Garden letters

Southern Living, Mar 2002

-Editor's Notebook

What is the purpose of a lawn? To grow crabgrass, of course. And from the looks of my lawn, I've succeeded masterfully. My builder left me with this crummy Bermuda, which is the sole grass I know that manages to be invasive and sparse at the same time. The sparseness leaves plenty of openings for crabgrass to germinate in spring, and because a single crabgrass plant can produce up to 8,000 seeds, every opening gets filled. But no lawn needs suffer such intrusion if you'll only watch the forsythia this spring. When it starts to bloom, crabgrass seeds are about to sprout. Quick-apply a granular crabgrass preventer such as Scotts Halts or Sta-Green Crab-Ex. Then you can go back to using the lawn as it was meant to be used-as a place to park your RV -STEVE BENDER

Is it too late to now down liriope to freshen the foliage for spring?

It depends. Part the old foliage with your hands and see if new, young leaves are sprouting from the base. If not, go ahead and buzz off the old liriope. If new leaves are present, set the mower high enough so that you chop off the old leaves without cutting the new ones. New leaves that are cut will not repair themselves, and you'll be stuck with marred foliage for the rest of the year.

I want to plant a cottage garden like the ones I see in your magazine. My garden gets sun all day. Can you suggest some good plants?

CINDY FULLER

HOUSTON, TEXAS

There are so many possibilities that we'll have to stick with some obvious ones. An exuberant, unrestrained cottage garden needs roses, both climbing and shrub form. It also needs old-fashioned flowering shrubs, such as butterfly bush, mock orange, pearl bush, and spirea. It welcomes flowering vines, including Carolina jessamine, bougainvillea, cross vine, Confederate jasmine, and morning glory. And it requires lots of reseeding annuals, such as zinnia, cosmos, spider flower, larkspur, bachelor's buttons, poppies, and cockscomb. The goal is a riot of color and form. The plants we've mentioned should get you started. Don't forget about canvas and daylilies!

Could I use Carolina jessamine to cover a slope? Or could I grow It in a pot that I take inside for the winter?

CASSIE BICKHAM

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA

A popular spring-flowering, evergreen vine, Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) isn't reliably hardy in your portion of the Upper South. It might make it through a winter or two, but then a severe winter would come along and zap it. You could grow it in a pot that you take indoors for the winter. But if you need something to cover a slope, try a hardier evergreen ground cover, such as winter creeper euonymus (Euonymus fortunei), English ivy (Hedera helix), or common periwinkle (Vinca minor).

When should I prune back my 12-foot gardenias, and how should I fertilize them?

BARBARA LASATER

COVINGTON, LOUISIANA

For gardenias and most other flowering shrubs, the best time to prune is immediately after they finish flowering. So wait until summer. If you prune them now, you won't get many blooms. Feed them this spring with an acid-forming fertilizer that contains chelated iron. Sprinkle the fertilizer around the base of the plant at the rate recommended on the bag. Feed again after you prune. Don't feed in late summer, fall, or winter.

Tip of the Month

Every March, I prune the tallest canes of my nandinas almost to the ground and trim off the leaves. The canes are woody and firm and make excellent supports for iris, gladioli, phlox, and mums. They last several seasons and cost nothing! MRS. J. DAN LANE

DECATUR, GEORGIA

Tips of the Month are ideas readers say work for them. We do not test them. Submit tips on a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address to Garden Tips, Southern Living, P.O. Box 523, Birmingham, AL 35201 or by e-mail to southernliving@customersvc.com. For each published tip you will receive $25.