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The following articles written by The English Lady are published weekly in Shoreline Newspaper & The Valley Press

Manure Is Like A Fine Wine

Hello folks, perhaps some of you may have heard me say, on my call-in program on WRCH Lite100.5FM,that “manure, like a fine wine, gets better with age.” It’s true. I cannot stress the importance of manure in your garden, especially throughout the winter when it works with the dormant nutrients in the soil to build soil structure and create a rich planting environment. Compost or manure is also the savior of water conservation. If you have organic matter in your soil you do not have to water as much, and with the drought situations we have experienced in the past and with efforts to be environmentally aware that is very much a plus.

Your soil is a good soil when it crumbles in your fingers, this soil is made out of sand, silt and clay particles held together by the gums and gels formed by bacteria, just like your hair style holds together with hair gel and mousse. Fungi, root hairs, and roots hold these aggregates together, and the insects together with our best friend the earthworm, build the spaces that air and water can trickle through. This is how healthy soil, full of organic matter, holds not only water but also the nutrients around plant roots, where they can be used most efficiently.

So dress your beds now with manure and in the spring top dress with about two inches more of compost or manure. Your plants will get such a well balanced diet with this organic material that they will not need fertilizer. High nitrogen fertilizer disadvantages, as it speeds the growth of plants making them weak and subject to fungus and disease; this fertilizer also disappears fast through to your water table so the plants have nothing to draw on. My company prefers to use organic composts, manures, and fertilizers when tending to the gardens.

Winter is a great time to build or buy a compost bin for your gardens and a great time to begin the composting process to carry on into the spring. The structure of any soil is helped by compost with the following additions of fish emulsion (kelp extract) and peat. Put this mix into a large bucket and add water then let it stand for a few days in the sun. You are saying to me okay Maureen but how do we make compost? I recommend a formula that is roughly twenty-five percent high nitrogen material such as early grass clippings, vegetable waste, or manure. Thirty percent lower nitrogen such as late grass clippings, weeds, and coffee or tea grounds, and forty five percent woody materials such as leaves and prunings.

To keep this material “on the boil” as I would say, your pile should be no more than three to four feet high, any higher than that and it will get too wet or too dry. If those microorganisms are doing their job the temperature will be 130 to 155 degrees and vegetable matter will turn into compost in about five weeks.

Always remember to plan ahead when you do any landscape work so it does not become a hodgepodge. If you are planning to get some professional help, and I do mean garden and landscape, then now is the time to contact a landscape designer so you can get on her/his calendar. Always think eco-consciously and avoid harmful toxins in your home and garden. We can always stay excited about our gardens even when it’s snowing outside. I’ll see you next time in your garden.

Winter Gardens

Hello everyone, and thank you for inviting me into your garden once again. So many people say to me “Maureen, winter is so long with the bitter cold and we have been having with such a lot of snow this season. Is there such a thing as a winter garden to cheer me up?” Yes folks there is! Evergreen and deciduous structure is the backbone of the garden and a wonderful backdrop for your other plants, both shrubs and perennials. The broadleaves of the Rhododendron, the soft peeling bark of the Heritage Birch, the cinnamon brown of the Paperbark Maple, the lacey fronds of the Eastern Red Cedar, the soft green of the White Pine, and the gentle blue of the Colorado Blue Spruce are just a few of the large trees to include in your landscape. Some shrubs that will add structure and year round interest are Holly, Pieris, Boxwood, Dwarf Hinoki cypress, and the evergreen Azalea “Delaware Valley White.

A few winters ago when I was in England I visited a Knot garden I had designed using Boxwood. The morning sky was a brilliant red and the heavy white frost on the Boxwood looked just like a wedding cake covered with white icing. It was a lovely sight to behold.

Well back on this side of the pond, for next winter let us plant a Winterberry with its bright red berries that look wonderful against the snow. “Winter Red” Winterberry is my favorite. Winterberry tolerates damp conditions and will prosper near a pond or stream. Another shrub that tolerates moist conditions when planted in a sunny spot is the Vernal Witch hazel with fragrant flowers in colors ranging from yellow to red appearing in January and February. Another early beauty is the Winter Hazel with lemon yellow blossoms and small bluish green heart shaped leaves.

