IN THIS ISSUE: Designing Small Spaces Top 10 Perennials
Lawnless in St. Catharines Flower Frogs Readers Q & A

Spring is here and so is the garden show season! Earlier this month, The Copper Leaf had another successful marketplace display at Canada Blooms in Toronto. We chatted with so many old friends of the store and we met hundreds of gardeners too - many of whom we're sure will visit us in Jordan Village. There's nothing quite like the inspiration that a garden show provides! The Copper Leaf will also have a display at Royal Botanical Garden's Ontario Garden Show (booth #108) from April 4th through 7th. Both Emily, our store manager, and Darren will be speaking as part of this show's lecture series. Their topics will be Living with Lavender and Decorating Your Garden Walls.

Our calendar of events is in place for the coming season. I think we've put together a good mix of garden tours, hands-on workshops and exciting lectures. The highlight of the year will be David Tarrant's return to Jordan Village (he signed his book Canadian Gardens at The Copper Leaf back in February, 1997). David will participate in two marquee events - a colourful presentation on outstanding gardens from across Canada, as well as a guided tour of exquisite private gardens from across Niagara. For all the dates and details please click here: 2002 Calendar. We've already received a good number of advanced bookings.

Now the bad news.... unfortunately, due to a computer "crash" we have a lost a portion of our e-mail listing of In Leaf subscribers (is this the price down-to-earth gardeners pay when relying on technology?). This is quite frustrating for us, since we obviously cannot contact those people to let them know why they aren't continuing to receive new issues. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

Read on for articles on designing small gardens, top ten perennial selections, a "lawnless" landscape renovation, flower frogs as well as organic fertilizer. I hope you enjoy this issue.

Sincerely,

Michael Schmahl
Editor-In-Leaf

Designing Small Spaces

Gardening in a small space, be it a city garden or just a small lot, does not have to be a prison sentence. There are plenty of ways to make a small space into an exciting, challenging garden that fulfills your dreams. One of the misconceptions about designing for small spaces is that people believe that the garden design rules are just for large gardens. All of the design principles used for larger gardens are perfectly suitable for gardens of any size. The only difference is that a smaller scale and fewer numbers are used.

The challenges of small gardens are quite straightforward. First and foremost, there's not enough space to grow all we want to grow. Secondly, there's not enough time to do all that we want to do (but that's another issue). The third greatest challenge is that the scale of a small garden is often out of kilter. Large buildings often turn the garden into a courtyard-like space and create huge towering vertical goliaths that dwarf everything at their feet.

To overcome the challenges of space-challenged gardening, try some of the following tips.

Think Simple Elegance - not the KISS principle but "Less is More" Resist the strong urge to put too much into the design of a garden. Many homeowners design gardens like it is the one and only one that they will have. Save some of your "wish list" for the next garden. It is very rare that anyone stays in one place for 40-50 years of his or her gardening life anymore.

Make accents work for you in the garden and not compete with each other. Accents can be outstanding plants – like a beautiful Japanese maple or delphinium clump, colours, or sculpture. A small yard with too many accents is very visually confusing. Your eyes will continually be on the move looking for somewhere to rest. Take a lot of the choices away and make your accents very evident.

Create intimate areas and private rooms. Design a garden so that it has enclosures creates an opportunity for very special small areas of mystery or romance. Tuck a small birdbath or fountain into a back corner with a bench just big enough for two. Surround this with a lattice fence covered with climbing roses and a very intimate area is created.

Consider structures that limit the space overhead and create a roof for your garden. Several different types of materials such as an arbour or even fence lattice can be used to make a roof for a garden room. Many city gardens have to deal with an out of proportioned scale created by large buildings. These strong vertical lines and hard building materials are ever-present. How can we deal with these very limiting design constraints?

Creating a secluded garden room (with a ceiling) is the answer. Humans feel more secure if they have solid structures around them. Julie Moir Meservy, author of The Inward Garden, says that a view of the outside world from the protection of an enclosed "cave" is a comforting position for most.

Create a roof for your small garden to bring the scale down and at the same time make a cave. This horizontal effect is a good counter balance to a strong vertical site. A garden roof does not have to be solid (or even real in some cases). Just the illusion created by a couple of I-beams and morning glory vines growing on them will make you think that there's a roof overhead.

Go for the details. An advantage of small space gardens is the opportunity to have interesting and exquisite details in the garden. Small gardens mean that every last detail can be noticed and appreciated. Some ideas are to include unique patio stones with original designs, bird feeder collections, statues, coloured glass balls, the list is only limited by the designer's imagination.

