Vegetable Gardening

I have a vegetable garden at work.  I work at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio in Midland MI.  I have had this position for 1 year.  I am trying to bring back the plantings  that Mr. Dow had there when he was alive.  One thing they had was a vegetable garden.  Vegetable gardening is not new to me, my parents always had a big garden and my siblings and I were expected to help in the garden, which we did.  It is a whole different story however when you are responsible for the garden. 

I started things out this winter when I decided to grow my own vegetables and flowers from seed.  The AB Dow H and S has a small greenhouse.  Growing the plants by seed was quite successfull with the exception of lavender.  I only had one plant germinate.  Everything else did well however.  The peas were the first thing I started.  It was so much fun watching those little guys germinate and grow.  After everything was up and growing and it was getting close to the time when spring would be approaching, I built some cold frames out of some old wooden boxes and some recycles plexiglass and placed the veggies in there.  This worked out swimingly until Memorial Day weekend.  Becuase I did this at work, I was not there to keep and eye on things over the long weekend. I didn't want the plants to get too hot and dry so I took off the plexiglass tops and covered everything with a shade cloth.  Then it rained all weekend.  Everything but the peas were fine.  I didn't realize it but the peas were in a flat that didn't have any drainage holes in it.  The peas drowned.  When we went to plant them there was this awful rotted smell and I thought I had a problem then after they were planted one by one they died.  So I decided even though it was late in the season, I would plant a pea at each place where one died.  This worked out fine and they started to grow and then one night the electric fence was on the fritz and the deer came in and ate all the peas.  I guess I am just not supposed to have peas. 

The deer also ate the lettuce, the spinach, the beanse and some of the parsley.  I did get a huge harvest of lettuce and some spinach however before the deer had their salad.  I plante  a huge amount of tomatoes.  They have grown to sizes I have never seen before.  They will be ripe in the next week or so.  I planted some heritage tomatoes.  Brandywine, and Navajo Purple.  I am excited to taste them.  They are supposed to be excellent.  I am getting a lot of cucumbers.  More than the staff can eat, so I am going to donate the next batch to the open door.  The open door is a homless shelter here in Midland.  We also have several food pantries that will take produce.  It is much better than letting it go to waste. 

Things I would change for next year.  Plant more peppers, more kholorabi, more flowers, less cucumbers and probably less tomaotes.  I will keep the peas and beans the same and if the deer don't get them we will be all set.  Oh yes the deer got the carrots as well, but that is fine because they were not doing too well.  Next year I will put them in a raised bed.  They don't grow through gravel very well

Chuck's Artilces III

Crop Rotation for Annuals?

As I was driving down Eastman Avenue this morning I couldn’t help but appreciate all the Marigolds that were planted by the many volunteers of Midland.  They truly put a smile on my face.  But then a thought occurred to me, “Lucy you got some splaining to do!” Year after year we have become accustomed to seeing petunias along this stretch.  I remember the last time Midland Blooms broke away from tradition of petunias and planted marigolds. There were letters of complaint to the Midland Daily News editor.  I remember one writer even stated that the marigolds looked like dandelions.  I guess that is the ultimate criticism in the world of plants.

I would like to say Kudos to Midland Blooms for planting those marigolds and breaking the tradition of planting petunias.   I believe the committee made a great decision because of a well-known practice called crop rotation.  Not only farmers need understand crop rotation but, we need to keep this in mind when planting our annuals in our flower beds. 

Many gardeners who plant the same annuals year after year might experience a reduction in flower productivity and plant size.  Farmers whose livelihoods are dependent on high productivity in their fields practice crop rotation religiously.  Their knowledge and practices make sense for our home gardeners. 

Crop rotation does not mean changing the variety of petunias that you grow.  Crop rotation involves changing the plant species, such as going from petunias to marigolds.  Legumes are often used in agriculture because they add nitrogen to the soil.  Alfalfa is often the legume of choice.  You don’t have to go to this extreme but there are benefits in changing plant types in your flower beds.

