September Springmoor Blog from the Landscape Department

Thom Morgan

Storing Seeds for Future Use

September is unkind to vegetables. By now, your 90-day tomatoes are a withered mess, and the 120-day tomatoes have a few green tomatoes that are struggling to turn red. Eggplants are producing fruit which is one tenth the size of fruit a month ago. Face it, it’s fall, and if you haven’t switched over to fall crops by now, your garden is a pitiful mess.

One thing you can do before you pull up all the stakes and dead vines is collect the seeds.

Visiting an Arboretum or Botanical Garden

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor Landscape Manager

If you are planning to travel this summer and have an interest in horticulture, you might want to go online and get a list of botanical gardens and arboretums along your route.

In Raleigh, we are fortunate to have the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, which is located on Beryl Road, just west of the NC State campus. It is managed by the Horticultural Sciences Department at NC State, and serves as a model for what an arboretum or botanical garden should do:  provide access and information about the widest possible variety of plants to the public.

What to Look for When Buying Trees and Shrubs

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan
Springmoor Landscape Manager

If you have ever bought a used car, you know that there are a few things you need to check before you purchase it. When buying landscape plants, you should approach it like you would when shopping for a used car. Landscape plants have been previously handled: someone planted it before selling it to the nursery, and the nursery is in business to sell the plant to you. 

Here are some tips to kick the tires, so to speak, when buying a tree or shrub:

Springmoor Floral Focal Points: Sustainable Landscapes

By Thom Morgan

Springmoor Landscape Manager

Thom Morgan

Everyone loves fresh fruit and vegetables; I always look forward to eating the first beefsteak tomato of the summer, sliced over a piece of toast, with mayonnaise and bacon. That goes the same for that freshly-picked ear of sweet corn (boiled just long enough until it is tender, with melted butter, and a sprinkle of salt on it). Yes--I am longing for the summer.

Not everyone has enough land, full sun, access to water, or the time to spend on growing fruit trees, and vegetables, though. 

Here are some ways to get around these problems, and incorporate fresh fruits, and vegetables into any landscape:

New Year, New Plants!

By Thom Morgan

Springmoor Landscape Manager

Here are a few new plants on the market that are sure to brighten your garden, and your year:

Windcliffslaty blue Lenton rose

Springmoor Floral Focal Points: Landscaping the new Wellness Center

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager

Thom Morgan

It’s a November morning, and I am standing in front of what will be the entrance to Springmoor’s new Wellness Center. Piles of dirt, broken concrete and construction materials surround the area. Large machines sit parked ready for another day of work. Somehow this soon will be a finished landscape, inviting residents, guests and employees in to use the new center. Where to start? There are no sidewalks in yet, which would indicate where plant beds go. There will be walkway lights, and other utilities that I must avoid covering with plants. There is a transformer box that will need to be hidden, and access to an existing transformer will need to be provided. I make note of other utilities such as a water faucet, which could come in handy. I know the sun will reach the area most of the morning, and into the early afternoon in summer. The main entry of the Wellness Center is on the southeast corner of the Valley building, so it will be well protected from cold winds in the winter. Fortunately, the builder provided me with a plan that indicates where the sidewalks, parking spaces, and lights go, and where windows and doors are located on the building. I now know how people will walk into and out of the building, as well as see into, and out of it. There is a large existing Willow Oak that should be saved. 

This is the inventory, and analysis phase of the design now for a concept. It was very hard to come up with a design, but I wanted to simply match the purpose of the building--wellness--to the landscape.  All of the plants in the plan can be used, or were used, for medicinal, herbal, or culinary purposes. The exception is a specimen Japanese maple, and some Encore azaleas--it’s OK to break some rules and not completely follow the concept; I can justify using the azaleas since they tie in nicely with what we have throughout campus. The Japanese maple--when matured--will have a peaceful, sculptural shape to it.  Now it’s time to locate the plants on the plan. I will start out with the trees first, and choose those that meet the criteria for the wellness concept. I place the trees where they will provide shade from the hot summer sun, and also where they will be noticed as people walk into, and out of the building.

Springmoor Floral Focal Points: Trees and Shrubs for Fall Leaf Color

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager 

Thom Morgan

After summer winds down, those of us living in the Northern Temperate Latitudes get treated to one last burst of color as leaves on trees begin to change. Daylight decreases from 15 hours to—eventually—10, causing leaves to compensate for the decrease in light; green chlorophyll fades as the other plant pigments stand out to produce red, orange and yellow. Finally, leaves drop due to what is called an abscission layer, which forms and allows leaves to break away.

Trees for fall leaf color:

Specials on trees and shrubs? Here's how to spot a plant enemy when you see one

Specials on trees and shrubs? Here's how to spot a plant enemy when you see one:

Whether they shade our homes, provide food, fragrance, beauty, or, in some cases, medicinal benefits, plants as a whole are very beneficial to us. You can go to any nursery and garden center, or order from catalogues and have access to thousands of different plants. The only problem is that some trees and shrubs can cause problems down the road for any property owner not aware of these plant time-bombs. If the plant label says it grows fast, and does well in any soil, run the other way! These types of plants are usually short lived, and weak wooded, which means they drop a lot of branches even if you sneeze on them. The ideal time to plant trees and shrubs is after the first frost (we'll talk more about that in next month's blog).

Springmoor's Floral Focal Points: Rain--too much of a good thing?

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager

In last month’s blog, I mentioned that Springmoor experienced a lot of rain in June and July. August continued to be wet, and we got a break from the summer heat. I also mentioned that lawns, landscape plants and vegetables only need 1.5 inches of rain a week in summer, and just one inch of rain a week during the cooler months.

When you get too much rain, the ground becomes saturated and plants that can’t tolerate too much water die. If you have a spot that stays constantly wet, there are trees and shrubs that can tolerate high moisture, and low oxygen in the soil.