It looks too sunny there to add a snakebark maple outside the window so that you could enjoy the bark during winter. Although the roses are a bit petite, they sure look like Gertrude Jekyll, whose incredible fragrance would brighten anyone's day. But maybe I am just dreaming. This summer my neighbor told me that she could smell their fragrance at her backdoor, which is well over 50' from the bush. You should write sometime about Japanese maples and companion plants.
You are right Laurie. It is Gertrude J. These are first year bushes grown on their own roots. If you want more info on new generation roses and my experiences, I could email you. The picture below is an Austin Bed I created. I have now added Japanese Maples to this bed. Will D, Seiryu, Chisio Improved, Higasayama, Taiyo Nishiki, Ao Kanzashi. This bed contains the best soil in my garden. It is layers of leaf mould, wood chips, compost, peat moss and twice a week gets a garbage bag of coffe grounds from a local coffe shop. Mike
Laurie, I've tried twice to start such a thread but with little enthusiasm from other members. It is an important subject as the companion plants for young maples may not be the same as for adult maples. I do not like ground covers since they interfere with the yearly mulching. I tend to look for bushes and large perennials that display their raison d'être when maples are 'dormant' (i.e.: mostly summer). Small to medium Hydrangeas provide a large pool of choices. Some grasses bring interesting contrast to japanese maples. Kind regards, Gomero
Mike, It looks you take great care of you plants. Just wondering if you have or have had any disease problems with your maples related to their close proximity to so many roses? Of course if you are regularly treating the roses, then the maples will not be at risk. Just a random thought.
Here are a couple of photos from our previous residence. We used a fair number of spring bulbs which were always nice in combination with the maples' spring colors. I also used flax in a couple of places as well some dwarf conifers. The dwarf balsam fir is planted in the foreground of our bloodgood. I used various forms of dwarf white pines and some semi-dwarf conifers like the deodora 'Cream Puff' in the background of one of the photos. I used some grasses. Blue fescue was easy as it seeds itself regularly and the blue is very attractive with maples. I have also used the Purple Fountain grass, but it is an annual here and can get very large. Nandina is also a wonderful comapion plant that can be found in many varieties and sizes. I know a grower in the Portland area that has a special place in his heart for woodland plants, epimediums being a favorite. I think they are quite beautiful, but I find it hard to grow them here in the heat as they seem to go dormant prematurely. I know that there are many wonderful exotic plants that could be used as companions for maples, but I spend so much time looking for maples that I rarely have time to investigate other exotic and rare plants. Most of the stuff we used we found at local nurseries, but occasionally we would pick up something different at a specialty nursery while searching for maples. Two plants that have shown up at our new residence and seem like they would make good companions are summer bulbs. One appears to be an Asian lilly and the other [SIZE=-1]Amaryllis belladonna. The previous owners here seem to have planted a pink form of this summerAmaryllis bulb prolificly and I hope to relocate many of them to more suitable spots. The Lillies are quite striking as they reach a height of around 6ft. [/SIZE]
MJH, I do not treat the roses. My rule, if the plant can't make it on its own then I take the plant out and give it to someone else. It tends to be an expensive rule. I usually give the plant to my parents or a neighbor. This way I can enjoy the plant when I visit. The only problem I have seen on my maples is powdery mildew. If I find that the roses are creating a problem for the maples, then I will remove the roses. I am starting to place hosta's under each tree. For my garden, this will be a new look. Iwill have pictures this spring/summer.
Kick @ss garden man, but let me ask you, what do you use for borders to seperate the grass and mulch? It looks like a line of rocks and boulders but is there some kind of trim underneath?
I live in Historic Chadds Ford. There are alot of old farm walls around where I live. When they get knocked down to build new homes I usually go over and save the rocks and use them in my garden. I do not use any thing but old news paper under the rocks. I have to do alot of weeding. But I enjoy the daily work in the garden. Most of my mulch is leaf mold and wood chips. My passion used to be roses. Now I am into Japanese Maples. I am slowly incorporating maples. Into all the beds. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Mike
Michael, Treat the roses for what? This is the first reference I've seen regarding compatibility between roses and maples. Since I have a couple of scenarios where trees are virtually on top of roses, I'd like to know what the risks might be. If need be, the roses can go somewhere else ;) Bryan
Bryan, what is the rose that you have planted with Sango kaku, as pictured in the Photo Gallery: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2794? Your roses look great. I believe what Michael was referring to was the reputation roses have for being disease-prone and whether either those diseases or the methods of care have any impact on the maples. It is my understanding that the problem with powdery mildew is regional, and I don’t believe that it is a particular problem in the Treasure Valley. Initially because of the deer here, I took most of my roses and planted them at my mom’s place in Elmore county. She may occasionally get a little black spot, which is not a problem for maples as far as I know, but never powdery mildew. It also seems that the roses attract more aphids than the tender growth on the maples does. Since Mike doesn’t spray the roses with chemicals, then there is no threat of accidentally spraying the maple leaves. If he did spray the roses with neem oil or a foliar feed with seaweed, I don’t believe that that would harm the maple leaves either. The last thought, given the wind in Elmore county, is that growing taller roses next to the Japanese maples may result in rose prickles tearing the maple leaves. However, your garden looks protected and lovely. Mike, your roses look beautiful, and I hope that the Austin bed is successful. Are you monitoring the pH given all that coffee? One question that I have for you and Bryan is how you manage the heavy feed that the roses need with the lighter feed that the Japanese maples need. (Didn’t Vertrees write of cautious applications of nitrogen?) I would think that that would be a challenge, especially for the variegated maples, which I understand can either revert or at least not put on the same show with such a lavish diet. (Did you read in Vertrees, 3rd ed., that Higasa yama “nder good growth conditions in the ground” produces long shoots “nearly always atypical of the cultivar” which revert the second year?) Michael, that third photograph is beautiful. It must have been difficult to say good-bye to that garden.
