Episode 2452

- [Voiceover] Do you think you must have full sun to have a showy garden? Well, no more. Troy Marden visits the trial gardens at UT Agricultural Extension in Jackson, and finds top-performing shrubs and perennials. Plus, we'll tour an urban oasis that features natural elements. Join us. First, dazzlers for that shady spot.

- I'm always looking for spectacular plants for my shade garden. But my space is becoming more limited, so I've come down to the UT Gardens in Jackson. In just a minute we'll meet up with Jason Reeves who's going to show us some spectacular plants like this gold-leafed forsythia. Well Jason, thanks for being with us this morning. The first thing I want to talk about are these hydrangeas, which are really heavily budded up. Tell me a little bit about these.

- This is Endless Summer, the original. All the Endless Summer, including other cultivars such as Duly and Pity Mac will flower a new growth. But they really need to be fed after they've froze back to the ground. So that's what I've done to this one.

- Okay, so these were frozen this winter. We've had a really cold winter so this died all the way back to the ground?

- Absolutely, down to the ground. And we cut it all back and then I came in shortly after with just some general purpose triple 15 fertilized and sprinkled around it and you see the end result.

- Well one of the things you guys have a number of here in the garden are some of these new varieties of heuchera. And I know every year there are more and more heuchera that are added to the market. But what are some of the ones that you have had good luck with here?

- This is Princess Silver and we've had it in the garden for about three years now. And when you say new, I kind of lump things in the last four, five, six years.

- Right.

- We've had to have it in the garden for a couple years for me to actually be able to recommend it. And this Princess Silver is certainly showing out.

- Well, and that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for too. To come to the UT Garden here at Jackson or any of the other locations, it's an opportunity for me and everybody to see plants that have been growing in the ground for three or four years, and know how some of these newer varieties are going to perform in the garden before we plant 'em ourselves.

- Absolutely. That's what we're here for.

- As I said, my space is kind of limited in my own garden. So I don't want to plant a whole bunch of things that I don't know are going to thrive.

- Sure.

- You also have a really interesting fern down here by your feet. And it's one that I don't see very often.

- Yeah, I don't see the Japanese Beech Fern offered for sale, but it's worth seeking out. Very drought tolerant once established in a shade garden. And I love the different contrasts and the texture in the foliage and the tips on it. I saw a lot of green where it's darker down in.

- Right, so it's a great texture in the garden. And a little color variation, even though it's a variation on green.

- Absolutely.

- I think many times we forget that green is a color too. And there's always something interesting you can do with textures and things. One other group of plants that I'm really fascinated by are these pulminerias that have the funny spotted and variegated leaves. I just think they're so interesting in the shade garden. Even when they're not in bloom. But do you have any tips or tricks for which pulminaria's do well here in the south?

- Well there's definitely some that do better than others. And those that have the species longnopholia, meaning long, slender leaf, are much better suited for the heat and humidity of the south. And there's cultivars like Diana Clare and Trevi Fountain that do really well. So seek those out with that species or hybrids of that species.

- Of longnopholia.

- Correct.

- They're more tolerant of our humidity. I've noticed in my garden, that they don't get the powdery mildew that some of the other varieties--

- That's right. You know, longnopholia is again a great shade perennial that blooms early in the spring. So what you're looking at now has already finished flowering.

- Right.

- But even after those flowers are gone, you've got that beautiful foliage throughout the summertime.

- Yeah so the flowers come up early. And they're almost, for lack of a better comparison, almost like a little Virginia Bluebell or something like that. In shades of pink and purple. And then this beautiful foliage comes on after that.

- Absolutely, you know I often see bees frequenting it which, you know in March, there's not a lot out there.

- Yeah really early. Not a lot. For the bees in March and early April. So that's a great thing to have in the garden.

- It will also spread slowly and will seed around in the garden as well, which is an added attribute to the plant.

- And one thing I like about the new heucheras or coral bells is that we've got this beautiful colored foliage in a lot of the new ones. Which ones have you had great luck with here?