The first benefit would be disease control.  Planting the same annuals in the same area increases the inoculum of diseases.  This is often observed when planting zinnias in the same bed year after year.   The cumulative effect of the inoculum spores of powdery mildew will increasingly  shorten the effectiveness of your zinnia beds.

 By changing the annual and vegetable types you are planting in your beds, diseases don’t have a chance to build up.  Plant diseases are much like your children when they are very picky eaters.  Plant diseases usually only attack certain plant types.  You don’t see Dutch elm diseases attacking anything else beside elm species.  Rotating plants keeps plant diseases guessing and confused.

Insects are much like plant diseases where they enjoy only certain plants.  They are like many vacationers who like to visit the same location year after year.  They know just what to expect.  My wife’s family likes to visit the same camp site each year.  They will become upset if there are changes at the camp site.  A way to upset insects is to rotate your annuals and vegetable plants and keep them guessing.  Annoying insects is a good way of keeping them away.

Farmers often see improved yields that are not understood completely due to crop rotation.  As researchers attempt to reveal the reasons for these increased yields they are beginning to understand that it is common for plants to exhibit a phenomenon called allelopathy.   Plants themselves give off chemicals or materials that inhibit germination, growth, or development of other plants.  Many plants will demonstration autotoxicity which hinders the growth of the same species around them.  These loners want their family to leave them alone. 

Chemicals from plants can build up in soils that prevent certain plants from growing.  Crop rotation will prevent these chemicals from building up in the soil, since some plants only want to be associated with their friends.

By changing from petunias to marigolds this year, I believe that Midland Blooms made a great environmental decision that will benefit the petunias next year.  Crop rotation is a good lesson that we all should consider in our own yards.

Here Comes the Grubs

When you work professionally in plant care, there are always difficulties that pop up making your job more challenging.  Whether it is weeds, insects, diseases, or other pests there is always an annoyance that keeps a gardener busy.  In fact I call pests my job security. What makes it even more challenging is the fact that the pests are always changing.  What was a problem this year wasn’t even thought about last year. 

Have you noticed the large population of June or May beetles flying around the lights at night?   Even though June beetles might not be a big pest this year on our plants, with the large numbers flying around now, we might be seeing plant damage next year.  Knowing their lifecycle can help prepare for their foreseen damage.

June beetles are emerging from the soil this time of year.  They are about ½ to ¾ inch long.  Their coloration is a dark brown color.  They enjoy flying in the late evening or early morning.   Street and porch lights will attract these large beetles.  The adult beetles enjoy munching on the leaves of trees.  I remember as a youngster we had a willow tree in our yard.  The adult beetles would fly in for dinner about dusk.  We would take flashlights out with badminton rackets and swat at these flying creatures.  These beetles brought out the hunter instinct in a bunch of 8 year old boys.

We didn’t realize that when they flew into the willow tree they weren’t only interested in eating.  They were coming together to find a friend to mate with so they could start a family.

After the females mate and have a cigarette (not really that only happens in the movies) they look for a place to deposit their eggs.  The place they are looking for is somebody’s yard since their youngsters enjoy eating the roots of turf grass.  Yes, their youngsters are white grubs just like Japanese beetles and European chafers that love to dine on your turf grass.  June beetle grubs not only enjoy eating the roots of turf grass but will also eat the roots of vegetables, trees, and shrubs.  With the large number of females flying this spring, there is a good chance there will be a large number of grubs in your yard in July and August.  By September they will be about ½ inch long.

This white grub or larvae will continue eating the roots of your plants for 2 or more years.  The eating of the roots doesn’t seem to be the main concern for the homeowner.  The main problem is when the skunks, raccoons, and crows come into hot spots to feast on the grubs.  It seems like overnight these beasts have rototilled your beautiful yard.

It is important to realize that lawns can tolerate a certain amount of grub damage.  Most yards can withstand at least 5 grubs per square foot.  If you have had grub damage before and think you might want to prevent it from occurring again you can use chemical controls.  You have to decide if you want to put on preventative or curative chemicals.

