Zone 5

By Robert Waugh, David Waugh and Steven Waugh

Dr. Bob's somewhat specific and technical title of this book should reveal that it is written for the gardener with a greater than average interest in collecting and arranging plants. It is for the avid and dedicated gardener with a lifelong interest in plants, and not for one who merely wants to put something new along the front of the house. The latter interest can be met just as well by a single trip to the nursery and following the advice of the salesperson. The book is meant for those with a global interest in understanding landscaping. It is for those who want something unique and different, but still compatible with the neighbors. Hopefully it can be read for enjoyment as well as for learning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257401895

Book preview

GETTING STARTED

WHAT TO DO FIRST

If you have just purchased a home--or are in the throes of building one--try to resist the urge to head for the nearest nursery to buy a shovel and a few shrubs. Instead, your first trip should be to a stationery store. Before you change or add to your landscape, it is important to document what you have to work with. A few supplies will make the task easier. To entice the ladies, I have first listed the ingredients to consider in recipe fashion, followed by descriptions of their usefulness.

(2) Ring-binder Notebooks

(1) Lined Paper Tablet

3 x 5" Cards with Storage Box

(1) Small Spiral Binder Note Pad

(1) 2-Drawer File

FIRST:    Purchase an 8 1/2 x 11 hard cover multi-ring binder notebook. The less expensive three-ring binder inserts do not hold up so well as these will. Also ask for a set of peel-off/stick-on letters in a contrasting color to the binder and label it HOME IMPROVEMENT. I found that humid weather allows the letters to slide and move a bit on the glue. The problem was solved by sealing the letters in place with a few quick shots of clear polyurethane from a spray can.

Ask for compatible plastic page protectors that will fit your notebook. The individual pages can slide in and out of these pockets with ease, and will allow the use of standard non-punched paper. This sturdy book should be maintained and updated occasionally for as long as you own the property.

Each new structural improvement to the residence or property should be documented in your HOME IMPROVEMENT book, as these changes may be helpful in decreasing any capitol gains tax when the property is sold. The initial cost plus improvements against selling price is the basis for this tax, and being able to document any improvements could soften the blow of inflation alone on real estate prices. Complete, neat, organized, honest records are the best defense for any audit. An assertive and well documented system is an efficient obstacle for any outside reviewer. A good offense is the best defense.

Such things as repainting, repapering, or replacing wall-to-wall carpet would be considered as home maintenance. Adding storm windows, an attic exhaust fan, ceiling molding, an outside tool shed, or permanent outdoor plantings are home improvements. These should be all on file in your HOME IMPROVEMENT book.

The pages should be designed to show the date, the cost, the nature of the improvement, and how the payment was made (check number, charge-card, etc.). Such a log should satisfy most scrutiny, but in addition, I keep all the original receipts an alphabetical lateral file.

Depending on the scope and extent of the evolving changes, you might want separate pages for improvements of different types. If you contract to have a porch added or the basement finished, the cost of sequential payments can be contained on a few lines. If you undertake these projects yourself, there may be multiple payments to multiple suppliers. You might then prefer to have a separate page for each project. If there is a great deal planned for the outside you may need separate pages for construction of a pool or gazebo, tree cutting, delivery of loam/sand/fill, or the purchase of permanent landscape plants. Remember, the cost of (your) labor is not considered in the cost of home improvement.

Enough said on this subject, but finish this chapter before you hit the stationery store or you may have to make another trip.

SECOND:    Consider a second similar book for mapping your outdoor areas. If your outdoor space is small, you may be able to include this material in with your HOME IMPROVEMENT documentation. With a larger property, extensive planting, or a desire for a scale of finer detail, a separate book may be helpful. Label it LANDSCAPING with your sticker/letter supply. The complete lot can be represented at the front with an overlay referencing separate area maps that follow on subsequent pages. Each shrub or group of plants can be drawn on the area map with a sequential number to match an accompanying key page. The exact scale of the area maps is not critical but they should be representative enough to show the relative position of plantings for easy identification. The conscientious gardener with only a few plants can likely remember their individual scientific, varietal, clone, or common names. However a permanent record will help you in identification for yourself or for someone else's inquiry. It may also prevent you from errors in duplication. With my collection of some 1500 entries, a permanent record serves better than memory.

