Don’t let English ivy ‘leap’

English ivy has covered a chain link fence along our property line, but it’s also getting into a garden bed a climbing up a tree. How can I control it?

English ivy is good for covering ugly fences; not so great when it climbs up into trees.

Gardeners have a saying about English ivy: “The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps.” It can be slow to get started, but once it gets going, it quickly leaps out of bounds.

If you are using English ivy to cover an otherwise unsightly feature or to control erosion on a slope, the Southern Living Garden Book suggests trimming the edges back with hedge shears or a rugged mower two or three times a year. Ivy growing up a fence or wall can also be sheared with a hedge trimmer to look neat.

Early winter is a good time to remove ivy that is growing up into trees. Garden expert Judy Lowe (who has penned several garden how-to books for our region) suggests cutting the vine at the base with loppers or a pruning saw. In the spring, the dead vine may fall out of the tree, or you may need to cut and pull down the dead portions.

Garden events in Middle Tennessee

Jan. 6: The Nashville African Violet Club meets at the Green Hill meets at the Green Hill Women’s Center, 10905 Lebanon Road in Mt. Juliet. For more information, contact Julie at Julie.mavity@gmail.com or 615-364-8459.

Jan. 15: Orchid Society of Middle Tennessee meets at Cheekwood with a program on Paphiopedilums. Refreshments at 6:30, and the program begins at 7 p.m. There is no admission, and the meeting is open to the public.

Jan. 15: Perennial Plant Society meets at Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall. This month’s speaker is Debbie Scales from Bates Nursery; the topic is “Preparation for the 2013 Gardening Season” focusing on new products and cultivars and pest management. Refreshments at 6:30, meeting begins at 7 p.m. It’s free, and the public invited.

Douglas Tallamy

Jan. 17: The Garden Club of Nashville welcomes Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, to a community meeting at 4 p.m. at St.   George’s Episcopal Church (4715   Harding Road). Tallamy’s topic is “Native Versus Exotic: The War in Your Back Yard,” discussing the crucial role of native plants and the benefits and consequences of the plants we choose. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Feb. 20: Orchid Society of Middle Tennessee meets at CheekwoodBotanical Garden. The program is on Phalaenopsis orchids. Refreshments at 6:30, and the program begins at 7 p.m. There is no admission, and the meeting is open to the public. No admission to Cheekwood and the meeting is open to the public.

Periwinkle: Bigleaf can be a big problem

QUESTION: This vine (in the photo) is growing behind the boxwoods in front of our house. I’ve never seen it before. Is this something I should keep or get rid of?

Variegated Vinca major (bigleaf periwinkle) is a major pest plant.

Get rid of it, if you can. It looks like variegated bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major), and left to grow on its on, will scramble and snake its way across everything in its path. This plant, considered an ornamental groundcover by some, was brought here from Europe more than three centuries ago.

It has pretty little blue or lavender pinwheel flowers in spring, but that’s not enough reason to keep it around. According to the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, the vine has crept in to open and dense canopied forest, forming mats and “extensive infestations” by vines that root at the nodes. They consider it a “significant threat” in the state, and note that it’s also considered invasive in several other southern states, and in California and the Pacific Northwest.

If your “infestation” is still fairly small, I suggest pulling it up, roots and all, if you can. You’ll probably have to pull it several times before it’s all gone. I never recommend chemical controls, but you can read what TNEPPC suggests here.

One of the nice features about the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council’s web site is that they suggest alternatives for the invasive plants you might be considering for your landscape. So, instead of periwinkle, TNEPPC recommends using these natives:

Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) and Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolonifera). Both attract bees and butterflies. Creeping phlox does best in the more acidic mountains of East Tennessee.

Several grass-like sedges make good groundcovers for shady places: Seersucker sedge (Carex plantaginea) has puckered light green leaves. Silver sedge (Carex platyphylla) has slightly puckered, light blue-green foliage. Blue wood sedge (Carex flaccosperma) has silvery blue foliage and can do well in wetter sites.

