Denise's Weekend Practical

Hi everyone Denise here


As you guys may know I was here last weekend on my Landscape and Maintenance practical. This weekend I had my Greenhouse Plant Production practical here at Cuddys. This weekend is full of interesting things.

Beginning of the weekend was a little hectic because I had to print out all the plant labels for Iris siberica, Lazula syvatica, Rhodotypos scandens, Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Forester', Hemerocallis x ‘Stella de Oro’, Pulmonaria x Lungwort, Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’, Sedum x Autumn Joy, Euphorbia polychroma, and last but certainly not least, Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam’. We had a class here on Wednesday and potted a whole bunch of Iris’s and multiple types of grasses, unfortunately that day we didn’t have use of the label machine so that was my duty on Friday to print and distribute all the labels to the desired plants. The picture below has some of the plants that I labelled, including Iris siberica.

Saturday September 21

Although it was a chilly day, I enjoyed working and being productive. I started off the day with turning on the irrigation to water plants in the hoop house, and turn on the irrigation for the plants outside. Even though it rained, it was still not enough to satisfy them. I then moved on to finishing up with all the labels and moved on to the Arundo donax, which is Giant Reed Grass. I needed to cut back the grass, and do some re potting into smaller pots because there was a mixture of sizes and I wanted it to be unison. Once I was done that I had to move them into the coldframe to begin to harden them off.

Steps to why we put plants into the coldframe.

1st Hardening off the plants for fall acclimation, we withhold fertilizer and let the plant dry down between irrigation.

2nd We then compact the plants inside the cold frame, and place the bate in the bate station. It is designed that kids or pests do not get into the bate. It also keeps the bate dry to allow for rebating when necessary.

3rd Early to mid-November when plants harden off we cover the coldframe with Opaque Nursery Film.



We then make sure plants are watered at field capacity prior to freeze up. The reason to why we arrange the plants in plant type and pot size is so we can apply culture to the plants as needs. Different plants of course need different amounts of water, so if we were to have a mixture of plant types together, with smaller plants in small pots they will either get too much water or not enough.



Later that afternoon I turned the irrigation back on, because I only had it on for 2 hours in the early morning, and the sun surprised me and came out for a while so I it was time for the plants to have a little drink. I began to move some of the Sedum Autumn Joy, and Karl Forester Grass to the hoop house to do some divisions. They get repotted from a 3 gallon pot to a 1 gallon pot and are now in the hoop house for overwintering. When I say division I don’t mean math by any means, what I do mean is I had to cut back the grass and the sedum flowers and then remove them from the pots and cut them in half. From there I just re potted them then placed them in the hoop house. The picture below is a division of Sedum x Autumn Joy.

Sunday came, and it happened rather fast. But the plan for my day was to do the best that I could and finish off what divisions I had done, and to re pot the Rhodotypos scanden which is Black Jetbead. This plant is in the propagation chamber with other little plants, there were only about 12 of them and I repotted them in 1 gallon pots, but because they are small I put 3 plants per pot.

At the end of the day, it is time to clean and organize. I moved a lot of pots around, did a big sweep of the hoop house. All in all it was yet another great and eventful weekend.

Denise

Phyllis and Josh Weekend Practical, Sept 21-23

September 23rd, 2012


The first day of work here at the Cuddy Gardens was very prickly as we were moving all cacti along with succulents inside before the weather got too cold. We placed the cacti in the room west of the kitchen with the most windows to allow for lots of much needed natural light. The succulents were moved into the bedroom on the east side of the kitchen even though there is only one window to allow for natural light. During this task we were also asked to place the smaller cacti and succulents in bulb crates in the car port to await transport to the Fanshawe College greenhouse to stay nice and warm for the colder weather. In the dry garden we had to dig up four potted cacti from the ground to also transport into the home, this was relatively difficult due to the lengthy size… needless to say we got fairly prickly and took a break after we got them as far as the car port for drying out so they’d be less heavy. Next Josh used the push mower to mow around the frog statue and the lawns surrounding the dry garden while I took some Brugmansia cuttings, applied a tough rooting hormone and potted them after for the propagation chamber on a heat mat to promote root growth. By the time we finished Lucas had left and we didn’t have enough time to move the remaining cacti into the house.