Other methods are certainly possible for the identification of your plantings. Most nurseries have their stock labeled with plastic name tags which are either looped around a branch or stuck in the pot. Unfortunately most of them are not overly resistant to the weather and soon fade, break, or become lost. I find that in addition their bright colors show up too much, reflecting the secondary purpose of identifying and advertising the nursery. Unobtrusive metal labels are available to attach directly to the plant or to place in front of it. Both are helpful but each has its limitations. A label looped around a branch of the shrub may become too tight. With the subsequent growth of the branch the label may be forced off, or worse, it could girdle and kill the limb. There is also some evidence that labels attached with copper wire may cause damage to the plant, presumably from its degradation or as a reaction to the copper ion. Labels stuck in the ground in front of a shrub may have to be moved as the shrub grows forward. They are also a nuisance when you try to rake away the collection of fallen leaves.

After you have drawn any outline area map and before you make any specific entries, always keep two copies of the basic plan. If, in time, you find major revisions are necessary due to plant loss or because of redesign, you can easily make a new map. Paper clip a blank sheet over the original, place them against a sliding glass door on a bright day, and trace only the material you want to retain for the revised map. The remaining unused copy can be used for further duplications. Each time an area map is revised, keep the habit of dating the page to remind you of its currency.

THIRD:    Get an inexpensive lined tablet from which the pages can be torn out and discarded when their individual usefulness has passed. My preference is for an 8 1/2 x 11 size to allow adequate space for notes, lists, and drawings. I find that a legal size tablet is too large to fit either way on a shelf. In this idea book you can keep notes on plants, names and addresses of nurseries you might want to visit, simple drawings of areas you want to develop, plants you want to get, etc. It will serve as an idea and planning book for what is to come once you get going outdoors. There may be times when you are up and about before your family but it's still too early in the morning to go to work. You can then sit at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and your plan notebook to peruse what will become a growing number of catalogs.

FOURTH:    I find it helpful to have a small spiral notebook. I now take it along when I go to society meetings and exhibits, spring flower shows, private or public gardens, or to a new nursery or greenhouse. If I see a plant that I would like to have or to learn more about, I can jot down its name and possibly its source. Several times in the past I have regretted not having had such a notepad along when I was on an impromptu trip to the local nurseries. I like to browse and shop for plants alone, in my oldest clothes, and unencumbered with anything except for the necessary wallet and keys. I find I am not the only man who doesn't really want to be seen running around with a pad and pencil jotting down names. I also am resistant to doing the logical thing of asking the proprietor to jot down a plant name for me. I am always certain that by repeating the name in my mind that I will be able to recall it when I get home. Invariably a momentary lapse in concentration intercedes, and when I do get home I can remember the song that was on the radio, but not the name of the plant that I wanted to look up. I now try to keep a small notebook and pencil in the glove compartment of my car.

FIFTH: I keep a 3 x 5 card file to hold information that I have no other way of organizing. The cards are divided by plant types such as rhododendrons, azaleas, and hostas. The individual varieties are filed alphabetically on separate cards. Each card will give the date on which the plant was purchased, the source, the cost, and a notation of where it occurs in the plot plan book.

The card file also comes in handy when I'm out hunting for new varieties and don't have a current computer printout. Some of the nurserymen know me by now as being a collector, and in the spring are anxious to show me their latest (and usually most costly) offerings. A quick scan of my cards will quickly let both of us know if I am interested.

SIXTH: If by this time you have not yet brought adequate joy to the clerk in your stationery store, get a two-drawer file cabinet for final completeness. In one drawer you can keep your collection of catalogs. Use the other drawer to file all your guarantees, warrantees, and directions for the equipment in your house. When you buy or replace any appliance, a TV, well pump, lawnmower, etc., file the information in this central location with a notation on the pamphlet as to the purchase date and the source. Having this information in one accessible location may save you from future frustration and perhaps also from some repair costs.