Preventative chemicals are products that contain the following chemicals:  Chlorantraniloprole, Chlothianidin, Halofenozide, Imidacloprid, or Thiamethoxam.   These products work well on young feeding grubs and should be applied in June or July.  Do not apply in the fall or spring when the chemicals have little effect on the grubs.  Make sure you water the pesticide in.

Two chemicals called Sevin and Dylox are sold as curative grub control.  These chemicals are to be used in the spring if applied from March to Mid-May.  Do not apply after Mid-May when the grubs have finished feeding and are in the pupae stage.  Since the grubs are underground you will need to water the pesticides in to be effective.

Mowing grass high is also a great technique in preventing grub damage.  Set your mower at 3 ½ to 4 inches for a more healthy turf with deeper roots.

Pests might come and go and keep us guessing.  Trying to stay ahead of them can be challenging. With the high population of female June beetles flying around this summer watch your yard for indications they are trying to start a family on your property.

Chuck this one has been edited.  I love you, Beth

Nature’s Air Conditioner

With temperatures in the 90’s, my wife again made strong indications that we need to put air conditioning in our house.  Even though my underwear is sticking to my skin, I am the cheap B#*!#!,  that won’t invest in air conditioning. I offered the alternative of planting a tree next to the house. Even though she is a plant lover and I explained that plants could help keep our house cool, she doesn’t seem too pleased with my answer.  So I thought I would write an article about how plants can be used to beat the heat and see if my one reader agrees with me that we really don’t need air conditioning.

The summer sun can really build up heat in homes that are not shaded.  The sweltering summer sun puts stress on our air conditioners and attitudes.  By planting trees that provide shade to your home you can increase your comfort level by providing shade and evaporating cooling.

Models that were constructed in Logan, Utah showed a 98 percent reduction in cooling cost by shading an entire house.  In Mesa, Arizona there was a savings of $220 annually when trees were planted on the east and west sides of a house which provided cooling.  That is almost a half of a tank of gas.  In Sacramento, California, trees reduced temperatures 20-40 degrees in the attic.  That is like having a room-size air conditioner up there without any cost.  Trees planted on the south and west sides of the house, will reduce the temperature in your home and are a good investment that will quickly pay for themselves.

Look out your window or notice the time of day when those sun beams are shinning into your house.  Most people notice that when the sun is low in the morning or in the afternoon they receive the greatest amount of sun through their windows. These are the time when you get a buildup of heat in your house.  Planting deciduous trees on the east, south and west sides of the house will prevent the heat buildup at these times of the day.

A tree in full leaf can reduce the solar radiation by 70 to 90 percent depending on the tree species.  I remember when I was a kid and needed to cool off, I would head right for the tree with the deepest shade.  In fact I still do that.  Trees have a cooling effect by reducing solar radiation and through their transpiration. 

  The south side also is where the sun comes from in the winter when you do want it to warm the house.  If you decide to plant a tree on the south side of your house it is best to use a deciduous type tree.  Deciduous trees on the south side keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Another heat source that could keep you uncomfortable in the summer is your driveway and the use of rock mulches.  The surfaces can be 35 degrees warmer than areas that are planted.  Organic mulches such as bark or woodchips are much cooler than gravel mulches.  To keep your drive cooler once again look at the possibility of planting a tree.

            I know a few of you people are still on my wife’s side and think I should get off my cheap butt and invest in an air conditioner.  You are saying that it takes too long for the tree to grow and get the effects of its shade.  My answer to you is how about fast growing vines.  Put up trellises on the west and east sides of the house and plant fast growing vines that will shade the house quickly.  These vines will quickly be effective as a sun barrier.

            One other argument for the use of trees instead of air conditioners is: have you ever noticed that trees effectively utilize the summer breezes.  When there is even the slightest breeze trees become a wind tunnel that directs the wind to your windows.

            I know the writing is on the wall.  My wife is now campaigning with my kids and ready to gang up on me.  We will succumb to purchasing a device to cool the air in our house.  I will always attest that the tree is the best method for air conditioning.

