The West Chicago Garden Club

It must be a little bit sinful to spend an inordinate amount of time admiring ones’ work—and being so very pleased  . . . the  hyacinths, the old tulips, the blooming pear trees—red buds and lilacs—spring has come to the Kruse garden.

The work in the garden started in early April with the major spring clean-up.  We were very happy that Pam and June came to help.  With the five of us and the landscaping crew, we had the property shaped up by noon.  Since leaves aren’t raked in the fall but just blown to the sides, the clean-up generated two and a half truck loads of debris.  We removed a dried evergreen tree and had a ginkgo tree planted.  Many thanks to Chuck and Shirley Schramer for the donation of the tree.  The leaves will glow like golden coins in the fall. Continue Reading »

Spring was slow to arrive to the Kruse garden.  So rather than talk of what may be sprouting in the garden let’s look forward and ask some questions.  In August are the sedums flopping in your garden?  Are the groundcovers messy and weed infested?  Are the summer perennials falling and leaning into each other?  Are you so discouraged that you hope for an early frost?  If so we want to share some experimentation we have done at the Kruse garden in pruning, shearing, cutting back for height, longer bloom, and flop prevention.   It is a garden that has to look reasonably nice with a minimum of care.

We can start with a book.  The “Well-Tended Perennial Garden” by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, 1998, is very useful.  It provides a guide as in “should we or shouldn’t we” shear, prune, or cut.  Her motto is “Shear Without Fear”.  It gives impetus.

To start, a lawn mower or string trimmer is wonderful for cutting spent flowers of Ajuga, trimming periwinkle, ivy, winter creeper groundcovers.  It could be done any time in the growing season when the groundcovers are too tall or too weedy. Continue Reading »

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” –Charles Dickens

March brings daylight savings time, the vernal equinox, and unpredictable weather. The snow melts and plants poke through. Weather is the primary determinate of garden activity in March. You may recall last year we had 9 consecutive days smack dab in the middle of March when the high temperatures held between 78 and 83 degrees. There was an explosion of growth. We were scurrying around to get cleanup accomplished before the plants were in danger of decapitation from the rakes. Of course the piper was paid with early April temperatures dropping below freezing eight times. That glorious unseasonably early plant growth took a big hit and some of the plants carried that damage through the seasons. This March appears to be more traditional weather. We are coiled to spring into Spring cleanup as weather allows and extend an open invitation for you to join us (Tom, Angie, Billie… call any of us for details) on our Monday morning workathons in the Kruse Garden. Continue Reading »