January 2011 - Page 2 of 2 - The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Arborvitae Rheingold (Thuja)

Posted on January 11, 2011 by jmarkowski Posted in Evergreen .

PLEASE NOTE:

I’ve updated this post since it was first published in 2010. I’ve added better photos and they are more reflective of what this shrub looks like 7 years later.

As much as it pains me, I’m leaving the rambling text. I apologize in advance. I was such an immature writer back then but I don’t want to mess with changing history.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions on this plant, please feel free to email me at ongardener@yahoo.com.

Thanks.

Before discussing Arborvitae Rheingold, please enjoy the following rant.

Garden design is maddening, frustrating, confusing, enlightening and exhilarating – all at the same time.

I will never claim to be an expert in this arena and often wonder what I was thinking when I look back on some of my earlier work. I’m talking like real bad, like “get him a new hobby” bad.

Where I am at a superstar level, however, is in the field of “over analyzing plant design to the point of being held hostage by it”. By the middle of October each year, I have successfully convinced myself that I finally got it right. I will just keep things as-is come spring and enjoy what I’ve created. Then the “dormant” months hit and there is nothing but time to read and research and suddenly a new perspective comes into view. Before I know it, I’ve redesigned an entire garden bed and I’m moving giant shrubs around with reckless abandon. It’s like starting all over again. I think recording sensation Paula Abdul said it best when she so eloquently sang “I take two steps forward, I take two steps back.”

John, you are babbling on and on again, what the hell is the point? My point? Are those even required any more? I thought everyone could follow along with my rambling thoughts. Oh well, guess I’ll make one so I do not completely destroy my writing credibility.

I try like hell to add winter interest to my landscape and I think I’ve improved in that area the past year or so. One of the plants I’ve added is Thuja Occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ also known as Arborvitae Rheingold. This conifer scores a rating of “intriguing” to date and I’ll show you why in the following photos:

Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in June

Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in December

Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in February

Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ foliage emerging in March

What do you think? Have any of you used this successfully? Maybe I should consider it in a container?On its own, this evergreen shrub is dynamic as it changes from month to month and brings a different look and feel as the seasons are changing. Where I struggle with this son of a bitch is how to design with it. It definitely looks best in the heat of summer when it is a phenomenal chartreuse green that combines real well with other dark foliage plants and dark flowers. When the juvenile foliage is tipped in orange in the spring and begins to change color in the fall, it becomes a bit odd looking when viewed with those same plants. I am enjoying the bronze color now as it doesn’t look quite as dead as it did at this time last year.

Before you go, some quick facts on Arborvitae Rheingold:

Native to North America, survives in zones 2-8
Typical size is about 3-5 ft by 3-5 ft but I’ve seen it much larger
Grows about 6″ to 12″ each year
Arborvitae Rheingold works in full to partial sun, but best color comes when planted in full sun
Low maintenance – once established, drought and disease resistant
Arborvitae Rheingold requires good drainage so I have mine planted higher in my clay soil
From what I’ve seen, do not prune or trim, looks best in its natural shape
Keep in a sheltered spot to protect from winter winds

Plant evaluation – Geranium ‘Brookside’

Posted on January 7, 2011 by jmarkowski Posted in Perennials .

This is “review” time of year for many of us at our place of employment and it can be a stressful time. All the work and effort from the past year is summed up in one nice standard form, chock full of all the key “buzz words”. In fact, many of us are required to write our own self evaluations and that can be quite the daunting task. We are reminded of projects we worked on and struggled with and it unearths memories we had hoped to leave behind.

In order to help alleviate this stress, I decided I would do something that would immediately make me feel better … I’ll take it out on someone/something else.

And that’s right, I’m talking to you my weaker performing plants!

You may think you are safe because you were left in the ground to overwinter, but I am warning you now, I am on to you. I’ve been carefully detailing your work in the spring, summer and fall and I cannot afford for some of you to bring our organization (I mean garden) down. You may think you are just one or two little plants of insignificance, but you are all part of the greater “whole”. I value your contribution as much as the larger shrubs and trees (wink wink) and if you work hard enough, you may just get featured as a specimen in one of the more prominent containers on my back deck. How’s that for a lofty 2011 objective?

I will be evaluating these lesser performing plants over the next few weeks as I prepare for the spring and there are some tough decisions to be made.

For today’s evaluation, we are looking at Geranium ‘Brookside’.

I’ve had these for about four years now and the phrase that continues to come to mind is “Does not meet expectations”. I had such high hopes for this super blooming perennial, based on my initial research and from viewing their images online, yet I find they continue to disappoint.

Here is a photo of one in full bloom in early June:

And a close-up of one of the individual flowers:

To me, the individual flowers rock, but when taken as a whole, it doesn’t do too much for me. Maybe if I took the time to deadhead and remove the spent flowers it would be more impressive, but that is too much of an effort considering all that is going on in the late spring.

Yes, I appreciate that they have proven to be deer resistant and can handle the clay and often wet conditions, but I need more. When in bloom, it looks completely chaotic but not in a good way. They easily outgrow their supposed size and creep where I don’t want them to creep (but that is an issue for HR).

In fact, I enjoy these more after the blooms have been completely sheared back and the new foliage has grown in. See the photo below:

My design style leans more foliage based then flower based so I truly appreciate the more unique leave shape a geranium offers as it contrasts perfectly with other perennials. Maybe the foliage is all they have to offer and I should just accept that. After all, we can’t all be top performers right?

While it is fleeting, this geranium also offers some nice autumn color as it heads towards dormancy:

In summary, I will give these an additional year to impress me as I blame myself for their mediocre performance since they have been moved three times in four years. As their manager, I have to accept my part in their performance.

Ciao

My gardening homie

Posted on January 3, 2011 by jmarkowski Posted in Uncategorized .

You know that age old question, “If you could invite three people to dinner, who would it be?” Well, my table only has room for me and one other today and here is my guest of honor:

Confused? Well he is none other than Piet Oudolf, my current gardening BFF and author of choice the past year or so. The Dutch born designer (side note – I am about 73.8% Dutch myself, born into the legendary Van Veen family of Northern NJ) has written numerous books on garden design, but my three favorites, to date are : Designing with Plants, Gardening with Grasses and Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space. I have taken each out of my local library at least three times in the last year and I have never felt more inspired then after reading each of these masterpieces.

Oudolf is also a pioneer of the “New Perennials” landscape movement which favors the form and structure of a plant over other features like flower color. He has a love for “wild nature” which he demonstrates in his designs by favoring mass plantings that resemble what would you would typically see in a meadow. The photos in his books are “fantastic” (another side note, no more using the word “awesome”). Here are a few to whet your whistle:

Oudolf was never formally trained and has always preferred to garden through “instinct”. What a coincidence, I have never been formally trained and I garden through instinct too! Couple that with our shared Dutch lineage, and we’re practically brothers from a different mother.
But what has inspired me most of late, is this quote from Oudolf:

“I like to connect people with the processes of their own lives. What it takes humans a lifetime to experience, a plant will experience in its own yearly life cycle. In that sense, gardening is a microcosm of life.”

Now that is some deep stuff my friends. Enjoying watching your perennials and shrubs die is not as wacky as it sounds. I now want to smack myself around a bit for all my complaining about the winter weather. It’s a perspective I really want to take to heart as we progress through each of the seasons.

Well, as I wandered around the yard recently with an improved perspective that I can hopefully sustain, I managed to snap off the following photos, with a miniature Oudolf on my shoulder guiding me (am I getting creepy now?). Enjoy: