June in the Garden
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Greetings from Birch Meadow,
Glorious June is upon us and we are working away to install your new gardens and tend existing ones. We’re delighted to see our old friends join us after a long winter’s rest. My how quickly they grow and blossom with the sweet passing of time.
Now that the world is opening up, there are so many gardens to explore! We hope to see you at some of the upcoming open houses and tours highlighted below.
Happy Gardening!
THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN IN JUNE
• Here is a link for things that should have been done in May, just in case you are still catching up!
• Click here for Central NC Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs.
• Plant beans, lima beans, southern peas, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
• Prune hydrangeas when the flowers fade.
• Nip the faded flowers of phlox, shasta daisies, and daylillies to encourage a second flowering.
• Remove dried foliage from your spring flowering bulbs.
• Prune dead branches from rhododendron, azaleas, mountain laurel, and blueberries.
• Remove Japanese beetles by hand and place in soapy water.
• Propogate azaleas, camellias, hollies, pieris, red-tips, and rhododendron by taking cuttings and rooting in late June.
• Water your favorite plants at least one inch per week during periods of dry weather. Watering in early morning is best.
If you need help, you know who to call!
THE ELUSIVE DEER PROOF GARDEN
“No plant is safe from deer under all conditions,” said Marne A. Titchenell, a wildlife program specialist at The Ohio State University. For this reason she recommends a “toolbox approach” of strategies: excluding animals with a barrier; repelling them with products that smell or taste bad, or both; scaring them; or modifying the habitat.
The greatest success comes from knowing each tool’s limits and employing those best suited to your particular conditions. But even then, the key is staying alert and ready to reassess the situation as the deer habituate to your efforts.
First, though, make sure your adversary is a deer.
Just because you saw a deer doesn’t mean that’s who mangled the hosta or the row of bush beans. You may have rabbits or woodchucks, or all of the above.
With larger plants like shrubs, look carefully at the height of the damage. Rabbits and woodchucks generally browse lower, up to about the two-foot level. Deer, which can reach a browsing height of six to eight feet, often feed on shrubs from the top down or from the sides.
On all plants, and especially the smaller, herbaceous ones, the most distinctive clue may be in the edges left behind. Are they torn and jagged, rather than clean-cut? Deer have distinctive dentition, with bottom incisors but none on top.
“They grasp a plant between those lower teeth and that upper palate, and pull — and it tears, whether it’s leaves or a branch,” Ms. Titchenell said.
Rabbits’ sharp incisors make clean cuts, often at remarkably close to a 45-degree angle; woodchucks are also pretty tidy.
So you’ve determined that your problem is deer — but how many, and how entrenched are they? A control plan starts with a realistic assessment of the current deer pressure, and how much pressure you can personally tolerate.
Ms. Titchenell’s general guidance: Mild pressure means that plants suffer rare or occasional damage. A garden with moderate pressure experiences consistent damage to certain plants (maybe deer favorites like that hosta, or tulips) and some loss. In high-pressure areas, many plants are consistently damaged, with substantial loss.
Just last month, Birch Meadow had several clients lose “deer resistant” gardenias and a daphne odora from deer trampling upon our new installations.
GARDEN ART SHOW & FREE PLANT EXCHANGE!
Bring plants, take plants, share in the abundance of Spring!
Please join us in the garden!
Enjoy a feast of delightful art: paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, books, and more!
June 12 & 13, 11-5
Luna Lee Ray Studio
101 The Hollow
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Featured artists:
CHATHAM MILLS “POLLINATOR PARADISE” GARDEN
Check out this demonstration garden created by Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos of the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension. The garden features over 225 species of perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses, and 85% of them are native to North Carolina.
The garden is at the Chatham Mills complex in Pittsboro and is open 7 days a week.
Address: 480 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro, NC 27312
2021 Pollinator Garden Tours – Register Now for a Free Tour!
Pollinator Garden Videos: Take a Virtual Tour!
Monthly Bloom Slideshows of Pollinator Paradise
Favorite Snapshots from the Garden
Photos: What’s in Bloom in the Garden?
List of Plants in the Pollinator Garden
Debbie’s List of the Top 25 Native Pollinator Plants for North Carolina
Web Resources for Pollinator Conservation
Resource List for Pollinator Conservation
Plant Suppliers for Chatham Mills Pollinator Garden
OPEN HOUSE & PLANT SWAP
Each year, Backyard Butterflies invites the public to tour their backyard butterfly habitat to inspire you to create a butterfly and pollinator friendly garden of your own. They also facilitate a plant swap to help you acquire plants at no cost. Bringing plants is totally optional! They’ll also have a limited supply of plants for sale during the event.
June 19, 2021 9am-2pm (must register by June 18)
1507 U.S. Hwy 70A, Hillsborough, NC 27278
Suggested donation of $5 per ticket, though you may attend for free.
ORLAYA FLORA - SIGN UP TODAY!
Check out Orlaya Flora, now offering a flower CSA at pick-up locations in Durham, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, as well as monthly bouquet subscriptions that are delivered right to your doorstep! These breathtaking arrangements are offered by Katherine Hoke and Katie Denman who run this ecologically-managed cut-flower farm and floral design studio in Rougemont, NC. They grow a wide variety of unique, long lasting cut flowers for their flower subscribers, triangle florists, brides, and design clients. They re keen on keeping their hands in the dirt and offering a playful but refined aesthetic to their design work. Birch Meadow hopes they’ll begin growing some of our favorite natives for us to install in your gardens soon!
CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE & REGISTER
PROBLEMS WITH USING BIRD NETTING
There’s nothing like the taste of your own home-grown fruit and vegetables. The problem many growers run into, though, is that birds often eat a lot of the unpicked fruit before humans get a chance to harvest it. Sometimes, they can almost clear a whole crop!
Before intalling bird netting, please consider the following problems you may encounter:
High Cost - At around $6.50 per square foot, netting is a very costly choice for the quantity you would need to cover the average fruit tree. A medium to wide-boughed, 10ft tree would need at least a 38ft x 38ft section of netting, costing nearly $250.
Often Not Reusable - Bird netting is often sold as being reusable, so you should be able to cover your trees effectively, each season. However, depending on the quality of your netting, the fabric can become dry and brittle. This can cause it to break, or be difficult to re-drape.
Can Damage Plants - The small holes in the netting are what keeps the birds out. Unfortunately, though, it can also damage the very plants it’s used to protect. Bird netting will often sever leaves and break off fruit when there’s a heavy wind.
Can Trap and Injure Birds - Sadly, sometimes smaller birds, like tiny sparrows and baby birds, can get tangled up in the mesh itself, causing damage to their beaks and other extremities. Birds can also get their legs and feet entangled, so they’re trapped and unable to safely fly away. Many a snake has also become trapped in the mesh.
Can Put You at Risk - It’s not just birds that get caught up in netting. Many owners have reported finding snakes and other wildlife within their mesh-covered plants, including rabbits, lizards, and squirrels.
Protecting your crops from those pesky birds can be hard work. Rather than using bird netting, perhaps you can trick birds into fearing your edibles with creative visual deterrents.
BIRCH MEADOW PLANT SALE - UPDATE!!!
First come, first served! E-mail admin@birchmeadowgc.com if you would like to purchase any of our overstock items. Make sure to put PLANT SALE in the subject line so that we don't miss your request! Click the link to see a picture and detailed description of each item and note the number of plants available and the price per plant listed below:
6 White Wood Aster $5
11 Bronze Fennel $3
2 American Beautyberry $4
3 Campanula 'Blue Waterfall' (Bellflower) $6
6 Carex Cherokeensis $5
4 New Jersey Tea $12
11 Chives $3
17 Chrysanthemum (Peachy Pink) $6
1 Threadleaf Coreopsis $6
9 Purple - Lovegrass $6
5 Eupatorium 'Baby Joe' (Dwarf Joe Pye Weed) $8
12 Eupatorium Boneset $6
2 Heuchera 'Carnival Watermelon' $8
11 Heuchera ‘Citronelle’ $8
1 Limelight Hydrangea $50
1 Hydrangea quercifolia, Alice $50
7 Lantana Miss Huff $8
11 Lavender, Super Blue $4
2 Monarda Jacob Cline $8
13 Black Mondo Grass $7
5 Oregano 'Greek' $3
3 Phlox 'Blue Moon' $6
9 Phlox Subulata Emerald Pink $3
12 Phlox Subulata, Candy Stripe $3
18 Rosemary $4
4 Black Eyed Susan $6
22 Sedum 'Angelina' (Stonecrop) $6
2 Sedum 'Autumn Joy’) $6
18 John Creech Sedum $6
23 Sempervivum (Hens & Chicks - small) $7
2 Sempervivum (Hens & Chicks - large) $14
1 Stokesia Novae - Stokes Aster $6
1 Bald Cypress $22
6 Thyme Red Creeping $4
15 Thyme- Silver King $4
6 ’Archer's Gold' Creeping Thyme $4
3 Creeping Elfin Thyme $4
9 Spiderwort $10
24 Culver's Root $12
12 Vinca Major 'Expoflora' $4
3 Ageratum Bumble Rose $7
6 Amsomnia Bluestar $8
6 Cephalanthus Occidentalis $10
18 Cleome Rose Sparkler $3
9 Cosmos Sonata Mix $5
9 Dryopteris ludoviciana 'Southern Shield Fern' $6
1 Mallow Rose, Pink $16
2 Nepeta 'Walker's Low' $9
1 Pawpaw, Allegheny $68
1 Pawpaw, Select $38
1 Pawpaw, Shenendoah $68
51 Penta Lucky Star Mix $3
1 Ratibida columnifera/Mexican Hat $11
23 Rattlesnake Master/Eryngium yuccifolium $14
2 Rhynchospora Colorada $10
14 Sage 'Berggarten' $4
15 Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' $5
When prices appear to be super low, they may be very small plants which are native seed-cultivated plants. These plants take a bit of patience upfront but will benefit the pollinators and will end up being your most hardy plants for the long-term (see April 2021 newsletter on Why to Invest in Native Plants). In addition, these plants typically need no enhanced soil upon planting, no supplemental feeding over time, nor extra watering.
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In order to cover the costs of travel time and wear and tear on vehicles, we will begin charging a flat fee of $10 per visit in addition to our regular hourly rate, effective July 1. Thank you for your understanding.
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We hope you are all well and enjoying your abundant June gardens!
If you would like help tending your established garden or installing a new one, please let us know! Click here for Maintenance Policy & Pricing.
The Birch Meadow Team
Mary Beth, Kelley, Barbara, Karla, Jared, Liz, Yvonne, Bride, Frankie & Community Based Landscaping
919-224-9697