Laurie, Thanks for the clarification. I don't know what my roses are -- they were here when I purchased the property five years ago. They've survived the construction of the garage, installation of sidewalks and landscaping projects. I whack them down to knee height every spring and they rebound to five or six feet by mid summer. I've worried about their proximity to my Sango Kaku, but I haven't seen any negative effects so far so I haven't had the heart to remove them. I don't believe that I've fertilized them at all in the last couple of years. I've always figured that I would move them if they caused any problems or if they started to diminish in some way. You're pretty much correct about the Treasure Valley. While it's not quite as windy and unprotected as it would be in a place like Mountain Home, it is very arid here and we usually don't have too many problems with mildews and fungi. Aphids can be problematic, but I tend to use systemic methods to control them rather than sprays. Thanks, Bryan
I miss Spring! A picture of my front lawn in Spring of this year. Inaba Shidare in the foreground with rhododendrons in the background. Swanny
Your photos do the winter blahs justice. I am already thinking about spring. Thanks for the photos. You guys have got some spectacular yards and gardens. Your neighbors must get on their knees and thank God for neighbors like you. All of my maples are in a woodland setting. It is beautiful in the spring, but quite different from what you have. If I can figure out how to get some pictures on a thread, I will send some this spring.
Byran, my best guess is that the roses you have are 'Chicago Peace', but there are so many roses I could be wrong. I wish people would not give up on roses, there really are some varieties that are easy to grow and disease free. Mike, I love that rose and and clematis combination you have going there. Are they 'John Cabot' roses?
Just a comment from my perspective on this: Q: When is it okay for people to go "off-topic" in a forum? A: When they know it should probably go elsewhere.
Krautz Tall maples will eventually shield the sun and roses will not like it, as I have found out. Gomero
Gardeners are some of the kindest and friendly people you are likely to meet, so forgive them if they go off topic once in a while........however this is still in topic, its discussing the relationship between maples and roses.......if the post had just been look at my roses then maybe that's when it might not be relevant........but hey, its your board...you decide :)
oscar, I think we're very close in our opinions on the matter. It makes me happy to see that people are building communities around certain forums, and if that's where they are inclined to post (even when they know portions of it might be off-topic), I'll not get in the way. Only other thing krautz33 might want to do is post in the Roses forum suggesting people check out this thread here!
*sigh* I see now where your comment came from, oscar - krautz33 removed his post. What I meant by my original comment was that I was fully supporting what you were posting, krautz33 (i.e., I was saying it was ok to post and there was no need to apologize for posting non-maple pics here). I apologize that I wasn't clearer. krautz33, are you feeling charitable enough to try and rebuild your post? I can send you the text if you are willing to reattach the images.
Recommendations for companion plants is an important topic and one not often visited in newsletters and seminars, at least from my experience. The topic was visual memories of seasons past and companion plants, especially roses and maples. The roses look so beautiful in a bouquet with maple leaves as well, if one can bear to cut twigs or branches off of the maples. (I think that the moderators - Daniel, Eric, Andre - should continue to moderate and move things around, with links to another thread like you recently did with another maple topic. The topic of interest continues in the way you would like to see it. Would you please wake those roses up; they seem to have slipped under the covers.) Swanny, it is inspiring to see that healthy Inaba shidare at what looks to be at most 3' from that tree. I assume that you don't provide any special care to compensate for the competition. If that is vinca, it is somewhat invasive in the woods here and really hard to eliminate.
I think the moderaters do a great job with the forum. I find myself several times a day coming to this forum to learn something new about maples. Dan, keep up the good work. I am not very good with the computer and posting pictures. I will try some pictures if you put them together that would be great. Mike