Backyard Ponderings
Where has Backyard Getaway gone?
by Lisa Burns on 07/07/10
Backyard Getaway is alive & well. We are officially moved in at "Fort Getaway". In case you hadn’t heard we were offered a wonderful opportunity to move our home & business to a property in Myakka City. I know it seems like we had disappeared over the last couple of months but, Dave, the guys & I have been spending all our free time making the new place beautiful again all the while working on pond installations, regular maintenance jobs, our pond tour & of course moving. We had no intentions to move from the home we have lived in for the last 23 years or to move our business once again, but, sometimes an opportunity is too good to pass up. Almost two years of sitting empty had turned the property into a jungle or as our vet said last week..."The place looks like Jurassic Park". We are not yet ready for visitors but we are working on it. The new property is 5.5 acres & has two natural spring fed ponds, a cement turtle pond in an aviary, a building for our store front/warehouse, horse barns & other out buildings along with our house which has skylights in every room & an amazing screened in porch that wraps around all four sides of the house. The property has an 8’ high stockade fence around it giving it the feel of a fort, hence the name Fort Getaway. It's been an interesting adventure so far. We have uncovered cement slabs & pole barns that we didn't know were there, we adopted a horse & pony who decided to take a walk & meet the neighbors two days after arriving at their new home, we survived two weeks with no house phone, no cell service, no internet and best of all, I've been introduced to some of the largest & strangest bugs I have ever seen in my life. Did I mention we are also getting goats? Ah, farm living! Seriously, there are spiders & grass hoppers as big as your hand! Yes, I know I work outside with plants; I should be used to bugs. Anyone who knows me knows how much I "love" bugs, so much so that the guy at the Do-it-yourself pest shop in Bradenton is now my new best friend. At least the bugs are worked out of the phones. Waste Pro, on the other hand, isn't too happy with us. During the first round of clean up there was so much yard waste, construction debris & odd trash items set out by the road that it took four truck loads to remove it all. Guess what, there is still more. Round two has started but this time it's only yard waste. Here is an interesting fact you may not know... in Manatee county you get one free "extraordinary" pick up a year. No matter how much stuff or how big the pile they will take it all. Of course you have to separate the yard waste from the household waste. Along with the trees trimmed, the property mowed & the house cleaned & painted we have managed to clean out the fossilized manure from the main barn & fix up the aviary. The turtle pond in the aviary is now home to six red eared sliders, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, Rafael, Splinter & Shredder, all named by our grandson after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course. The main stable barn will be used for the horses who are adjusting nicely to their new home. Both of the natural ponds are spring fed which is great for keeping our Water Lilies & Koi. The larger pond at the back of the property will house our Lilies & allow us to keep more available for our customers. Dave is in the process of renovating the smaller front pond which can be seen from the front windows of our house. He added a fountain to the pond and made it wider & deeper. He plans to add a waterfall, bridge & dock to the pond in the near future. Meanwhile, our Koi love their new home filled with spring water instead of tap water, even if the water is a bit muddy. We will still offer Koi for sale. One of the pole barns will house the holding tanks from our old location. There is also a plan for a veggie/herb garden. For now, I am happy to be able to look out my office window & see the Oak tree filled with song birds & just beyond that the water from the fountain splashing on the pond instead of the field of dog fennel that was there just two weeks ago.