Under plant these shrubs with Snowdrops, Helleborus, and Pulmonaria; all early bloomers. To complete the picture, plant an evergreen ground cover like Ivy or Myrtle. If you are planting on a slope and need to hold the grade, Willowleaf Cotoneaster is a favorite of mine. It is a low spreading plant with red berries in fall, bronze leaves in winter turning green in spring, followed by small white flowers; as you can see, a plant for all seasons.

If you have a sunny sheltered spot where the snow first melts, put a bird feeder and hang some extra treats such as a lump of suet stuffed with nuts, or hollow out pine cones and fill them with peanut butter and hang them from a tree or line, your feathered friends will be most grateful to you.

Also place a bench in a sunny spot and paint it a bright color like sky blue or bright yellow, because we often have the odd day that surprises us with mild temperatures, where we can sit, plan, and meditate.

Whilst you are out there on that mild day, check the winter protective covering on your plants; make sure it is not packed down with snow because that can impede air circulation. If it is packed down, lift it up a little and let it fall back gently.

Well folks, I know you are chafing at the bit for spring to arrive, but don’t succumb to complete withdrawal and I’ll see you in your garden soon. Let’s keep looking forward until we can get out there with a spade, rake, and pruners. And don’t forget to exercise.

Orchids Abloom In Every Room

Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me into your garden once again. A friend of mine is always surrounded by about fifty or more Orchids in his California home for he has the ideal conditions; however, a good friend in Lyme also has tremendous success with the Orchids which he has in windows facing east and south; so you can also enjoy them with the right cultural conditions here in New England.

I am sure that many of you received Orchids as gifts for the holiday and saying to yourself “how do I keep these lovely creatures alive and kicking?” So on that note, I would like to give you some of the general rules of Orchid culture which is quite straightforward if you follow the rules. Here in New England do not try to grow Orchids that require full intense sun for twelve months out of the year. One you can grow is Phalaenopsis, which is a shade lover. Phalaenopsis are some of the easiest to grow and particularly for those of you who are beginners, very rewarding with or without a greenhouse. Phalaenopsis comes from the Greek term”phalaina” meaning “moth” and “opsis meaning “appearance,” referring to the moth-like look of the flowers.

In your home the ideal light conditions are a south-facing windowsill with indirect sunlight. In winter, they require twelve hours of filtered light which can be achieved with shading made of fine mesh curtain or plastic sheeting. In summer, they require fourteen hours of filtered light. To supplement the winter light you may have to use an artificial fluorescent light. The fluorescent tubes should be 40-watts with a minimum of four for good light. Verilux Tru-Bloom bulbs, which were originally designed for use in museums, are ideal because they copy the sun’s spectrum and have a “natural light” look.

The main requirement is that the Orchid has good drainage. The majority of Phalaenopsis grown in the United States are grown in a medium fir bark and will need to be repotted every couple of years because the bark decomposes. You get what you pay for so the better the quality of fir bark (good, clean bark without any wood in it), may mean the plant will actually outgrow the pot before the bark breaks down. When you are repotting, the plant should be dry and the bark should be moist; mix a little dolomite lime in with the fir bark, and sprinkle with water before potting. Then do not water for about ten days; this will give the plant time to recover from the shock of repotting.

The ideal temperature is 64 degrees at night and mid to upper seventies in the day. A humidifier will benefit both you and your plants. During the day the humidity should be about 70% and at night about 50%, because, when the temperature drops at night, the relative humidity increases. The easiest way to provide adequate humidity is to place the plant on a tray about the diameter of the leaf spread of the plant with a layer of rocks or pebbles. Keep the tray full of water and make sure the bottom of the pot does not come in contact with the water. As the water evaporates, the plant will benefit.

Air movement is essential for all Orchids; this will prevent fungi and bacteria from forming on the plant. Good cross ventilation is sufficient but if you have a closed home or apartment it is most important to circulate the air with a fan placed at a distance from the plant.