Chuck's Articles II

The Planting Place

            I have been writing about three elements of landscape design.  To remind my one reader of what I consider the three essential elements in design, they are personal taste or needs, the planting place and the available plants.  Last week I wrote about personal tastes and needs.  This week I would like to reflect on some of the components of the planting site you might want to consider in designing your landscape.  These components make up the site conditions.

            The first and most obvious condition is deciding whether your site is shady or sunny.  I find it intriguing that the people with full sun complain about their hot and dry yard and the people with shade complain about not being able to grow anything in their shade.   Look at nature there are plants growing in both shade and sun vigorously.  You need to take this condition into play when you are selecting plants.

            Not all shade is the same.  The shade from a building is a denser shade with little to no sun penetration.  Look for plants that are very tolerant of shade.  If you notice in a woods there seems to be little sun specks dancing around on the forest floor.  Sounds romantic, yeah?  There are actually plants, such as ferns that are adapted to take advantage of these sun specks.

            The hardest environment to place plants is a dry shade.  There are a few trees that will produce a dry shade under their canopy.  The Norway maple is the worst culprit of producing a dry shade.  They have a very fibrous root system that seems to suck up all the water within a city block which produces a tough area to grow even plastic plants in.

            Remember turf grasses are full sun plants.  There are some varieties that will tolerate shade.  The key word is “tolerate”.   Shade for grass, is like your neighbor’s teenage kid, you tolerate him but he is slowly killing your patience.

            Sunny yards create a whole new set of challenges.  They tend to dry out quickly and bake your plant’s leaves to a nice crispy brown.  Can you say drought tolerant plants?

            This leads us into another site condition you need to consider when planning your landscape and that would be the availability of water.  In Michigan we have an abundance of water compared to other states.  We are blessed with many lakes, streams and a high water table.  Good clean water is everywhere.  It is my prediction in a hundred years people will be moving to Michigan because of our natural resource of water.  I am waiting to become governor until that time because so many people will want to start businesses here.  The bottom line is, plants are 90% water and we have to make sure we can supply their needs.

            One of the ways to slow down the use of water is to know the direction of your prevailing winds.  Both the summer and winter winds have a drying effect on plants.  Wind increases the transpiration of plants.   Transpiration is the loss of water through the pores in the plant called stomata.  Let’s just say, just like the wind dries out your skin wind will also dry out plants.  Wind barriers of plants, buildings or fences will slow down the drying effects of the wind.

          There are a couple of Master Gardeners that talked to me about how people often forget about their soil type when planning out their gardens.  Since soil is below the ground, they are right in noticing soil is often over looked.  I have run out of space for this article and so I will have to discuss soil in my next column.  Can you believe I am using soil as my attempt at a cliff hanger?

The Basic Dirt on Soil 

True gardeners have dirty minds.  In fact gardeners know all the dirt.  Growers get down and dirty and don’t feel a bit guilty.  That is why they “dig” it.   I have probably lost most of you right off the bat with all these sick puns.  In last week’s article I spoke of the importance of knowing your site to be a successful gardener.  I ran out of time and stated that I would cover the basics of soil.  One of my readers wrote and asked if I was going to have dirty pictures.  He got me going.  Without naming him, I am blaming him for my bad puns.  To give you a clue of who it was, it is almost certainly he’s the only person who will read past this first paragraph.

            If truth be told, most gardeners don’t take dirt as a laughing matter.  They have nothing but the utmost respect for the thin layer of soil below their feet.  They don’t appreciate all the human activities that treat our soils like dirt.  Soil quality is the limiting factor in most gardens and if we are going to have vigorous, vibrant, vivacious vegetation we need to be aware of our soil characteristics.

            Your soil characteristics will determine the types of plants you can select for your landscape.  The characteristics of soil that should be considered are texture, structure, chemistry, organic matter and water.

            The main component of soil is the mineral content that is derived from weathered rock.  The sources of the mineral component of the soil could be from the bedrock under your property or it could have been transported in by ice (glaciers), water, wind, gravity or a big dump truck.  This is the building block of soil that gives you stability.  The mineral content of soil usually makes up around 45% of the soil.

