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Plant Exchange: Gardening Is Local Woman’s ‘True Hobby’
BY BRENDA JOHNSON
P&D Correspondent
Q: May we visit your evolving county yard and garden?
A: Jean Koupal, Lewis & Clark Lake area of Yankton, has a country acreage that started as a blank slate for plants 16 years ago. Koupal said her husband Rick, son Jim, and daughter Laurie helped her turn a cattle yard into what this writer sees as closer to a park today.
“When you replace one plant in your yard, just admit that five years later you’ll need to do it again,” Koupal said.
Re-positioning trees in the front yard so that each one can grow to its natural shape and size is one example.
“My husband was associated with Gurney Seed & Nursery Company. We both share this interest in growing plants,” Koupal said.
When you enter their front yard, you pass under ash tree canopy with linden, and locust also providing shade on a hot summer day. In the back yard, a Catalpa tree, grown from seed is in bloom.
Many gardeners that plan their next landscape design challenge have a favorite spot where they can see the yard and think.
“I want something blooming in the yard all season,” said Koupal. “This is where it starts. I stand here on the deck and figure out what needs changing.”
One flower bed is next to the steps down from the deck and a used brick path.
In the backdrop are crabapple trees and burning bushes, through which you can see other trees in the distance. Among the flowers are bee balm and Asiatic lilies. Ground-hugging sedum forms the ground cover among accent stones with a husband-constructed bluebird house nearby.
“Containers are for annuals. Flowerbeds have perennials,” Koupal said. “I like to sit down and enjoy the yard.”
There are seating spots in several areas of the yard.
“When anyone is dividing plants, I stand in line to help them out,” said Koupal as she pointed to flowers from friends.
Propagation
A William Baffin climbing rose blooms on its trellis along the yard boundary.
“This is how you get rootings from this green wood branch,” said Koupal.
She notches the stem every two- or three-leaf nodes and holds the notched stem to the ground with a landscape staple.
“I bury the stem where the notches are with about 2 inches of soil. When the stems start rooting, each cutting is ready to transplant,” she said.
Golden Elderberry shrub is used as a full sun foundation planting for a barn nearby.
“We started these in 1992 from a single plant that came from Gurney Seed & Nursery,” Koupal said. “In the spring you cut off a green wood branch. With two leaf nodes per length of branch, you stick the section in the soil with a plastic bag over it for greenhouse effect. When leaves start to grow, you put the new plant in a holding garden.
“By fall, you are ready to plant the Golden Elderberry whips. They will grow fast. After two years you can cut off the shrub near the ground and they re-grow rapidly or you can just let them grow to a mature height of about 15 feet,” she said.
Holding Garden
Koupal uses the 3-foot fenced garden with timber-sectioned beds for several purposes.
“I start all new plants in the holding garden,” she said. “They need frequent watering, so they are together, rather than all over the yard in their future spots where I might forget about them.”
The new plants have time to get over transplant shock and adjust to the new soil without competition from other plants here. The composted soil is similar to elsewhere in the yard.
The holding garden is rabbit-resistant, with the fine gauge wire and the recycled wood at the base of the fence.
“Deer do find their way in here,” Koupal said.
“This rhubarb plant came from a 100-year-old plant that a friend divided and gave to me,” Koupal said. (This may be a Plant Exchange “oldest plant” still growing record, replacing Marilyn Nyberg’s 75-year-old Christmas cactus. Readers, can you top this?)
“We have our regular garden here, too,” Koupal said.
Sweet pea vines and cucumbers twine up cattle panels with carrots and herbs nearby. Soaker hoses and grass clippings hold in moisture and curtail weeding.
Koupal uses spare grass clippings from other’s yards and uses a mulching lawn mower on her own lawn for turf health.
Passing on the Love of Gardening
Jordan and Paityn are grandchildren being gently introduced to gardening. Jordan, 11, visits at Christmas and in the summer. Last winter, he picked out sweet corn, popcorn, sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon seeds to plant. Jordan helps with weeding, but his nearby tree swing gives him a place to relax and see the results of his work. Paityn is less than a year old. As watcher, she has a lot of time to be influenced by her older cousin.
Daughter Laurie has a plant bed in the yard that she maintained into adulthood.
“Whenever I look at those flowers. I think of her,” Koupal said. “Hummingbirds are attracted to the red salvia. Red is my favorite color.”
She continued, “My husband, Rick and I love this place. We talk as we work in the garden. We visit as we sit and enjoy this place. When I had health concerns in the past, I found working with plants calming.
“Growing up we had a vegetable garden and canned them. For me, each year I become more interested in gardening and have learned a lot. Flowers are a big part of my life … my true hobby.”
