Garden Advice - Flowerwise Garden Studio

I spend a lot of time walking around my neighborhood, and driving in and out of it. Sometimes, I want to offer neighbors garden advice, but I really don’t want to seem like a know-it-all, busy-body neighbor! Instead, I decided to write this blog article with four pieces of advice based on things that I’ve observed in my travels, in hopes that a little bit of education put out in the larger world will help more people.

Look, I get it – I wasn’t an expert gardener 25 years ago, when I first began, and have learned a whole lot of things the hard way and still do! That’s just how it goes. In the spirit of sharing what I’ve learned, here are three gardening tips and one bonus for the wildlife.

Always, Always Read the Label

Along one border of my garden, there is chain link fence, and on the neighbors side, there are a variety of snowball hydrangeas. They easily tower 12 feet in the air, falling over on both sides of the fence. If my partner and I, and my neighbor, didn’t cut them every year, they would not only completely block the sun in my vegetable garden but also close the path I take alongside it. The neighbor and I have talked about them – she had NO idea how big they would get and is thinking about taking them out.

So imagine my reaction when I was out for a walk and spotted another neighbor had planted four of what may be the same hydrangeas – this time in small, cute recently potted sizes, next to their stairs to the sidewalk. In a year or two, they’ll know what I know — these things grow FAST.

So my most repeated advice is: for the sake of your wallet and sanity, always read the label on the plants you buy in a garden center. Whatever it says for height and width, assume it will be 10-20% larger, and plan accordingly.

I’m sure they were cute in their little pots too!
Easily 12 feet tall and we cut them down to 5 last fall.

Speaking of Hydrangeas

There is a gorgeous old house that I drive by every day since I moved to my house, with a long stone path to the front door. The owner planted a different type of hydrangea along both sides of the path. Yes, they are large for the space and crowd into the walkway now but that can be solved with pruning. Every year, they had a glorious display of colorful hydrangeas leading to their front door and it was absolutely lovely.

Then they sold their home. Whoever purchased pruned those hydrangeas down to stubs. I saw they’d done it as I drove by and I just wanted to cry because sure enough, the next summer they had gigantic balls of green lining their path – but no flowers.

And then the next year, they did it again, cut down low. I fear they’ll decide these darn things don’t bloom and take them out.

So the lesson is – know what kind of hydrangeas you have, and when to prune them. Some hydrangeas bloom on old wood and if you chop them to the ground, you are chopping off all the future buds! Those should be pruned immediately after flowering ends, while those that bloom on new wood can be pruned in late winter or early spring without affecting their blooms.

This is the kind that blooms on old wood.
Bloomstruck Hydrangea being pretty

I Speak For The Trees

Another home near me was recently purchased by new owners. The property has a number of large mature trees providing wonderful shade in the front. They are clearly committed to landscaping and maintaining their new land, which is always wonderful to see. Then recently, I saw something that worried me.

Around each tree, they have created what I can only describe as a mountain of mulch. Picture a tree trunk with mulch against it, stacked at least a foot above ground and then extending out feet on every side.

Do I have a problem with mulch? Absolutely not – mulch is one of my go-to solutions in the garden to keep me from weeding incessantly all season long. Does it look neat and well landscaped? I suppose. But mulch mountains endanger a tree’s health.

Maybe their trees will survive it. But when mulch is piled up thick and deep right up against a tree trunk:

The bark below the mulch decays, which leads to
Increased pest and disease susceptibility, which leads to
Root suffocation, which leads to
Sad and possibly dead trees

There are right and wrong ways to mulch around a tree and nothing wrong with mulching at all. But the basic rule is, the trunk flares out from base expanding the base of the tree with large roots, and that area should remain exposed. Two to three inches from the trunk of the tree should be kept uncovered. Mulch away, just don’t overdo it!

Now, My Annual Advice for Bird Lovers

I have a large privet hedge on another boundary of my property. Privet grows thick and green when routinely pruned, providing spectacular cover for birds. In fact, the hedge frequently explodes with birds that I would never have known were in there. It is also the source of the best bird TV in the house, for my cats in their catio.

When autumn rolls around, and the Halloween decor starts showing up, I begin seeing something that upsets the heck out of me. Fake spider webs.

My privet hedge next to the catio
A little wren house in the hedge

Yesterday, I drove down a main thoroughfare by a house which has a long border of beautifully maintained hedges much like my own. And stretched across the face of it was fake cobwebs. Knowing how often fragile little birds fly in and out of these hedges, it hurts me to see something that will harm not just the birds but also capture smaller animals like chipmunks and insects like bumble bees.

This fake spider web material is not biodegradable, and it is a strong artificial fiber that stretches and tangles with tiny feet. I told a young neighbor this a few years ago and she said “Well, I’ve never seen anything stuck in it” and I just sighed – I can’t tell people what to do with their seasonal decorations or their money, but I can assume no one wants to harm wildlife intentionally so that is my last bit of advice: PLEASE don’t use that fake cobweb material outdoors!

Feel free to share this article with your friends and neighbors. I’m here to educate, never to shame. I want everyone

to bloom!