A Phalaenopsis in a pot with an average day temperature of 75 degrees will dry out every five to seven days; this depends on whether it is grown in a clay or plastic pot, clay pots dry out faster. The roots of Phalaenopsis adhere to the bark, which is the medium you use for potting, and the plant absorbs the water directly from the bark. Make sure you give the Orchid a complete drenching on the week’s watering; during the summer if you have your plants outdoors they will dry out faster, so keep an eye on them.

Fertilize a blooming plant twice a month with a high nitrogen fertilizer (30-10-10); if you fertilize every other watering you should not cause a mineral or salt buildup inside the pots. Always use an organic or eco-friendly fertilizer.

If you follow all of the above requirements, you should have great success, enjoyment, and a happy and healthy Orchid. These rules apply to many of the Orchids that are found in the garden centers in this area. Happy New Year and I’ll see you next time in your garden.

A Gardener’s Thought On Winter

Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me into your garden on this winter morning. When I went outside this morning to fill my bird feeders it really felt like winter and the color of nature’s winter landscape reminded me that we were in late January. Put your coat on and let’s take a walk outside when the sun is shining. I so enjoy the peace of this time of year whilst my garden is hibernating. Many of you say to me, Maureen don’t you feel that the winter landscape lacks color? No I do not, so may I suggest a different way of looking at it even thought our state is snow covered with a beautiful hue; pure white and glistening.

Early this morning I looked out my bedroom window to see the breathtaking color of the rising sun. The eastern sky behind my white oak glowed crimson and purple and as the color deepened, the sun rose majestically and before my eyes became an orb of welcoming light. And soon enough the rising full moon will cast its silver light over the sleeping landscape, at which time my nighttime landscape will become as bright as day.

Winter offers unique qualities; a season of short days, quiet reflection on my day, lovely memories of the past year, and dreams of tomorrow. And because such a large part of who I am belongs to the land, many of these thoughts are centered on the outdoors. Winter is never dull or colorless, though I admit it can be cold. But it will do you good to get out of the house and take a brisk walk, one that quiets the mind and invigorates the spirit.

My walk takes me around a lovely lake with its mirrored surface reflecting the ever-changing canvas of the sky. I walk and breathe in the fragrance of crisp air and earth, the smell of warm fires, and enjoy the deep living green of hollies, hemlocks, and pines. The ground hugging junipers on a gentle sloping garden to the lake are tinged with bronze, blue gray, and purple. A white birch grove in a garden glints in the sun and the gently peeling taupe and cream bark of my river birches is a soft compliment to the rich brown mulch below. My winterberry “Southern Gentleman” is bursting with bloom to beckon the birds. Further down the road, on a steep slope of a garden that falls down to the road are the graceful, ground hugging willow leaf cotoneasters with its small dark green leaves and brilliant red berries.

I am not sure why this quiet and sleeping season so stimulates me to wax philosophic. However, my best friends, who are now retired and have moved to California, suggest that my feelings are partly due to the fact that I do not have the heavy labor of my youth when I worked on the large acreage, which was the family tradition in the U.K. I’m now blessed with a dynamic crew from my company that can maintain my garden whilst creating the new gardens and projects I have already designed. All this while I design new projects, lecture, broadcast, and write articles on my most favorite subject. I also take this time to appreciate the special aspects of winter and that for me is to enjoy the brisk air, the night’s silence of the ground covered in a snowy blanket, the slower tempo of my life, and the anticipation of another spring just around the corner.

Have you noticed the colors of the birds in winter; they really stand out against the muted browns and greens of the foliage and branches. Now is a good time, if you have not already done so, to put up one or more bird feeders and offer our feathered friends a varied menu. Many hours of enjoyment will be yours for the effort. Tucked in the stone chimneybreast behind my bedroom wall I have what I call my ‘bird condos,’ where during the spring all types of birds have built lots of nests. They wake me at daybreak in spring and summer with chirps, shuffles, and squabbles over territory and in winter, the ones that have not flown south continue in residence.

