cascading geraniums

CASCADING GERANIUMS
by Jeff Jones
1
CONTENTS
Planters
page
2
Background
9
Streetscapes
11
Pelargonium Peltatum
13
Vandals
19
Propagating
30
Soparcos
31
Watering
32
Fertilising
33
Insect Control
34
Orientation
35
Impact
36
Tall Pots
39
Drums
40
Potting Mix
41
Ode to Geraniums
42
2
DRUM PLANTERS
Natural partners with
Cascading Geraniums
3
TALL POTS
As Cascading Geraniums
growth habit is to hang down,
as the name implies, low
conventional pots are not
suitable, much taller pots are.
4
HANGING BASKETS
Traditional method for
growing and displaying the
popular Cascading Geranium
family
5
PLANTERS
I approached the Committee of Boulder
Promotions and Development, of which I was a
member, with a proposal to grow Cascading
Geraniums in the old strip shopping precinct of
Burt Street in Boulder, and they agreed to
support my plan.
Conventional planters are used in streetscapes
to grow a great variety of annual and perennial
plants. However these planters are generally
too low to show the cascading geraniums to
best advantage so I decided our planters
should be a minimum height of 80 – 100 cm.
I settled on
recycled 200 litre chemical drums as they are
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readily available, made of strong non-corrosive
material, and not expensive. When full of soil
they are very heavy which would make them
unlikely to be stolen. Another advantage is
that because of the depth of soil in the drums,
there would be plenty of room for the roots to
grow and the plants would not dry out quickly.
Planters are on show 24/7 365 days of the
year, and these tall planters which are 100 cm
tall, would put the plants in people’s faces and
give plenty of room for the plant to cascade.
This booklet is about placing these drum
planters in a streetscape setting.
There is an alternative to the recycled plastic
drums as planters and these are purpose built
and made locally but much more expensive.
THE BURT STREET PLANTERS
were
jointly designed by Scott Walker and myself
and are proving to be both attractive and
practical.
The City Council of Kalgoorlie-Boulder have
committed the funds for the construction and
installation of fifty five of these planters. At
the time of writing two thirds are already in
the street. They are powder coated of steel
construction and dyna bolted to the
pavement. The colours of grey and burgundy
match the other street furniture.
7
The first of the new planters went in some
twelve months ago and has not been damaged
in any way. Once they are all installed and with
a good head of geraniums in flower they will
be a great feature for the old town of Boulder.
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BACKGROUND
Seventeen years ago I started to grow upright
Zonal Geraniums in Kalgoorlie in Western
Australia. I was managing a caravan park for
my family at the time, and decided to grow
plants around the caravans and against the
fences to bring colour to soften the harsh lines
of the dry red soil. The hardy geraniums with
their bright flowers quickly achieved the
desired result.
In time I retired and specialised in Ivy
Geraniums, Pelargonium Peltatum. Within this
large plant family are a few cultivars that
cascade freely. This booklet is about cascading
geraniums. I will use their common name
throughout.
Cascading Geraniums are a unique plant that
has masses of small single flowers over long
periods. They prosper over a wide climatic
range from the inland of Australia to the
window boxes in Switzerland. They are easy to
grow and do not require dead heading, making
them self cleaning.
I have grown them in streetscapes, the race
course, cemeteries and other non-domestic
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situations, and have been fortunate in being
able to grow large numbers in some difficult
situations with the support of the City of
Kalgoorlie-Boulder. This booklet is primarily
about streetscapes. This is a subject I have
gathered some expertise of, both from my
own hands-on experience, and also from
having seen them magnificently displayed in
the streets and market places of Europe. The
experience I have gained I feel should be
committed to paper.
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STREETSCAPES
Streetscapes involve many components,
principally the buildings and their use. Retail
Centres fall into two main categories (1)
Supermarkets surrounded by large areas of
bitumen paving for car parks and (2) Strip
Shops, that have been passed by time in favour
of the big centres. Many of the Strip Shopping
Precincts are struggling – however some are
staging a comeback, due to considerably lower
rents. They have become home to second
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hand bookshops, antique shops, coffee shops,
specialty shops and so on.
These Strip Shops are interested in Planters
and Street Furniture for Alfresco Dining etc.
The place of plants is important as they can
improve the ambience and give the precinct
character in a way that a Supermarket cannot.
Hence my interest in cascading geraniums in
these situations. This is not a new concept,
many places in the world already have well
developed streetscapes with flowering plants.
Putting plants into these precincts is frought
with problems, they are on show 24/7 365
days a year and not many plants can put on a
show and play in that league – Cascading
Geraniums can.
Shopkeepers love flowering plants outside
their shops.
Customers like
environment.
shopping
in
a
floral
Street side cafes and coffee shops do vastly
better with their tables and footpaths.
Alfresco dining is huge in places like Paris and
you can see why. Flowering plants give a
carnival atmosphere.