The distribution of the particle size of the mineral content is what soil scientists (yes there are scientist that make a living playing in the dirt) call the texture of the soil.  The types of soil texture are sand, silt and clay.  Without going into the exact size of sand, silt and clay just know the sand is the largest size particles and feels gritty.  Clay is the smallest size particles and feels sticky and slimy.  Silt is the size of particles between sand and clay.

Each soil texture has its own advantages and disadvantages.  Sandy soils are well aerated, and stand up to soil compaction but has little water retention abilities.  Clay soils hold onto to water but have little air space and are easily compacted. 

As insects, plants, fungi, bacteria and other creatures go through the soil they poop, die, vomit and give off other sticky substances.  These sticky substances along with the chemical properties of the soil create aggregates of the soil particles.  These aggregates are called the soil structure.  Soil structure affects the availability of water, nutrients, and root growth.  It is very important to protect your soil structure since it takes years to create these bonds.  Soil structure is very fragile especially when the soil is wet.  That is why washing cars on your front yard can cause great harm to your turf.

One way to improve your soil structure is to add organic matter.  In most soils, organic matter makes up about 5% of the soil.  I bet you thought it would be higher. If organic matter gets too high, there is no stability in the soil.  It will be like what I am in my wife’s hand, putty. 

If you can do the math, minerals make up 45% of the soil, and organic matter makes up 5% of the soil that leaves 50% of the soil.  That 50% is the water and air content of soil or pore space.  Plants are adapted to the amount of water and air that is in the pore spaces.  In plant selection you need to know if you have wet or dry soil.  Knowledge of soil drainage is important to growing plants successfully.

Chemical activities of soil also affect the plants that can be grown in your garden.  There are 16 essential nutrients that are needed for plant’s growth and development.  These nutrients are attached to the organic matter and mineral content of the soil.  The availability of these nutrients is dependent on the soil’s acidity or pH.  Knowing the soil pH is important in successful gardening.

Take time to know and appreciate your soil.  By understanding your soil’s personality and traits you will become a better and more successful designer and gardener in your landscape.

The Love of Plants

In life we all have things we are passionate about.  Even if other people don’t see the attractiveness in an item, event or person our passion creates a sense of beauty.  Have you ever noticed how people with ugly dogs are passionate about those animals?  Many of us can see the beauty in watching a wide receiver catch a touchdown pass, even if it is the Detroit Lions.  I personally can’t see what my wife sees in Johnny Depp, but when one of his movies comes out she is the first in line. I just don’t have the same passion for Johnny.  I guess that is why the saying came about that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Passion drives our likes, dislikes, and decision making process.

The reason that I am talking about passion is that it is the first word that comes to my mind when I see a plant in bloom, fall color, or excellent form.  I am often asked what my favorite plant is and I guess my response would have to be the one I am looking at, at the time.  This passion for plants keeps getting me (and my wife) into trouble.  We are constantly spending money on plants that we have no idea where to plant.  I am glad we have a neighbor who also loves plants and will often take the extras off our hands.

There was a great plants-man named JC Raulston who was a professor at North Carolina State and began a superb Arboretum on campus, who stated, “If you are not killing plants, you are not stretching yourself as a gardener.”  He knew plant people love to try new plants and stretch the environment that they are gardening in.  Sometimes the plants live but many times they are pulled out to make room for our next trip to the nursery enabling our plant addiction.

For those gardeners who don’t want to take risks and want plants to thrive in their garden make sure you are planting the “right plant in the right spot.”  Right plant in the right spot is the sincere oath of the gardener that we break every time we see a plant in bloom at the local nursery.  When this oath is broken we purchase plants without any idea where to place them.

If you don’t want to get caught up in this bad habit of purchasing plants without any idea of where they are going once they get home, evaluate your yard and look for plants that will thrive in your setting.

