ASK SUSAN

I am a gardener-a-holic. I have three acres and I am continually adding and fine tuning all the beds. In the garden there are collections of over 300 different hosta, several hundred daylilies, thousands and thousands of narcissus and early spring bulbs, allium, lillium, and numerous other perennials, bushes, shrubs, and trees. I have been in business designing gardens and landscapes for both homes and commercial buildings for the past ten years. I continue my own education in Horticulture on the graduate level as well as teaching garden classes, giving garden seminars at the Chicago Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum and to garden groups.

My garden is featured in Midwest Gardens, by Pamela Wolfe and Gary Irving and has been featured in newspaper articles, Country Home Country Gardens, and the Chicago Magazine. My garden will be on the Garden Conservancy Walk in the summer of 2000.

Over the years I have developed a hands-on garden class and from the many questions asked in these sessions have come up with a list of questions frequently asked.

QUESTION: I have just moved in a new house and I want to landscape. What is the first thing I should do?

ANSWER:

I. Evaluate the yard by charting when you have sun and for how long a period of time. This will tell you whether you should be looking for plants that require a lot of sun or plants that need filtered sun or shade.

II. Identify any drainage problems or areas that are very dry. Most plants do not like to have wet feet especially in the winter. Standing water for a period of time will kill many plants.

III. Know what zone your are in . This tells you what plants will live under the coldest temperatures in your area. This does not tell you how these plants in your zone will handle your heat extremes, soil conditions, wind conditions, etc.

IV. Decide how much work you want to do in maintaining your yard. If you are not going to do much yard work then you will be using shrubs, ground covers and other plants that do not require as much attention as a totally perennial garden.

V. Make an outline of the beds you think you want with a garden hose. Look at these lines from all directions. If you have an upstairs view these lines from there. You want large sweeping curves rather than sharp straight lines unless you are developing a very formal garden. In nature the lines are not straight or sharp because they usually have developed over time with weather, wind and water shaping them.

VI. Once you have the lines set, remove any grass at the sod level and dispose of or break it up and put on your compost pile to be later mixed with leaves and other refuse from your yard and coffee grounds, etc from your kitchen.

VII. Now the most important step is the soil preparation. Depending upon the area you are from there are kinds of organic materials available that should be incorporated into your beds. Here in the Chicago area we are able to get mushroom compost. It is a mixture of peat moss, manure, etc. that mushroom were grown on by the soup companies.

VIII. As a rule of thumb I use 4" - 6" of the compost on top of the soil and dig it in 18". The amount depends upon what your soil is like to begin with. A brand new home will probably need more and don't let the builder bury any of his stone, mortor or and debris from the building. All of these pieces must be removed. The ideal situation is to dig it in the fall and let is sit over the winter to allow the freezing and thawing to break the clay even more and then dig the bed again in the spring before planting.

IX. Over the winter or before you purchase your plants make a list of the plants you want. Make a list for each season so you will have something blooming at all times. Once you have the soil prepared you are ready to plant.