A happy street is a win win situation.
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Pelargonium Peltatum &
Heat Tolerance
There are some five hundred different cultivars
of Ivy Geraniums that have been hybridised
over the last 150 years. In this family of plants
is a small group of long flowering plants with
single flowers that cascade freely.
These plants do not become dormant with the
onset of hot weather, they flower throughout
summer, daily temperatures out to 44 degrees
centigrade don’t concern them. Their flowers
stand up like soldiers and don’t wilt. This year
2013 we had a day or two at 47 degrees – they
didn’t handle that well. In some cases 25% of
the plants facing west were severely burnt.
The normal European bred zonal or ivy in
Kalgoorlie will stop flowering in mid-November
and not start again until May.
Cascade Geraniums have been extensively
used in Europe, in window boxes on balconies
and in hanging baskets. Unfortunately they
cannot survive below freezing winters and are
either taken under cover or replaced each
year.
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Pelargonium Peltatum, the original species
originated in South Africa which has a similar
climate to large parts of inland Australia.
Where we live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia,
we have some plants twelve to fourteen years
old (as above), because we don’t have the
problem of freezing winters.
For simplicity I will use the common name of
Cascade Geranium as that is how they are
widely known. I will give a brief description of
the cultivars I have grown and had most
success with.
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Ville de Paris
With its glowing orange/red flowers, in
group plantings is a memorable sight.
This high performance cultivar can flower for
nine to ten months year after year. This plant
has few equals and creates a powerful
colourful image.
15
Decora Rose.
This cultivar is an old favourite: in France
it’s displayed in urns at the Palace of Versailles,
the Chateaus along the Loire Valley, and
elsewhere.
The flowers when they first open are a
dark pink, fading to a light pink as they age.
The two tone effect of complementary colours
in Drum Planters is a pretty addition to any
streetscape
16
Lilac Cascade.
As the name implies the flowers are lilac
in colour, that is a pale mauve/blue, a
universal favourite with the fairer sex.
Lilac is a restful colour in a streetscape, we
have grown them in pale blue painted Drum
Planters and these have attracted many
complimentary comments.
Long flowering, tough, no vices, what more
can you ask?
17
Ville de Dresden
Heaps of white flowers, a vigorous plant
that will stand, and needs, pruning.
Ville de Dresden can be planted with other
cultivars, however it tends to take over.
Flower Power Ville de Dresden can be a strong
addition to a streetscape, and provide variety.
There are another six or seven Cascading
Geraniums that I don’t have at this time. Most
have been hybridised in the big German
Nurseries.
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VANDALISM
Some Strip Shopping Precincts that have
Hotels, TAB’s, Fish and Chip Shops, Video
Shops, Convenience Stores etc., all open after
dark, and are places where young people ‘hang
out’, present a serious problem of vandalism.
If vandalism is a problem for street plants the
easy solution is ‘Don’t put plants there’.
However as the character of these places can
be considerably improved with the addition of
flowering plants, I have found that it’s worth
the effort and expense, and the end result is a
plus for the community.
Vandalism of plants is WAR between the
Vandals and the Gardeners. I have developed
some strategies and solutions, as I have been
exposed to this situation.
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The main planter we have used is the 200 litre
recycled chemical drum. The main problem we
have had with these is that Vandals can push
them over, and they do. One terrible day we
had ten pushed over and lying on their side in
the gutter.
As the City’s Senior Horticulturist said, “If you
are going to stress over these attacks you will
end up bitter and twisted. It goes with the
territory. Simply repair damage ASAP and
don’t let the vandals win.”
We have solved that push over problem, one
at a time is manageable.
When preparing the drums for the street, we
open them, undercoat paint, put holes in the
bottom for drainage, and at the ground level
we cut a slit on both sides with an angle
grinder, and pass a 70 cm length of 75 x 3 mm
flat steel through, protruding 70 mm each side,
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then drill a hole in the steel each side and
insert a Dyna Bolt. When bolted down, the
keenest and toughest Vandal is unable to push
them over as they are now ‘un-pushoverable’.
(see photo)
The purpose built Planters come with lugs for
Dyna Bolting.
Vandals come in many shapes and sizes, if I
seem preoccupied with them you are right, I
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am. Out of the 100 drums over the first 2 year
period I replaced approximately 400 plants.
Drums that have small young plants were
vulnerable as, after dark, some people simply
took them home to their place, probably less
than 20%. Once the plants were well
established they were too big to steal, then the
really serious vandals took over. This group
pulled the plants out and threw them on the
ground or pushed the drums over. We tried
replanting them but they didn’t prosper, so we
replaced them with fresh plants the next day.