- Well you're looking at Solar Power. And I really like it for that gold foliage with that little bit of burgundy stripe that it has to it. With a lot of them, I think they appreciate just a little bit of morning sun and this gets just a bit here. It keeps it colorful. We'll go look at Delta Dawn in just a few minutes which is also a really nice one. So that bright foliage, yellow with a little bit of burgundy or red, kind of adds a nice contrast to the foliage.

- Yeah and especially in the shade garden where flowers aren't always a prominent thing. It's nice to have, you know with our hostas and our heucheras and other plants, to get some color into the shade garden by using colored foliage.

- Absolutely. You know most of our shade loving plants or perennials are spring blooming. And once they're finished, you really want to concentrate on the beautiful foliage that it has throughout the summer.

- You've also trialed a number of hostas down here. And this one, obviously, has done very well. Cathedral Windows?

- That's right. Yeah it's done really well for us and multiplied fairly rapidly for a large leaf hosta.

- Right. And these Cathedral Windows came out of a plant a few years ago called Guacamole. And Guacamole is a great plant for the south. And almost everything that's come out of it. Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Bananas, and this one Cathedral Windows. And the thing that I've loved about it in my own garden is that it does bulk up really quickly. Where a lot of those big hostas are slow.

- Yeah this would be it's third spring. And from a one gallon pot, it probably just had two to three plants in it.

- Right.

- So it has grown rather fast.

- So and this is almost, you know, three foot to almost four foot wide clump now just in a few seasons time. So where sometimes those old fashioned blue hostas, those big ones, can take five or six years sometimes here in the south.

- Yes.

- To really bulk up and get big. These do it in a hurry and give you some real presence in the shade garden. Alright, I've known you long enough and been on enough shopping trips with you to know that you love this plant. So tell us about this.

- I do. This is Edgworthia, also known as paper bush. And yeah, I'm trying to collect all the different cultivars of it. It's in the daphne family which we all know daphne can be difficult to grow.

- Right.

- But the Edgworthia's do quite well for us.

- Okay. So what happens? I mean, obviously it has beautiful green leaves. And I kind of like that it has that broad foliage and almost sort of rhododendron like.

- It is, that large leaf is a really nice contrast in the shade garden. And I like the way when it rains, the water actually beads up on the foliage. But really it comes into it's glory in late January, early February when it flowers. Now, the flower buds actually form in the fall. And they hang on the plant all winter long and begin to turn up just slightly in late winter and begin to bloom.

- So it's one of those late winter flowering plants that gives us some interest at a time of year when there's not a whole lot else going on in our gardens.

- Right. Correct. It is fragrant as well. And then when the leaves fall off in the fall, you have the coarse texture. It's a coarse stem, kind of a little bit of red cast to it. So it's added interest during the winter as well.

- Yeah, I really like it in my garden in the winter time as much as I do in the summer.

- Yes.

- Because, it's got that stemmy sort of architectural appearance that just makes it really interesting.

- Absolutely. And speaking of winter, it's a plant that kind of marginal if we have a really cold winter, if we get down to zero. So it's really best spring or early summer planted to get it well established.

- While it's warm.

- Absolutely. Before we get a cold winter.

- Okay, so plant in the spring. Keep it pretty well watered, probably?

- Yes.

- That first season, and then it should be well enough established that in a normal winter it would come through just fine.

- Absolutely.

- So not all shade is created equally. What do you take into consideration when you're finding locations for plants in the garden here?

- Pretty much all plants, including shade plants, benefit from some sunlight. It's really best to have morning sun, because it's not as intense. So three, four hours of morning sun is ideal almost all shade plants. Especially a blooming or flowering shade plant.

- Right. But even plants like hostas that we grow mostly for foliage, a lot of the ferns, even though some of them will grow in pretty deep shade, you're probably going to get more growth and some faster growth out of plants if they have just a little bit of sun during the day.