I’m not saying that winter is my favorite season; spring is exciting and filled with new birth; summer, lazy and playful; and fall, an exuberant fanfare of color. But in my four-season garden, winter has an uncluttered charm. Well I’m off to fill my bird feeders so I’ll see you next time in your garden.

Spring Is Just Around The Corner

Shropshire, England, my home county, has been having a really mild winter and my eighty-six year old stepmother and my ninety-nine year old father have already begun their indoor seed planting. It’s a very interesting arrangement as Dad is blind in the one eye and so he seeds one side of a tray and my stepmother the other. A few miles way in Cheshire, the next county north of Shropshire, my friend Ann was outdoors this weekend with the 40 degrees temperature pruning some shrubs, cutting down last season’s perennials, and adding a nice layer of manure to her borders.

Of course I am looking out of my window and the wind is bitter cold and was blowing so hard that I thought that some of my roof tiles would tear off. However, that said, I can take heart because according to the Farmers Almanac spring temperatures will be warmer than normal this year and I can’t wait! Now that I am a tad older winter weather brings me no joy, especially as skiing is not on my agenda any more. Although a walk around the lake with the winter sunshine and just a slight breeze is most refreshing.

And before you know it, it will be time to get cracking in the garden. There are some chores you can do now if you were a bit lax at the end of last year. For example if any of your power tools require maintenance or repair, now is the time to get them into the shop, because as soon as the weather breaks the repair shop will be very busy and you may not get your lawn mower back until August and by that time you will be able to sell your grass as cow fodder to the farmer up the road.

Check your tools and if you did not clean them off at the end of last season, plunge the shovels, spades etc. into a bucket of sand (it acts like sand paper) and then clean the residue off with sand paper. Oil the wooden handles of tools with Linseed oil or some inexpensive vegetable oil; it will feed the wood and also smooth it so you do not get as many splinters. The blisters you may get on your winter-softened hands are bad enough when you begin in earnest outside. Also check your hoses and fittings, which may have sprung leaks since last year.

Make a shopping list of new tools that you need as this time of year you can often buy bargains. But only buy quality tools and hoses, because the old adage always applies that “you get what you pay for.” Also check that you have enough twine, bamboo rods, wire ties, or nails. Include in your shopping list any organic or eco-conscious sprays and fertilizers you use; we have enough junk in the air and our water supply, so organic is the way to go.

Get bags of composted manure, unless you have a farm close by that will sell you a truckload. However, if you go that route ask the farmer to give you the manure from the bottom of the pile – aged stuff. New manure will burn your plants; it needs to be at least six months old. As I’ve said previously in my articles, blog, and radio show; Manure is like a fine wine, it gets better with age, just like me.

Take a look at the paintwork on your wooden fences, arbors, decks, outdoor buildings, etc. Look now so on a day for painting you will not have to make a special trip, as everything will be on hand. Then of course there are the paint brushes (your old ones that you forgot to clean off last year are stiff as a poker) so new ones are required, as well as sand paper and brush cleaner. If you are painting benches and garden seats make sure they are dry on the day you paint and put them under cover early. Make sure your greenhouse is getting as much light as possible. White walls reflect light. Paint over any areas that need retouching now and use low voc paints. I am always pleased how much brighter it becomes in there after the glass has had a good cleaning. Keep spraying in the greenhouse; however meticulously clean and tidy your greenhouse, whitefly, greenfly, and scale insects seem to find their way in.

Mid-February is a serious seed sowing time. Prepare now and make sure you have enough inexpensive envelopes for sorting the seeds, enough seed trays, plant packs, and seed compost. Remember that there are about five hundred seeds in each packet and if you end up with twenty packs you can seed the whole neighborhood. You can also have a seed swap & planting party and share the bounty with other gardener friends.

Well enough about chores for it’s about forty degrees and I do need to stretch my legs and back a bit. It’s time for me to take a walk around the garden and then it’s time for my four o’clock cup of tea. I’ll see you in your garden next time.

Oh Hydrangea Please Bloom For Me

Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me into your garden once again on this nearly spring day; I am Maureen Haseley-Jones, founder of The English Lady Landscape, LLC a design/build company working eco-consciously here in Connecticut.

