Grassy Look-Alikes

Ophiopogon Crystal Falls along brick walk. 

Have you come across this old couplet?

“Sedges have edges, rushes are round,

Grasses are hollow right up from the ground.”

LOOK-ALIKES

Grasses are mimicked by look-alikes including sedges, rushes, lily turf and sweet flag.  Other monocots like lily and iris families add look-alikes such as Ogon Yellow sedge Acorus sweet flag closer to rich golden yellow blades provide colorful accent in shade or sun, creating a solid mass ground cover. This Blog accompanies Crabapple LandscapExperts last week's Blog on Ornamental Grasses. 

Sedge

SEDGES

Sedges differ from grasses in that their stems are solid and triangular, and sedge leaves have a prominent V-shaped keel.  

Carex elata ‘Bowles Golden’ Sedge

 Eleocharis dulcis Chinese Water Chestnut

Rushes

RUSHES

Juncus effuses Common Rush

Equisetum hyemale Scouring Rush
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Liriope

LILYTURF

Liriope muscari also known as Monkey Grass or Lilyturf

Ophiopogon japonicus or Dwarf Mondo Grass

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Sweet Flag

SWEET FLAG
Acorus graminus ‘Ogon’ dwarf Japanese Sweet Grass --> 

Blue-eyed Grass

IRIS

Sisyrinchium angustifolium 
Blue eyed grass
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Your Crabapple LandscapExperts Rep can discuss which Ornamental Grass or look-alike is best for you! 

Ornamental Grasses-Crabapple Favorites

native Muhly grass

Ornamental grasses are members of a diverse plant family, Poaceae a.k,a Graminea, the grasses or grains, that have many landscape uses. They add form, texture, contrast, color and year-round interest to beds and borders. They expand the plant palette of landscape design with good-looking, arching foliage that persists throughout winter and adds sound and motion as it rustles and waves in the wind. 

Some perennial grasses are evergreen although most are deciduous, and different grasses can be found that are suitable for sun or shade; for dry soils or wet bog gardens. Some ornamental grasses are vigorous spreaders while others stay in neat clumps, and they all tend to be disease-free, low maintenance and carefree. Grasses are used for edging or as ground covers, while taller species make effective screens adding vertical height. Spreading varieties are good for erosion control, stabilizing soil on steep banks or growing attractively on hard-to-maintain areas.  

True grasses have leaves that are arranged alternately on the stem, with narrow blades and parallel veins. Stems are hollow with bumps at the leaf nodes.  Many ornamental grasses form non-invasive clumps suitable for use as specimen plants.  All ornamental grasses flower, producing spikes, racemes or panicles that add additional appeal.

Habits of Growth include:

• Tufted 
• Mounded 
• Upright 
• Arching 
• Running/Creeping

Japanese Blood Grass

LandscapExperts Favorite Grasses include

• Pink Muhly Grass native with clouds of bright pink seed heads in autumn
• Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica var. rubra)
• Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) planted on the Georgia Tech campus
• Feather Reedgrass Calamagrostis arundinacea 'Karl Foerster'
• Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum')
• Ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea var. picta)
• Silky Thread Grass aka Mexican Feather Grass 9Stipa tenuissima) small and silky
• Miscanthus sinensis or Eulalia Grass – many varieties, variegations and colors

LIMITED USAGE GRASSES Crabapple limits the use ol 

• Foxtail Grass although it is beautiful because it can be lethal to dogs
• Pampas Grass (Cortedena selloana) described as “cotton candy on a stick”, gets huge, spreads by seeds and can be called an invasive exotic.  
• Weeping Love Grass (Eragrastis curvula) is used by the GeorgiaDOT for highway erosion control and maintenance but is controversial non-native spreads by seeds   

Bamboo, thanks dennyaco.blogspot

BAMBOOS

Although bamboo is a true grass, many of the larger bamboos are woody, useful for everything from home building, flooring and screening (timber bamboo), to clothing and garden gloves made from bamboo, to cuisine (bamboo shoots).  

Crabapple LandscapExperts carefully select clumping bamboo when needed, rather than the invasive running bamboo.

Digging Deeper

https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/documents/PB1626.pdf

Soil Amendments Comprehensive List

Photo by Jorge Vivanco
LabColoradoStateUniversity_edu

 An improved way to look at soil! 

CrabappleLandscapExperts picture the soil food web as a living, breathing mass teeming with the roots of living plants, insects, worms, invertebrates, amoeba, bacteria and fungi (both beneficial and pathogenic). All of these living organisms need both moisture and oxygen to stay healthy, along with nutrients and the proper acid/base environment.

There are many options for soil improvement. The LandscapExperts view soil amendments as any material added to the native earth in order to improve its ability to grow plants and create outstanding landscapes. Physical properties such as soil structure, aeration, permeability and water infiltration and drainage, as well as fertility properties such as soil acidity or alkalinity, pH, cation exchange capacity and nutrient levels all play a role. 

Unlike mulch, amendments are thoroughly mixed into the soil. 

Crabapple LandscapEXPERTS divide the list of Soil Amendments into 6 categories: 

1. organic soil conditioners

2. inorganic soil additives

3. mineral nutrient sources

4.  biological inoculants and activators

5. plant stimulants, growth regulators, plant hormones 

6. wetting agents or surfactants (primarily for potting mixes) 

Following is a selected list of some of the materials that can be added to metro-Atlanta’s Georgia red clay.