- Absolutely. So here this Annabelle hydrangea, which is getting about three hours of morning sun. And you can see how it's budded up.

- Sure.

- So in deep shade you would still have flowers, but not as many flowers.

- Right. And one thing that I noticed, you said this gets about three hours of morning sun. Now, my Annabelles at my home garden are out in almost full sun. And I noticed that the flowers on this plant, are a little bit smaller but there are more of them.

- Yes.

- Whereas, on my plants, the flowers are bigger but not necessarily quite as many of them. So you get a little bit of a trade off but just as big a show.

- Absolutely.

- It just varies a little bit in the size of the flowers.

- One thing to keep in mind with a plant that likes some shade that you're giving it more sun, is it maybe requires more water if it's in a sunnier location. But you also have to keep in mind if it's near tree roots. It's also gonna require more water.

- Right.

- So there's a lot that plays into the placement of a plant.

- Sure, and most of us who do garden in the shade are gardening amongst the tree roots. That's why we have a shade garden, is because there are big trees associated with it. Sometimes it might be the shade of a building, but you do have to take those tree roots into account and how close to the tree you are, may require more watering, or less watering, depending on that distance and how many roots you're planting through.

- Absolutely and the type of the tree. You know it's a lot harder to grow a plant under a river birch or a maple, than it is an oak tree. Because the maple and river birch have shallow roots. Whereas the oak tree tends to go deep.

- Right. Deep roots, sure. Well Jason promised you Delta Dawn, and here she is. This is a spectacular heuchera.

- It is and you see how it really brightens up the dark spot under this ace of hearts red bud. And really brings your attention to the spot in the garden.

- It does. And the leaves on this one are particularly large. And really showy. And I noticed this one doesn't have as many blooms on it as some of them do. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?

- Well, it all depends how you look at it. But yeah this one doesn't have very many flowers and the ones that are there are sort of the limy green that blend in with the foliage. But, look at the foliage. I mean, you're really growing it for that foliage. And some of those leaves are bigger than your hand so it really adds a different texture.

- Right. This truly is like many of our hostas, a foliage plant.

- Absolutely.

- Well thank you Jason for letting us come down and visit today. I know I always enjoy coming down here and visiting at the UT Gardens. When can people come?

- The gardens here are open daylight to dark year round. And for you to come out and see what's doing well here and take that information back home and apply it to your landscape.

- Alright and there's always something going on here. Whether it's just the gardens for you to wander through, or an event. And for a list of those events you can visit our website, volunteergardener.org.

- Terrariums and foliage are certainly nothing new to the world of gardening. The practice of using glass containers in conjunction with plants dates back hundreds of years. For many of those around in my generation though, we might have grown up with a parent or grandparent who were all proud of their botanical glass creations. But nowadays, I've noticed sort of a resurgence in terrariums and other creations involving succulents and reclaimed containers. Trevor, you look like a pretty creative type with your foliage forearm tattoos. Why do you think we're seeing this new interest here?

- Well we're seeing this trend mostly because people wanna grow something in their small spaces. In their small apartments, that is low maintenance.

- Right.

- That doesn't take up a lot of space, and I believe that terrariums have made a resurgence, little small containers with succulents because of the ease of care. Because it is an intro to learning about houseplants, learning how to take care of these things. And hopefully we can make them into better gardeners.

- Kind of like small steps, or baby steps into the world of interior or even exterior foliage.

- Most definitely. Here at our garden center we have a terrarium buffet. People bring in their own containers we have some found containers that they can use, and that we can show them how to take care of these plants. And how to pop them up right here on the spot.

- Once we have our container picked out, what are the different layers that we're looking at to start off the terrarium?

- So the different layers we're looking at we've put a good layer of, an inch, two inches of rocks on the bottom. It gives the place, or water to drain. Cause this glass jar in particular does not have a hole in the bottom. We put sand above that a few inches. Again, it helps with drainage. And we put a good potting medium that is a little bit gritty, doesn't have a lot of fertilizer, and then we've planted directly in that. We have fresh living moss that will eventually take off with the moisture in this container. Now when you have a closed, sealed jar like this, you don't want to put succulents. Succulents do not like a lot of water. They need to drought thoroughly. And so we've used small little tropical plants.