ALTERNATIVES:    The preceding hard copy system has the advantages of easy accessibility and portability. There are, however, very adaptable computer programs on the market to store and display information. There are advantages and shortcomings to each system, so I use both. Initially I constructed my own storage system from a standard data-base program. Currently I am using a system called Gardenview (MIDSUN 5.3 version, IBM compatible) which is specific for landscape use. One can draw individual gardens, plant from a revisable directory of roughly 1500 plants, show the garden in 3-D, how it will look in ten years, the change in color over the seasons with the appropriate bloom cycles, or even how the shadows vary during the day as the garden is viewed from any desired angle. It is certainly versatile and fun to run, but it will not alpha sort plants of similar characteristics such as all my 500 rhododendron varieties or store the information that is on my 3x5 cards.

In my pre-computer days, I used a typewriter to list the plants on each key for the maps in the LANDSCAPE BOOK. Now I use microsoft word, and have a separate file for each key. This makes it much easier for listing changes and then printing out a new sheet. I also have files for the major collections--azaleas, clematis, daylilies, hosta, lilies, and rhododendrons--which gives the cultivar name and the location as to map number and key number. The lists can be updated with additions or subtractions in a matter of minutes, and then resorted. Eventually all the 3x5 card information will be added, making the latter obsolete. These lists are in a separate folder (LANDSCAPE BOOK-II !), along with maps and keys of trial plants put in during the previous year. Those plants which are successful will then be added to the LANDSCAPE BOOK. Finally there is a list from a file of plants that I have seen or read about, and would consider using. Sources are listed where I know them.

The final system or systems you choose to store and document your information is a personal preference, in part based on what you have available. You can certainly devise a system to fit your own specific needs which may or may not include my recommendations or suggestions. The important lesson is to have a reliable system, and to use and update it as you go forward. For our household I use a large ledger checkbook, where one can list separate categories such as landscaping or home improvement. This makes it easy to update the HOME IMPROVEMENT and LANDSCAPE books at convenient intervals. To try to reconstruct all this material retrograde after years have passed would be difficult if not impossible.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

No, don't put on your work shoes and get your saw yet. There is more information you need to locate first. This is information that already exists as opposed to information you will enter based on Chapter One.

Get from the previous owner or your builder as many copies as you can of any plans relating to your property. These would include property plot plans, house plans, subcontractor plans such as the heating system, the course of public water or waste lines, any septic system information including the clean-out location, and underground electrical/phone service where it applies. Your town hall should also have your lot plan on file. They can copy and perhaps enlarge it for you. Check your deed or the deed to your subdivision to see if it contains any restrictive covenants or limitations that you may need to recognize in planning your design. Find out how far back from the edge of the road the town has a right-of-way. See what the set-back regulations are for building structures near your property line.

What do you do with these? Add them to your file drawer under House Papers along with your mortgage agreements and any other pertinent papers. They will likely fit with the possible exception of the house plans, which are better stored rolled. They may come in very handy if, as in my case, lightning destroyed my well pump. In older homes such as mine, the well head is often underground. My recollection as to its location was far enough off that it took a day and a half to locate it by hand digging and running a wire out from the basement well tank, hoping that someone outside could hear it hit the wall of the vertical shaft of the well. Will you remember the location of where you have run shallow underground wiring when you decide to have your lawn aerated with a machine that punches and removes cores of soil? At some time you might want to run a drainage ditch from a wet area and inadvertently cross a limb of your septic system--a preventable accident if you are armed with the information you should have. The greater your awareness, the less likely you are to evoke the Peter Principle.

I also transfer this information to an overall plot map and/or an area map in my LANDSCAPE book. Measure the location of any critical element from at least two fixed points with a tape measure and reproduce it on your map. If practical, measure from two fixed locations on your house such as two corners. Should you take one measurement from your tool house, realize that it might later be moved. The same should be pointed out for a tree, as eventually it might need to be cut down. If you must measure from a tree as one point, its growth in girth over a number of years will not throw you off significantly to be of much concern.

