To be honest, I'm surprised to read that you're "fertilizing" a lawn with your credentials. Surely you've thought about the run-off that flows into the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay from your property?

I always enjoy your columns, Eleni. I recently did a garden assessment, too--jotting notes in my garden journal. (I tape in the plastic tags that come with each plant and leave plenty of room for notes.) Old Southern summer stand-bys didn't do as well this year---lantana, notably. And of course the lawn is a disaster. But I had surprising good luck with hibiscus, asparagus fern, mona lavender plectranthus (new to me this season), and mandeville, which I can hardly keep contained. Also, Confederate jasmine, which I have in a huge pot with a trellis & which smells divine. This spring was the first time I'd ever seen it in the nurseries this far north, no doubt another indication of climate change, and it's doing rather well. Of course it's made for this awful heat.
I was surprised to read that you pruned your hydrangea---this time of year?? rather than very early spring? And speaking of pruning, do you have any thoughts about pruning wisteria? I have one of those "volunteers", the Chinese variety, and it's lush & green & has taken over a pergola, but it's purple & fragrant blooms haven't appeared in several years. I've read that this is the time of year to give it a good whack, but I hesitate to lose the green. Any thoughts?

R.C.
It's a great time of year to do this assessment while you enjoy your garden. I keep a journal too-- the past two years I've been using Lee Valley's Ten year Gardening Journal-- each page has ten year's worth of temps and garden bloom records. We are definitely in a changing environment--most of my ornamentals have bloomed at least two weeks earlier this year than last.

I'm glad to hear your hardy hibiscus did well this year--it's on my list to plant for next season. I'll be looking for the Confederate jasmine too--seems like a great addition to a southern garden, and I've got a west facing wall that would be a perfect site.

RE the hydrangeas: lace cap hydrangeas bloom on OLD wood, so it's best to prune them after they bloom, but before the first week of August. They set next years blooms from late August through October. If you prune them in spring, you'll be pruning the blooms. I was a little late deadheading and pruning my lace-cap hydrangeas--but I took the chance that this winter would be mild too, and I'd get enough new growth.

I'd love to hear any more advice from you as well.....

Eleni Silverman

R.C.
About the Chinese wisteria: if it is wisteria sinensis it has become classified as an invasive in this region. Please be vigilant about removing any suckers or seedlings.
Prune aggressively-- this will keep your plant in check.

If you have problems with blooms, you could try applying a fertilizer high in phosphorus (the middle number in the NPK sequence on fertilizer bags) in early spring.

Pruning a couple of times a year will encourage bloom--it is best to do this in early summer after it blooms, and then again when dormant in winter. I've been told that root pruning can stimulate stubborn vines that just seem to refuse to blossom. To 'root prune' you take a shovel and drive it in to the ground in a circle around the wisteria--but make sure you are at least three feet from the trunk of your vine, as root pruning too close to the plant can kill it.

Thanks, Eleni. Yeah, I did that whole "root pruning" thing on the Chinese wisteria, but to no avail. And, yes, I'm aware that it's an invasive, & boy, is it aggressive!, so I'm vigilant about keeping those "tendrils" in check. I think I might just go ahead & give it a whack, see what happens. Thanks for the tip about the Lee Valley journal--they're such nice folks to deal with, I'll definitely look for it. As for the hydrangea, yes, I know they bloom on old wood (except--and this may be the only exception--the limelight variety, which blooms on new, so it needs a good pruning, again in early spring), but I'd always heard early spring was best for pruning hydrangea,
care being given to watch for those new flower buds. I take old stalks down, clearing about 1/3 of the plant, to keep if from taking over entirely. Though I prune in early spring, I'm having good luck with my hydrangea. At least the last few years anyway--with this climate change, who the heck knows what'll happen. For instance, my lenten roses not only bloomed way, way before Lent, nearer to Christmas actually, but they continued blooming well into July. Go figure. Back to hydrangea for a minute--dug up some oak-leaf hydrangea root stock two seasons ago from a friend's garden & voila!, I have some nice little bushes now, though few flowers. That'll come, though, with care.

Eleni, Me again. My sweet potatoe vines were really looking bad, and not just the drought---lots of holes. A very lovely person at Merrifield (well, they're all lovely, in my experience, though this was at Fairfax) suggested dumping spent coffee grounds into the pots. She said the problem was snails & that the coffee grounds, get this, irritate their little snail bellies while their sliming across the pots in search of a snack to the point where they just stop moving & die. Who knew? Another reason I love coffee. By the looks of my SPVs this year, it seems to work, though no SPVs next year; too prone to drought, which seems to be our new normal.

Any thoughts about some evergreens?, or anyway non-deciduous trees/shrubs? We're about to lose a huge maple, probably 50 years old, that has developed that fatal fungus (can't remember the name, but starts with an "A"). It's on our corner & has made a lovely screen. Once it's gone, we'll need to replace it with something to keep the privacy that old maple offered. (It's breaking my heart, knowing we're going to lose it---like losing your dog or your old dear friend.) We're thinking a stand of Giant Green Arborvitae and/or Skip Laurel, both of which we have elsewhere & which have done beautifully with no maintenance. Wondering if there's anything else to consider, anything you'd suggest. Hmm. Happy gardening!! R.C.