- Gotcha. And with this particular soil is it things like?

- You can have it as sand. There's a lot of good cactus mediums on the market that you can use. There's one that we usually mix up down here. You don't want a lot of fertilizer in 'em. You just want something that's gonna drain and that's gonna continue to circulate it. We've also added a little bit of charcoal. This is an activated charcoal. It's the same thing that's used in fish tank filters. It helps filter the water as it circulates through there so that you don't get a lot of algae issues. You don't get a lot of molds.

- Gotcha. Kind of keeps the environment a little cleaner.

- Keeps it cleaner.

- Gotcha. So that's really pretty basic ingredients that you've got there. And once you've got your potting medium then you can go ahead with the plant selection. I know you mentioned when you're using closed containers like this it's better not to use succulents or really drought tolerant plants. It's more for foliage plants that maybe like the humidity of a closed environment.

- Right. The closed containers they have foliage plants in there because they can take that high moisture, high humidity content. At times they can outgrow 'em, so you do have to open the lid, sort of check on the humidity. Get in there, trim 'em up with some small scissors. But otherwise, terrariums are pretty much a closed environment that you can put on a shelf with you know, good indirect light and just leave it alone.

- Okay, so Trevor, I have my trusty frying pan here. We've just got back from our terrarium buffet. And we got a few selections that we're ready to use in the creation. What's the first step?

- So the first step with this container, since there is no hole, I'm gonna put just a few scoops of rocks in here.

- Gotta get in there, yeah?

- Gotta get in there. Gotta get your hands dirty. So we're gonna put a few scoops of rocks in there. And then here's our soil we've already mixed up. It's got our activated charcoal in it.

- Okay, so got that.

- It's gotta a little bit of fertilizer. And so we're gonna grab a handful of that.

- Lot's of sand in there, I see the grit that you said the plants really love so we're gonna throw that in there. Perfect. And even a shallow container like this can work out, right?

- Shallow container can, especially for succulents.

- Okay.

- Succulents don't require a lot of water. These petals, they fall off, they're gonna re-root in here.

- Okay.

- I'm gonna massage the roots a little bit, break it up so that this plant can stretch out.

- So you can do that and not have to worry about damaging that plant?

- You can do that without harming the plant.

- Okay.

- You wanna massage 'em because those roots are bound up in there from living in this pot for quite awhile. So gonna open this one up, kind of break that open. We'll just plant that in there.

- Breaking the sedums and succulents free, aren't we?

- Breaking 'em free.

- So now we've got 'em coming in, we've got a little assortment of three different varieties for indoor succulents. And these are more for indoor. They're not cold hardy sedums and succulents. They're a little bit more conditioned for the interior environment?

- Conditioned for the interior environment.

- A little lower light, maybe.

- A little bit lower lights. If you've got enough light in your room to read without turning on a light, I say that most of these succulents will work. A lot of 'em are hardy outdoor succulents also.

- Gotcha.

- I water 'em maybe once a week. You could pour about half a cup of water in here. Some people mist 'em. Just depends on how dry your house is. Of course in the winter, your house is gonna be a lot dryer.

- And really let the soil dry out in between watering I imagine.

- Let the soil dry out and then you can dress it up. I've got some sand and some rocks over here.

- Yeah, we've got the soil done. After that, we can do a mixture of maybe a little bit of everything.

- And then you can add a little decorative element. Some people put little small toy animals. Or fairy gardens like this.

- I see you have some branches, there's some moss even. The water and the light requirements are pretty minimal. Just bright, indirect light. Let the soil dry out in between watering. Anything else that we need to keep in mind? Or is that about it?

- That's about it. Now you just get to enjoy it.

