Welcome, class: It’s time to take your final exam in this year-long course, “The Fundamentals of Gardening.” If you’ve been paying attention instead of passing notes to your neighbors, you know that we have covered everything from a gardener’s basic vocabulary to advanced skills such as soil testing. In this final installment in the series, we’ll review some of the major points covered in the last 12 months.
OK, pencils ready? And remember, keep your eyes on your own paper, please.
Vocabulary (1 point each): Please define the following essential gardening terms:
annual
cultivar
deadheading
hardscape
heirloom
integrated pest management
perennial pinching
“V” crotch
winter interest
True/false (1 point each):
1. A plant that is designated “full sun” will do just fine in a spot that is shaded in the afternoon.
2. When designing a garden, select the plants you like and then arrange them in a pleasing design.
3. Symmetry is not essential in the design of a garden.
4. When mowing the lawn, cut off half the grass’s height.
5. At the nursery, choose shrubs and perennials by the abundance of their blooms.
6. Divide perennials every three to five years.
7. Controlling lawn weeds is an optional task that only fussy gardeners should bother with.
8. Pale green or yellow foliage (in a plant that isn’t supposed to have it) is a sign of too much water.
9. Stop watering the garden around Labor Day.
10. Residents of new subdivisions should test their soil before installing garden plants.
11. Autumn is the best time to fertilize the lawn.
12. It’s better to water the lawn and ornamental plants a little bit each day than in large amounts each week.
13. Keep the garden looking neat by cutting off daffodil and tulip foliage as soon as the bloom droops.
14. If the plant needs an inch of water, plan to run the sprinklers for half an hour.
15. The three essential ingredients in any fertilizer are nitrogen, used primarily for foliage growth; phosphorus, for root development; and potash (or potassium), for flower and fruit production.
HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO THE GARDENING EXAM
Vocabulary
– Annual: A plant that only lasts in the garden for one growing season and must be replanted the following year
– Cultivar: A plant variety bred for a specific trait; usually follows the plant’s formal name. In Rudbeckia nitida “Herbstonne,” the third word identifies the plant as the cultivar Herbstonne.
– Deadhead: The act of removing faded blooms before they set seed; this encourages a plant to generate more flowers.
– Hardscape: The fountains, sidewalks, benches and other hard elements that complement the soft plants in a garden.
– Heirloom: A plant that has not been commercially hybridized, or bred as a targeted cultivar, and still grows “true” from seed as it has for countless generations. Commercial seeds most often produce plants whose seeds are not useful for starting identical offspring.
– Integrated pest management: A gardening approach borrowed from modern agriculture that uses a carefully tuned blend of beneficial insects, minimal pesticide application and an attitude that allows pests to live if they don’t wreak extensive damage.
– Perennial: A plant whose above-ground growth dies back each fall but renews in the spring.
– Pinching: Snipping off the tips of new growth to encourage a plant to branch out and grow bushier.
– “V” crotch: When the connection between the tree trunk and a branch is sharply angled, it is called a “V” crotch, which is a weaker structure than a rounded “U” crotch.
– Winter interest: Evergreens, colored-barked plants, hardscape and other elements that provide visual relief in an otherwise dormant garden during winter.
True/false
1. False. Full sun means full sun.
2. False. Design should come before plant selection, except in cases where the garden is supposed to showcase some favorite plants.
3. True. Symmetry is a tool that works in some, but not all, garden beds.
4. False. Never mow off more than one-third of the grass’s length. Remove more of the grass and you damage the plant’s ability to feed and regenerate itself.
5. False. Blooms are not a reliable indicator of a plant’s health and viability. Select perennials with full, healthy root systems and shrubs with a full, not leggy, shape.
6. True. Dividing restores a perennial’s shape and vigor, but should not be done too often or it will sap the plant’s energy.
7. False. Many lawn weeds thrive during hot, dry weather, when turf grass is at its weakest. Failing to keep weeds out then will give them an edge over the turf and may allow them to take over your yard.
8. True. But this is a trick question. The same look can be a symptom of too little water, too. Telling the difference entails checking to see if the soil is wet or dry, and reading up on the plant’s moisture requirements.
9. False. Evergreens, including broadleafed types such as rhododendrons, need plenty of water right up until the ground freezes.
10. True. The ground around a new subdivision house is often blanketed with mineral-poor sub-soil excavated during the construction process. It’s best to know what improvements the soil will need before any plants are in.
11. True. Fertilizing in autumn enhances root growth and encourages an early spring green. For best results, the lawn should also be fertilized in late spring.
12. False. Garden plants that get frequent shallow watering develop shallow roots and are therefore unable to collect sufficient water. As a result they’ll demand more water than plants that are encouraged to root deeply.
13. False. Tulip and daffodil foliage must be left in place until it withers away; the foliage helps the below-ground bulb stock up energy to generate a bloom again the following year.
14. False. Because residential water supplies vary, the only way to know how much watering time translates into a certain depth of water is to first find out how long your sprinkler takes to fill a container or rain gauge with an inch of water.
15. True.
Scores: 20 to 25: Congratulations, graduate, and happy gardening.
15 to 19: Your green thumb will carry you through.
10 to 14: This winter would be a good time to bone up on basic garden know-how.
5 to 9: Maybe bad weather isn’t the one to blame for your lackluster garden.
0 to 4: Would you like the phone number of a good lawn service?
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GARDENING
Since January, Dennis Rodkin has written regularly in Your Place about the fundamentals of gardening. If you missed any of the stories and want to find them in your local library, here is a list of subjects and the dates they ran. The articles also can be accessed via Chicago Tribune Online by searching the Tribune archives. To get there use the keyword Tribune on America Online then click on Tribune Archives.
Jan. 19: A gardener’s vocabulary guide.
Feb. 16: Basic rules of designing a garden bed.
March 15: The best time to put hardscape elements–benches, fountains, rocks, bridges, sculptures–in place.
April 19: The total lawn care program.
May 3: How to shop at a nursery.
May 17: Dividing perennials.
May 31: Dead-heading and staking your flowers.
June 14: The how, how much and when of watering.
July 19: Fighting the creatures that threaten your garden.
Aug. 16: Weed control.
Sept. 20: A review of your garden’s season, from success to failure.
Oct. 18: Fall garden cleanup.
Nov. 22: What you need to know about soil.