Before purchasing a plant research its cultural needs. Make sure those needs will be satisfied by your yard.  Can your yard fulfill cultural needs such as sun, shade, soil moisture, soil texture, soil pH, and winter hardiness for the plant to grow?  We all try to grow plants where they just don’t thrive.  Every home owner wants a beautiful lawn in the shade.  Kentucky bluegrass tolerates shade but prefers full sun no matter what the label says.

All plants are tolerant of insects and diseases.  Unless you enjoy spraying your plants or sadistically enjoy seeing plants get eaten up, look for plants that are especially tolerant of the known insects and diseases in your area.  As you can see no one is planting ash trees in Michigan because the Emerald Ash Bore.  For a long time elms weren’t being planted but now we are seeing elms bred that resist the Dutch elm disease.

You can drive through any neighborhood and see plants that are way too big for the spot they are planted in.  At times people can’t even get into their front doors.  Keep in mind the mature size of the plant and the form.

We all enjoy seeing plants in bloom.  We will go to the nursery in the spring and see all the beautiful shrubs, trees, and perennials in bloom.  We purchase the plants because we see their excellent bloom and plant them in our landscape.  I can tell the people who do this because all their flowering plants bloom at the same time.  Walk through your yard and take note the season of bloom of your existing plants.  Then purchase plants that bloom at a different time.

                        If you are addicted to purchasing plants, I can relate to your pain.  If you are looking for right plants for your yard, take time and research the plants that are hardy for your area.  You will be glad you did because your plants will thrive and might make you a plant junkie. (Which isn’t all bad)

Chuck's 2011 Articles

Oh, What to Plant?

            I can remember in college taking landscape design classes teaching us how to select and place plants in the landscape.  The five elements of design were heavily stressed.  Even though I don’t think about them very often I believe I can still recall them.  First there is color, which sets the mood.  The next is line which directs the eye.  Then there is form or the shape of the objects.  My personal favorite was texture or how the plants and structures feel.   And the final element is scale or how the size of an object fits in the design.  All five of these elements were discussed in great detail. 

            When I got out of college and looked around at all the landscapes, I critiqued each landscape according to these five basic elements.  Then I started to realize, because plants in their own right are so intriguing, you could find these elements in every landscape.  In other words it is hard to screw up a landscape design.  I have now changed my critique from looking at the five main elements of design to what I call the three main inputs of landscape design.  Each one of these inputs is important with no one input being more important than the other.  By concentrating on these three inputs, I am able to appreciate all landscape designs.  I will have to admit however, that I appreciate some more than others.

            I truly believe that if you think about these three main inputs in a landscape you will be happy with your landscape even if your neighborhood thinks it looks ridiculous. Your neighbors might even appreciate your design over time.  I have to admit I do take exception to gaudiness, plywood women bending over, inflatables or tires made into planters in the garden.  But if the homeowners like it, who cares?  If these objects are kept in the backyard, no one should object.

            I will assure you that if you are successful in utilizing the three inputs that I am going to write about you will have a satisfying landscape that will please you even if you know nothing about color, line, texture, scale, and size.  If fact I can show you landscapes that are not satisfying to the homeowner even though the designer used the five elements of design perfectly. 

            By now I’m sure that your curiosity is piqued.  What are these three main inputs that make a landscape successful and rewarding?  I would like to introduce the three elements in this column and then write in further detail about each one in later columns.  If you have not noticed this is my attempt at trying to produce a cliff hanger to encourage you to read further.

            I call the three main inputs the three “P’s” of landscape design.  The first “P” is purpose. What purpose does your landscape serve you as the homeowner?  I think it is important to know what the landscape is going to be used for and what the family values.  Knowing what families like and dislike is crucial in landscape design.   You might love pink flamingos.  If this is true I strongly believe there should be a spot in the yard for these plastic creatures.  Most designers would suggest the best place for a plastic creature is behind the shed.  Everyone has likes and dislikes and those biases are what make your landscape unique. 

