07-01-04 | News

Results from February LCN Survey

 

What kinds of waterscaping projects do you do?

1. Ponds–64%
2. Creeks/Waterfalls–86%
3. Fountains–71%
4. Irrigation–21%
5. Other–29%

More than 10% of my waterscaping projects are:

6. Residential–93%
7. Other–7%

   What kinds of waterscaping products have you used?

8. Aerators–14%
9. Pond & Waterfall Pumps–79%
10. Fountain Equipment–43%
11. Lake Liners–36%
12. Aquatic Dyes–14%
13. Pond Edging–21%
14. Koi and other fish–21%
15. Rock–43%
16. Artificial Rock–14%
17. Tiles–14%
18. Deck Materials–21%
19. Floating Docks–7%
20. Lighting–71%
21. Fog Systems–7%
22. Other–14%

Waterscaping Wisdom

From the responses that LCN gathered for this survey, it looks as if most of you specialize in residential waterscaping. In fact, 93 percent of the survey respondents indicated residential waterscapes were the sole aquascaping projects completed. Considering that 86 percent of survey respondents work with creeks and waterfalls, 71 percent work with fountains, and 64 percent of survey respondents work on ponds, these are some pretty nice residential projects. In fact, the number of you who specialize in all three of those types of projects composes 36 percent of responses.

As for the types of materials you like to use, more than two-thirds of you have installed rock, and 71 percent of you have installed lighting. These two must bode well together because 57 percent of the survey respondents indicated that both have been used. Pond and waterfall pumps are popular amongst 79 percent of survey respondents. In addition, 43 percent indicated the use of fountain equipment.

Elegant residential yards with ponds, creeks and fountains are the picture that emerges of the types of projects that LCN?EUR??,,????'???s aquascaping readership works with.

Letters and More

Re: “Asthma Friendly Gardens,” April issue

I just want to comment that in the list of plants used in the landscape of the American Lung Association headquarters in Richmond, Virginia that all the junipers, maples, willows, and hollies were female cultivars. I mention this because I want to make sure that the reader does not simply assume that all junipers, maples, willows and hollies are allergy free. The males of these species are anything but. The females, though, are all 100% pollen free and with separate sexed species used in this landscape, only female were planted.

Right now, the ALA in Harrisburg, Penn, is building a new “Health House,” using only green construction materials and practices….and this one too will be landscaped with an allergy free landscape.

Tom Ogren
Author of Allergy-Free Gardening

Book Review

Hostas Author: Rosemary Barrett; Photography: Derek Hughes

Why hostas? Well, flip through the pages of this book and you’ll know. Hostas tend to be grown for their beautiful and diverse leaves. In fact, notes the author, “…most gardeners would not be able to recognize a hosta by its flower alone, whereas many people can name dozens of plants from their leaves.” Hostas bloom for about three weeks and their flowers are quite pretty, from the pure white flower of H. plantaginera, the pale lavender flowers of H. lancifolia, to the green leaves and attractive purple flowers of H. ventricosa.

Hosta leaves, however, aren’t the whole story. The author explains: “Some hostas have beautiful bracts (a modified leaf from whose base a flower grow) at the top of the flower scape, and I am inclined to think that these are more attractive than the eventual flower.”

Still, the author does not choose hostas for anything but their leaves. While hostas are generally easy to grow, there is a chapter on the “Three Difficult Beauties” (‘Frances Williams,’ ‘Aurora Borealis’ and ‘Samurai’), hostas with “deeply corrugated, galucous leaves, heavily margined in yellow” but susceptible to necrosis.

The book speaks to the cultivation and propagation of hostas; color selections for borders and beds; typical garden settings; enhancing a garden’s special features; growing hostas in containers; companion plantings for hostas; and finally, a catalog of hostas (166 in all).

So, if you aren’t that familiar with hostas, or want to see what has escaped your attention, look no further. The author points out there’s been an upsurge in the use of hostas in gardens in the last few years, but “it seems a great pity to perhaps own half a dozen of the more common varieties and just keep splitting them up and spreading them around the garden.” The author believes the hosta is a perfect perennial.