The word suburb was not invented in 1950. It was used in landscaping a century earlier, but meant something different.....It referred to a part of a city's 'vacant' environs which hadn't yet been platted. This was true also in 1950. The population in both centuries was exploding. Homes had to be built. It was the American dream that rich and poor, and everything in between would live in a better society if every American family had its...
Read More >>In the 36 years of living at my grounds all of the damage ever done to my landscape grounds added together does not equal the damage which occurred last Saturday, November 13, 2010. I live just west of Hopkins in the western suburbs. My little piece of heaven received over 20 inches of the very heavy wet stuff over about an 8 hour period. Ten to fifteen trees and shrubs were shredded, stripped of lateral...
Read More >>The Landscape Garden is more than what most people consider to be garden. It is an enclosure to enter, stroll though, walking the paths up to and passed plants which might appear sculpture at one look, and framing after a few paces along the path. Envision a private woodland with windows and openings where beautiful forms or colors can be seen and beautifullly displayed. Benches in the distance entice visitors to find the path to a resting...
Read More >>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...
Read More >>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. ...
Read More >>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...
Read More >>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...
Read More >>We at Masterpiece are going to have a special day this coming Saturday, September 18th starting at 2:00 PM at our home landscape garden. And I am going to be on the schedule to share some observations about the most honored art form of them all, the gardened landscape. We are celebrating Client Appreciation Day at our Minnetonka home landscape garden, 14624 Woodhill Terrace. Prizes and refreshments will be part of the program. But the...
Read More >>I am looking at a nursery wholesale catalog....a guide which carries a paragraph or less to inform the unknowing a bit about the nature of the plant. Information located there is made available by a number of sources. It could be from the original plant propagator, a plant salesman, or a university professor in the horticultural department. In the landscape artist's world knowing names of individual plants is seldom important, except perhaps for billing. Plants...
Read More >>Last year I had a grounds crowded with Korean Angelica. I wasn't pleased with the location of the various populations. I have grown Gigas now for about 8 years. We are at a point where I limit the number of those permitted to mature to about 400. Well, 200 plus, anyway. I have removed over 300 not counting the seedlings which keep popping up all summer. Fortunately, they are easy to cull or transplant. Then,...
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