The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

I have what is probably the most magnificent European Weeping Birch in the entire city of Marysville planted just outside my kitchen window, beside my circle drive. It is perfectly located on the southwest corner of the house, where it casts shade on my front deck, kitchen and upper bedrooms. I am thinking it was planted in the mid '50s.

It is the home of at least two red breasted sapsuckers which, I found out recently thanks to Bird Note on NPR, don't actually suck sap but rather lick it with their tongues. What they don't consume is eaten by flies and ants or drips onto the driveway where more flies and ants find it, unless of course I forget and park the car there, in which case the flies and ants lick it off the car--which is a rather disgusting thought.

In the spring this 60 foot tall tree unleashes clouds of pollen from its catkins that blanket my entire yard and everything that is in it like the barbeque, tables and chairs, decks and railings. I swear there is some kind of glue on these pollen grains that makes them impossible to remove. After the barrage of pollen subsides, the tree leafs out and is quite lovely until the month of August when the seeds start raining down by the millions (at least 6 million, I figure).

For two weeks now I have been blowing seeds off of plants and cars and decks and driveways and welcome mats and hot tub covers and no matter how anal I get there are still seeds that find their way into the house. This insanity will probably continue for another two weeks, after which time I will have 6 million leaves to blow off of everything as fall and winter arrive. I have to clean my rain gutters before the leaves start falling and again after they finish falling.

You would think by now that I would have cut the damn tree down, but it is far too magnificent to even consider such a drastic measure. So I soldier on, year after year, millions of pollen grains followed by millions of seeds followed by millions of leaves because, in the end, I really love this tree--as do my feathered friends.

August is a "fight or flight" month for gardeners. Some of us just bail on the garden and head for the lakes and campgrounds and let nature take its course. We'll clean up the mess when we return, knowing that the fall rains will make things look a whole lot better all on their own. But between you and me, I have trouble calling these kinds of gardeners "gardeners." They are really what I like to refer to as "yardners." For those of us that like to remain under the illusion that we are actually in control of our gardens, August is the month to dig our heels in and whip the old place into shape.

Hedges can use a little clipping, fruit trees can use a little shaping, spring veggies need to be yanked out and replaced with fall ones, flowers need deadheading, perennials need dividing, annuals need fertilizing and most of our baskets need pitching. This is a good time to evaluate the garden and plunge in some summer blooming annuals or perennials where things need to be livened up. Major transplanting needs to wait until it cools down but new plants from a garden center can be planted easily in August with proper watering.

August and September are perfect months to install new landscaping, whether it be concrete patios, wood decks, arbors and trellises, irrigation systems and, of course, plants. Don't be afraid of the heat--it is a gardener's best friend.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached at

info@sunnysidenursery.net