Late bloomers!

Posted on October 25, 2016 | by siteadmin

Even though the season is winding down, some plants are just winding up! You can still get a great splash of color with the following fall blooming plants!

Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’

From spring to fall you’ll be provided with a nice base of lush green leaves up to 18″ tall. Then in September and October the real show begins. These beautiful 1-2″ flowers will brighten up the fading fall landscape. They are white or pink flowers, even double cultivars are available. In bloom they are a striking 24-36″ tall.

Aconitum arendsii, Monkshood

You don’t normally see a lot of blue in the landscape. But plant this handsome specimen and you get a 2-4′ tall blue showstopper at the end of the growing season. It also is one of the more unique blooms out there, with it’s helmet like sepals.

Aster ‘purple dome’

Purple dome is just one of many varieties of Fall Aster. They come in a range of purple, pink, hot pink and white. Plants are filled with small daisy like flowers that form a blanket of color! Plants bloom in September and are from 18″-3′ tall!

Some perennials just fade into the garden at the end of the growing season and some, like above, create show stopping flowers. But don’t forget there are also those perennials that have great fall color, here are just a few:

Amsonia hubrechtii, Blue Star

You might think that after this plant blooms in spring that’s all you’ll get from it. But Amsonia produces excellent fall color as the temperatures cool down. The leaves turn bright yellow to orange and quickly brighten up the garden.

Geranium sanguineum

Geraniums bloom spring through summer and a few straggler flowers in the late fall. But beautiful red fall foliage is what you should expect come late September and October!

And round out your landscape with shrubs that hold there fruit/berries late in the season and through winter:

Callicarpa spp. Beautyberry

One of my favorites is Beautyberry. Now this is a showstopper you don’t often see! Purlple-Amethyst colored berries!

Need help in your garden? We can work together in the coming months to create a landscape with blooms all season long! Just contact us here: Van Zelst, Inc.

A gracious greeting

Posted on September 13, 2016 | by siteadmin

Where does your home begin–at the front door? The plantings? Or the curb? Many homeowners pay great attention to their interior design and finishes, outdoor living areas, and plantings, yet seem to neglect the important first impression made by their driveway.

A stone or brick drive ties a polished environment together; extending the carefully selected finishes all the way to the street. And with so many options available, including environmentally friendly permeable pavers that help manage rainwater, there’s no reason to live with a concrete or asphalt driveway cutting through your otherwise picturesque property.

Because we feel that this is an important consideration–especially in grand homes with sweeping drives and parking areas–we do the work ourselves. Our in-house masons install pristine driveways and patios according to our landscape architects’ plans. That way, we can ensure the work is consistent with the high standards set by the rest of the home.

You can’t beat the heat, but these plants sure can!

Posted on August 1, 2016 | by siteadmin

Soaring temperatures are no fun for any living thing. Perennials are easy to grow no nonsense plants, that’s if you plant the right plant in the right spot!

Here’s our top 5 perennials that will beat the heat of summer!

Achillea ‘Moonshine’

Echinacea ‘Fatal Attraction’

Nepeta ‘Little Titch’

Perovskia atriciplifolia ‘Little Spire’

Stachys ‘Pink Cotton Candy’

Still don’t know what to put where? Then give us a call and our Architects and Designers will create the perfect garden for you!

Be on the lookout for…

Posted on June 30, 2016 | by siteadmin

Viburnum leaf beetle could be the next nuisance insect in the same vain as Japanese beetles. One of the most popular and easiest to grown shrubs is the Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), which means it’s fairly easy to find one in almost every landscape. The Viburnum leaf beetle larvae and adults will feast on the foliage of Viburnums; quickly defoliating it. After several years of defoliation your viburnum can die. The adult beetle will then lay it’s eggs on the stems to make it an easy perennial pest, year after year!

What to look for and how to get rid of this pesky pest!

Once viburnums have dropped their leaves in fall, look for egg masses along the undersides of the twigs. Prune out and discard any damaged branches or twigs. Do not compost this debris for mulch.

Viburnum Leaf Beetle, egg masses on twig

In late spring and early summer, look for small holes that skeletonize the leaves between the veins. On the underside of the leaves, you might see tiny, yellow-brown caterpillars, some with spots. Destroy any damaged leaves that drop.

