Transplant from Hawaii to NE Illinois

A few years ago I moved from Hawaii to Lake County, Illinois. I need serious tips on what to grow. So far I have tryed Russian Sage, Lavendar and Iris with success...Bombed on roses....and working in Hydrageas, Lilacs. I feel so frustrated with my growing skills all I'm really getting is a mean sunburn. What I'm really good at growning is dandilions, yikes. I have clayish soil so I have costructed several raised beds.

I have looked over at my neighbor's yard and it's so nice. I really need help with the southwest side of my house it's so hot and dry and the A/C unit is there.....Please, I need help with my yard and my sunburn..lol

Hi LeSnow, Sun burn is the easy one, you just need to keep covered with light clothes and plenty sunblock creams, but being from Hawaii you know that anyway, as regards you gardening skills, you are doing the right thing too with a clay soil, that is, making raised beds, but I imagine in certain areas, that is not always the best for the area you are trying to create as a garden, so I can only guide you as to how to improve your have soil.
Clay soil is ok IF you learn which plants will tolerate it, but as gardeners, we see plants that we want and get fed up when they die on us, so I sugest that you try to change the structure of the clay by adding as much GOOD quality compost as you can afford or get your hands on for free, (clay soil does not release the neutrients that plants need to get food, they also stay wet and cold for longer, and then when baked in the hot sun, it goes brick hard so the plants cant get air, food and water runs off instead of being avaliable to the roots when needed) adding nice compost breaks up this soil, and does the opposite to what you have, you can use leaf mould, animal manure (well rotted) or bought compost that has plenty of humus in it, if you can do this, then you will be able to grow roses and many other plants, however, for clay soil try plants/shrubb etc like Berberis, some are evergreen, some with flowers and berries, Ilexeuroaeus=Holly, Senecio, Lonicera=Honeysuckle, Syringia=lilac, Buddleia=butterfly bush, Cornus= dogwood, are just some of the shrubs that are happy in your soil, but as I said, if you can improve the quality of your soil then most things will grow, the ones above will be even happier, to do this can take a long time over years, but if you can do a bit at a time then you will see something for your hard work as you do more improvement, hope this helps you a bit and good luck, WeeNel, Scotland, quite like your zone but a bit cooler in summer.

WeeNel, Thank you for the advise and choices you provided me. I am thinking about constructing a raised bed and filling it with the original clay dirt, manure, sand and compost.

Since these will be up against the foundation of the house and on the wild Southwest side of my home, these are some of the plants I want to grow. 1. Russian Sage, Lavendar, and??? shasta daiseys?, day lilies?, irises? and a shrub you suggested to act as a wind break. The wind blows really strong on that side so I was thinking of planting a primrose lilac bush. I hope it will be strong enough to use as a windbreak.

Tell me what you think so far?

Snow,
I live in Cook county, so our zones are probably similar. I have a raised planter against the house on the driveway. It's all of 2 feet wide and only about as deep. It COOKS all summer. Daylillies did OK there, had some nice, tall blue balloon flowers that also did well. Changed the theme and put in some lavenders and ozark sundrops along with a coreopsis moonbeam. They all are doing great. My clematis even thrived here -- although I mulched it heavily to keep the roots as cool as possible. It really shouldn't have liked this spot -- but sometimes we get lucky! You may want to check out High Country Gardens for xeriscape plants. That's where I got my unusual lavenders -- took them a couple of years to establish but they are really beautiful now. I also have a soaker hose buried in the planter to make watering a little less of a chore.

My planter wasn't wide enough for a shrub. But you might want to consider a sumac. There's a cultivar called Tiger eyes that is spectacular. Still looking for a spot to tuck one in my yard... Oh, almost forgot. When I moved into the house the previous owner had this entire planter filled with peonies! They were gorgeous and obviously liked the spot. Unfortunately they made backing out of the driveway a chore so we relocated them to the back yard, but you might want to consider them. There are tons of great ones.