The plot plan of your lot will serve you well to provide an overall view as you begin to work on you LANDSCAPE book. Again, keep a couple of fresh copies to use for revisions. These could be used to show future projects such as an underground water system or your outdoor electrical wiring. You could have separate sheets to identify and locate all the plants of one type, such as all the vines or all of the lilies.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

…it so falls out that what we have

we prize not whiles we enjoy it

               Shakespeare

Let me speak first in general terms. Now that you own your own house and property, you may not be at first aware that you have assumed more than that merely by association. Your present estate has a character of its own, represented by the style and size of your house and by the nature of the lot and whatever is currently growing there. But you are also living in a community of other homeowners, in a specific area, and in one of several regions represented by Zone 5. On the greater scale, homes and properties in certain regions of the country tend to have a particular flavor or style of their own--at least in our perception--and fit our mental image as belonging. Certainly these are not hard and fast rules with no overlap, but one might be surprised to see a log cabin in Arizona or an adobe bungalow in Maine. Your particular area may be a suburban town set in rolling hills, a farm area in the flat Midwest, or a mountainous and forested section of the Northeast. Each of these may favor a general life style that can be reflected in the character of the homes and the landscape. Even more pertinent, your local community and neighborhood is likely to have some degree of continuity depending on zoning, lot size, land values, the presence or absence of a view, etc.

I feel that one's individualism should be tempered to some degree with conformity to custom, heritage, and a commitment to what has gone before us. This is the most important on the very local level.

In Seattle there is a neighborhood which runs along a high open stretch of land overlooking the Puget Sound. There are 30-40 houses in succession which are striking in that each has a highly maintained and formal landscaping consisting of some of the finest collections of dwarf conifers that I have seen outside of Japan. Closer to the water is another neighborhood in which the homes are much simpler and less formal. Here there is an obvious interest in boating, swimming, and water skiing. Lawns that emulate putting greens are absent. The plantings are much more casual, using many native shrubs and plants. Regardless of which neighborhood you might prefer, to transplant one of these properties to the center of the other neighborhood would create an unsettling contrast.

An acquaintance of mine has a consuming interest in his marvelous collection of alpine plants. Prime and often very rare plants are interspersed with carefully placed rocks, and cover his entire lot. His hobby obviously gives him great pleasure, and aficionados come from far and wide to see it. Yet in his development of two-story colonial homes, his is the only house where there is absolutely no grass and where nothing grows over a foot high. I would have preferred that the street side of his property conformed better with those of his neighbors, and that in the more private area behind the house he had cultivated his particular interest. But, to a collector with limitations of space, sometimes things get out of hand!

There is a local street that follows a rather steep forested hill where there are well spaced conservative homes. Most of the trees have been saved, giving a warm and woodsy feeling as you drive by or indeed for those who live there. Suddenly on rounding a curve one comes upon a lot where a stark rectangle has been cut out of the woods by the removal of every tree. In the center of the lot, and in fact taking a considerable portion of it, is a huge white southern colonial style house complete with a large portico and fluted white columns. The plantings are formally trimmed evergreens with a highly fertilized strip of grass up to the white painted brick wall with its decorative iron gates that borders the road. Certainly the house and landscaping are beautiful, and likely answer the owner's lifelong dream, but it comes as a shock in its location. It appears to be out of place for the neighborhood, and in fact to the area and likely to the region as well.

I do not advocate that you suppress your own personality and interest in how you plant--indeed I encourage it. Do landscape so that your property is really your own, reflecting your own taste and interests. Hopefully it will be admired and give a positive feeling for yourself and others. At the same time don't make it so unique and different that it is incredulous.

All of this likely seems logical and simplistic. It should not present any insurmountable problems, as you presumably bought your property in part because it did fit the main parameters I have discussed. Be encouraged--you are on the right track! All of this said, it is time to venture out and make a critical appraisal of what you (and your neighbors) do indeed have.

Armed with your materials from Chapters One and Two, and with some basic philosophy as to what you are about, walk the property to see what is actually there. What do you recognize? What do you like or dislike? Make notes in your notebook. Draw in on your plot plan in the LANDSCAPE book those things you would consider saving, and make some designation as to which way is North. If you lack a magnetic compass, remember that the north side of a tree tends to support moss and lichens, whereas the south side is generally clean. Or try this--lay a standard watch on your hand with the dial up, and rotate it so that the hour hand is pointing in the direction of sun. The North-South line will bisect the angle between the hour hand and a line through the 12 and 6 numerals.