Saturday we started the day off by collecting 7 Kentucky Coffee tree suckers and 3 Sycamore sapling and one larger specimen in preparation for potting. During this tree collection we also picked up the gator water bags from various locations on site. Next we dug up the Brugmansia tree and an unknown vine to the right of the car port for later potting. On the way to the greenhouse to pot we collected 10 cuttings of Plectranthus to pop into the propagation chamber. At the greenhouse we pruned off all the Brugmansia branches and had to pot it in a bigger pot than what was specified due to the large root mass and placed in the hoop house. The unknown vine was potted in a 6” clay pot sitting on the table in the hoop house. Then we potted up the coffee tree saplings in 2 gal pots and Sycamore saplings in 1gal pots for placement in the cold frame. We then took out Plectranthus cuttings applied a goopy root hormone, placed them in the natural fiber pots and placed in the propagation chamber on the heat mat for optimal root growth. With the rest of our day we weeded the backside of the second plant bed North of the driveway when entering and continued to the East side of the perennial border. Upon finishing this we still had some time to kill so we got a head start on weeding the woodland garden in preparation for mulching.

Sunday we had the day all planned out! First we signed out the Kubota tractors and the trailer for optimal mulching. We mulched and mulched until we had a good 3” of mulch on the areas assigned in the woodland garden. Every time one of us would go grab another load of mulch the other would continue weeding the other part of the woodland garden and the outer border as well. This did take up most of our day but around 3pm we finished, gathered everything up and heading for the shed. We cleaned out the shed initially and washed down the equipment. Josh stayed at the shed to put all the vehicles inside and grabbed the backpack blower to clean up around the property and following that swept the classroom while I got started on this lovely blog. Upon completion of the blog and plant profile if there is still time left we plan on helping Denise finish due to the vast amount of potting she has to do. Overall it was a very productive weekend despite the chilled windy weather, suspiciously were all getting the sniffles!

Plant Profile
  Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Jack Frost Siberian Bugloss



Opinion:

Great plant for any woodland garden due to its favoring of shady moist conditions, although it is the one variegated Brunnera that can handle the most direct sunlight. Its frosted heart shaped foliage forms a clumping growth habit and fills out nice and full with small blue flowers blooming in the spring. An excellent plant for the plant lovers garden because of its contrasting colours throughout the year.

Botanical Name: Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Common Name: Jack Frost Siberian Bugloss

Family: Boraginaceae

Group: Herbaceous perennial

Spread: 30 – 45 cm

Height: 30 – 45 cm

Growth: Medium rate, Clump form

Flower: Bloom mid-late spring, blue

Light: Shade to part sun

Pest/Disease: Leaf scorch if left in direct sun, botrytis, aphids and slugs.

USDA: 2 – 9

Foliage: Green with silver-white variegation

Soil: Normal to moist, don’t let dry out!

Uses: Woodland, rock, border, masses, specimen, ground cover and deer resistant.

Denise's Weekend Practical

Hello Everyone, Denise Rogers here.


School has been in for a week and a half now and I will say I love every minute of it. My classmates and I have been so busy with classes that it is difficult to get away for a while to enjoy Cuddy Gardens, but I am so glad to be here this weekend to enjoy all the life, colour, and scenery it has to offer.

This weekend is my Landscape & Maintenance Practical, which consists of working 8-5 Friday to Sunday. It is hard work but absolutely gratifying to see everything that I have accomplished at the end of the day. Since I am on a practical I will be getting evaluated on the things I have completed this weekend which is scary, because I am having to use the information I have learned over the 1st year of classes, as well with what I learned during my summer co-op here at Cuddys, and Fanshawe College. I will admit the first day I had a ton of emotions going on, like nerves, anxiety, and excitement, because I just didn’t know how the days would unravel.