Cascading Geraniums are long lived but slow
growers. Sometimes, if I was short of plants I
would replace them with Petunias, they grow
22
quickly, have plenty of colour and a small root
system. I would plant them in conjunction with
young cascading geraniums, once the
geraniums were sufficiently well established
the petunias were consigned to the bin.
Initially the drums were full of soil but if it was
necessary to replace a drum, they were very
heavy (300 kg with wet soil). I used a small
Hyab on my little water truck Furphy, for this
task (photos).
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Faced with these problems I successfully
experimented with 50 litre big plastic pots (see
photo) and called them ‘implants’. I grew sixty
or so in the nursery and when established dug
half the soil out of the damaged drum and put
an implant in.
The implants were a major break through, they
can be easily interchanged by two men, they
are heavy enough not to be stolen, and they
can be rotated if the plants under a shop
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awning are growing one way and out of
balance.
Full drums in high damage areas, were then
history and simply became planters to provide
height for the geraniums to cascade and at
that height, nearly a meter, the plants were
shown to their best.
Next problem, steal or pull out and drop.
I set out
to provide the plants with some sort of
protection. Cars have seatbelts, boats have life
jackets, bike riders have helmets, yet I am
putting plants ‘out there’ without protection.
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I devised a method to anchor the plant in the
implant, to the other two plants in the implant,
and to the soil in the implant.
I
make a round tube out of 50 x 50 mm garden
mesh 250 mm in diameter and 350 mm high, I
call this tube a ‘core’. Into the empty implant I
stand the core and slowly add potting mix then
plant three plants in the core at the top. As
these three plants grow their roots penetrate
the mesh on all sides, effectively binding the
lot together. After three months they are
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ready to put in the street and the plants are
relatively secure.
I call these
minimised’.
plantings
being
‘damage
I did a trial planting of 38 implants and by early
November of 2009 I had most of those 38
implants in the street.
Diary entry 1.11.09
“Another rampaging Friday night, ended
up with some damage to some of the
drums. However damage to the ones
with damage reduction was manageable.
Those few plants won’t need replacing as
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the crown and roots held. I am now sure
that damage minimising does work.”
Diary extract 6.3.2011
“Walked Burt Street today and checked
the drums that had damage minimised
planting. Found 37. I only had 38 to start
with. Some in poor condition, most
reasonable. I can certainly highlight this
experiment.”
In the intervening 17 months the plants have
suffered a dramatic change in management, a
heat wave, and a severe earthquake. Plants
were not a high priority.
Why is damage minimising so successful?
Apparently when vandals try to pull the plants
out all that happens is that some branches
snap off – and they don’t get a big kick out of
that. The damaged plant still has roots and
crown unaffected.
If the implant is severely damaged it’s easily
swapped with another implant, it’s on the
interchange bench for 2 – 3 months, had some
TLC, a quick drink of Thrive, then back at the
coal face.
I have been frustrated by damage to plants
and it makes you wonder what motivates
these people, but I consider myself lucky to
have had some of these problems and have
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been able to solve them. Most gardeners
would not get an opportunity like that, and I
now know I can put plants into streetscapes
and I know the positive impact they will have.
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Propagation
Cascade Geraniums strike readily from
cuttings, which is a cheap and convenient way
to reproduce plants. I generally take cuttings in
March/April, and I have not found the need for
hormones.
I prefer tip cuttings 100 mm long
approximately, cut just below a node. I remove
leaves from the bottom of the stem and leave
2 or 3 on top, to provide the cutting with some
nutrients as it strikes.
The propagating mix I use is red sand collected
from the bottom of a winter creek, mixed
50/50 with Pearlite.
I put the cutting in 50 mm
round pots 50 mm tall in
Masrac trays which take 24 at
a time. I water from the
bottom by filling the tray with
water as needed.
Two
a little
are
potted
30
months
pot out,
showing,
on. (see
later I lift
if
roots
they are
photos).
Soparcos
Ivy Geraniums are difficult to
handle in a nursery as their long branches
become hopelessly intertwined.
The French have solved this problem, and
produce a plastic basket that fits over a 120
mm pot (see fig.) called a Soparco.
However it’s only available in
one size, so when the plant
has outgrown the 120 mm
pot, it’s time for its
permanent position.
Soparcos have a very important role in my
little nursery.
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Watering
Watering plants in a streetscape presents
its own problems. I have had shop keepers
offer to do it – time has shown that with the
best of intentions, they are unreliable, I
suggest – don’t go down that track.
Initially I watered from 2 x 200 litre drums in
the well of my ute, at that time there were
only 25 drums in place for a six month trial.
This was possible using buckets. The trial was
successful, approval was given to put another
75 pots into Burt Street, making a total of 100,
so I purchased a utility with a water tank and
pump specifically to water them.
100 drums required about 1500 litres twice a
week in summer.
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The water truck needed to be in the street by
6am before there was too much traffic or
parked cars.