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) is a small creeping vine with tiny, glossy, deep green leaves, pairs of white fuzzy flowers in early June, and bright red berries. It grows in shade, and needs acid soil. Birds like it.

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea [ Senecio aureus ]) has dark, evergreen foliage that colonizes as a groundcover and yellow flowers in early spring. Attracts bees and butterflies.

Marginal Woodfern (Dryopteris marginalis) is an evergreen fern that likes shade and moist soil.

EVENTS COMING UP

This just in: The Nashville Tree Foundation has extended the deadline for entering this year’s Big Old Tree contest. You now have until April 3 to send in information about that

One of last year’s Big Old Tree winners was a Dawn redwood: 109 inches around, 80 feet tall, with a 35-foot crown spread.

big old tree in your yard, your neighbor’s yard, or anywhere in Nashville you see an awesome tree of any species. It (and you) could be awarded honors at the annual High Tree Party, which will be held April 27 – Arbor Day – at SevierPark.

Entering is easy: Download an entry form from the Nashville Tree Foundation’s web site, or enter online. You can see past winners at the web site – a good idea to check it, to make sure the tree you enter hasn’t won in the past. There are also instructions on how to measure a big tree.

Whether you enter a tree or not, you are invited to enjoy the High Tree Party, where big tree winners will be announced, the Victor Johnson Award will be presented to the tree champion of the year, and you can enjoy tree-themed snacks.

The Perennial Plant Society’s annual sale is coming back to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds April 14, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. There will be thousands of perennials for sale for sun and shade, all from Tennessee growers, so they’re adapted to our growing conditions. Admission is free, but PPSMT notes that the Fairgrounds has a $5 parking fee. To learn more, visit the PPSMT’s website www.ppsmt.org.

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The Herb Society of Nashville’s annual plant sale is April 21 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. It’s 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., but get there early to browse through 15,000 herbs (including some of those hard-to-find varieties) and talk to the Answer Ladies and all the other herb fanciers who turn out for this annual event. Look for more info at the Society’s website, www.herbsocietynashville.org and Facebook page.

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Cheekwood is celebrating its gardens all through April with a series of Cheekwood in Bloom events.

The 20^th annual Spring Art Hop is April 7. More than 20,000 candy-filled eggs will be hidden throughout the gardens for egg hunts every half-hour. There will also be music, arts and crafts and live entertainment.

Ka-Bloom! on April 14 includes at family art activity and scavenger hunt,10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; flower arranging demonstration at 10:30 a.m.; guided tour of the Robertson Ellis Color Garden at 11 a.m. Howard Pink and his Musical Garden Hoses at noon; guided tour of the Carell Dogwood Garden at 1 p.m.; and container garden demonstration at 2 p.m.

The grand opening of the Howe Garden at Cheekwood (after a million-dollar renovation) will be April 21, with activities, live music, guided tours and refreshments,10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

In honor of national Arbor Day, April 28, there will be several drop-in activities and demonstrations. By the way, Cheekwood is now a certified Level IV arboretum, with more than 120 identified species of trees.

Every Sunday in April there will be guided greenhouse tours at noon; guided museum tours at 1 p.m.; and a drawing room concert series featuring Blair School of Music at 2 p.m.

Complete details on Cheekwood in Bloom are at Cheekwood’s web site.

The trouble with winter creeper

QUESTION: A vine with dark green, oval leaves and thick woody stems is growing up through the middle of my shrubs. It seems to grow all year. What a nuisance! How can I get rid of it?

Winter creeper euonymus grows in sun or shade, can cover slopes, fences, trees, and is hard to get rid of once it's established.

It sounds like you are describing winter creeper euonymus, an evergreen that can sprawl along the ground (or on slopes, where it can help control erosion) or it can climb and attach itself to trees, walls and other surfaces with aerial roots.