“We seek him here, we seek him there, those French’s seek him everywhere, be he in heaven, be he in hell, that damned elusive Pimpernel.” The Scarlet Pimpernel could always elude the French and that seems to be the problem with so many of you folks that grow Hydrangea macrophylla; Maureen where are the blooms? This is the most often asked question put to me by gardeners. My immediate response is what time of year did you prune them; and the answer is always at the wrong time of course and my response to that is “please put away your pruners!”

The poet John Dryden called the Hydrangea the plant of heartlessness or the boaster. I am sure that many of you feel the plant is heartless after you have tried for many years to encourage them to bloom and not one blossom has appeared. A native of China and Japan, the hydrangea was introduced to England in 1740; because it was seen to give such magnificent blossoms, and I can hear you say, really, tell that to someone else!

Anyway lets get to the crux of the matter and see if we can make the Hydrangea macrophylla thrive and prosper for you. To reiterate, the most common reason that Hydrangeas do not bloom is improper pruning. Hydrangea macrophylla, which most of you have in your garden and which produce the blue and pink blooms produce flowers on shoots that were formed during the previous season and can be pruned to adjust the shape of the shrub immediately after blooming in late summer. First, cut out or shorten some of the oldest branches, then if the plant seems crowded, thin out the weakest of the new shoots. Always cut just above a vigorous side branch.

The Hydrangea arborescens such as Annabelle or paniculata like the Pee Gee Hydrangea, flower on long shoots that have grown in this season. To encourage fewer but larger blooms the shrubs can be pruned in early April as soon as growth appears. Cut all of last year’s shoots back to two or three buds but do not cut into the older wood. After pruning fertilize lightly with an all purpose fertilizer and mulch around the base with a two-inch layer of peat moss, and my perennial favorite, aged manure.

As a general rule Hydrangeas need full sun but can tolerate part shade, they need plenty of ventilation and do well at the seashore with a sea breeze. They require a fertile soil amended with lots of aged manure or compost and constant moisture, as they originally were a wetland plant. Protect them from strong winds and watch out for powdery mildew. When you see this problem spray with my organic mix which is a gallon of water, a tablespoon of baking soda, and a tablespoon of horticultural or vegetable oil.

Many of you want the deep blue color of the Hydrangea and Nikko Blue is one of the most popular. For myself I enjoy the Lace Cap variety in a softer blue. If you want to retain and encourage the deep blue color, add aluminum sulphate in the form of Miracid to acidify the soil.

I was recently speaking with my ninety-nine year old father in England about his Hydrangeas, which are a deep maroon color. The soil in my part of Shropshire in the UK is extremely alkaline and Dad would love to grow a blue Hydrangeas and even has tried adding ground up old pieces of slate from the nearby Welsh mountain slate quarries and spreading the slate dust around the plants, but to no avail. So as he says he is just going to remain “Victorian” because depending on what was going on in the environment in any particular year during the Victorian era, the color of the bloom would be different each year and therefore “changeable”; and they were accepted as is and enjoyed.

Water is essential for the Hydrangea to do well and in a hot summer it is essential to give plenty of water to all of your borders, preferably in a morning. If you also want to avoid powdery mildew and “other fungus among us”, lay soaker hoses in the beds so that the water goes directly to the roots and not onto the leaves. Your garden in Connecticut requires at least an inch of water per week, and if you want to know how to measure an inch of water, put out an empty tuna fish can and let the spray hose run, then time how long it takes for an inch of water in the can and you will know how long to water.

As a final thought to you Hydrangea macrophylla growers that have never had a bloom on the plant or perhaps just a few the first year. Don’t prune at all, and I mean never, and quite probably you will get some blooms in the next couple of years. Do not despair because they are well worth waiting for.

If you are thinking about having a professional landscape design or simple garden created for your property, now is the time to get on a reputable designer’s calendar. So don’t wait any longer and contact a landscape designer now and make sure that he or she is someone you feel comfortable with and does not create generic landscapes. Spring is almost sprung so enjoy and I’ll see you next time in your garden.