Chat

Chat: "unusual lavendar" can you expand your description? I love lavendars but I only have blue ones starting all over the yard. I have seen pink ones on the net but not in the nurseries near me. I am going to look up all your cooking plants as my southwest side is bare except for the A/C unit..lol.

Thanks for your advise.
Loren

In Hawaii the heat is different from Illinois....when it got hot in the house we just opened the windows. My home was surrounded with plumeria trees and gardenia bushes. When I went outside I didn't get sunburn cause I was always under the shade of the plumerias. We bought this home and there no trees in the back yard, so untill I find some trees to plant I will have to cook under the shade of the house...lol...I have been looking at silver maple?

Loren

Hi LeSnow, your doing great by researching your plants for the type of conditions you have,As for your raised beds along side the house, dont know how high you plan to make them, but IF not too high, would you not be better to get new soil instead of useing the clay soil, if you really have to use the clay, then it is good that you are going to use plenty of new compost/manure etc, the plants you have named will enjoy that, BUT not too sure about the Lavender as they like well draind soil, so not too much moisture, but give it a go, like it was said before, some plants surprise us and have their own way of adapting, better than we know, thats nature for you, why not try maybe one and see how that does for the first season, if good, then you can add to it the folowing year, being patient is sometimes better than instant gardening and you dont get dispondent so early on if things dont work out as you hoped, thats part of the learning curve.
I would be unable to advise you about the lilac tree, as I have no idea how strong the wind blows at that side of your house, for instance, I planted lots of lovely shrubs as a windbreak in my own garden so on the opposite bed, I could grow lots of beautyful perenniels that was going to be my pride and joy, but in the last few years, we have had some really cold gale force winds, the result is, my shrubs get all the leaves burned to a frazzle with the wind and the result is I have to stake all my perenniels or they fall over.
The wind can do more damage than you would think, so be careful that any trees or shrubs that you plant wont be stripped of leaves and the shelter you are looking for will be lost, I know the lilacs that I have are fairly tough and always recover, but I have to wait for that to happen, again, it is part of learning about our garden and climate, and now the changes to the climate. Just a last word about raised beds against the house, if you live in an area where it has deep clay soil, then your home MAY have a damp course to prevent wet or damp traveling up to your floor level, so be carefull you dont go too high with your beds and breach any damp prevention to house walls, or, you could cause structural damage to the house over a period of time, just thought you should be aware of all these things before hand, I grow English Lavender and French, they are deep purple so cant advise on others, but ordering plants by mail might be a good idea and they are usually very good quality, so good luck and happy gardening, your doing really good. WeeNel.

Please rethink the silver maple, the roots are shallow and invasive and can break up sidewalks, the branchs are brittle and tend to break off durning wind and ice storms. If you really want a maple and all of them tend to be shallow rooted try the norway maples some of them have really great fall color, one of my favorites is Acer platanoides 'Crimson King'. Another tree that I like is Gleditsia triacanthos inermis (thornless honey locust). Just make sure you get a varity that is thornless and seedless. The seed pods are large sorta like a snow pea pod on growth hormones. The Locust has a very fine leaf that you usually won't have to rake. You can grow grass under the tree which provides a very nice dappled shade and it is fairly fast growing.

Being new to the area I suggest you go to your county agents office. There is one in Grayslake, there you will find a lot of good information for the homeowner much of it free or low cost. In the telephone book the county agent office should be under University of Illinois Co-op. Another great place to visit is the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe?? or Northbrook?? There you will find many great trees and plants that will grow in your area. At one time they were going to set up display gardens. There is also a resturant or bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it. I would also recommend going to a full service nursery such as Geimers Greenhouse in Long Grove. It may be to far to have them deliver but a visit also should give you lots of ideas. Before I moved to northern CA I used to work for them and they are great folks. I lived in Lake Zurich.
I can sympathize with you on moving and having to learn new plants next year I will be moving again this time to NC and will be getting to know the county agent and botanic gardens in that area.

