The Wave Crew Wave Petunias | Cool Wave Pansies
Behind the Scenes in Episode 1 of our Wave Summer Series
The Wave Team always hard at work
A lot of things go into making a video, let alone an entire series. Here, we’ll take you behind the scenes of what goes into the process of making Wave…well, Wave! From what goes into choosing which plants at the big garden center when they don’t have your plants, to the reality of actually working in Chicago’s infamous 4-seasons-in-one-week, to all the happy accidents, you’ll see there’s definitely a lot of laughs and a whole lot of fun.
We met Shirley and knew this was going to be a match made in heaven. She was looking for flowers AND color, but didn’t know where to start. And with so many questions, we knew that we could definitely help her in both these departments.
She really liked her perennials (the pre-planted alliums, grasses, bushes), but it was green on top of green, which wasn’t a bad thing – she just wanted more color. And um, if you didn’t already know: WE LOVE COLOR at Wave.
So, we’re not totally uprooting her garden, but working with what’s already there. The mix of perennials and annuals also gives her the flexibility to always have something planted, but switch up colors and styles each year. Because if Shirley wasn’t already a trendsetter, she is now.
We made a trek out to our gardens here at Wave to ask the all-knowing Sam Schmitz what to do about Shirley’s soil. Sam is our resident landscape guru. After getting some much-needed advice on soil quality, we wrote down a list, exchanged thank-yous, and looked forward to our next adventure...the Garden Center.
The one thing that surprised all of us though was his suggestion of Pine Fines. This is a mixture of finely chopped bark that retains moisture, breaks down the heavy clay clumps and helps roots take hold. But since Pine Fines wasn't available in time for the taping of this video, we chose the close second: Mushroom Compost. Yep, Mushroom Compost. With a combination of potting soil, it helped to amend the clay that was Shirley's soil. And it was definitely doable from our side. (Check out how we do this exactly in the next BTS).
For the Step by Step with Wave: Summer Series first episode re-cap, here you go!