Planting My Summer House Terrace 2021
I love beautiful ornamental urns filled with lush, green plants.
As many of you may know, I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they’re all stored in a special greenhouse. And once warm weather arrives, they are brought out for display - many are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. This week, my crew filled several large planters with philodendrons and sago palms on the terrace behind my Summer House. All very easy to plant and maintain, these specimens will look wonderful all season long.
Enjoy these photos.
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- At the edge of this terrace are these six stone planters. This year, they’ll be planted with young sago palms. Ryan places one next to each urn. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular plant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Native to the southern islands of Japan, the sago palm goes by several common names, including Japanese palm, funeral palm, king sago or just plain sago palm.
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- The plant is not a true palm, despite its common name, but a cycad, part of a prehistoric class of plants. It produces a whorl of dark green, feather-like fronds on its trunk. The pinnate leaves are typically about four to five feet long at maturity, and nine-inches wide, reaching their greatest length when grown in partial shade.
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- To start, Ryan places a shard at the bottom of each planter. We always save shards to cover drain holes. It keeps dirt from falling through the hole while making sure there is still room for proper drainage. Saving the shards from broken pots is a great way to repurpose those pieces.
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- Next, Ryan cuts some black garden cloth to line the pot.
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- The cloth is placed into the vessel to protect its interior. This also makes it a lot easier come fall when the plants are removed from these pots and returned to their designated greenhouse where they live during the colder months.
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- After the black cloth is tucked into the pot, the plant is inserted and Domi fills the rest of the container with medium. Cycads like a good draining soil. Be sure the soil medium includes elements such as peat moss, perlite, and a little sand.
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- Next, don’t forget the food. Each plant gets a sprinkling of Osmocote – small particles known as prills which coat a core of nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The resin-coating is made from linseed oil and as the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the Osmocote.
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- As each sago palm is planted, Dawa gives it a good drink. It’s always important to water after planting and transplanting. This is a good way to avoid transplant shock, and will help the plant settle in to its new location.
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- Notice the sago palm’s trunk. It is a rough, symmetrical trunk which becomes leafless as it ages and gives way to its evergreen crown of upward pointing fronds. After watering, make sure the soil level is just below the rim of the container – this means there is just the right amount of soil.
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- I acquired eight of these gorgeous faux bois containers a few years ago. They will be potted up with big leaf philodendrons. Ryan assesses the pot sizes and decides where each specimen will be placed.
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- This split-leaf philodendron, Philodendron Selloum, is native to South America. It belongs to the group of philodendron plants that are among the most common of houseplants for their ability to thrive without much maintenance.
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- These plants have glossy, heart-shaped or rounded leathery leaves that develop deep clefts and oblong perforations as they grow older. The leaves may be as much as 18-inches wide on foot-long leafstalks.
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- Many varieties of Philodendron produce aerial roots which aid in providing supplemental nourishment. These aerial roots can be trained to climb or directed into the soil. The tough roots grow downward from the thick stem and will root if they touch the ground.
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- A few of the faux bois pots are tall, so a two-foot section of a tree trunk is placed inside to keep the plant at an appropriate height. Ryan also places pieces of wood between the stump and the bottom of the pot as well as between the pot and the stump for good drainage.
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- Then he carefully places the philodendron into the faux bois pot. To preserve these more porous and fragile faux bois planters and to simplify the removal in autumn, the philodendrons are also kept in their plastic pots.
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- Ryan sprinkles Osmocote around the base of each plant and carefully drapes the aerial roots outside the urn.
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- We always save small pieces of wood from year to year. These are used as shims under the pots, so the water drains fully.
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- Three to four wooden shims are placed under each urn. Ryan is also using my Non-Slip All Purpose Gloves in slate – available from my collection at Amazon.
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- Finally, Domi gives the philodendrons a drink.
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- Here they are the next morning after a soaking rain overnight. Container plants are an easy way to dress up any terrace or patio.
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- On the opposite side, the sago palms also look great in their summer location. These plants thrive in sunny to shady sites and can withstand some drought once established. And looking out into the sunken garden, everything is so beautiful, lush and green. This garden is tucked inside a tall hedge of American boxwood. And the main focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space. Soon, this garden will burst with colorful lilies to accent the bold green foliage – I can’t wait.
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