<p>Soil was good before we started this process - and I added about 6 inches of compost everywhere, rototilling that in before we started this process.</p>
<p>This area in the middle is on a sprinkler system with a timer. It is currently on for 8 minutes, 3 times a week to keep the hydrangas happy. I would describe it as medium watering. </p>
<p>Sun is about 8 hours a day - full morning, some shade in the mid to late afternoon. </p>
<p>I live about 10-15 miles from the coast so we get some evening fog to cool things down - but most days are full blast sunshine. We do get frost in the winter - probably 20 times a year. 3 or 4 Freezing days where we have to cover things…</p>
<p>I have not grown Sedums - but was under the impression that they were light water plants -which would not mix well with the current watering settings.</p>
<p>My cone flowers seem to grow fewer and fewer each year. Black eyed susans on the other hand are threatening to take over. I need to rethink my front yard. The original plan had been to have periwinkle (vinca) in the front half and various shrubs in the upper half. I had various perennials filling in waiting for shrubs to grow. Shrubs remain small and there is one portion of the yard in the middle that just refuses to grow anything while left and right are lush. Very strange. All I can think is that it doesn’t get water from the downspouts and I don’t water often. Any how the garden looks great April - June then the black eyed susans take over and now there’s very little blooming - some phlox, coneflowers and blackeyed susans all past their prime. A bit of autumn joy sedum will bloom soon. Where are the other fall blooming perennials?</p>
<p>“but was under the impression that they were light water plants -which would not mix well with the current watering settings”</p>
<p>That’s true; they need good drainage, and can thrive with low water, but everything you are growing ( except the roses and hydrangeas) can do well low water too. Don’t think it will work on the same valve/bed with hydranges, though. I did lose some sedums last year in a poor drainage/freeze situation, but I threw the remains on top of some potting soil , and now I have many plants!</p>
<p>P.S. It was ratibida ( prarie or yellow coneflower), not ( rudbeckia) black eyed susans that are sometimes called coneflower,</p>
<p>It all depends on what kind of clematis you’re growing. I’ve been trying to train a jackmanii to grow through a small tree, and it’s been struggling with weather this year.</p>
<p>I let my coneflowers go to seed and I don’t remove the heads until spring. I like to let the birds enjoy them. I get all sorts of coneflowers coming up. It usually takes them a while in the spring for me to notice them. So leave them alone and maybe you too will be pulling them up willy nilly. My coneflowers are the plain jane ones; if you have some fancy cultivar, the results may be different.</p>
<p>Yes, thanks teri. I’ve started other threads on gardening where I’ve learned so much. mathmom, I am in the identical boat: the black eyed susans I planted three years ago have spread to the point where they have overstayed their welcome and have to go! I too am looking for a suitable replacement: full sun, 24-36 high, preferably blooms all summer long. I even wrote to the columnist at our daily paper to ask for advice but I’ve already got the plants she suggested. </p>
<p>JEM, I love my May Night but it, unfortunately, is one of the plants that’s been overtaken by the black eyed susans. It is desperately trying to peak out here and there and is still in bloom since May.</p>
<p>basil. Every few years we plant a bunch of basil (4’ x 4’) and then freeze the tightly packed leaves in a baggie. No problems even after 3 years in the freezer. Or making pesto from the frozen and now dehydrated leaves.</p>
<p>somemom about your clematis -
Think in terms that you have to develop the plants first, by that I mean prune in a way to create new growth that will fit the place you are growing the clematis on, up or over. So no, you don’t have to live with the mess you have now. Hard to say without seeing the plants, but perhaps try and prune out the thinnest and wimpyest of the runners, leave those that are thicker and well attached to the parent stem. If you can, separate some of the runners and spread them out along the lower portion of the wall and then turn them up. This will let each plant cover a larger portion of the wall. (You may have to temp. fasten these vines to the wall - I didn’t read what the wall was and how your vines are attached). Then you can prune off any side shoots that project away from the wall, to keep it tight to avoid frontal overload and the vines peeling away from the wall in future years (don’t shear it or the resulting sprouting will make that problem worse). Lastly, if you need to, you can then prune down the height (unless you intend it to climb up and over the wall). Keep in mind you shouldn’t be pruning to the height you want, but lower, so the new growth will end up at the height you’d like. Lots of growing season left on the west coast (unless you’re in the mountains) so lots of time to develop some good structure to your vines. Once you get that, the blooms will come.</p>
<p>As to blooms, a basic rule for flowering plants is to prune AFTER the bloom is done (and after harvest for fruiting plants) to give the plant the maximum cycle time to form new flowers (or fruit).</p>
<p>Spotty brown leaves on you black eyed susans could be fungus. How’s the rain / watering been, fungus prospers on wet leaves that don’t dry before sunset.</p>
<p>I actually had an arborist come out (is that what you do? Your username suggests it!) a few weeks ago, and he said he’s seen vapors from pools cause leaf scorch. Up until the last two weeks, we’d had plenty of rain this summer, and I only had to supplement a couple of times.</p>
<p>The basil going to flower is also related to the heat and daylength. It wants to bloom and seed to reproduce itself! Frequent pruning, good moisture, and some mulch will help to keep you in pesto. Next year try planting in an area with a little more August/September shade.</p>
<p>flatlander - I forgot to reply to your post about not watering your lawn. Two summers ago (or three), we had one of the driest, hottest summers here, and the majority of people chose the no watering route, thinking that once the rain resumed, the grass would come back. Many people lost parts of their lawns; once the rain returned the grass did not regrow. Some people (one of my neighbors included) are still trying to re-establish lawns from that summer. Although I didn’t have my greenest lawn that summer, it was enough that I didn’t have any parts die and not come back. I’m grateful now as I watch my neighbors.</p>
<p>Yep an arborist, but not in your neck of the woods. Gotta be careful, some “arborist” are really just tree cutters. Licensing is spotty and not necessarily a good indicator of knowledge base. I only say that because I wouldn’t have left your trees without a definitive answer for you.</p>
<p>Also, he definitely said the problem with the quaking aspens was leaf scorch. The only solution (according to him) would be to either move the pool (not happening) or relocate the trees (again, not happening).</p>