Tell the Truth Tuesday

This is the view from the deck to the hill at the rear of the garden a number of years ago. We've always called it the "Buddha Mound" in reference to the stone grouping on it.

This is what it looks like at the current moment. Not too bad from a distance, though the afternoon sunlight is making the evergreen trees look silvery and sick. Twenty years of increasing shade has put paid to all that lovely green sod in the image above; last winter's cold killed the Bloodgood Japanese maple.

The bird is standing on the rock that is in the pond. Look closely behind him and you will see what the hill looks like in reality. This hill and its partner across the path are perfect candidates for Tell the Truth Tuesday, the meme originated on Bonney Lassie's blog. 

I decided to take a black and white photo to help me figure out what was happening on this slope and what interventions were necessary. The four areas circled in pale green are the plants that can stay (from left): green Hakonechloa grass, a European ginger patch and groups of ferns.

When you take a closer look this is what you see. This patch with wild strawberry, violets and Aguga is as good as it gets on this hill at the moment. 

There's Virginia waterleaf (lower right), a plant that would be ok in a woodland setting, more violets and a grassy looking weed. 

The most prolific ground cover on this hill is this unknown weed which has tried all summer to take over my garden. Look closely and you will see it is present in many different sized generations. 

It's easy to pull out but keeps returning. I can't denude a slope without instantly re-planting it — which is what I've started to do on the back side of this mound. 

The back side of the Buddha mound is less steep and easier to work on since it is next to an accessible path. The green circles mark new ground-covering Junipers, the orange notes a patch of moss and the pink arrow indicates a swath of assorted ferns. All of these are keepers. The purple circle is a dwarf Mugo pine that died after two miserable winters. When I dug it out, I realized it was quite root-bound which is this gardener's fault. I am admitting partial responsibility but letting the weather also claim part. 

The ferns, central dark green moss patch and some of the shrubs are all clearly visible here. I replaced the Mugo pine with a boxwood from elsewhere in the garden. 

The whole curving top of this mound is covered in the same weeds growing on the front side. I am slowly pulling them out and replacing them with assorted varieties of Carex. 

I'm planting different Carexes on the adjacent Turtle Mound which is smaller, less steep and accessible on all sides. These are planted on one foot centers and I'm hoping a few of them will fill in enough by next season that we won't be stuck staring at bare dirt for years.

This is the reality that even many visitors don't quite notice let alone you folks who are looking at garden images on your digital devices. Proof that our garden is not as perfect as I sometimes make it look in my photos. 

Comments

[Lisa at Greenbow]

You have weeds?? I never would have thought that. We all have weeds tho. They just are what they are, invasive and annoying. Looks like you have a good plan to overcome them. Don't you just hate to look at a shrub you pull up to find that the darn thing didn't spread those roots and grow. Sometimes I think they do that no matter what the gardener does.

[Kristin]

This makes me feel hopeful that people aren't judging the weeds in my garden, or even noticing them!

[Barbara H.]

Oh gosh, we're pulling out the same weeds! Though I love ajuga when it blooms in the spring, I've kind of reached the end of my rope with it and it's coming out in many places. The wild violets drive me wild. Thanks for sharing the close up truth - I feel better about my weed infested patches.

[Linda Brazill]

I do think we notice weeds and problems in our gardens much more than visitors. They just pass by going towards something good looking ahead of them. 

[Linda Brazill]

I think you are right that sometimes it's just the way it is with shrubs and plants. We do what we can and we still lose them. 

[Linda Brazill]

I have and on again/off again relationship with Ajuga. But given the problems with these slopes I've decided that anything that wants to stabilize the soil is welcome to stay.

[ceci]

I wonder if your mystery weed smells of anise? It looks like something I get in (currently non-existent) moist shade.

ceci

[Kris P]

What struck me most about this post is how big your property looks and how thoughtfully you've landscaped it. We all try to put the best spins possible on our gardens - after all, we love them! Even the best planting schemes inevitably require editing and occasionally a wholesale refresh. I've got a LOT of those myself but I'm holding off on replanting until our temperatures dip on a reliable basis and there aren't workers dropping debris everywhere.

[Linda Brazill]

It is really hard to not be able to garden because of weather or workmen. I've been in both situations so I sympathize. Our weather is quite warm and no frost in sight so I am really trying to plant, move and generally rethink the problem areas. 

[Nell]

OMG, I had the exact same weed appear for the first time this summer! It was concentrated in a patch about five feet across, directly below beech branches that overhang a stretch of border, so I've assumed it was started by birds who'd eaten the seeds elsewhere pooping them out. It's on my list of plants to ID; looks and feels like a member of the huge mint family.

Every seed must germinate, because with the regular rainfall up until late August, it took several weeks in a row of relentless extraction to get ahead of them. The foliage was different enough from surrounding plants to help me zero in: toothed, leaning yellow-green, and matte. Just last week I found two that had escaped my earlier sorties, and boy, do they produce a lot of seed (in stem axils, more mint-esque behavior).

[Nell]

:: Virginia waterleaf (lower right), a plant that would be ok in a woodland setting ::

But is this not in fact a woodland setting? Shade killed the sod that was there.

I'm jealous of your waterleaf; keep hoping for it to show up here, but nothing yet.

My attitude toward violets is gratitude. I pry a few out of the lawn, and in early spring get them away from the bases of sprouting blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium). But the vast majority are no-work, fritillary(larva)-feeding ground cover with valuable early-season bloom.

[Stephanie O'Neal]

Hi Linda, I believe the unknown weed you mentioned is clearweed (Pilea pumila). It is very easy to pull, but there has been a lot of it this year.

[Beth@PlantPostings]

Yes, I have more Clearweed (as Stephanie identified) this year than past years, too. Thanks for the reminder that I need to get in there and pull more of them. I think they favor wet weather, so maybe they won't do so well during a normal or a drought year. Anyway, your garden is so lovely no matter what. :)

[Linda Brazill]

You're right that it is a woodland setting but it grows too tall as a mixed ground cover plant for me. I think it would work if it was by itself. I have a dry shade area where I should see if it would work. It seems to seed itself into all kinds of conditions. 

[Linda Brazill]

Thanks for the heads up. I feel better just knowing what that week is, even though that sounds a bit crazy.

[Nell]

Thanks to Stephanie and Beth for the I.D.! The exceptionally wet year explains why I haven't seen clearweed before. (We're sliding back into too-dry-ness again at the moment.)

'Knowledge is power' is part of the reassurance of knowing what a particular weed is, and there's an added comfort that clearweed's native and a larval host for red admirals and commas.