Garden gurus

Southern Living, Spring 2002 by Bender, Steve, Bussell, Gene B

When you have questions, it's wise to go to the pros. Meet two experts who help gardeners find answers every day.

Gardeners love to share. Whether you covet a cutting of an old rose or need to borrow a friend's trusted pruners, all you need to do is ask.

But the most valuable gift that anyone can share is know-how, and the two people you're about to meet have know-how to spare. Though they come from different places in the South, they hold in common a storehouse of horticultural insight, as well as a passion for seeing beginning gardeners succeed. One insists that every Southerner and his uncle can enjoy economical and beautiful perennials. The other grows an entire city's plants from seed each year.

ANDRE VIETTE, FISHERSVILLE, VIRGINIA

If science could only harness the energy crackling through Andre Viette, the world would never bum another lump of coal. Whether he's chatting with customers at his nursery; teaching horticulture at a local community college; or hosting In the Garden, his syndicated gardening call-in show, he never seems to sit down. His mission is to convince Southerners that perennials belong in every garden.

That wasn't the prevailing attitude in 1977 when Andre and his wife, Claire, bought their 200-acre farm in Fishersville, Virginia. "When I came here, there were no perennial growers in Virginia, West Virginia, or South Carolina-and only one in Maryland," he recalls. "People said the South was too hot for perennials. When they found out the truth, there was a great surge in interest. It's a boom that's never going to end, because every day some young couple discovers perennials."

Perennials appeal to people, claims Andre, because they offer lots of color, come back every year, and are very economical. "For example," he says, "a young couple on a budget with a new house can invest $100 in perennials and divide each of those plants into three plants every year. So the first year, that $100 becomes $300. The next year, that becomes $900, and then $2,700 after that. Before long, their whole yard can look like an English cottage garden."

The spectacular display beds at Andre and Claire's home attest to that. If you're thinking of adding perennials to your own garden, heed the following advice.

Most perennials need fertile, loose, well-drained soil that contains organic matter. Before planting, Andre tills in 10 pounds of greensand (a mineral containing lots of micronutrients), 10 pounds of rock phosphate, and 10 pounds of PermaTill (an expanded slate product that breaks up clay soil) per 100 square feet of bed. Then he tills in 3 to 4 inches of compost or leaf mold. If your soil is acid, add lime to raise the pH to between 6 and 6.5. Give the bed a 10- to 12-inch crown in the center, because raised beds drain better.

Use slow-release, organic fertilizers, not inexpensive chemical ones. "The organic products give perennials gloss and health you can't get out of cheaper chemicals," Andre states. He favors Espoma Plant-- tone, which contains dehydrated manure, cocoa meal, bonemeal, dried blood meal, sunflower meal, kelp, and greensand. You can buy many of these ingredients individually and make your own fertilizer. (Osmocote, a synthetic, slow-release fertilizer, works well too, says Andre.)

"Automatic sprinklers kill perennials by their very nature, because they come on too often and water too shallowly," he says. "Water long and deeply. Water gently, so it doesn't run off, applying 1 inch of water over an eight-hour period. Don't water more often than about every 10 days."

The worst nightmares of many perennials are ravenous rodents called voles. "They eat hosta and astilbe like butter and love to work under mulch," says Andre. To discourage them, remove mulch from beds. When you plant perennials, fill in around roots with VoleBloc, a version of PermaTill that voles don't like to burrow through.

Clearly one of the South's gardening luminaries, Andre derives great satisfaction from his role as a teacher. "Everybody has something different to offer society," he says. "Some work for the United Way, some for the Red Cross, but I've dedicated my life to educating people about the beauty of plants. And it's a great thing to see former students of mine who now have magnificent gardens."

STEVE BENDER

Andre Viette Farm & Nursery is located at 994 Long Meadow Road in Fishersville, Virginia, just off I-64. Display gardens and garden center open to the public 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday April 15-October 31. For details, call 1-800-575-5538 or visit www.viette.com. In the Garden airs on 61 radio stations in 8 states 8-11 a.m. EST on Saturdays.

JOANN BRELAND, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

Imagine that you have to grow your entire garden this year from seed. No heading to the nursery for the 4-inch pots of beautiful plants all ready to go into the ground. Now imagine growing all the plants for an entire city from seed. JoAnn Breland, horticulturist for the City of Charleston, does this every year. "I love planting seeds and watching them grow," she says. "And I like sharing what I learn with other people."