On Friday the 14th it poured, the rain just did not want to give me a break. I was prepared of course with my multiple layers, my clothes, and two pairs of sock. Although it was a dreary day I was busy working away. I mowed the upper lawn and lower lawn, and the small lawn at the back of the house. After lunch I finished of the little area that was left to do with the push mower that I started on the beautiful Perennial border. I cut back all the perennials that had faded and gone to seed, because granted all the plants are wonderful, they look that much better when they are all grouped together and look unison instead of sporadically placed. The reason we cut back the perennials this time of year is to showcase the beautiful fall colours of the many plants that are in bloom. One of them that I find very pretty is Aster x ‘Blue Autumn’. 

On Saturday, my plan was to finish the perennial border which I accomplished. I had to finish cutting some of the perennials that I didn’t get to on Friday, and I weeded and cultivated the borders. It was a great day and I definitely felt great with the borders and how they look.

In the afternoon I had went to the next project, which was the Rose garden. I absolutely love this garden. Roses are gorgeous to begin with, but working in an area surrounded by them you really can’t stop smiling. I did have some war wounds at the end of the day because the thorns, but all in all it was great. I finished dead heading both beds of roses. We do the dead heading because it will get the flower to grow and bloom again which is wonderful for a late September bloom of roses! Who wouldn’t love that?

Last but not least Sunday, this was such a busy day. To start off the day my plan was to vertical edge the rose garden which consisted of going along the edge of the outer beds and of course the two middle beds. I then proceeded to weed the surrounding area around the rose garden which also leads into the grass border. It was a busy day but it all went so well. There were still many things that needed to get done throughout the day, so I could say that I did it! I completed everything, and it feels great. I raked the dry garden, and the woodland garden, watered some much deserving plants, and at the end of the day I put on the back pack blower and proceeded to do a huge sweep over the property to clean off all the hard surfaces. All in all it was a crazy busy weekend, with a lot to do but it was a great experience to just be by myself and be in control of what I can accomplish.



My Opinion

Aster is Greek for a star, which refers to the shape of the flowers. Most asters thrive in sun or semi shade. They like any moderately fertile, well-drained soil that retains moisture throughout the growing season. They are great for attracting butterflies; they are wonderful as an accent plant in borders, or massing because of their beautiful vibrant blue colour.

Aster x ‘Autumn Blue’ Autumn Blue Aster

Family: Asteraceae

Genus: Aster

Species x

Cultivar ‘Blue Autumn’

Category Perennials

Origin Horticultural origin. Herbert Oudshoom.

USDA Hardiness zone 5- 8

Height 40-60 cm

Spread 40-60 cm

Growth Medium

Flowering Period August to September

Foliage height 45 cm dark green

Flower 50 cm in height and deep blue in colour

Soil prefer alkaline, sandy or acid.

Propagation normally by division but also possible by soft cuttings in the spring.







Work Cited



Griffiths, Mark, and Pollock Michael. Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, the definitive reference guide to plants, techniques, and gardening terms. New York, New York: DK Publishing Ink,2005. Print.

Heritage Perennials. Aster Blue Autumn. Web. September 15. 2012. http://www.perennials.com/plants/aster-blue-autumn.html

September 16, 2012


Hello from Cuddy Gardens, Miranda and Cassie here on our weekend practical. This weekend we learned the importance of organization in the micro nursery. We kept like pot sizes together to make it easier to apply culture in the micro nursery.

First we started with the outdoor cold frame. We organized all the plants by genus and pot size: with the largest pots at the back of the cold frame. As we shifted the plants, we swept the entire landscape fabric, and set up bait traps for rodents.

Then we tackled the storage area in between the two houses. Similarly sorting the plants by genus and pot size, and sweeping as we go. Also we moved Sedum and Penissetum from the cold frame to the area in between the two houses, for future division.

Finally and most importantly we organized the poly house to prepare for winter. This was more challenging because there were many cultivars of each plant type that needed to be kept together to avoid confusion. We organized all the empty pots under the tables to make better use of space. It is important to keep the poly house clean and organized so that everything is easily accessible.