Thanks for the great advise. I don't drive....I should say I can't drive, but, I am sure my hubby or one of my sons wouldn't mind taking me around. About the trees? The wind is nasty here. Last year the wind blew over the 20 ft. pine tree that was in my front yard and another split down the middle during a sleet/snow storm. There's so much to learn...I mean I've been thru many hurricanes and the trees would bowover, here it's gusting winds, snow and trees snap!

How's the weather? I just got thru watching the lightning storm...I love to watch them as it's all new to me.

I've got a little torture chamber by my A/C exhaust. Not fancy, I have blue fescue,hen and chicks and sedum. You wanted a shrub though - was that right?

bigcityal: Yes a shrub or a living wall. But I do want to plant flowers. On that side of my house (Southwest) there is nothing except the A/C unit. It stands about 4 ft tall. We had to replace (2 wks ago) the old one and this is what they recommended for our home, it's twice as big as the old one. Hidious looking thing and I want to disguise it somehow.

Hi Lesnow, could you put a trellis on the wall and grow a climbing plant on this, that would add colour to your wall and look attractive, dont put it too close to the a/c unit though as you need air circulation, but a foot or so could do, there are so many climbing plants you could use such as Clemetis, Perenniel Sweet peas, Roses,
Jasmin, or ones that berry, like cotoneaster, then you can still grow plants under that. good luck. WeeNel.

Oh WeeNel: Those plants sound really good, a trellis. Will it withstand the gusty wind? There is no protection on that side of the house.

Hi LeSnow, it may help if you get some of the men in the family to screw the trellis to the wall, the house wall may offer some protection from the heaviest and more powerful force of the wind, can I sugest that as the trellis gets attached to the wall, get 2/3 strips of 2x2 moisture treated wood and attach this to the wall first, then the trellis to the wood, this lets air circulate around the back of any plants and cuts down on any mould, it also helps to bring the plant/trellis back OFF the wall for painting or repair work, as you just unscrew the trellis, lay it gently on the ground, then attach again with the plant in tact, I am sure the worst wind for you will be winter, so by then, the flowering will be over, and perhaps the leaves will have fallen also, so give it a go, and keep an eye on it, you never know, it just might miss the full force of the wind, good luck.
WeeNel.

I don't know about the man of the house, he says the yard is my thing. I even mow the lawn. But I am handy with power air tools, I have my own nail gun, chop saw, table saw, etc. I guess I could make my own. I will think about it after this thunderstorm passes.

Loren

Gee Lesnow, what are these guy's like eh, I have the garden to myself also, mainly because my husband dont know a Dandylion from a Daisey, but he does cut the grass thank the lord, and sinse I had opp on my back a couple years ago, if I ask him to dig a hole, he just say's how deep, but he always admires the garden and enjoys everyone elses reaction to it, Oh yeh and he eats all the veg, so no complaint really,
A trellis is easy to put up so long as your footing is safe while you are up a ladder, with a climbing plant you can still have plants under it, so try your lavenders and daisey's, if thet dont work, just dig em up and move them to a new place and go for something else, good luck.
WeeNel.

I would have to construct it on the ground and put it upright. I am recovering from a 2 year illness and am just starting to get about. I guess that's why I am just going bananas with the plants. My home looked like it as abandoned. First thing I did was bring out the ride on mower and yelled "Charge!" I ran over everything, balls, sticks, pine cones. My family just sat there and laughed at me cause I looked as tho I was on an oval track racing around. They had to do alot of ducking as the pinecones, etc. were flying everywhere. But atleast now with regular mowing and fertilzing the lawn is nice and green.

I think a Japanese style trellis is my way to go...straight and angled ends.

Loren

LOL. I can see that perfectly. You going everywhere and running over everything while everybody ducks for cover and laughs their heads off.

It was what they call "Controlled Chaos".

LOL. I create that all the time.