Repotting Water Lilies
by Lisa Burns on 04/07/10
Repotting your water lilies- To me a water garden is not a water garden without Water Lilies. There are so many choices…Tropical, Hardy, day bloomers, night bloomers, pinks, purples, blues, yellows… that one is never enough. Water lilies and aquatic plants are easy to grow as long as you follow a few basic steps for potting and repotting. The most asked lily question I receive from my customers is…what should I plant my Lily in? Commercial potting soils are unsuitable because they contain bark, percolate, etc. that will muck up the water and can float out of the pot. There are good commercial pond planting media available, some even have added beneficial bacteria, but the easiest and least expensive planting media for lilies is Kitty litter. Yes, that’s right, kitty litter. Kitty litter is essentially clay which will hold the nutrients and beneficial bacteria and will not float out of the pot. You can also use a heavy loam top soil or a mixture of both. Make sure the kitty litter is non scented and non clumping. Plastic, cloth or clay pots at least ten inches across are best to use to accommodate the fast growing water lily. Remember the smaller the pot the smaller the lily. I prefer the cloth pot as it will conform to the bottom of your pond & will not tip over. Fill the pot with your planting media leaving a hole for the tuber. Plant hardy lilies against the side of the container at a 45-degree angle with the crown out of the soil a bit and pointed towards the center. Tropical lilies are planted in the center of the pot, be sure to leave the crown exposed. Add soil around the tuber & roots, then top off the soil layer with a half-inch of sand. If you have fish you can use gravel in place of sand to hold the soil in place, again, being careful to keep the gravel away from the growing crown. Lilies are very heavy feeders so it is important to fertilize them starting in the spring & through out the growing season. Pond plant fertilizers come in liquids, tabs, granules & time release stakes. The stakes are the easiest to use, just make a hole near the edge of the pot in the soil & push stake in. Most time release stakes last a year but in Florida we recommend you change out the stakes in the late summer too. If you prefer a monthly fertilizer, the tabs would be your best choice. Personally, I don’t care for the liquid version unless you have quite a few plants. Granules work well when you are planting new or transplanting a lot of plants since they can be mixed into the soil. Planting depth is an important factor to growth. You should place your lilies in the pond from 12 in. to 24 in. deep for the best growth & the most blooms. Some lilies can go as deep as 30” or more, like the Big Blue Gigantia, but remember the deeper you plant them the more energy they will take to get to the surface creating smaller leaves & less blooms. When planting new tubers or small lilies you should start the plant with about 6 inches of water above the crown, lowering to 12 inches after a couple of weeks. The lilies in your pond should be transplanted each spring. If you have them in a large pot it is ok to re-use the same pot using fresh planting media & fertilizer. Hardy water lilies should be divided every two or three years depending on the plant container size. Don’t forget the wider the pot the larger the plant. Whatever you do, don’t place the Lily close to rushing, moving water. Calm, still areas of the pond where they are not subject to splash is best for your Lily. Water lilies crave sunshine. Make sure that they receive at least 5-6 hours of full direct sunlight daily. Some varieties, however, will bloom with as little as 3-4 hours of full sun & the Dauben will actually tolerate some shade. Follow these easy steps & you will be rewarded with big beautiful blooms all season long.
Do-it-yourself pond tips
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
Did you know that water gardening is the fastest growing segment in the landscape/garden industry? Although professional installers are available, with a bit of research & some hard work you can create a beautiful water garden yourself. If you are thinking about adding a pond to your yard there are several things you should consider. Koi Pond or Water Garden The first question to ask yourself is what style of water feature you would like to have. The two most popular types are water gardens & Koi ponds. A water garden, with it’s main focus on water lilies and lined with rocks, will blend into your landscape seamlessly with it‘s edges softened by marginal plants. Water gardens have shelves and are usually 2’ at the deepest point. A Koi pond may appear formal with straight sides to keep predators out, no rock inside the pond & a depth of 3’ to 6’. Koi ponds are built with sophisticated filter systems to help keep your Koi healthy. Location, location… Try to locate your pond away from large leaf dropping trees. Shade trees may make a nice backdrop but they will cause headaches when it comes to keeping your pond clean. A front yard may not be the best choice for a Koi pond in a crowded neighborhood where children are present. Before you begin to dig lay out a garden hose or a rope to form the basic size & shape of your pond. Water gardens can be created using preform tubs, liners or concrete. The most popular, cost effective & durable is EPDM rubber liner, which conforms to any shape. Dig in! If you are installing a water garden, you will want shelves for bog and marginal plants, start in the center digging the deepest level first. A Koi pond with its straight deep sides will need additional support. Once you have dug your Koi pond, build a ‘frame” inside the pond using cement block & rebar to hold the dirt back. Do not forget to dig a trench for your plumbing from your pond to your waterfall. Remember, you should always contact your local utility companies before digging. Keep it clean Filtration is an important part of a Koi pond and should be considered for your water garden as well. There are many types of filtration systems. A good Koi pond filter system should include a bottom drain, skimmer, external bio filter & an external pump while a water garden may use a simple submersed pump & filter. You should research this area by talking to a local pond expert or joining a local pond club. Most ponders love to share their experiences with others. You have a pond, now what? There is no such thing as a maintenance free pond but you can have a pond that is easy to maintain. A well-built pond with proper filtration that is not overstocked or overfed may require 10-20 minutes of maintenance once a week.
