I started to study woody plants in 2007 I began to look at plant flowers in new detail. I began to notice the inconspicuous flowers on other Spring trees. They are so small, intimate, and complex. The fact that they are withdrawn makes me them even more attractive to me. Amongst the amazing shows of other flowering trees they often go unnoticed.

Acer s.

  I notice the Maples early. The grey and blak forest starts to blush red. The buds on the trees in my yard look like retro, red, clip-on ear rings. These are Acer saccharinum.  All those buds, bloom and then fruit.  Those are a lot of helicopters. Otherwise know as chimera. The winged fruit. 

Salix Alba

When I see a Weeping Willow in Spring I anxiously describe it's beauty to whoever is with me. I am frantically trying to get them to see what I see and share in the experience.  The branches look like the translucent, plastic, beaded necklaces. The green-yellow ones you buy at the dollar store that come with all the jewelry a little girl could ever need and a tiara. 

Cercis canadensis 

The Red Buds come next. I fell in love with this native plant while driving through the blue ridge in the Spring.  They covered the light green slopes of the mountain sides in an early morning fog. Their color is a unique lilac. I think it looks like cherry sherbet tastes. 

Of course I enjoy all the blooms ! When I stand under my cherry tree I get weak in the knees. I dream of having a Southern Magnolia outside my bedroom window. 

It is a religious experience to stand in a breeze of cherry petals. 

 I took this photo at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. last year. 

Peeling Back Summer and finding Mistletoe. What is mistletoe anyway ?

It is late Summer and the landscape is clothed in green jewels from Cartier. It has just about the sweetest mani-pedi you have ever seen. Geraniums and red wave petunias emerge from it's Michal Kors sandals. Mother nature's essemble becomes passe by late Fall. Soon enough she must shed her summer wardrobe and bare it all. Vibrant colors subside and she stands before all bark naked. The extensions fall out of her branches. What is worse is that under her couture summer collection grow round bushes in the spindly crowns of the trees. Mistletoe. Not a pedicured toe at all.

Mistletoe. What is it ? Mistletoe refers to a group of plants. The name has German roots. The word for Mist and the word for dung. Dung yup, quite lovely. Named such because the seeds are spread through bird droppings.

The plant is parasitic. Which means it lives off a host. In this case the trees which it inhabits. It was once thought of to be undesirable but today is accepted as an important part of the ecosystem. It is valuable to a variety of birds and animals.

Mythology. This is the fun stuff. Why do you kiss under the mistletoe ? (who cares as long as you are kissing someone you want?) Ancient Greece is where we can first find talk of the mystical powers of mistletoe. Pliny, whose writings are a historical reference for many garden topics, wrote about mistletoe and the common beliefs about it in his time(23-79 BC).
Pliny wrote "The druids -- that is what the Gauls call their magicians -- hold nothing more sacred than mistletoe and the tree on which it is growing, provided that it is an oak. Groves of oaks are chosen even for their own sake, and the magicians perform no rites without using the foliage of these trees...
Anything growing on oak trees they think to have been sent down from heaven, and to be a signal that that particular tree has been chosen by a god."

I am going to skip the part about human ritual and sacrifice and skip to the part about kissing. That goes back to Norse Mythology and is quite a lovely story as far as tragedy and love go in mythology. The Norse God Frigga bore a son and to protect him she cast a spell upon all things that they may not harm the child. Oops, she missed mistletoe. Eventually her son, Baldur, was stabbed by the god Loki with a spear made of mistletoe. The gods resurrected Baldur. Frigga was so pleased with her son's resurrection that she decreed mistletoe should never more be associated with death and should be only a symbol of love. In Scandinavian lore it is said that if two enemies met in the forest under mistletoe was above they would lay down their weapons. Love it.

There are over 2000 species of mistletoe growing all over the world. It is hidden from us in the summer months. However, in the winter it loftily remains behind as a the symbol of love. Notice it now and don't confuse it with squirrels nests. We will leave the symbolic meaning of the squirrel's nest for another episode.

After this research I am definitely picking some up before New Years. Hmm. Where do we buy it ?

http://morekissesmistletoe.com/

The Internet has everything.