Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 15, 2011

18

HOMES AND PROPERTY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 15, 2011 

One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes and gardens and the people who create them. Story and Photos by Chris Bertrand


DIVIDE, PLANT, SPLASH OCCASIONALLY AND ENJOY!


Everyone is telling us 
gardeners to reduce our 
water usage. Here’s an 
easy idea to spur this 
on.

Find a neighbor with 
succulents. Ask for 
some cuttings. Most 
gardeners with established 
succulent gardens 
are usually happy 
to trim their collection, and share cuttings. 
It’s that time of year, when the year’s growth 
may have spilled over the allotted area for 
their display.

I trimmed my own succulents last week, 
planting the cuttings in a friend’s four planter 
boxes. In a few months, they should fill in 
beautifully, with low worry, low maintenance 
color and texture.

Last week’s first rain has probably loosened 
the soil around it, but with succulents, you 
don’t usually even need roots to get established! 
Just cut a stem with a couple of extra 
inches to insert into the soil, using a garden 
clipper or even a scissors. I usually soak the 
trimmings for a day or two, to hydrate them 
well, before planting.

If the cutting destination is a pot instead 
of directly in the ground, take some cactus 
mix and fill the pot, making sure to allow for 
drainage. Plant densely… When they are a bit 
crowded, snip some starts for a friend or another 
pot!

Water deeply at least weekly for the first 
year. After that, a splash about twice a month 
will keep the display going. 

Hanging pots on a sunny gate did quite 
nicely for three years on this plan. This summer, 
they were repotted, more due to the disintegration 
of the cocoa mat cover, than for 
the plants’ health.

Succulents are so water thrifty once established, 
that rediscovered pots tucked in a 
forgotten corner of the yard and deprived of 
water for months will usually revive quickly. 
A few splashes of water and a week or two of 
time, and they’re ready for use again.

If the ground or the pot is rather unforgiving, 
grab a big thick screwdriver. Make a little 
hole and insert the succulent stem. Plant. 
Splash occasionally. Enjoy!

If you need a more hands on instruction, 
today, Saturday, October 15 at Arcadia’s LA 
Arboretum from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Oak 
Room, Steve Gerischer will take you through 
the steps. According to the Arboretum’s press 
release:

Do you want to switch over to a drought 
tolerant garden but were wondering just how 
to do it? There are some easy things to learn 
about converting a traditional garden into a 
water sipping landscape. We will cover basic 
design, simple soil testing, and irrigation 
strategies for turning your yard - or just parts 
of it - into a more California friendly environment. 
This will be a step by step process 
for understanding the basic needs of a less 
thirsty garden and what that means in terms 
of maintenance, choice 
of plant material and even how to welcome 
birds, butterflies and insects into your yard.

Pre-registration preferred; please call 
626.821.4623 or email jill.berry@arboretum.
org to register for classes. $25 for Arboretum 
members and $28 for non-members. www.
Arboretum.org 

Happy water thrifty gardening!

Know of an interesting home, building or 
garden, public or private, that might be of interest 
to our readers? 

Send the details to C.Bertrand@MtnViewsNews.
com. 


DON’T GO HOME WITHOUT IT

These days, particularly with so many 
foreclosures on the market, ordering an 
inspection when you’ve made an offer is not 
only recommended, it’s critical. Otherwise, 
you’re relying on the seller (in some cases, the 
bank) to provide you with a list of defects.

An inspection provides an objective report 
about the home’s exterior, interior, and 
“internal organs” - the wiring, the plumbing, 
the heating and cooling system, etc. While 
your agent may supply a list of recommended 
inspectors, you are free to select any 
professional you wish.

The seller and their representative will not 
see the report without your permission. The 
inspection of a 2,000 square foot home should 
take two to three hours to complete, and once 
the report has been delivered to you, you can 
discuss the findings with the inspector.

Expect your home inspector to walk the 
roof and explore the attic and crawlspace 
(if present). Electrical panels, outlets and 
switches will be tested. Drains, water 
pressure, toilets and pipes will all be checked 
in the plumbing system. Walls, ceilings and 
floors will be inspected and all the doors and 
windows will be checked for functionality.

All the items in the report will depend 
on the particular home’s features, but the 
findings give you an opportunity to estimate 
repair costs and renegotiate your offer. Never 
bypass this critical aspect of a purchase.

Plant Now for Spring Beauty

Add bulbs this fall for a colorful spring display


by Melinda Myers, gardening expert, TV & radio 
host, author and columnist

Don’t miss a chance to color up your spring 
landscape. Get busy now planting spring flowering 
bulbs like daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths.

Look for creative ways to use bulbs in your 
landscape. Plant a massive ribbon of blue squills 
or grape hyacinths to create the illusion of a river in 
your spring landscape. Or fill the front lawn with 
shorter bulbs for added color. Just wait until they 
are done blooming to mow the grass at its highest 
possible setting. 

Mix bulbs to double the bloom power or extend 
their flowering beauty. I like to mix the equally 
assertive daffodils and squills for a double layer of 
color. Try combining early blooming crocus with 
mid spring daffodils, late spring tulips, and even 
later blooming allium for months of enjoyment.

And force a few to enjoy indoors or outdoors in 
areas where you can’t plant bulbs in the ground. 
Give these bulbs 15 weeks of temperatures between 
35 and 45 degrees to initiate bloom. Forcing bulbs 
video

Plant spring flowering bulbs outdoors in fall, 
so winter’s chill can set the flower buds for the 
beautiful spring flowers. Those gardening in the 
south need to look for bulbs that require minimal 
chilling or are pre-cooled for winter planting. 
Northern gardeners have until the ground freezes 
to get their bulbs in the ground.

Plant bulbs 2 to 3 times their vertical height 
deep in properly prepared soil. Add a low nitrogen 
slow release fertilizer like Milorganite to the soil at 
planting. Water thoroughly as the bulbs are putting 
down roots before the ground freezes.

Those tired of battling the animals may want to 
plant resistant bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths, 
Fritillaria, alliums, Camassia, glory-of-the snow, 
snow drops squills, and grape hyacinths. 

Or protect animal favorites like tulips, lilies, and 
crocus with a bulb dip of Bobbex. Start with a pair 
of waterproof gloves for this task. Bobbex is safe 
and natural, but not a fragrance you want to wear 
all day long. Carefully remove the papery cover and 
soak the bulbs for 3 to 5 minutes in Bobbex. You 
will have the best results using the concentrated 
formula of Bobbex-R Animal repellent. Allow the 
bulbs to dry before planting. The scent of Bobbex 
masks the smell of the bulbs protecting them from 
hungry critters throughout the winter.

Then next spring apply Bobbex to your bulbs 
and other landscape plants as soon as they emerge 
and leaf out, protecting them from hungry rabbits, 
deer, and other animals. 

So get a jump on the spring season with a bit of 
fall landscape care.

Nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio 
host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has 
more than 30 years of horticulture experience and 
has written over 20 gardening books, including 
Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening. She hosts the 
nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment 
segments which air on over 89 TV and radio stations 
throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is a columnist 
and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms 
magazine and writes the twice monthly “Gardeners’ 
Questions” newspaper column. Melinda hosted 
“The Plant Doctor” radio program for over 20 years 
as well as Great Lakes Gardener on PBS. She has 
written articles for Better Homes and Gardens and 
Fine Gardening. Melinda has a master’s degree 
in horticulture, is a certified arborist and was a 
horticulture instructor with tenure. Her web site is 
www.melindamyers.com 


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