Toxic Plants in the garden
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
Spring is just around the corner & soon it will be time to start thinking about pruning & replacing the plants in our gardens that didn’t survive the winter. We’ve talked about the importance of using Native Plants in the garden & how some plants are edible, but did you know that many common garden & water garden plants are toxic? Some of these commonly used plant species can be harmful to our pets as well as to humans. House plants can also be dangerous. Toxic houseplants include elephant ear, philodendrons, English Ivy, Amaryllis & the peace lily to name a few. Remember if they are toxic to us or our pets they will also be toxic to our Koi. Plants that are not toxic to humans may still be a problem for your pond fish. The seeds of most plants will swell in the pond & if your Koi eat the seeds they could plug up the digestive tract. Don’t panic, you don’t have to start ripping plants out of your yard & pond. If you have children or pets you could transplant these plants to an area out of reach. Of course, it’s also important to keep an eye on small children & curious pets while they are in your garden. As for the pond, all you need to do is make sure the toxic plants are out of reach from the Koi. Before you make your wish list of new plants for your garden you may want to consider the list below. These are just a few of the more common toxic garden plants, some of which you will recognize as pond plants. Keep in mind this is just a partial list using common names & the part of the plant that is known to be toxic.
Plant Part Plant Part
Amaryllis: bulbs Black Locust Bark: sprouts, foliage
Bird of Paradise: seeds Buttercup: sap, leaves
Baneberry berries, roots Cherry: bark, twigs, leaves & pits
Calla Lily: leaves Coral plant; seeds
Daffodil: bulbs Eggplant: everything but the fruit itself
English Ivy: berries Elephant Ears: leaves, stem
Foxglove: leaves, seeds Hemlock: all parts
Hyacinth: bulbs Iris: bulbs
Jasamine: berries Java Bean: uncooked bean
Lantana: immature berries Laurel: all parts
Locoweed: all parts Mistletoe: berries
Mock orange: fruit Morning Glories: all parts
Oak: acorns, foliage Pine: sap
Poinsettia leaves, flowers Potato eyes, new roots
Redwood sap Rhubarb: leaves
Snapdragon: all parts Tiger lily: all parts
Tomato: leaves Tulip: bulbs
Surviving frost damage in the garden
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
Surviving frost damage in the garden
Over the past two weeks, we have had record low temperatures here in sunny Florida. You have probably stepped outside on more than one morning to ice on your car windshield & a blanket of frost on the ground. The first thing I thought of when I heard the forecast was I had better start covering my landscape plants.
Chances are if you covered your plants as I did you will notice that some of your plants still sustained damage. If the air temperature reaches below 28 degrees, your plants will have some damage regardless. One of the reasons for this is because the soil temperature will be colder than the air temperature. Another factor is how the plants were covered. If you lay a blanket or tarp over the entire plant and the cover is directly touching the plant there will still be damage. It is also important to remove the cover during the day so the plant can warm up. Like most of you, I am to busy to cover & uncover 100 plants everyday for two weeks, so, my plants remained covered.
Some plants tolerate frost & cooler temperatures better than others do. The age and general health of the plant will play a factor in whether or not your plants will survive. Popular plants that usually are killed or damaged by frost include annuals, impatiens, marigolds, coleus & some sub-tropical like hibiscus, citrus & bougainvillea. However, do not give up just yet. Any plant that is still alive will attempt to recover. Many of your perennial plants like salvia & begonias will die back but the roots can survive the winter only to re-sprout in the spring. Same goes for bulb plants like lilies & iris. Even if a plant has lost all of its woody parts, it can re-grow from the root or stem tissue. If you did not think to cover your plants in time or you have frost damage here are some tips to helping your plants survive.
Resist the urge… to prune that is!
With a yard full of damaged, dead looking plants the gardener’s first instinct is to prune. Don’t do it! The damaged leafs can work as an insulator for further damage and will serve as a starting point for new growth in the spring. In fact, heavy pruning can stimulate new growth that could be damaged again if, heaven forbid, we get another cold snap. If the neighborhood association is complaining it’s ok to clean the plants up a little but be sure to leave some of the damage intact.
Hydration is key but no feeding please!
Keep your plants well watered. This may be the most important factor in saving your damaged plants. Windy days will dry up the soil and the frost on the leaf will actually pull water from the leaf causing dehydration. Water your plants but do not fertilize them until spring once they have resumed active growth.
What about my pond plants?
The same rules apply for your pond plants, no pruning or fertilizing. They will actually have a better chance of survival because the water temperature is generally warmer than air temperature & the plants will be well hydrated from the pond water.
Come spring when the weather warms, look for new growth & start pruning. If a plant is truly dead, don’t be too upset. That just means you have an excuse to buy new plants for your garden.