For smaller gardens - Keep things small! Scale down ponds, benches, sculpture to sizes that fit the garden. The same impact can be made with smaller scaled items as with grandiose ones. To make smaller scaled items appear even bigger - paint them bright colours like yellow, orange or red. An 8-person patio set (with oversized umbrella) that fills the entire back garden is a valuable accessory for parties but not appropriate for small garden life. Use a couple of café or bistro tables for two instead so that there's room to garden.

An Itea called ‘Little Henry' is a great shrub for a small garden in zone 5 or warmer. It has these wonderful caterpillar-like blooms for the eye to follow. In the fall the entire plant glows fiery red. It is grows to 1 metre high and wide.

Use layers. Consider the upper storey tree layer, the mid layer of shrubs and the ground level layer of perennials, annuals and bulbs. All three of these layers can hold plants. The most action is in the lowest layer that can have a different show for every season. Consider using perennials as groundcovers to increase the excitement in the garden. Don't waste space on boring traditional non-showy groundcovers when Rudbeckia will do better.

Look at forms. Plants that grow low and wide like the elegant Kousa dogwood are highly prized in the garden but they take up too much valuable ground level space. Plants like this that are low and wide are not going to allow for many layers. Reach for the sky and choose high and wide instead.

Use borrowed views and landscapes. To take advantage of anything that you can – think about what you can use that is beyond the garden. One easy tip is to use your neighbour's trees as part of your landscape. Design your garden as if the space were bigger. Pretend you are a wealthy estate owner and own as far as the eye can see. Just a small opening, big enough for one person, is all that is needed to open up a dramatic vista view of someone else's landscape. Half the fun is pretending that it is all yours.

Use plants as screens. Smaller city gardens have more unwanted views to contend with than larger gardens. Ugly buildings, nosy neighbours, noisy highway, hydro lines, signs, parking lots, the list goes on and on. Use plants to block out the sight (and reduce the sound) from these ugly views. Tall upright perennials such as Rudbeckia along a drive are very good at blocking a view of a neighbour later in the season. Other plants like ornamental grasses and conifers will also create great living screens.

Use several mediums. Think about the number of different construction materials that are in a small garden. Having diverse materials such as stone, wood, brick, metal, and ceramic is fine up to a point but don't use too many different ones. Small gardens are usually not large enough to hold more than three of these types of materials comfortably.

Focus on textures. Look at the amount of coarse and fine textures that there are in the garden. Coarse textures come toward the viewer and close in. While fine textures expand the garden by making it seem larger.

Use Magic! Think about using shiny surfaces, mirrors and reflection to expand the area and make it look larger. The reflection of plants on water can greatly enlarge the feel of a garden.

Use angles. Angles can be used to make a garden appear larger. A small garden between two buildings can appear at least two times larger because of the angles used in the centre. The journey to the end of the garden will take longer and the view will be more interesting when angles are incorporated into the design. Another garden illusion tip is to hide part of the garden from view.

Plant intensively. Consider the good old Canadian tradition of mixing plant groups. Put annuals, perennials, vegetables, shrubs and vines together in the garden. Small gardens do not have room to keep everything separate. Besides the surprise of finding vegetables with perennials is quite fun. Imagine the surprise of finding rhubarb Swiss chard, roses and boxwood together. Companion planting aside, putting annuals with vegetables makes aesthetically pleasing gardens.

Goodbye Lawn, Hello Garden! Small gardens don't have the space to waste on lawns.

Prune to your heart's content. Learn to sculpt to keep plants in bounds. Sometimes this is the only way to grow what you want to grow in the space that you have. Pruning shrubs does not have to be dull geometric shapes. Try some fun by trimming a myrtle into a seal (complete with ball).

Use perspective. Narrow a path as it retreats to make it appear that the distance is greater. Make the journey interesting along the way (no matter what length the path). Hide the end of the path from view to increase the mystery about what might be around the turn of the path.

Design using all the vertical spaces. Buildings, walls, and fences are excellent spaces for adding plants. Use window boxes, wall bags and half pots to grow plants in mid-air. Also consider vines like Jackmanii clematis Dutchman's pipe and Virginia creeper on a building. Each one takes up less than one metre of ground space. Espalier is the technique of growing and training plants so that they are flat against a wall or fence. It is a great space saver.

So to deal with a small area and still have a rewarding garden, use all your space wisely. Use both the horizontal and vertical surfaces. Don't think a small garden is a liability.

Gardening in containers opens up many possibilities. Grow plants where they have never been grown before. Most importantly, be creative and have fun.