———
Q: What young tree guard products are you using at Lewis & Clark Recreation Area these days?
A: Dale Dawson, Conservation Technician, oversees grounds keeping at the state park, and has experience in residential and commercial landscaping.
He was asked to share information about tree guards used at the park.
“You might consider tree trunk protection because rabbits can girdle and kill the young trees or deer can rub the trees with their antlers and break the trees,” Dawson said. “Also, some varieties of trees have a thin bark making them susceptible to sun scald. That's when the outer layers of the tree will freeze during the winter months. On clear days the layers will thaw as it is warmed by the sun, then at night freeze again as temperatures drop causing damage to the tree's tissue.
“This will result in unsightly cracks appearing in the tree’s trunk usually on the south or southwest side,” he said. “Tree protectors create a stable environment around the tree’s trunk minimizing the thaw and freeze cycle, thus protecting the tender bark. Protecting the young trees from sun scald, rabbits, deer and mower damage is what we look for in a multi-purpose tree protector.”
Dawson continued, “In 2007 park personnel installed several Plainsman and Accolade Elms that are Dutch Elm Disease resistant. We placed mulch rings at the base of the trees and installed 48-inch recyclable polypropylene tubes to protect the tree trunks. The tubes (tree protectors) encircle and overlap and are held in place with duct tape.
“As the tree grows you remove the tape and adjust the diameter so it’s about 1 to 2 inches bigger than the tree’s trunk. That way, it’s not to loose because that might rub the bark causing damage. You can use tree protectors on any trees before it gets its course bark,” he said.
Dawson said tree protectors are available at local nurseries or at A.M. Leonard Horticulture, Tool and Supply, amleo.com.
———
Tip for Planting Tiny Seeds
Handling and placing tiny seeds for planting can be difficult. This idea requires only white paper, cotton string and water.
Put seeds on white paper so they are easily seen. Spread them out or group together according to how close you want the seeds where they are planted.
Wet cotton string with water. Lay string on seeds on paper.
Put seed coated string in a soil furrow in a line or irregular shape as needed.
— Fine Gardening, February 2009
———
Share your tips, give us a tour of your plant site, or send your questions about gardening, outdoor, and indoor plants to newsroom@yankton.net with Attn: Brenda Johnson or write to P&D Attn: Brenda Johnson, 319 Walnut St, Yankton, SD 57078.
A: Jean Koupal, Lewis & Clark Lake area of Yankton, has a country acreage that started as a blank slate for plants 16 years ago. Koupal said her husband Rick, son Jim, and daughter Laurie helped her turn a cattle yard into what this writer sees as closer to a park today.
“When you replace one plant in your yard, just admit that five years later you’ll need to do it again,” Koupal said.
Re-positioning trees in the front yard so that each one can grow to its natural shape and size is one example.
“My husband was associated with Gurney Seed & Nursery Company. We both share this interest in growing plants,” Koupal said.
When you enter their front yard, you pass under ash tree canopy with linden, and locust also providing shade on a hot summer day. In the back yard, a Catalpa tree, grown from seed is in bloom.
Many gardeners that plan their next landscape design challenge have a favorite spot where they can see the yard and think.
“I want something blooming in the yard all season,” said Koupal. “This is where it starts. I stand here on the deck and figure out what needs changing.”
One flower bed is next to the steps down from the deck and a used brick path.
In the backdrop are crabapple trees and burning bushes, through which you can see other trees in the distance. Among the flowers are bee balm and Asiatic lilies. Ground-hugging sedum forms the ground cover among accent stones with a husband-constructed bluebird house nearby.
“Containers are for annuals. Flowerbeds have perennials,” Koupal said. “I like to sit down and enjoy the yard.”
There are seating spots in several areas of the yard.
“When anyone is dividing plants, I stand in line to help them out,” said Koupal as she pointed to flowers from friends.
Propagation
A William Baffin climbing rose blooms on its trellis along the yard boundary.
“This is how you get rootings from this green wood branch,” said Koupal.
She notches the stem every two- or three-leaf nodes and holds the notched stem to the ground with a landscape staple.
“I bury the stem where the notches are with about 2 inches of soil. When the stems start rooting, each cutting is ready to transplant,” she said.
Golden Elderberry shrub is used as a full sun foundation planting for a barn nearby.
“We started these in 1992 from a single plant that came from Gurney Seed & Nursery,” Koupal said. “In the spring you cut off a green wood branch. With two leaf nodes per length of branch, you stick the section in the soil with a plastic bag over it for greenhouse effect. When leaves start to grow, you put the new plant in a holding garden.