You may see it described as “tough” or “aggressive,” and come to understand that to mean you’ll have a hard time getting rid of it. Indeed, it’s a non-native invasive plant, brought here from  the other side of the world in the early part of the last century. The Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council lists it as a “lesser threat,” but a threat nonetheless.

Cutting it down, pulling it out and digging it up are the best ways to begin the attack on winter creeper. Where digging doesn’t work, try cutting it back and applying glyphosate herbicide (such as Roundup) as a 2-percent solution (8 ounces per 3-gallon mix) in water to the stump that’s left. You’ll have to keep doing this, and you’ll have to be careful not to get the herbicide on the surrounding plants.

After the vine has been removed, the best way to keep it from returning is to keep an eye on the area and pull up individual seedlings as soon as you see them.

Small space, big harvests

Is that really possible? Maybe, and there’s a new book in the Complete Idiot’s Guide series that’s here to help. The book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Small-Space Gardening, and the author, Chris McLaughlin, provides quite a bit of good information on how to make the most of whatever plots or pots you have available. It’s published by Alpha Books; the price printed on the book is $19.95; at the Web site idiotsguides.com it’s listed as now $12.97.

Cover the ground, not the daffodils

QUESTION: What groundcovers can be used that will allow daffodils to come up in the spring?

Spring bulbs will grow through English ivy, but there are better groundcover choices to use.

Several plants used as groundcover permit spring-flower bulbs to grow through. Nashville-area garden specialists offer a few recommendations:

Ajuga, or bugleweed (Ajuga reptans). To some people this is a nice groundcover, to others it’s a weedy nuisance. It can be aggressive, but in the right spot it might be just what you need.

Periwinkle (Vinca minor), grows in shade, is green all year, and has pretty blue or white flowers in spring. Please note: Vinca minor is listed among the invasive exotic plants in Tennessee. Please use responsibly.

Daffodils will also push up through English ivy (Hedera helix), but because it, too, is an invasive exotic that can climb trees and displace more desired species, I would never suggest planting it in the landscape.

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March: In like a lion

I’m writing this shortly after coming up out of the basement, where we hunkered down for a few minutes Friday afternoon while a possible tornado loomed. The sound of the hail pounding down was tremendous.

I tell you this to let you know that the March Landscape & Garden Calendar, which runs the first Saturday of each month in The Tennessean, starts up again March 3. I say there that meteorologist Bobby Boyd has told us to expect a turbulent spring. Nevertheless, it’s time to get out into the garden again. Look here for the story; go here for a .pdf version of the calendar.

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The Nashville Lawn & Garden Show is this weekend, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. today (March 3); 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. tomorrow.

Sweet surprise: sweet potato vines

QUESTION: The ornamental sweet potato vines I grew in large pots last summer produced potatoes – to my surprise! Can they be replanted to produce vines next year?

Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) ‘Blackie’

Yes! The sweet potatoes that are grown for their ornamental vines don’t have much taste, but U.T. Extension agent David Cook says you can save the tubers to produce the same foliage next year. Here’s how to do it:

If the potatoes haven’t already frozen (and by now, you may find that they have, unfortunately), dig them up and store them packed in straw in a dry, cool place. When the weather begins to get warm again, the tubers may begin to sprout. Cut them into sections just as you would cut a seed potato, with at last one “eye” per section. Allow them to dry for a few days, and plant them in the ground after the frost date has passed (mid-April here in Middle Tennessee).

Ornamental sweet potato vines come in a variety of fancy-leafed “flavors.” ‘Blackie’ is an easy-to-find favorite, with purplish-black, deeply lobed leaves. ‘Ace of spades’ has heart-shaped leaves. ‘Tri-color’ is variegated with green, white and pink foliage, and the variety called ‘Marguerite’ has golden-green leaves.

The vines grow fast, and are a striking addition as a “spiller” in a container, draping elegantly over the sides. I learned last summer that rabbits find the leaves tasty. If your garden has a resident rabbit (as mine does), you’ll find the vines will start to disappear, so be warned.