         

      Organic soil conditioners

Crabapple's Green Recycling Program
turns landscape waste into rich compost.

Organic Compost

Aerated compost tea

Animal manure, aged and well-rotted

Manure tea

Bagged humus and compost

Mr Natural

Nature’s Helper

Mushroom compost

Worm compost

Worm tea 

Seaweed 

Humus

Ground pine bark

Coffee grounds

Blood meal

Bone meal
Alfalfa, Soybean or Cottonseed meal – adds nitrogen, lowers pH

Wood ashes  - quick source of potassium, raises pH

Grass clippings

Wood chips

Straw

Sawdust

Peat moss

Inorganic soil additives or “place holders”

Coarse river sand - NOT the fine builders or bricklayers sand bagged at the big box stores

Granite grit - byproduct of Georgia's granite industry

Pea gravel - inert

Perlite -  heat-expanded mica

Vermiculite - heat expanded mica that holds water and 

Shredded tire chunks

      Mineral nutrient sources

Adding lime to surface of lawn.

Lime - Dolomitic lime is magnesium calcium carbonate

Gypsum – calcium sulfate

Rock Phosphate or Triple superphosphate - slow release does not pollute riversheds

Greensand – iron potassium silicate aka glauconite

Sulfur - acidifies the soil 

Epsom salts – magnesium sulfate

Aluminum Sulfate - acidifies the soil, as for Japanese Iris or BLUE Hydrangeas 

  

Biological inoculants and activators

Beneficial bacteria, friendly fungi to inoculate roots and mycorrhizal associations

 benefiting plants through increased nutrient uptake 

Agverra SRT, Dr. Earth  Super Active Biological Inoculant, Soil Smart 

Plant stimulants, transplant solutions, growth regulators

Superthrive rooting hormone, vitamin and plant hormone (1 drop per gallon formula) 

Rootone rooting hormone

Wetting agents and surfactants

Terra-Sorb Hydro Gel - a "water grabber" commonly mixed into potting mixes to allow water absorption by hydrophobic (water-hating) peat moss 

The LandscapExperts select from among this lengthy list to provide your landscape soils with amendments  to bring them to optimum condition. 

Digging Deeper 

Very helpful University of Georgia PDF entitled Soil Inoculants http://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/pdf/C%20990_1.PDF

This is the Mother of all Soil Additive Lists:  http://www.soils.wisc.edu/extension/pubs/2006noncon_with_ref.pdf

Force Flowering Branches to Bring Spring Indoors EARLY

Easy to force Forsythia! 

Got the winter blahs, a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD? 

Crabapple LandscapExperts recommend causing Spring to arrive ahead of schedule by forcing flowering branches of woody ornamentals indoors. Any deciduous shrub or tree that flowers in early spring is a good candidate for forcing, although shrubs typically flower a bit more easily. Try the ubiquitous Forsythia, Spirea, Viburnum, Quince, Pussy Willow, Japanese Rose (Kerria), Flowering Cherry, Plum or Flowering Almond, Apple, Crabapple or Pear, Magnolia branches or  Redbud.

Crabapple Blossoms on forced branch 

After about eight weeks of temperatures in the 40s, most woodies are ready to force. In addition to watching the calendar (late winter), swelling buds on garden plants are another good indicator.  Keep in mind, the closer to the normal flowering date, the more readily the flowering branches can be forced.

Forced Quince Blossoms

Choose a day in February when temperatures have been above freezing. Before going out, first disinfect a deep bucket with detergent or a bleach solution, rinsing thoroughly. Then fill with warm (not hot, not cold) water and add a cut flower preservative. 

Commercial “cut flower food” provides both elaborated sugars that are normally supplied through photosynthesis and a disinfectant to reduce the growth of bacteria that can clog the vascular (water conducting) tissues.  Rosie Lerner and Michael Dana of the Perdue Department of Horticulture offer three recipes for make-your-own preservative solutions that will prolong the life of the flowering branches in Forcing Branches for Winter Color:  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ho-23.pdf .

Native Redbud

Use sharpened bypass pruners or a sharp knife to harvest branches on your target plants.  Flower buds are generally rounder and larger than leaf buds, so choose branches with lots of potential flowers. Keep an eye on the overall shape of the shrub or tree as you cut, and cut a few extra branches because some may not absorb water, and also they are great to share with HOA friends or take to the clubhouse. 

Quickly get those branches into water. Re-cut each stem on an angle to increase the surface area and ensure that it won’t sit flat on the bottom of the bucket. Split or score the bottom inch or two of each stem to expose the conductive tissues (cambium layer) and encourage maximum water uptake, then plunge them into the waiting vase. Trim off any buds or twigs that will be submerged under water so they won’t rot.

Finished arrangement

To keep high humidity, cover the branches with a voluminous plastic bag (recycled dry cleaner bags are great for this) and place in a cool room (50-60 degrees F.) out of sunlight. Check them frequently to see how they are coming along and to refresh the water.  It will take anywhere from one to nearly four weeks for the buds to swell noticeably.

When in bloom, arrange them in a decorative vase and bring them into warmer temperatures to enjoy in the home.