Perennials - General Care
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  (July) I live in Cherokee Village on the south golf course. The lot slopes from the golf course to the road in front, so when it rains heavily a lot of water drains from the course. To combat this I had a trench (not french) drain installed. This starts from the lower side at 2 ft and progresses to 7 ft deep at the top side and was filled with clean gravel. This works great. Then topsoil was brought in and the lot leveled and rye and tall fescue was planted in February. The grass has grown. I am mowing at a 3 inch level now, but the grass is brown in many areas. I now think I'd like to plant wild flowers on the entire lot and leave it to nature. It's far enough away from the house with a gravel cart path between them. I just don't know how to go about this. Do I dethatch first, aerate, use a power seeder? What type of flower? I just want to get out of mowing this lot. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

  Both of the grasses you mentioned are cool season grasses, and would do better for us in the shade. If you have sun, your wildflowers will do better. Creating a wildflower garden can reduce your mowing, but will still need a little maintenance. One of the biggest issues with a wildflower planting is grass. You would need to kill the grass completely before sowing wildflower seeds. As clean a bed as possible will give you the best results. If the erosion problem has been contained, start killing the grass. I would try scraping off as much as you can, adding organic matter and then tilling the site thoroughly. Then when the grass and weeds have resprouted-which some will always do, kill the grass and weeds using a herbicide like round-up or cover the site completely with clear plastic and solarize it. The best time to sow wildflower seeds is in October. A diverse mix of annuals and perennials is best, so you can have some blooms the first year. Do be aware that this will not be a fabulously gorgeous garden twelve months out of the year. You have to let them get a bit "weedy" to set seeds each season, and some cutting and cleanup will be needed.

  (July) I am interested in adding some chartreuse-colored perennials to my garden. I have enjoyed the sweet potato vines but would like something that would not have to be replanted each year. I would like something compact to add to the front of my bed. What would you suggest?

  There are several options. For low growing plants, consider the ground cover creeping jenny. It comes in both a green form or a chartreuse one. "Yellow" hostas are also available, and there is the lime mound spiraea which is a woody deciduous shrub -- a permanent addition to the landscape. There is a new artemisia that is yellow and green -- I am not sure of its winter hardiness however.

  (September) After your recent column I am thinking we need to use a fungicide on our plants or soil. We are planting and landscaping our "new to us" residence. We want to use as many perennials as possible. This lot is 30 years old. Using a landscape plan we planted 6 foxgloves in a shady spot. The plants gradually wilted and twittered. Replanting same process. Now other spring blooming perennials are doing the same thing. Help! I always thought my mother was silly about her flowers and now I'm beginning to be just as silly.....

  Whenever you have many different species of plants wilting or showing signs of stress, it is typically not a disease or insect--usually it is something physical to the site--drainage, chemical, etc. Rodent pests often are not too discriminating either, armadillos can dig up an entire bed overnight, and moles and gophers can uproot plants causing them to wilt and dry up. I would not recommend any type of spray program at this time--I would investigate further. Take a pint of soil from the area that you are having problems in, and take a pint from an area that is growing fine, and take it to your local county extension office for testing. When the results come back in, compare the two. Look for problems with pH or salt levels. Check the drainage by digging a hole in the bed and filling the hole with water until the water stands. If there is standing water, the plants can rot, and will wilt as they do so. Hopefully you can narrow down the cause of your problem, and correct whatever is causing the damage. One other point to consider-some early spring blooming perennials begin to decline after they finish their bloom cycle and a six week growth cycle. Others begin declining earlier in the fall than summer or fall bloomers, so be aware of that. Don't get discouraged this early in your gardening career. I always look at losing a plant as an opportunity to buy another--just be sure you have a well planned site to put it in!

  What do you mean when you refer to dead-heading spent blooms ? When should I cut back my Iris plants and how short should they be cut ? When, normally in Arkansas, should one quit watering lawns and shrubs for the season? Does it depend on rainfall, temperature or both?

  Dead-heading is simply the process of removing the flowers that have passed their prime. You cut beneath the flower. This prevents the flowers from setting seed, and should result in more flowers. Iris foliage in Arkansas is usually evergreen. You should never cut the foliage completely back unless it gets frozen. Many cut it in a fan shape to make it more manageable. As the temperatures cool, you can cut back on the amount of water applied, since the plants waters needs will begin to diminish, but never cut off watering when it is dry--and it has been dry. We do recommend watering even in the winter if natural rainfall doesn't occur.

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