Have the nursery staff pick your plants for you
The last week of April is usually when a buying frenzy begins, as homeowners invest in hanging baskets, blooming bedding plants and robust vegetable starts for the start of the growing season.
This year with social distancing, you may need to plan and call ahead. Local nurseries will take your order via email or phone and bring flats of plants to your car or allow a limited number of guests into the aisles to pick out plants.
Here is an easy way to expand your plant palette. This year ask the nursery staff to pick out some plants for you. Tell them your budget and growing conditions for pots and planters or planting beds and then accept the plants that the experts have chosen for you. Don’t expect same-day service, but if you put in a request and ask to be called when your plants are ready you will be pleasantly surprised at what our local independent nurseries can provide. This is the spring you may meet your new favorite plant.
Q. What perennials do best in containers? I want to try growing perennials in my containers rather than the usual annuals or bedding plants. I have seen your garden on YouTube and you seem to grow many perennials in pots. T.Y., Seattle
A. You won’t need to leave home if you divide up your perennials and put them into large pots for year-round enjoyment. For a sunny patio, the pollinator attracting Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is my favorite for container gardens as it is drought resistant as well as long-blooming. For cooler spots such as on a shaded porch, use the soft and flowing foliage of Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra) in pots. I like the golden foliage as a contrast to deep blue or black pottery. You can order both of these perennials for pick up from local nurseries. Ask for bags of potting soil and even some new pots to be loaded curbside at the same time. Gardening has not been canceled, so grow for it this spring.
Q. I am looking for a small tree to add to our front yard. I prefer something that will go with a contemporary design as we have some large boulders already in place where the tree will go. Any suggestions? T., Email
A. If you have boulders in your beds then it seems a nod to Japanese garden design is in order, and the best tree for this updated look would be a Japanese maple. It is not too late to add Japanese maples and other trees and shrubs to the landscape. Japanese maples come in many leaf sizes and colors, some with beautiful bark (the coral bark and the paper bark maples), so this is a tree with four seasons of interest. For small areas or large containers, you can chose a grafted Japanese maple. The graft on the trunk ensures that the plant may grow wider but not much taller than the height that it starts with.
Q. My azaleas have moss and lichen on the branches and they are ugly and do not bloom well. Should I pull them out and start over? They are in a shaded area, but this spot had more sunshine years ago when the azaleas were planted. My neighbors have shade trees that have grown huge! P.B., Tacoma
A. Life is too short to put up with ugly plants. Azaleas do best with at least half a day of sun and good air circulation. Moss and lichen will not kill the shrubs, but too much shade will contribute to few blooms. Either move them or lose them and replace them with more shade-tolerant shrubs such as Nandina, leucothoe or Pieris japonica. You might also consider using a large container in the area and filling the pot with shade-loving annuals such as impatiens, begonias and lobelia. This will give you time to think about how you want to redesign the empty space over the next year. Removing ugly or overgrown plants can be the first step toward an improved landscape design and a great way to calm your mind during uncertain times.
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 11:00 AM.