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Growing Up
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
Individuals have been gardening since the dawn of time, using plants for food, medicines, building materials, clothing & simple decorative purposes. Although lately it is gaining in popularity, vertical gardening is not a new concept. Vertical gardens are found through out history. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, is one of the earliest know examples of a vertical garden. Vertical Gardens or Green Walls are becoming increasingly popular, especially in large cities where there is little land for traditional gardens but plenty of skyscrapers & condominiums.
Vertical gardens fall into two main categories, green facades & living walls, both of which utilize walls for plants to grow up. A green façade is the more popular version where climbing plants are planted directly in the ground & attached to a structure like a trellis, column, fence or wall. These types of vertical gardens can take years to create full coverage.
A Living wall is a self-contained vertical arrangement of plants that can be free standing or attached directly to the exterior or interior of a building. They typically use soil-less planting media & an irrigation system. Living walls can be created using a modular system, pre-planted panels, planted geo-textiles, or even simple stacked pots. Modular systems come in a variety of materials including plastic, polystyrene, fabric & metal.
There are many benefits to a vertical garden. Beside the fact that they are aesthetically pleasing & use less space than a traditional garden, an exterior living wall will reduce the ambient temperature, provide shade, remove airborne pollutants, filter noxious gases, produce oxygen, reduce noise pollution and help hide ugly walls as well as protects from UV damage. A beautiful example of an exterior wall is at the Musee du quai Branly a museum in Paris, France created by artist Patrick Blanc who is the leading pioneer of green walls.
Interior living walls have many of the same benefits of exterior living walls and they improve indoor air quality, reduce stress, use less water due to hydroponics style growing & can provide possible LEED points in new or renovated office spaces. The benefits for both interior & exterior living walls will vary depending on size & style of your living wall structure as well as types of plants & the site condition. Interior living walls can be free standing with basins that hold additional plants & even fish & have a pump irrigation system or they may be hung on a wall as a living piece of artwork. An artful example of a smaller interior living wall is the Living WallScape TM created by Backyard Getaway. No two green walls are the same. It is important to consider plant selection, Sedums; Succulents & Mosses are great choices. Climate conditions, such as temperature, light & maintenance, are also important when planning your vertical garden. Just like a traditional garden, your vertical garden has live plant materials & requires maintenance like adding water & nutrients on a regular basis. Choosing plants that are conditioned for your space will reduce the amount of maintenance needed. There are endless possibilities as to the creativity of your vertical garden.
What is a beemat?
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
What is a BeeMat?
We are very excited about a Florida green company that we found that has come up with an innovative way to naturally clean up green mucky stagnant water in lakes & ponds. If you live near a lake or pond that is green & filled with muck you know how unpleasing it is to look at not to mention the smell, yuck. One solution is to add an expensive fountain or aerator. Don’t get me wrong an aerator or fountain is a good thing. They will help to circulate the pond creating more oxygen which will break down the inorganic matter. The down side is they run on electricity. Another more eco friendly solution is to add plant life to the pond. I won’t bore you with the details of how it works but what it boils down to is the plants will act as a biological filter helping to clean up the pond. Adding plants can be difficult if the pond is deep & especially difficult if the pond water levels fluctuate. Most aquatic plants are considered bog plants or marginals & can only survive when planted in a few inches of water or just barely getting their feet wet. You plant them close to the edge & when the water levels drop they die while others that can go dry thrive but become so tall you can’t see the water. Submerged plants like water lilies do best in about two feet of water but who wants to wade out into the muck to plant them. Beemats, LLC has come up with a perfect inexpensive solution.
BeeMats, LLC uses interlocking mats, combined with aquatic plants in perforated pots, creating a suspended shallow water environment. This not only takes care of fluctuating water levels, but also produces oxygen, takes nutrients and pesticides out of the water, and provides habitat for wildlife utilization. Their patented floating plant mat consists of puzzle cut mats held together by nylon connectors. These mats may be assembled in any size or shape. After the mats are connected, plants are inserted into pre-cut holes. The plants may be any species of emergent aquatics. The mats can be attached to anchors or shoreline stakes or left to float freely around the pond. Keep in mind that if you anchor the island it will be easier to renovate or change the plants if you decide you want a new look.
Floating Islands are not new & there are several companies out there who offer their own variation on this idea. What’s unique about the BeeMats is that they are thin & lightweight making it easy to plant & transport to the pond & even easier to keep afloat. They also utilize a specially designed pot that is cone shaped with several slits in the sides allowing the plants roots to emerge from the soil creating a root mat under the water’s surface. Not only does this provide a perfect hiding place & food for the pond fish it creates a thicker aerobic layer which increases nitrification & accelerates the nitrogen cycle. This is a good thing, helping to eat up the nutrients that would otherwise be feeding the algae bloom. Adding biological filtration to a pond will also eliminate the need to add harmful chemical algaecides which may soon be restricted by regulatory agencies. BeeMats also come in smaller sizes for your decorative backyard ponds. If you would like more information on BeeMats contact Lisa at backyardgetaway@verizon.net
Day 3 of the 2009 backyard makeover
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
Dave left at 5:30 this morning to beat the heat & to get a head start on today's installations. It's going to be a busy day... Historic Shed will be transporting
the made to order potting shed all the way from Brooksville. Hydro-Taste farms will be installing the HydroStacker gardens, Dave & David with the help of a couple of volunteers will finish up the pond & lay the walkway, Laurie & Roger will be on hand to plant the Plumeria trees they donated & Florida Native Plants inc will be bringing out a truck load of plants for us to plant tomorrow. Thanks also to Roger Gaille for coming out to help. He said he saw Dave, David & their one volunteer yesterday on Bay News 9 & decided to help out. Roger & his wife Laurie are with the Plumeria Society & have donated Plumeria trees to the makeover. In case you didn’t hear Dave & the Patoray’s are now famous Bay News 9 visited the site on Wednesday & taped a segment which ran all day yesterday once every hour. Any one who would like to lend a hand on our last day tomorrow with the planting please feel free to contact Lisa at: backyardgetaway@verizon.net.2009 Backyard Makeover updates
by Lisa Burns on 03/18/10
It’s hard to believe two weeks have gone by since the Backyard Makeover voting has ended & the winners were chosen. You probably think it’s been a quiet two weeks after all that craziness of the voting frenzy. In fact the opposite is true, we’ve have been busy organizing, scheduling, ordering & meeting with the winners, contributing business members & local reporters. So busy in fact that I am writing this during the only free time I’ve had this week, as we drive to Orlando to pick up some of the donated goodies & to attend a landscape trade show. We thought it was time to give everyone an update as to what happens next.
First we didn’t want the 10 finalist to go home empty handed so we asked all of the participating businesses to help us fill a packet with coupons & freebies that we will be sending out to them on Monday. We also gave the second place yard, Michelle #5, a $50 gift certificate for Backyard Getaway & the third place yard, Derek #8, received a gift certificate to Bone Appetite. In case you aren’t familiar with Bone Appetite it’s a local pet boutique that carries all natural pet foods & treats & some of the cutest accessories.
The makeover officially begins Monday with a visit form Sunshine Dig. Sunshine Dig is a non profit that offers a free service to homeowners & contractors. Before you dig in your yard they will schedule all the utility companies to come out & check for underground wires, cables, plumbing, etc. Joey, our winner, found out the hard way the other day & cut through their cable wire while trying to remove a stump. Shame on you Joey, you should have called “811”. Don’t worry we know you were just trying to make the yard pretty for us.
Just like any project this one had a couple of hiccups. One of our original contributing businesses will not be able to contribute. I panicked for about a minute then after a few quick phone calls we were back on track. There truly are some amazing business owners in our area. Two companies came forward to help knowing that they would not reap the benefit of all the advertising & promoting we had been doing over the last couple of months. Trucking Southern Style agreed to supply us with the ground cover items we lost & Ruck Brick/OldCastleCoastal will be supplying the flagstone for the walkways Dave will install. Please visit www.whatabackyard.com click on the local contributors link & view the info about these companies. Another concern we had was due to a mistaken assumption on my part. I didn’t realize that the shade sail did not come with it’s support post. I was told that I would need to get 4” schedule 40 galvanized pipe at 16’ long. Where was I going to find that! I called Brad at All phases Welding (one of our contributors) & he stepped up & offered to donated them too.
On Tuesday we will lay out the yard marking where each feature will be installed. Wednesday will be the day we break ground. Digging for the pond & setting footers for the arbor & shade sail. Thursday & Friday will be very busy days with installation of the pond, arbor, shade sail, shed, hydroponics, landscape lighting, paver patio and walkways, all while being followed by our videographer & photographer. Oh, almost forgot there will be a couple of other surprises Dave has up his sleeve. Don’t worry Joey & Heather, there won’t be any mini grills, ponds or sheds.
Friday afternoon Joey & Heather will be sent away to the Best Western Midtown to spend a relaxing night & to keep them from seeing the finishing touches that we will be installing on Saturday. They will return home Saturday evening to their new $16,000 Ultimate Backyard Makeover & we will be off planning our next project. I think a party at the Patoray’s sounds like more fun!
