Japanese Garden Design, Zen and the Art of Balance

Whenever you hear someone mention Japanese gardens, what comes to your mind? For me the first thing I think of is bonsai plants and trees, unique decorative pots, a quiet but ever present sound of water flowing over rocks rolling into a pond, balance and tranquility. The one thing that always seems to define a true Japanese gardens is the art of Zen. I can’t describe what Zen is exactly but mot of us seem to know Zen when we see or experience it.

I’ve always held a fascination with Japanese Gardens, I guess it all started in my teens when working at a nursery a neighbor of the owner living across the street had a small Japanese garden. The neighbor was Japanese and was what we called a “war bride.” She kept the Japanese culture alive in her home from the rice cakes, decoration and even a small garden. Maintaining a Japanese Garden is truly an art.

As an avid collector of plants I’ve been blessed to meet people from different places and cultures throughout the world. Our common bond is plants and their care, but it’s also interesting to see how many of these “friends” incorporate their love of plants and growing things into their lives.

Traveling to Hawaii was probably my first exposure to a “full size” garden dedicated to the Japanese art form.

My wife an I visited a plant collector on the island of Oahu, it’s the island where all the tourist go to start their Hawaiian adventure. The only information and communication we had prior to our visit was some snail mail passed back and forth and a phone call or two… long before the web came into being.

When we arrived at the home I immediately became awe struck with the true beauty the garden the moment I saw it. The peacefulness, balance of nature and the incorporation of plants, water, landscape rocks, containers, wood decks, pathways and small viewing areas, all rolled into one perfect scene I pictured from a book.

Each item was extremely neat, proportioned, clean and seemingly so delicate. I felt almost scared to walk up the path of the stones to the door as I felt my footsteps would disturb the tranquility.

Our host, about the build of a small Sumo wrestler must have seen the look of awe in my eyes, he greeted us and kindly stood with us, patiently explaining the whole tranquil setting. He took the time to not only expound on the beautiful garden but did it in a defining way that seemed to be “one with the garden itself.” He pointed out the bonsai specimens, explaining the unique features of each one. He also talked about the pond of Koi fish and explained that although they were Chinese, they added the element of prosperity to his Japanese garden.

Our visit flew by in just a matter of a few hours, yet it was a defining moment is my “life of plants” as I came face to face with plants not as a collector but plants as a part of our life.

How about you? What role do plants play in your life inside or outside? Do they help provide balance, a place of retreat and do they matter? In a Japanese garden plants, rocks, water, wood and fish come alive.

Hurricanes and Growing Houseplants - Lessons We Can Learn

One of the biggest mistakes many people make in caring for houseplants is overwatering. The soil becomes over saturated and the roots drowned from a lack of oxygen. The result – roots die off, leaves begin to yellow and fall off. That’s what happens to plants indoors.

Is there any difference between indoor plants and outdoor plants?

Answer: Yes and No!

At the moment we’re in the middle of hurricane season with storms spinning off the Florida coast. What a hurricane and tropical storm brings is water in the form of rain which end up standing for days and wind, sometimes constant and other times in gust.

For tips on getting your yard, landscape and home prepared for a storm check out these hurricane safety tips.

Plants inside and out may experience some of the same symptoms from the stress of over watering. Plants outside usually bounce back and come back with a renewed vigor. The same cannot be said for indoor plants.

Let’s take a quick look and identify some differences

Both the indoor and outdoor plants don’t receive the same amount of air movement so we can eliminate the wind comparison. However, we can identify one difference. With high winds, plants outdoors – trees and shrubs – do receive a “natural” pruning and a loss of leaves and sometimes major branches !

With some of the landscape canopy removed from the storm the landscape can begin its recovery. But now plants have more roots to support less foliage – sometimes called root to shoot ratio they can put all the “stored food” and energy into growing more branches and foliage to even out the root to foliage balance.