Take samples of material you don't recognize to your local nurseryman or other friends who can help you with identification. What does your neighbor grow that you like? Ask him what it is and where he got it, and you will likely find he is complimented and pleased at your interest. What's the flowering tree down at the corner of your street? Go and ask. Are there areas of your lot that present unique problems such as ledge or standing water? What direction does your house face? Is there too much shade making the house dark or does it need protection from the sun? Is there a potential view of something you want to see if you do some clearing, or would you like to provide more privacy. Does your neighbor's teenage son work on junk cars in his back yard? Are your current plants overgrown and need to be trimmed or replaced? Many other questions may come to mind as you make your initial critical appraisal as to what you have as a beginning to start with.

These trips about your yard will become a frequent rite as you develop and improve your landscaping. If there is a lot you want to do, these surveys will initially involve mostly issues of planning. As the years pass your tours will be more of a confirmation of what you have done and accomplished. There will be great satisfaction in seeing your first crocuses come up in the spring, or your new rhododendron bloom for the first time. On the other hand did you plant two shrubs together that bloom at the same time and the colors seem incompatible?

On your first venture don't be too quick in deciding what gets the ax. You may want to wait a full range of seasons before you make any radical changes--after all, what now looks like a weedy shrub may turn out later to have beautiful flowers. Perhaps it could be resurrected by merely being pruned or moved to another location. Our house when purchased was built on spec, and is on a parcel of two acres. Except for a small front lawn, the builder had left the lot undeveloped--completely treed with heavy underbrush underneath. This suited me very nicely, as I could then go ahead with landscaping to suit our needs. I waited a full year before I started any severe structural changes. During this time I noted where my children chose to play, and the routes they took to the neighbors or to the stop for the school bus. These habits sometimes appear to defy logic, but better to develop play areas and access paths where they're going to end up anyway. The same sort of thing applies to where you put sidewalks on a college campus--if you're smart you'll put them where the students walk!

If in your anxiety to get started you need to begin with some concrete changes, I would suggest that for spousal harmony you begin at the front door. After all, this is the first area where your family and guests will see a change. Take what knowledge you have along with the advice of your local nursery, and make some initial revisions. Buy shrubs and plants that you like for their color, shape, or flowering. Plant them at a distance apart that seems slightly too great, as they will grow with time. I would suggest you use evergreens for this purpose so that the foundation will be softened year round. If you know these plants well, buy ones of the greatest size that you can afford to give a finished look at the outset. If you are not too familiar with these shrubs be a bit more conservative. If you plant a nice looking sheared 3-foot Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) under your picture window it will have to be moved within a couple years to an area where it can attain its mature height of 40-50 feet. And be aware that whatever you plant in front of the house will grow--whether a dwarf or not--and that in time it will need to be moved or replaced so as to keep the area neat and not overgrown. And don't be afraid to move trial plantings to another location if they aren't doing well. Sometimes plants which should work according to the book just don't. The site may just be too damp, alkaline, or exposed to drying winds.

With this out of your system, its time to go back and think about just what your needs are and what you want to accomplish. If you were able to curb your enthusiasm and read further before starting to plant--perhaps because someone gave you this book at Christmas and the weather isn't suitable--there will be more to say on this subject in Chapter 28.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

First say to yourself what would you be;

and then what you have to do

               Epictetus (50-120 AD.)

We Americans, having lived through the me generation of the 70's and through the 80's (when many thought they had more than they really did because of the expansion of business and credit) have unfortunately often become more materialistic than realistic. When I was a child it was unusual that both parents went out every day to a full-time job, and daycare didn't really exist. At that time the position of wife and mother was considered a full time commitment and valued as such. With people wanting more, and the job of housewife not being income productive, families became absorbed with holding down multiple jobs. This was somewhat self-perpetuating, as to have a second wage earner usually required a second vehicle and then a second garage. The focus on family income was the real start to the women's lib movement for justifiably equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work. Keeping up with the Jones' and the image portrayed