“By fall, you are ready to plant the Golden Elderberry whips. They will grow fast. After two years you can cut off the shrub near the ground and they re-grow rapidly or you can just let them grow to a mature height of about 15 feet,” she said.
Holding Garden
Koupal uses the 3-foot fenced garden with timber-sectioned beds for several purposes.
“I start all new plants in the holding garden,” she said. “They need frequent watering, so they are together, rather than all over the yard in their future spots where I might forget about them.”
The new plants have time to get over transplant shock and adjust to the new soil without competition from other plants here. The composted soil is similar to elsewhere in the yard.
The holding garden is rabbit-resistant, with the fine gauge wire and the recycled wood at the base of the fence.
“Deer do find their way in here,” Koupal said.
“This rhubarb plant came from a 100-year-old plant that a friend divided and gave to me,” Koupal said. (This may be a Plant Exchange “oldest plant” still growing record, replacing Marilyn Nyberg’s 75-year-old Christmas cactus. Readers, can you top this?)
“We have our regular garden here, too,” Koupal said.
Sweet pea vines and cucumbers twine up cattle panels with carrots and herbs nearby. Soaker hoses and grass clippings hold in moisture and curtail weeding.
Koupal uses spare grass clippings from other’s yards and uses a mulching lawn mower on her own lawn for turf health.
Passing on the Love of Gardening
Jordan and Paityn are grandchildren being gently introduced to gardening. Jordan, 11, visits at Christmas and in the summer. Last winter, he picked out sweet corn, popcorn, sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon seeds to plant. Jordan helps with weeding, but his nearby tree swing gives him a place to relax and see the results of his work. Paityn is less than a year old. As watcher, she has a lot of time to be influenced by her older cousin.
Daughter Laurie has a plant bed in the yard that she maintained into adulthood.
“Whenever I look at those flowers. I think of her,” Koupal said. “Hummingbirds are attracted to the red salvia. Red is my favorite color.”
She continued, “My husband, Rick and I love this place. We talk as we work in the garden. We visit as we sit and enjoy this place. When I had health concerns in the past, I found working with plants calming.
“Growing up we had a vegetable garden and canned them. For me, each year I become more interested in gardening and have learned a lot. Flowers are a big part of my life … my true hobby.”
———
Q: What young tree guard products are you using at Lewis & Clark Recreation Area these days?
A: Dale Dawson, Conservation Technician, oversees grounds keeping at the state park, and has experience in residential and commercial landscaping.
He was asked to share information about tree guards used at the park.
“You might consider tree trunk protection because rabbits can girdle and kill the young trees or deer can rub the trees with their antlers and break the trees,” Dawson said. “Also, some varieties of trees have a thin bark making them susceptible to sun scald. That's when the outer layers of the tree will freeze during the winter months. On clear days the layers will thaw as it is warmed by the sun, then at night freeze again as temperatures drop causing damage to the tree's tissue.
“This will result in unsightly cracks appearing in the tree’s trunk usually on the south or southwest side,” he said. “Tree protectors create a stable environment around the tree’s trunk minimizing the thaw and freeze cycle, thus protecting the tender bark. Protecting the young trees from sun scald, rabbits, deer and mower damage is what we look for in a multi-purpose tree protector.”
Dawson continued, “In 2007 park personnel installed several Plainsman and Accolade Elms that are Dutch Elm Disease resistant. We placed mulch rings at the base of the trees and installed 48-inch recyclable polypropylene tubes to protect the tree trunks. The tubes (tree protectors) encircle and overlap and are held in place with duct tape.
“As the tree grows you remove the tape and adjust the diameter so it’s about 1 to 2 inches bigger than the tree’s trunk. That way, it’s not to loose because that might rub the bark causing damage. You can use tree protectors on any trees before it gets its course bark,” he said.
Dawson said tree protectors are available at local nurseries or at A.M. Leonard Horticulture, Tool and Supply, amleo.com.
———
Tip for Planting Tiny Seeds
Handling and placing tiny seeds for planting can be difficult. This idea requires only white paper, cotton string and water.
Put seeds on white paper so they are easily seen. Spread them out or group together according to how close you want the seeds where they are planted.
Wet cotton string with water. Lay string on seeds on paper.
Put seed coated string in a soil furrow in a line or irregular shape as needed.
— Fine Gardening, February 2009
———
Share your tips, give us a tour of your plant site, or send your questions about gardening, outdoor, and indoor plants to newsroom@yankton.net with Attn: Brenda Johnson or write to P&D Attn: Brenda Johnson, 319 Walnut St, Yankton, SD 57078.
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