Greenhouse Weekend Blog - Rachel and Brian- April 3-5, 2015

This morning was a cool and very foggy one, but truly had the fresh smell of spring outside. Much of the rest of the day was cloudy with the sun peeking out on odd occasion. Lots of tasks were completed during the nice weather of this day.

The Crotons from the college interiorscape were pruned, groomed, and then washed off of dust build up to open up leaf stomata and hence giving the plants a boost. The Cannas were sorted for inventory.

 

And the large “basket” pots were planted for arrangements. These large pots are early preparations for the planters throughout the college, so that the botanical decorations will be fuller and more established far earlier in the college. Among the plants there were Sweet Potato vine, Millet grass, and Pelargoniums, and Canna were implemented in the planted arrangements, making an excellent summer Thriller/Filler/Spiller combination!

1 Canna iridiflora, 29 Robinia pseudoacacia, 10 Catalpa speciosa, and 12 Strobilanthes attenuata seedlings were potted up into their own 1 gallon pot spaces to give them plenty of space so that they would no longer be competing against their siblings within their seedling pans.

During the entire day the seedlings were frequently inspected and watered as the peeking sunlight dried odd cells in the seedling flats. Overall it was a satisfying day.

Ice puddles crunched underfoot outside this nippy cold morning.

As the misting chambers were cleaned of algae, the rooted cuttings of Cape Ivy (Senecio mikanioides), Plectranthus cilatrus, Ruby Leaf (Altermanthera brasiliana ‘Purple Knight’), Iresine herbstii, and Begonia ‘Dragon Wings’, were taken out and potted up to be placed inside of the greenhouse. It was interesting to learn and see how easily Cape Ivy can root from individual leaves and not just the succulent stems.

To fill the emptied spaces we placed fresh Purple Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), Thymus pulegodes, and several coleus cultivars (Solenstemon ‘Pineapple Beauty’, S.  spp., and S. ‘Electric Limon’) cuttings into the misting chamber.

Outside of the greenhouse, over half of the one annual gardenbed was cleaned of excess soil. To make sure that the excess didn’t go to waste, the soil was moved to some of the poorly draining lawn areas on the Fanshawe property to improve the poor draining/running wet areas of turf grass.

While inspecting the plants within the greenhouse there were plenty of Marigold seedlings sprouting out from the planted trays. While the sun peeked out of the cloud cover in the midday and afternoon, but was replaced with a cloudy sprinkle of snow at the end of the day.

March 5^th 2015

This morning has been particularly cold, with the snow powdering the landscape with a plain grey misery.

The dry cacti and succulents were given a good deep drink as a wake up call for the coming spring.

The hanging baskets were also watered, and after that the greenhouse was thoroughly cleaned between checking on the seedlings.

Except for the sunny end, most of the day was cloudy, rainy and grey.

Gardens of Fanshawe College Blog

Friday April 3rd,

Our day began with tending to the rejuvenation and reduction pruning of the Tatarian Dogwood (Cornus alba) along the path behind K Building. Rejuvenation pruning is simply removing 1/3 or more of the old woody stems to allow for vigorous new growth, and these dogwoods respond well to this - sending up copious amounts of brightly coloured red stems. Reduction pruning is removing some of the length of a stem to encourage lateral growth. After piling up the cut stems in the RTV, we fluffed up the leaf mulch around the shrubs to make it look as though we were never there…and then it was on to the H-M-F Loop.

The Fallopia needed our attention here as the heavy winter snows splayed and crushed its hollow stems. After cutting the stems down to the ground, we moved on to some shrubs that required structural pruning. Structural pruning is all about maintaining the natural form of a shrub whether it is tiered, open, vase, weeping or other. In this instance, we were pruning out suckers and water sprouts from shrubs such as Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum) which not only look unsightly but also take energy away from the rest of the plant. We then focused our secateurs directly on the Sunspot Euonymus (Euonymus fortunei) which needed a serious haircut. These shrubs can become quite unruly and just need a good prune to keep them in check. With the time to go home nigh, we cleaned up our plant debris and tools and retired for the day.

Saturday April 4th,

Saturday saw us return to the H-M-F Loop and M Building to continue pruning and cleaning-up. Again we engaged in some structural pruning, this time of Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). These shrubs are known for their open-vase to upright forms however the numerous water sprouts were rendering these forms obsolete. The Willowleaf Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster salicifolius) was next on our list. Much like Sunspot Euonymus, Cotoneaster can get out of hand rather rapidly so it was our task to get it under control. After cleaning-up we moved on to a lovely Serbian Spruce (Picea omorika) in need of some t.l.c suffering from winter damage. Serbian Spruce are elegant evergreens with spire-like forms and boughs that sweep gracefully to the ground - which can unfortunately result in winter damage from heavy snow loads and over-zealous snow removal. With this done, we pruned a few more shrubs for winter damage and suckering growth and then moved on to the Woodland Garden.

Our arrival saw us cutting down and cleaning up some long done perennials from the past season such as Stonecrop (Sedum), Yarrow (Achillea) and Foxglove (Digitalis). We then tied some grasses to ready them for the power shears on Sunday - tying some grasses such as Miscanthus prior to shearing allows for increased efficiency and an easier clean-up. After jacking (removing) some tree stakes and sweeping-up, we cleaned our tools and called it a day.

Sunday April 5th,

Most awoke to a veritable winter wonderland on Sunday and unfortunately conditions did not discernibly improve as the day wore on…nonetheless there was work to be done. We returned to the Woodland Garden to shear and shape the grasses that we had tied the previous day. After a quick clean-up, we laid a tarp along the Alpine Currant (Ribes alpinum) hedge in order to contain the wet, soggy leaves that we were about to dislodge with the power blower. Sometimes leaves become trapped in the stems at the base of shrubs and become very difficult to remove - a great solution is to use a power blower to do the job.

Even though this process entailed three trips to the compound to dump debris in the compost piles, the end result was fabulous! With this done it was time for a well-deserved lunch break. Our return to work saw us back at the H-M-F Loop to shear and shape more ornamental grasses. Though it was sloppy and wet, the process went relatively quickly - ending with piling the debris in the RTV and a thorough power blow of the sidewalks. After a final visit to the compound to dump plant material it was time to clean, clean, clean! First all the tools received a good wash and then the RTV…which was pretty filthy. With our paper work filled out and everything in its place it was time to bid adieu to our weekend practical at the Gardens of Fanshawe College.

By: Sharri Honsberger