Category: garden seasons

14 Feb 2011
February 14, 2011 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin garden seasons, shrubs and trees

Forsythia Will Be Blooming in Six Weeks

That's right.   Somewhere around April Fools Day the forsythia shrubs will be fooling everyone by showing off their  bright shocking yellow color.  The big one in size on the market these days is usually "Meadowlark"    This and many other of the larger forsythias which are sold in our climate zone four, usually can withstand a relatively cold winter and manage to bloom well.   However, even though these plants are  thoroughtly root hardy here, some may...

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19 Oct 2010
October 19, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden maintenance, garden seasons, Plant health, Pruning, Rodent Control

Autumn Duties for the Landscape Gardener

What are the regular routines for the Landscape Gardener to maintain the home grounds in the best condition going into winter? Watering:   There is much debate over what the autumn to late autumn watering schedule should be for the Twin City area landscaped grounds.  Some 'professors' profess continued regular watering until the hard frosts; others suggest withholding water gradually to assist the plants hardening off for the cold misery of winter.  Plants here usually mean...

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25 Sep 2010
September 25, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden seasons, Plant health, shrubs and trees

Autumn Yellowing of Conifer Foliage

It's almost October.  In our Northland this is the time dramatic changes take place in the outdoors.  Actually, the changes begin  in late  June when the days begin to shorten.....The changes go  unnoticed until "autumn". ....Until  this past week.  Visually, "the  fall" is here. Every fall we get calls from friends regarding changes they notice on the foliage of  their pines or arborvitaes.....or on any of our conifers, for that matter, the trees and shrubs commonly called evergreens. ...

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20 Sep 2010
September 20, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden maintenance, garden seasons

Sixty Years Ago Most Minnesotans Farmed and Gardened

While I am at this post reaching into the memory of days gone by, I think it is important to note this additional recollection from  my childhood. In the 1930s and 1940s the major occupation in Minnesota was farming.  Most Minnesotans did not live in the Twin Cities.   Suburbs did not exist.  Small town life flourished.  Small town people grew gardens, usually the vegetable and fruit ones.  Farmers Seed and Nursery Company was in business...

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20 Sep 2010
September 20, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden maintenance, garden seasons

Some Peculiarities of Our 2010 Growing Season

Spring came very early in 2010.  Do you remember?  April was very pleasant and mild, even warm.  May was coolish. I remember as a child in the early 1940s an April Easter Sunday was featured with ice and snow nearly everywhere.  The days would be sunny, but wintery and cold. I much prefer our current delivery of Spring.   I am rooting for a Zone 5 growing zone.  We are almost there.   One would think most...

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18 May 2010
May 18, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin About Masterpiece, garden seasons, The Art of Landscaping

What Is Put Where, and Why?

The 2010 Minnesota spring is almost back to its normal time frame.  In my grounds today's May 18th garden usually occurs about May 26th, so now spring is only about 8 days early.   Last week's cool, cloudy and rainy weather, made the adjustment.  Still, eight days of a better Spring is much appreciated.  I usually use Azalea bloom as my standard for comparing Spring's timing.  My grounds are designed as a landscape garden....not a staged garden...

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03 May 2010
May 3, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden seasons

The Spring Garden Is Three Weeks Early

There have been at least three springs over the past twenty years that resemble the present spring, when the vegetative world  started a month early and has continued to maintain such a schedule.  The symptoms have been the same, although this year, 2010 our Spring began according to calendar, in March.... even a week earlier. Since then, not a day has been over 80 degrees Fahrenheit and there have been no driving dusty winds with dry...

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20 Apr 2010
April 20, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin battling the Minnesota climate, garden seasons

Season 2010 Is Three Weeks Early

I am certain that the vast majority of landscape gardeners in the Twin City area view this spring as outstanding.....thus far. So far both March and April have been cool or mild and clear.  We had a good winter snow to supply good soil  moisture.  According to most growth calendars, we are about three weeks ahead of schedule.  My Juddii Viburnums began opening their blooms yesterday.....redbud is in full lavendar-pink bud....PJM Rhododendron in its fifth day...

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14 Apr 2010
April 14, 2010 0 Comments By masterpiecelandscapingadmin boulders and stone, Bulbs, garden seasons

What’s That In Bloom?

Well, what is that in bloom around the Twin Cities this year......April 9-20 depending on location of specimens?   Among the trees there are the magnolias, pink being Leonard Messel and the white, the Merrill Magnolia.  Both are pleasantly fragrant. The bright yellow flowering shrubs are the forsythias, probably Meadowlark or Northern Sun.  They have been in bloom in most locations for about a week already.  In older plantings one might see Nankin Cherry, a large...

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