From a water perspective, both indoors and in the landscape the plants receive way more water than needed. The difference in the landscape, comes from nature’s ability to allow the roots to dry out as the water recedes. Plants may be sitting in water for a few hours or days but eventually the soil will dry out and the roots can get the needed oxygen.

What can we learn from hurricanes and tropical storms on caring for our houseplants?

Plants can handle a lot of water IF the water can be drained from the root area. Indoors without holes in pots for drainage the water sits and slowly rots the roots.

Make sure your pots and planters have a way to drain off the excess water. That also goes when planning your landscape design. Make sure you factor in drainage when landscaping with decorative pots and planters, they also need a way to drain off excess water. Indoors think of double or cache potting houseplants.

Take some time and learn about watering your plants from Mother Nature.

Lawn Care Treatments - Does Rain Effect Them?

Since we’re in the middle or a tropical storm here in Florida the question must be asked - What about the lawn? Lawn care treatments are usually performed using granular products. This granular treatment many times is done with a fertilizer spreader or equipment similar. Once these products are applied they normally need some form of irrigation in order to be effective and begin “release the chemicals they hold.

Rain during or after a lawn treatment will be beneficial and will usually be enough as the necessary irrigation. It depends of if it is a quick shower or an good soaking rain.

Many of the products utilized for the control of weeds and some pests (like Trugreen) are systemic. Systemic products get absorbed into the plant’s system (yes grass is a plant) both by spraying, where the the leaves absorbing the spray material or by saturating the root system. Systemic products are usually preferred more effective because once they enter into the system of the plant they cannot be washed away.

Rain or irrigation is needed to help “push” the treatments into the lawns system but too much water can cause havoc in the landscape.

Mandevilla Over the Winter - A Houseplant It’s Not!

Mandevilla is a beautiful plant which shares it’s hot pink and red flowers with many of us all through the summer months. Some like to keep it running up a trellis or cover and arbor with it. Whatever and however you want to show off your Mandevilla is fine with me. I just love the color!

The problem comes around every year around and my email begins to get filled with the question of what to to with the Mandavilla throughout the winder months.

Sorry to say you cannot turn your Mandevilla into a houseplant, but I’ve shared these overwintering tips for years and find people who continue to enjoy their Mandevilla year after year by following these guidelines. It starts with fertilizer and expectations! I hope they help you…

Read the Overwintering Mandevilla Tips here

Sago Palm Enjoys Coffee Pests Control

The Sago palm makes for a handsome yet rugged plant in the landscape. In reality it is not a palm at all but a cycad.

The Sago can be used indoors as well. Over the last few years the Asian cycad scale has wiped out a very large percentage of the old established plants in the Florida landscape. Chemical pest control has not worked very well.

With the “green push” being made on everything from solar lighting, water use, building materials it’s sad plants do not seem to fall into the overall “green boom” or discussion.

I recently read an article in one of the ag magazines with intrigued me very much - plus it’s all natural.

Tom Broome in Lakeland, Florida the owner of The Cycad Jungle could not sit still and watch all these cycads decades old find their demise from the Asian scale. As all good growers do he tested and played.

After some observation and reading he decided to try a favorite morning beverage to battle the scale and it wasn’t milk! Tom used coffee grounds! Coffee is organic and has been used in gardens for decades.

He first tried controlling some scale and mealy bugs. Within days the results were in - death to the mealy’s and scale.

The problem is when you get on a larger scale drinking that much coffee to get enough coffee grounds is impossible. However, he found the local Starbucks as the perfect place for excess coffee supply.

Basically he mulched large Sago’s with coffee and the plants recovered.

I like the idea so much I decided to try it out on some neighbor’s cycads to see what happens. Maybe you should give coffee a look as a natural pest control option like neem oil.

One thing you may want to try is to make yourself a “coffee tea” by letting the coffee cook in the sun just like sun tea is made but do it for a few days… then try spraying some outdoor plants with it.

Great more ways to enjoy Java!

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