- Down here at Garden's of Babylon, we provide a range of different glass containers for terrariums. Whether they be hanging, or containers you can set on a table top. But if you're feeling a little bit creative, there's nothing that keeps you from bringing on down a rusty coffee tin like this one, or maybe a rusty toolbox, or an old wooden shelf. Iron skillet, whatever the case may be. The key is, just have fun with it. Keep it cheap if you want and you'll be surprised what comes out of it.

- Well the challenge in an urban neighborhood like East Nashville is to create a garden that is not only beautiful, but also gives you that privacy that you adore. Well Matt, this is what? About a quarter acre site?

- It's a quarter acre lot. It's one of the bigger yards in East Nashville right now.

- Well it is really fantastic to see what you've done in about two years.

- Thank you.

- Now as we come around here, I can't help but notice you have some beautiful trees. So what were the bones? What did you start with?

- Well, some of these trees were existing here already. The Purple Smoke Tree was here. And I kind of used that as the color palette basis. Also, the Magnolia and the big Honeysuckle over there. They were all here to start with. So that kind of set the foundation for everything that we did here.

- Well, it really is nice. You've got so much privacy and the trees give you so much shade.

- Absolutely.

- And one of the things I really like, is the way you have not only a water wise landscaping here, but also something that I imagine doesn't really require a whole lot of extra work.

- Yeah, well I think the trend in landscaping right now is to go to the low maintenance. I'd say I have about 80% of my clients say, "I want low maintenance. "I don't wanna do any work out there." So, I try to pick water wise perennials like the sedum, and the stonecrop, and then hostas which don't require a lot of maintenance. And then easy ground cover, the Creeping Jenny. That's a nice chartreuse color.

- They're so pretty. But that's not to say you can't get a lot of color in your garden as well.

- Yeah, so we've got the burgundies, a little light blue with the Blue Spruce Conifers. Got the Iris here, of course the Tennessee state flower. Everybody loves an Iris. And then added chartreuse and of course, green to make everything kind of go together. Weeping white pine. And then several different varieties of sedum, stonecrop, one of my favorite plants. The Thunderhead Pine, which can grow. None of them are exactly the same. They just grow crazy everywhere.

- You've got some great movement in there.

- Yeah.

- Of course you have some delicate white peeping up there.

- Absolutely, the heuchera, lovely Coral Bells and the burgundy. Some more of the Creeping Jenny over here. Course the hostas.

- Well and all of this also not only gives the different subtle colors, but you're also getting really nice movement in your garden as the wind comes through. You get a little breeze and all of those little flowers are moving in different directions.

- Absolutely. It's just a great relaxing environment. Kind of a little sanctuary back here.

- Well you've done some really interesting things with some plants that I didn't think I could grow. So let's come over by the side area.

- Oh let's do it.

- I know you have a little trick with this rush.

- Oh the rush, I just think it's the coolest thing ever. It's a highly aggressive plant, horsetail rush, equisetum hyemale. And what I did, is I planted it in submerged pots with no drainage because it's a bog plant. And it likes to be constantly wet. So those are submerged down in there and they have no way of escaping which is great because they'd take over the whole yard if they did.

- Oh so they stay nice and wet but you don't have to actually have pond for 'em.

- Absolutely.

- I like that idea. Now with your rocks that you've used, all the different types of stones and your choice of planting, you've created a really natural looking, I don't know. To me it almost looks like a seascape.

- Oh, well yeah. My company, Mad Landscapes, we use all natural stone. You know, perennials, shrubs, trees. So this is limestone, which I actually got from a local construction site. The foreman of the site said, take as much as you want. So I did. So that's the limestone. And of course we've got the decorative gravel and the flagstone. All natural products. And then that piece of wood I found right across the street at my neighbors. They had it out there for the city to take away. So I sanded it down, gave it a little coat of water seal, and there it is.

- Well it is just so beautiful. And as we walk into your seating area, the privacy just really becomes apparent.