Anne Marie Van Nest is a graduate of the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture, where today she is also an instructor. Anne is a member of the Garden Writers Association of America and the garden columnist for The St. Catharines Standard.

Top 10 Perennials

What follows is a list of Heritage Perennials Top 10 selections for 2002.

These plants are chosen from over 1500 varieties we grow and from the many hundreds of new varieties introduced, discovered, or sometimes rediscovered every year! Some are exciting new varieties we think will become classics in the future. Others are simply interesting or cool plants we just got excited about and want to share. Wherever you garden in North America, you should be successful with some or most of these varieties!

1. Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum'
(Japanese Painted Fern) Zones 4 - 9
This is an easy and colourful shade perennial. Mint-green fronds are strongly overlaid with markings of silvery-pewter, the picture completed by contrasting wine-red stems. Plants form a neat and tidy mound that lasts in the garden for years with a minimal amount of maintenance. They combine beautifully with other shade-loving plants, for instance, Hostas or Solomon's-Seal.

When given a rich soil and even moisture all season long this fern remains attractive from late spring through late fall. Clumps are an ideal size for edging walkways in the woodland garden, never getting taller than a foot or two. Unlike some other types of ferns it does not have a spreading or invasive habit. We've heard rave reviews from people over a wide range of climates -- all of them agreeing on how easy and reliable this plant is to grow, and how beautiful it looks. Even some gardeners in Zone 3 have had great results growing Japanese Painted Fern with a thick winter mulch.

2. Coreopsis rosea 'Sweet Dreams'
(Sweet Dreams Pink Coreopsis) Zones 4 - 9
Quite new on the scene, 'Sweet Dreams' burst into the gardening world about two years ago. Like many other Coreopsis, this has an exceptionally long season of bloom, from early summer well into late autumn. Plants form a mound of soft, feathery looking green leaves, usually growing between one and two feet tall. The flowers are small daisies that begin creamy-white with a contrasting red eye, aging to a rich pink, the colour of raspberry sorbet. What they lack in size they more than make up for in quantity!

This is one of those long-flowering perennials that has a myriad of garden uses -- from edging or massing to containers and window boxes. It loves a moist, sunny site. Clumps are spreading, so plan to divide these every two years in the spring. 'Sweet Dreams' fits well into soft, pastel border schemes. It's soft texture also contrasts well with bolder-leaved plants like Canna Lilies or one of our Top 10 picks from last year, Sedum 'Matrona'.

3. Echinacea purpurea Ruby Star ('Rubinstern')
(Ruby Star Coneflower) Zones 3 - 9
A great new selection of this popular classic, Ruby Star will make a bright splash of colour in your sunny border from midsummer on. Strong, upright stems produce big, flat heads of magenta-red daisies, the stiff petals surrounding a bristly brown central cone. These are irresistible to butterflies!

Coneflowers will continue to flower for months on end so long as the dead flowers are removed every week or two. Consider letting the stems and seed heads remain for the winter -- they not only look great against the snow, but also supply food for finches and other hungry birds. A good companion would be another of our Top 10, Phlox paniculata 'David'. Both of these are also outstanding cut flowers.

4. Hemerocallis 'Pardon Me'
(Daylily) Zones 2 - 9
Repeat-blooming Daylilies have been around for a number of years, but this one promises to become even more popular than the old classic 'Stella de Oro'. Plants first form a sturdy mound of grassy-looking green leaves, then burst forth with a summer-long display of small trumpet-shaped cranberry-red flowers, each with a contrasting yellow throat. The fragrant blooms only last a day or two, but they continue to open in succession for weeks on end.

Daylilies prefer a sunny exposure and average to moist conditions, but these are tough and forgiving plants, adapting to nearly anything except heavy shade. 'Pardon Me' seldom gets taller than eighteen inches so it's a perfect size for the border front, for mass planting as a groundcover, or in mixed containers. Good companions might be white-flowered Gaura or Gypsophila, or perhaps something with bright golden-orange flowers like Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'.

5. Hosta 'Sum and Substance'
(Hosta, Plantain Lily) Zones 2 - 9
Here is an astonishing selection that will grow to truly mammoth proportions! Ranked as among the biggest of them all, 'Sum and Substance' produces huge, rounded leaves in a glowing chartreuse-yellow shade. The thick texture and waxy finish help to make the leaves more resistant to damage by slugs than many of the more common selections of Hosta. In time, clumps can easily reach six feet across.