A few weeks after hatching, the larvae drop to the ground and burrow into the soil to pupate. In about six weeks, the adult beetles emerge, feed on the leaves and lay eggs to start the cycle all over again. The 1/4- to 3/8-inch long, golden-brown beetles look shiny in the sun.

Highly susceptible:

V. dentatum: Arrowwood viburnums
V. nudum: Possum-haw, smooth witherod viburnum
V. opulus: European cranberrybush viburnum
V. opulus var. americana (syn. V. trilobum): American cranberrybush viburnum

Susceptible:

V. acerifolium: Mapleleaf viburnum
V. lantana: Wayfaring tree, Mohican viburnum
V. sargentii: Sargent viburnum

Moderately susceptible:

V. burkwoodii: Burkwood viburnum
V. carlcephalum: Carlcephalum viburnum
V. cassinoides: Witherod viburnum
V. lentago: Nannyberry viburnum
V. prunifolium: Black-haw viburnum
V. rhytidophylloides: Lantanaphyllum viburnum

Most resistant:

V. carlesii: Koreanspice viburnum
V. juddii: Judd viburnum
V. plicatum and V. plicatum var. tomentosu: Doublefile viburnum
V. rhytidophyllum: Leatherleaf viburnum
V. sieboldii: Siebold viburnum

Not sure what to do, then contact one of our professional horticulturists to help assess the problem.

Wake up!

Posted on March 9, 2015 | by siteadmin

So as us humans slowly wake up from our semi hibernation, you’ll soon notice that nature is waking up as well. It’s never too early to think about your landscape!

In the coming weeks, as the temperatures rise and the snow melts, we’ll begin to see the first signs of spring. Bulbs will peek up out of the ground, grass will slowly turn from brown to green and the buds on trees and shrubs will begin to swell for soon the leaves will burst out for spring. Rejoice!

But let’s get ahead of the game and think about our landscape now, even if there is still snow on the ground. Big picture: set a goal for your landscape! Maybe you would like to add a new planting bed, rearrange the perennial garden or update your patio (maybe even create a built in grill!).

Here are some tips for spring maintenance:

Now is a great time to do some dormant pruning. Prune trees and shrubs for corrective measures by removing cross branches and dead/diseased parts of the plants. Just wait on those spring blooming plants or you’ll be sacrificing those beautiful spring blooms!
Start planning your garden. This is the time to peruse your garden catalogs and make a list of your must get plants!
Once the snow is gone it’s time to dig out the garden gloves and get to cleaning up the garden. Remove dead plants, old bedding plants, etc. Clean up leaf debris, cut back perennials. Once you have a clean slate, it’s time to mulch the garden.
Get your lawn ready by using a pre-emergent before the weeds take over. Fix the areas affected by winter damage with some soil and seed. Once the grass begins to grow, resume watering.
Don’t forget about annuals. You’ll want to prepare your planting beds or containers for them. Feeling inspired you can plant an early spring container to welcome spring! These include forced bulbs and frost friendly annuals. Be sure to wait until your area is frost free to plant summer annuals.

Remember that goal you set, make sure to incorporate that in your “to-do” list.

The work is never done in the landscape, but once spring has sprung and you’ve tackled your to-do list you can start to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Is your goal to big for you tackle yourself?

Contact Van Zelst Inc. to help you meet that goal!

My evergreen is dying!

Posted on September 25, 2014 | by siteadmin

Well no not really. Much like leaves falling off of deciduous trees in autumn, evergreens will shed their inner needles as well. This is quite obvious in certain evergreens such as white pine and arborvitae. It creates an unsightly appearance for a few weeks.

Just as deciduous trees grow new leaves every year, most evergreens grow a new tuft of needles on each branch. Each year in the fall, it loses the oldest needles (those closest to the trunk) which is quite normal and called seasonal needle loss or fall needle drop.

This shedding of older needles is often unnoticeable but can become a dramatic display in some years. Stresses such as drought seem to make the needle loss more severe in certain years. Remember to continue to water your evergreens late into the year and you can re-purpose those fallen needles and use them as a mulch.