            The next “P” input would be place.  In order to insure that your landscape works you need to know the characteristics of your property.  Another way of putting it is what are your site conditions?  Is your yard sunny or in deep shade?  Do you know your soil type? Is your soil wet or dry? Is your soil alkaline or acid? How well do you want to know your neighbors?   Where is the prevailing wind coming from?  These are a few questions you need to know in order to have a successful landscape.

            The last “P” would be what is the plant palette that is available to you and would grow successfully in your yard?  I have seen many designs with plants that don’t grow well in the conditions they are planted in.  A good design that has line, color, shape, texture, and scale with dead plants is not very attractive to me or most landowners.  Knowing a plant’s culture and needs are extremely important in designing landscapes.

            It sounds like my years of on the job experience have made me bitter to those landscape design classes that made me learn about the five elements of design.  I look at it this way I have not become bitter over the theory of design, I have just become more practical.  This twist on my outlook allows me to feel better about myself.

Personal Preferences Landscaping

            I strongly believe that when you design a landscape the three most important aspects to consider in design are purpose, place, and plants.  The purpose in landscape design is the homeowner’s personal preferences, priorities and values for their property.   

          Here is an illustration of how important purpose is in designing a landscape.  Let’s say that you are designing the property of a high school.  There’s a need for an area for a football field.  You design the field with Kentucky bluegrass and then decide it isn’t aesthetically pleasing.  The monoculture of Kentucky bluegrass is just too monotonous for your taste so you decide to place some trees and shrubs on the field.  For some strange reason the players, coaches and fans don’t like your creativity.  Your design doesn’t fit their ideas of what a football field should look like or their purposes, even though you have a beautiful design that would be aesthetically pleasing. 

            I believe it is very important to know a family’s interest when designing a home landscape.  Most of the new homes that are built today have a huge deck for entertaining and eating on during the summer months.  I know at the Martin’s household we love to eat outside and do so almost every summer night because of our enjoyment of complaining about the flies and ants.  I would guess that for many people, it is just too much of a pain to eat on their deck and thus it is rarely used. Does a deck truly fit the recreational needs of your family?  This would be a good question to start with before pursuing building a deck that will take up three quarters of your property.

            Yards seem to serve three purposes for the homeowner.  The number one purpose is bragging rights in the neighborhood.  I call this the status symbol purpose.   Number two reason is an excuse to get out of the house and do something alone fulfilling your need to “meditate”.  The last reason is recreation. A lawn is a place for recreational games such as badminton, crochet, kicking the ball, etc.  Which one of these reasons best fits your reason to have a lawn?

            If you don’t want a lawn, there is no law stating you have to have a lawn.  I find it amusing to see people that own weekend getaways cut down trees in order to have a lawn.  Weekends are spent mowing or hearing the neighbor’s lawn mower.  Doesn’t sound like a getaway to me? 

            This brings me to the next personal preference. How much time do you truly what to spend in your yard?  Every lawn, flower bed, shrub and tree needs some kind of care.  In designing your landscape take in consideration how much of your resources (time and money) you want to spend on your yard.  If you have teenage kids, it might be a good idea to have a large lawn.  This will force them out of the house and away for the video games in order to mow and receive the much needed vitamin D from the sun.  I believe that the best thing about video games is that it has decreased kids’ exposure to sun.  This will lessen their chances to get skin cancer.

            I put personal preferences in with the purpose of the landscape.  The purpose of your landscape is to put a smile on your face.  Personal preferences can be seen in the plants you select and the yard ornaments that are placed around your property.  Birders can’t enjoy their property without bird/squirrel feeders.  Pink flamingos aren’t for everyone but stores have been selling them for years and so someone must be buying them and putting them in their yard. Or are they placing them in their enemy’s yard?

            Every individual has a unique and special purpose or vision for their yard.  By encouraging this special purpose, landscape designs become unique for each property.  One of the problems with landscaping by commercial companies is when they don’t listen to their clients and their designs all look the same. It is important to make your desires known when someone is designing your outdoor living spaces.  If you are going to have a new landscape make sure you know your own tastes and purposes for your landscape so that you can articulate these to your designer.