This deserves a special spot in the garden where it will become a focal point. Plants develop their best colour with some morning sun, plenty of moisture and a rich soil. Consider surrounding it with a low groundcover, such as Lamium 'White Nancy' or deep purple Ajuga. Pale lavender flowers are produced in July.

Editor's Note: the second half of this article will continue in the summer issue of In Leaf. John will be a guest speaker at The Copper Leaf on July 27, 2002 with a lecture entitled "Perennials - Design and Combine"

John Valleau is the Corporate Horticulturist of Valleybrook Gardens / Heritage Perennials, growers of fine quality perennials in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. John is the author of the best-selling, Perennial Gardening Guide, now in its fourth edition.

Lawnless in St. Catharines

When John and Trudy Michielsen first contacted me about renovating their front garden, they wanted a complete overhaul that didn't include a lawn. They were tired of mowing the grub-infested turf and were hoping to replace it with ground covers and perennials. They wished to create what they described as a more ‘European' feel to their front yard. Living in an old and distinguished neighborhood of St. Catharines, Ontario, this would certainly fly in the face of the traditional lawns that flanked both sides of the street.

The existing landscape was a classic example of overgrown evergreen foundation plantings, weak turfgrass and a narrow, crumbling concrete walkway. Fortunately, a few Boxwood were worthy of paving, as was an excellent Saucer Magnolia that was in a good location. Its large size helped to provide a bit of distance between the house and the street.

The new design for the garden was a very simple layout. A random flagstone walkway was created to link the front door with both the driveway and the city sidewalk. A skeleton planting of Yew and Mahonia were added to the Boxwood. This provides good winter form as well as an effective backdrop for the herbaceous species that would follow.

Periwinkle was planted under the Magnolia to create a mass effect. Into this, we inter-planted Arum into some of the more sunny areas along the drip line. The two are completely compatible and help each other during times of inactivity. After the Arum goes dormant, its orange seed heads are outstanding against the glossy dark Vinca.

Another winning combination is Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) with Catmint (Nepeta ‘Dropmore Blue'). They cross over in bloom time and their colors are most complimentary. They are allowed to grow over the straight lines of the walk for a nice, soft effect. The tall growing Plume Grass (Saccharinum ravenae) dominates the summer and fall garden. This robust grower provides a nice foliage contrast to its nearby companions.

The winter is also interesting for this largely herbaceous garden. Choosing plants with attractive seed heads and persisting foliage was essential. So too was letting this foliage remain, by holding off on pruning back until spring. In the spring, we found that once pruning was completed, it left the landscape a little barren during the early part of the season. The homeowners have since planted early to mid season flowering bulbs (minor bulbs planted in multiples of at least 50 are terrific along walkway edges - early species tulips have been used as well). Not only has companion planting in this way extended the season of interest, but the perennial foliage hides the browning leaves of the bulbs as they go dormant.

How does one gage the success of a landscape project such as this? I think it can be answered from a two part question. First - is the client satisfied with the outcome? Second - am I, the designer, satisfied with the outcome? Perhaps the proof is "in the pudding" in this case. The Michielsens have since become very good friends. They can often be found sitting in front of their home enjoying the garden, along with neighbors that stroll through. (Their flagstone path has unexpectedly become the preferred "sidewalk" for many neighborhood walkers). Almost ten years later, I am still taking photos of this garden for use in lectures. A successful garden works on many levels!

Darren Schmahl graduated from the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and the John Brookes' School of Garden Design in England. He has been designing gardens for over 15 years through Outdoor Images Landscape Services, The Copper Leaf's sister company.

Thinking about trying your luck with floral arranging but unsure of your floral arranging skills? You may want to consider a flower frog. Flower frogs have been used for centuries under many different names such as pin frogs, kenzan or flower spikes and they can easily transform budding florists into expert designers!

By definition, a flower frog is any material which provides support and stability for a floral arrangement. Our flower frogs have their pins close together with nice sharp points that won't interfere with the uptake of water. They are also heavy enough to support even the sturdiest of flowers. The pins impale the stems and foliage allowing the display to stay in place for days. A saucer or shallow dish can be used to supply water or you can use a vase with a height of your preference and have a perfectly arranged look. We have three sizes of frogs available: Small - $5.95, Medium - $11.95, and Large - $19.95. Flower frogs are perfect to use when having a dinner party... simply harvest flowers and foliage right from your garden - your guests will be asking what florist you use!

Emily Godfree is the radio host of 1220 CHSC's Saturday morning garden show and is a staff horticulturist at The Copper Leaf. Emily has three seasons of experience with television production on HGTV.