- It really is great and it stays shaded most of the year. It's great for gatherings with friends and family. Sit around the fire pit on a cool night, and just hang out and chat.

- Well and the benefit of having all this shade, is you've got a moss garden growing.

- Absolutely. The moss was actually transplanted from the north side of the house. Which is where moss grows. North side of trees. North side of houses. So we took that out with a rock chisel. And you wanna get the moss just after a rain. Cause it's nice and moist. And you just get under there and take the full little sheets about a handful at a time and just place it. And just before you came, I misted it. It takes a daily misting, and a little more maintenance to keep it looking great. But yeah it turned out beautiful. I'm gonna add some more ferns here shortly. Really love this part of the garden.

- So the Asian area that you have over here is beautiful.

- Yeah.

- And tell us something about those plant choices.

- Well, we started with what we call the specimen. Which would be the Japanese maple. That's the crimson queen to give it the burgundy color. And then some other structural trees. My favorite one is the Weeping Hemlock over there. And then Hinoki Cyprus conifer. You want like a one third of your landscape to be conifers so you can get that winter interest as well. And then of course the Hakonechloa just pulls everything together. The Japanese forest grass with the chartreuse color. The delicate details of the dwarf mondo grass and the sedum's kind of tie everything together as well.

- Well it's very lovely and I guess except for the occasional plucking out of a weed here and there, pretty low maintenance.

- Exactly. Very low maintenance.

- So Matt, one of the things that really strikes me here is that you have these beautiful patterns that play off of each other.

- Well, I started with a color palette. Burgundy, green, chartreuse, and the Creeping Jenny over here, the ground cover, and of course we have a sedum variety here which is also the chartreuse color. And then I matched it on this side in the Asian garden with the Hakonechloa. So that kind of ties everything together color wise. And then just the placing of the limestone everywhere. The limestone rock garden here, again over there. And the Asian inspired garden. And then the decorative gravels there. And the decorative gravel here to kind of fill in the rock garden.

- So you're matching your plant material, you're matching your rocks. And then also I see that there are a lot of the same lines running through. Almost like rivers.

- Absolutely. Yeah, it's a great idea when you're landscaping your own home to use the curved lines. Because most houses have the straight lined edges. You know the curved patterns kind of complement that well. Repetition of plants is important too. Just to get the cohesive energy flowing.

- I really, really like this table. This is a gorgeous piece of wood.

- Thank you. It's actually hackberry. One of my neighbors cut down a huge hackberry tree. Again, I just took what I could, what he gave me and sanded it down, gave it a little coat. It makes a nice table. We've got another little side table over there made out of it. Another interesting thing is these chairs. I actually made them from the pallets that all the stone came on. So just kind of tried to use everything that was delivered to the house.

- Matt, tell us how you made these beautiful planters.

- Well, I started out with a chainsaw and I hollowed them out, and then to get deeper down in there, used a wood chisel and kind of hacked it out.

- Well, it really, really looks great. Now, you still have some room and actually, since this is such a nice compact garden, it almost looks like you have a huge lawn on this quarter acre.

- Oh yeah, this is my blank canvas. We plan on expanding everything. I refer to this lovingly as Wonderland. Mad Landscapes is kind of a reference to Alice in Wonderland, so eventually we're gonna do a chessboard over here behind the Albert Fida. Kind of a big floating deck seating area. Kind of a mad tea party kind of setting. And probably some kind of water feature, lagoon type area behind the chessboard. So a lot of things going on. My mind is always turning with new ideas.

- Well, Matt, this is all very inspiring. It makes me just sort of want to sit here and relax.

- Well, hey. I invite you to come by anytime. I'll leave that gate open for you Julie. You come in, bring a book, and chill out in the garden anytime you want.

- Alright, thank you so much. I am so inspired by all of this.

- My pleasure. I'm glad you like it.

- [Voiceover] For inspiring garden tours, growing tips, and garden projects, visit our website at volunteergardener.org. Or on YouTube at the Volunteer Gardener channel. And like us on Facebook.