Plants From Shade to Sun | 60 Years of Garden Tips | Prairie Yard & Garden 3813

Connie Anderson of Tracy, Minn. eagerly shares her garden, highlighting the significant transformation it has undergone. Once shaded, the garden now basks in sunlight after the removal of a large tree. However, this change has posed challenges, particularly for the hostas, especially the yellow varieties, which have suffered from sunburn. Connie mentions that she has been pruning off damaged leaves and notes that her cannas, typically robust tropical plants, have only reached half their usual height this year due to the cooler weather. Despite these setbacks, Connie remains committed to her plants and utilizes various strategies to ensure their vitality.

Connie describes her gardening techniques she has cultivated for 60 years, including how she divides and transplants hostas. She employs a reciprocating saw to cut through the tough roots, making it easier to relocate them. Notably, Connie has developed a robust system to keep track of her extensive collection of hostas, utilizing metal signs crafted by a local blacksmith. She reminisces about a cherished metal leaf sculpture gifted to her in honor of her mother, highlighting how the garden is filled with meaningful tokens. To combat the challenges posed by pests and critters, she employs creative solutions like fences and netting to protect her plants, while also experimenting with different plants to minimize the need for annuals. Connie’s dedication to her garden is evident in her labor-intensive care, ensuring it remains a diverse and thriving sanctuary.

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Mary, I’d like to
show you this garden. It used to be in the shade. We took down a big
tree over there, and now it’s more sun. And a lot of the
hostas are suffering, especially the yellow ones. I had to take a lot of
sun-damaged leaves off of them. Also, the cannas, they
should be this tall. This year, they’re
about half as tall. It’s just been too cool. They’re a tropical
plant. They like it warm. – [Mary] So are you
dividing some of the hostas or moving them other places? – I certainly am. I haven’t gotten
around to this bed yet, but I’ve done other beds. And the way I do that is, you know, those hosta
roots are really tough. And so I take a saw, I saw, saw, and I just
cut right down through it and then maybe the
other direction. And then it’s real easy to
lift them up. Works very well. As soon as they’re
showing in the spring is the very best time. But you can do it most anytime, but cut most of
the big leaves off. And then they don’t
have to be stressed from keeping up
all those leaves. – Then do you have a spot
ready to take and plant them, or do you pot them? Or how do you divide them? – I usually pot them
up and get them going, and then decide
where to put them. I know most of the
names of the hostas, so I know how big they
get, how they grow. So that makes it easier. – [Mary] Connie, with all
of the varieties you have, how do you keep track
of what you have? – [Connie] Well, it’s
really interesting. I had the blacksmith in
town make these signs that are metal, and then I got a
program for the computer to print the names. And there’s plastic
on the top of it. And they’ve lasted many years. So a little spendy. They cost about three
bucks a piece to have made, but it’s something
that I worked for years to try to find something
that would last. And I finally found something. – Tell me about
that beautiful leaf that you have here in the yard. – That was a gift from a lady
who works at the nursing home, and she took care of my mother. And she liked my mother, and so she made that
and gave it to me in honor of my mother. – [Mary] I have seen those
leaf molds laying down. But how did you get a frame that would hold it up like that? – [Connie] There again,
the blacksmith man. I told him about how
high it should be, and he did a good job. – [Mary] Tell me about
all of the tree branches or trunks that you have here. – [Connie] We’ve cut down
many, many, many trees. And so I asked the
people doing it to cut them into lengths so that I could make
different areas. So that kind of transitions from one bed to another. It wouldn’t look near
that nice without them. – [Mary] So did you have to
dig holes down in the ground to help hold them up? – [Connie] Yes, I did.
So it was not easy. – Wow, what a lot of work. Do you start some of
your plants from seed, or do you buy them in? – I do both. I start
a lot of seeds myself. And I also can’t stay
away from the greenhouses. Always looking for
something unusual. But I am trying to
transition more to perennials so I don’t have to
buy as many annuals. – [Mary] So you had mentioned that your yellow hostas are
doing some burning in the sun. – [Connie] Yes. – [Mary] Is there
anything that you can do to help prevent that? – Yes. I have bought a lot
of the lace curtains, and I lay those over the ones that are especially
prone to sunburn. And the air can still
go through them, but it shades them enough
to keep them from burning. Works really well. – [Mary] How do you
weight that down? – Well, sometimes I’ll put
rods or something to hold them, but if it’s windy, that
doesn’t always work. Another thing. Like, I use a lot of the
coral bells in the front. Last year, I started. I used
to plant petunia and things. Well, that got pretty expensive. So I had a lot of coral bells. So I split them up, and I use them on most
of the flower beds now. And I don’t have to
buy annuals to fill in. – [Mary] Well, it’s
a beautiful border. – [Connie] Yeah,
I like it. Yeah. – [Mary] How do you keep
up with all of the weeding that you do? – [Connie] Oh, that’s
a continual job. Yeah, it’s continual. I have a lot of poppies,
and they’re in another bed. Most of them are done now, but there’s a few still
blooming that you can see. The mulch helps some, but I think the mulch is
more for the moisture. You still get weeds through, and I’m always
pulling or hoeing. – [Mary] How do you water
all this whole area? – [Connie] I have a
lot of soaker hoses. This year, I have not
had to use them one time. – [Mary] And what’s
the advantage of using a soaker hose? – [Connie] Time. I don’t have to stand there and
water each individual plant. I can turn it on, set my timer,
go out in a couple hours, move it to another
one, and keep moving. – [Mary] You have so
many beautiful hostas. Do you have any
trouble with slugs? – [Connie] Yes, I do. Some of the things
that I use are things that people have told me work. I crush all my eggshells,
put them around. I use Sluggo. That’s
made for the slugs. And I also spray them with
insecticide because it’s faster, and I can’t get around
to putting the stuff around the bottom
of all the plants. So I do all those things. – [Mary] So what do you find
helps with all the critters? – [Connie] The critters. Well, as you can see, there’s fences around
most of the gardens. If I didn’t have the fences, I don’t think I would
have many flowers. They just spoil everything. So about two years ago I
spent about $400 on fencing. – [Mary] Do you have trouble
with deer here in town, too? – [Connie] No, I don’t
have problems with deer. I’ve seen maybe two or three
throughout all the years. They go right by,
through the field, and they don’t bother here. So I’m lucky there. The planters
are something different. The squirrels like to get in
there and dig out the plants. I’ve talked to many people
who have this problem. And I’ve tried many things. I’ve tried sticks,
I’ve tried rocks. What has worked the best
for me is more fencing. Put a fence around it, and
they would still get in there. So then I put netting
over the fencing, and they would
still get in there. So then I have to
put clips around to keep the netting in place. So a lot of my time
is spent trying to keep the critters
away from my plants. They like to plant the
black walnuts in there, or corn from the feeders. That’s why they’re doing it. Because I find all kinds of things growing
out of my planters. – [Mary] (laughs) Things
you don’t want growing in your planters.
– Right. Right. Like black walnuts.