Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

I live in Minnesota, too, and I love planting trees. Depending on your locale in MN you are either in zone 4 or 4a, so if you look in gardening catalogs you can choose anything zone 4 or less (zone 3 is even colder, and so on). Haralson is a great tree for MN – an apple tree that is somewhat self-fruitful. Bali Cherry is also great, as is Nanking Cherry – both fruit trees, although Nanking Cherry is more shrubby. Mock orange has a lovely scent and does well in MN (a shrub). Decide how big you want your adult tree to be, since many varieties are available on dwarfing rootstock if the adult tree would be too much for your lot.
I love buying bare root trees from catalogs, since they are so inexpensive and I’ve never had one die on me. I’ve even abused one (left it unplanted, let it dry out) and it still did fine. (Don’t repeat my experiment – decide your location for your tree, dig the hole and prepare the soil & compost you’ll use to fill it before you bring the tree home/before it is delivered. That way you can take it right to the hole and plant it, giving it the best possible start.) Dogwoods and crabapples give nice displays of flowers in the spring, and are also well suited to our climate. Congratulations on having such a fun project ahead of you!

GardenersCardiff answers:

Some of the best vegetables to grow are spring onions which you can start during March-July, lettuces which you can start during April-May, tomato seeds can be sown in April, cucumber seeds can be sown in late May early June.

It all depends on which vegetables you’re growing because different vegetables are best sown at different times of the year. Check the list of vegetables you intend to grow and you can refer to some gardening magazines or catalogs to have an idea as to when to start.

Container gardening is an excellent choice of gardening as it’s easy and less back breaking. Hope this helps good luck with you container garden!

GardenersCardiff answers:

If you have sandy soil with very sharp drainage a manzanita offers peeling red bark and the plant though not classed as contorted has strongly curved shapes. I grow Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’ because it is reputed to have the greatest tolerance for the wet. It has grown well and is 6 x 7-8 feet across after 6 years.
The ground hugging Arctostaphylos uva-ursi has the same twisty stems but not the striking color or peeling bark. However this or a cotoneaster can become very interesting coming off a bank or rockery where their ground level contortions can be elevated to eye-level.
Http://www.elnativogrowers.com/Photographs_page/arcdenhm.htm
Corokia cotoneaster is my idea of the perfect halloween plant with its intricate silver black branches. I have a pair of these in planters. Very easy to care for and is popular for bonsai.
Http://www.decah.com/corokia.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/11220.html
The tree in Rowling’s tale is a willow and there is a contorted form called Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’. It is commonly called a contorted willow or a dragonclaw willow.
Mine is still only 5 years old so only 15-18 feet tall and very narrow.

I also have the Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ but mine is not grafted because it is on top of a stone wall where it can drape. For presence in a flat space I would opt for the grafted version.
Dwarf Contorted Hardy Orange, Poncirus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’ ‘Monstosa’
http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/poncirustrifoliata/poncirus.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31545/

Dwarf contorted locust, Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Twisty Baby’
http://canada-gardens.com/2robiniatwistybaby.html
http://www.greenbeam.com/features/plant060605.stm
http://www.greenridgetrees.com/makepage.php?botanical=Robinia%20%27Lace%20Lady%27%20PAF

Contorted Mulberry, Morus ‘Unryu’
http://www.gardenworldonline.com/srv/library?ID=2537022
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/80754/index.html

The parasol Beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Tortuosa’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_Beech
Young’s Weeping Birch is contorted, Betula pendula ‘Youngii’ is a European birch that is usually grafted on a staight trunk so the weeping nature is accentuated.
There is even an evergreen contortionist, the Contorted White Pine, Pinus strobus ‘Contorta’.

This is on my wish list of plants for the next rockery planting I do. Silver prostrate willow or Salix yezoalpina. It needs moist soil with some shade so would be perfect by water. Purple stems & silver green leaves gives it a lot of presence.
Salix repens ‘Boyds Pendulous’ also has silvery green leaves with a paler silvery white underneath.

For fabulous foliage with unusual shapes try Ligustrum japonicum ‘Rotundifolium’ (‘Coriaceum’)
http://www.pendernursery.com/Catalog/Detail/ligustrumjaponicumrotundifoliu.html

Parahebe perfoliata has leaves like a series of disks strung on wire trimmed with lovely blue flowers.
Http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/perennials/Parahebe_perfoliata.html

Then there are near black plants.
Blackbird Spurge (Euphorbia ‘Blackbird’) Larger and more sprawling than other euphorbias it can grow 2’ x 2’ and has evergreen, dark purple, nearly black foliage in full sun.
Http://www.planthaven.com/euphblac.html
There are numerous black plants to choose from to add drama in your garden: deep purple to black tulips (Black Parrot or Queen of the Night), black mondo grass, black hollyhock (Alcea rosea Nigra), and Colocasia ‘Black Magic’ (a black variety of elephant ears). Any of these that will grow for you could add to the drama by offering sharp contrast with those that are vividly colored.