Clearing up clematis confusion

QUESTION: I am looking for a white, late-blooming clematis. What can you tell me about it? – Franny

Sweet autumn clematis.

You are probably describing the late-summer-blooming vine that is either sweet autumn clematis or the vine commonly called virgin’s bower. They are both deciduous vines, look similar, and bloom about the same time, but there’s a difference.

Clematis terniflora, the sweet autumn clematis, is a vine that is native to Japan. Here’s what the Southern Living Garden Book says about it: “Tall and vigorous (some would say rampant)…Self-sows readily; can become a pest.” They admit it makes a good privacy screen with its “billowy masses of 1-inch wide, fragrant, creamy white flowers in late summer, fall.”

Digging deeper, I found it listed as a “lesser threat” (as opposed to a “severe” or “significant threat”) by the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, which lists invasive plants. Not long ago, a friend who has it in her garden told me it is covering up other shrubs in the garden, and she will have to pull it up. Consider yourself warned.

Virgin's bower

The vine called virgin’s bower is C. virginiana, and it’s native to the eastern U.S. It’s described as having “bright green foliage; profuse show of sweetly fragrant, 1¼ inch white blossoms in 3 to 6-inch long clusters in late summer, fall.” It also goes by the common name “devil’s darning needles.” It may also self-seed and could get out of hand if you don’t pay attention, but at least it’s not labeled an invasive pest.

The sweet autumn clematis is likely the most readily available in nurseries and garden centers; to find virgin’s bower, you may have to look for nurseries that specialize in native species. Here are three in theNashville area:

Growild, a wholesale nursery in Fairview that welcomes retail customers by appointment (http://www.growildinc.com/); Nashville Natives, which provides plants for sale at Whole Foods and Gardens of Babylon (http://www.nashvillenatives.com/); and Moore & Moore Garden Center, a retail nursery at 8216 Highway 100 (http://www.mooreandmoore.com/)

Banishing ‘leaflets three’

QUESTION: What’s the best way to get rid of poison ivy?

Growing up where pavement and neatly trimmed lawn were the modern idea of landscaping, I didn’t encounter poison ivy until I became a real gardener. But by the time  I did learn the mantra (Leaflets three – let it be!) I knew to keep well away from it. Unfortunately, it seems to show up everywhere these days.

The best way to deal with poison ivy is, of course, to treat it very carefully. Fitzroy Bullock, a professor at Tennessee State University’s Cooperative Extension Program, has written a fact sheet on identifying the vine and dealing with it in the landscape.

When you find the sweet little seedlings in garden beds (often at the edges of the lawn, along fence lines, places that don’t get regular mowing), you can dig them out, roots and all, and dispose of them. Wear long sleeves and gloves to do the job. If you use disposable gloves, you can throw them away when you’re done, and avoid the possibility of accidentally getting the plant’s irritating oil on your skin. Some have suggested using a plastic newspaper bag as a glove, of sorts. Put your hand in the bag, use it to pull the vine out of the ground, then peel the bag off, inside out, with the vine inside.

If it’s a big vine with a well-established root system, it’s a bit harder to get rid of. Cut it as close to the ground as possible, and to keep it from growing back, immediately treat the stem with a garden herbicide that contains glyphosate (such as Roundup). Don’t spray the vine itself, and be careful not to let the spray get onto other plants, because glyphosate – or even a drift from the poison – will kill or damage most every green thing it touches.

Even after it’s dead, a large vine can be a problem. The toxic leaves dry up and fall on the ground, and later, after the aerial roots that have held it up begin to die, the whole vine could fall. Dispose of dead leaves and vines carefully, because the toxin is still present.

You may need to apply a second helping of herbicide if the vine begins to grow again from the stump. Apply herbicide again when the new, young leaves have opened fully.

If you are sensitive to the plant and accidentally make contact, expect intense itching, rash and blisters – not a serious situation, but certainly bothersome for a few days. It’s a good idea at any rate to wash your skin with soap and water after a day in the garden.