Testing to see how much water is needed
involves putting the hand into the implant. If
it’s moist it’s missed, if it’s dry it gets a good
drink, it’s easy to overwater geraniums.
Fertilising
As plants in a streetscape are on display
365 days a year they need to be at their best
all the time.
Cascading Geraniums are high performance
plants who will respond to regular feeding with
hot fertilisers.
I use Thrive General Purpose in the water tank
at recommended rates once a month for two
months, the third month I use Thrive Flower
and Fruit which is high in Potash and
stimulates flowering.
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Insect Control
The two insects that cause problems for
Cascading Geraniums are White Fly and Mealy
Bug. I used to spray them when I saw an
outbreak, probably not quickly enough, as
once they are established they are hard to get
rid of, and we didn’t think that the spraying
was all that effective once the plant had a big
head of foliage.
Reg, one of my
associates, came up
with a solution that
works. As soon as a
plant is showing signs
of insect attack, we
respond immediately.
We carry the gear on
the water truck at all
times.
The method – 6 drops
of Confidor Concentrate
Insecticide in a little 1 ½
litre watering can, and
douse the plant with
the 1 ½ litres – maybe a
second treatment in a
couple of days and no
further sign of insects.
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Orientation
Plants in streetscapes are effected by
shadows from buildings and verandahs – a
problem for Cascading Geraniums as they
require a minimum of six hours sunshine a day
to flower. They will grow with less, but not
flower.
Burt Street runs due East to West, so the
plants on the South side have plenty of sun,
the North side under verandas is a problem
except where there is a break in the verandas
and some sun can sneak through.
The trajectory of the sun must be understood
when siting plants. In Burt Street at the
Summer Solstice 21st December, the sun does
not rise 90 degrees due east but 122 degrees
and sets at 58 degrees, so plants on the north
side get morning sun and afternoon sun.
However from 21st March Equinox to 21st
September the exact opposite happens and
they receive no sun at all.
35
Impact
It is remarkable the difference in the
ambience of a street these plants can make, as
they are such a powerful visual feature. A few
drums widely spaced do not have the same
impact as plants positioned 10 – 15 metres
apart.
The use of Planters of Cascading Geraniums is
brilliant in Municipal and Commercial
situations, but out of place for domestic use.
36
37
38
Tall Pots
As more people live in high rise
apartments and people use balconies and
patios much more, gardens change and plants
for these areas are increasingly important.
I have been experimenting with Tall Pots. The
traditional use of Ivy Geraniums has been
Hanging Baskets on balconies where their
branches can cascade. To use this plant’s
attractive features we have planted them in
tall pots 35 cm x 80 cm. They are showing
promise. This will add to their flexibility as they
can hang down, which is really an extension of
our Drums/Planter, and they can add colour to
these areas over long periods.
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SOURCE OF DRUMS
Re-cycled drums are readily available in Perth
for $22 - $25. In the Yellow Pages is a list of
suppliers under:
‘DRUM MFRs
DEALERS’.
RECONDITIONERS
AND/OR
PAINTING THE DRUMS
I experimented with different external paints,
and have settled on an undercoat of White
Knight Grip-Lock Primer, followed by two coats
of White Knight Paving Paint (acrylic). It has
proved to be a hard wearing paint, and there
are about sixty colours on their chart, so a
colour can be selected to suit most situations.
Drums are easily opened with a jigsaw.
FILLING THE DRUMS
Firstly holes are drilled in the base for
drainage. Then some broken brick or coarse
road base is put in the bottom for drainage
(150 mm). Then some free draining soil for 2/3
of the drum, topped up with a bag or two of
good potting mix. Best filled in position as they
are heavy to move around when filled, planted
and watered.
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POTTING MIX
I have a concrete mixer and blend my own
soils.
I go bush and bring back a ute load of Red
Loam dug up around stands of native wattle
(acacias).
The loam is heavy and sets very hard but has
good moisture retention properties.
As the Red Loam has little organic material, I
purchase Soil Improver from a local supplier.
My mix is two shovels of Red Loam, one shovel
of Soil Improver 2 or 3 litres of water and half a
cup of Scott’s Osmocote slow release fertiliser,
all purpose landscape formula.
End result a ph. of 6.5 – 7.
The geraniums appear very happy with this
mix.
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ODE TO GERANIUMS
The lowliest member
Of the Plant Kingdom
Is the humble Geranium.
Why is it so?
Bright flowers
Through the seasons
Hardy as hell
Break a piece off
Give to a friend
Put that piece
In the Ground
And shortly
They’ll have a clone
Spread a bit of sunshine about
People identify with plants
They have propagated themselves
It’s so easy
It’s a miracle.
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This Booklet was written and
published by
Jeff Jones
281 Dugan Street
Kalgoorlie
Western Australia 6430
Phone 08 90215633
Mobile 0438215632
Email fj_jones@bigpond.com
16th April 2013
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