The dog days of summer…

Posted on August 10, 2014 | by siteadmin

August is typically the hottest and driest month of summer. So even though the Midwest has had a pretty mild summer thus far don’t forget to water your landscape.

It’s not necessary to water lawns and plants every day. As a general rule, more plants are killed through over-watering than under-watering.

Established trees, shrubs, and perennials need approximately 1 inch of water each week. An easy way to determine if your landscape has been getting enough water is by investing in a rain gauge. Mother Nature is the best provider of water to your lawn but she doesn’t always comply with our wishes. When we are getting less than an inch of rain a week (or none in some cases) then it’s time to supplement additional moisture.

Water deeply and thoroughly, not daily. Frequent, shallow watering causes plants to produce shallow roots that cannot survive the heat and dry conditions of mid-summer months. Watering deeply and infrequently causes plant roots to grow deeply into the soil in search of the water, resulting in deeply rooted, more drought resistant plants.

The optimal time for watering is in the morning, this allows the turf grass to dry out before night time avoiding possible disease problems. Also be aware of plants that are prone to fungal diseases, such as roses and lilacs and try to avoid overhead watering.

By taking the proper steps to maintaining your landscape you’ll be helping your plants to grow more vigorously, thereby creating a strong plant that will survive our Midwest winters!

The birds and the bees and butterflies too!

Posted on June 7, 2014 | by siteadmin

Communing with nature is a great way to spend the evening after a long day of hard work and relax. The best gardens are those that are wildlife friendly! Here are a few tips to make your landscape a more welcoming environment. Birds of all species need various nesting sites. It’s good to have a variety of trees, shrubs and evergreens. Even an old dead tree can fit into your landscape to invite woodpeckers and nuthatches to nest. Butterflies need nectar sources, host sources (for the caterpillars) and shelter. And all living beings need water, a great way to attract more wildlife is to include a water source.

Here’s small list of plants to entice the birds, bees and butterflies!

Trees and shrubs for birds:

Serviceberry (amelanchier)-the birds love to gobble up the berries in the spring!
Hawthorn (crataegus)-great protective tree for nesting and produces berries for a food source.
Colorado Spruce or Norway Spruce (picea)-A great protective nesting site for birds (as with most other evergreens).
Red/Black Chokeberry (aronia)-another great food source for birds.

Butterfly garden plants:

Yarrow (achillea)
Columbine (aquilegia)
False Indigo (baptisia)
Butterfly Bush (buddleia)
Caryopteris
Tickseed (coreopsis)
Delphinium
Coneflowers (echinacea)
Bee Balm (monarda)
Penstemon
Sedums
Goldenrod (solidago)

A small pond or fountain makes a great open water source.

The dwarf misconception…

Posted on May 2, 2014 | by siteadmin

Many times people plant a dwarf form of a plant thinking it will remain the size it was purchased at. This is ultimately the misconception of what the term dwarf really means. “Dwarf” is a relative term, not an absolute. Its meaning: a plant much smaller than the average of its kind or species. Dwarf species often grow much slower than the parent species and ultimately have a smaller mature size compared the parent plant.

We often see homeowners planting a “dwarf” plant a few feet from the house, which will easily outgrow the space at maturity. If you are designing your landscape be sure to research, read the labels or ask a professional about your selections. Use the mature size of the plant when planning and space them according to how big it will eventually be, not how big it is now. As your plants mature they will soon fill in the spaces in between. Otherwise you’ll be constantly pruning your plants to “stay” in their place. By being proactive and informed you will have a much nicer and healthier landscape to enjoy (instead of constantly working to maintain it!).

A few common dwarf plants and their mature size:

Dwarf burning bush: mature size 9-11’ (want something smaller, try Rudy Haag: 3-5’ or Little Moses: 2-3’)
Dwarf Korean lilac: mature size 4-5’
Allenman’s dwarf red dogwood: mature size 4-5’
Dwarf fothergilla: mature size 2-3’
Dwarf Pee Wee Oakleaf hydrangea: mature size 3-4’

Dwarf burning bush

How’s your wormery?

Posted on March 14, 2014 | by siteadmin

Author: siteadmin