Each Little World

The voice of experience

I recently bought a second-hand book called "The Making of a Garden Gertrude Jekyll" which is an anthology composed of Jerkyll's writings and photographs as well as paintings of gardens from the same era. I well know of Jekyll but have never read any of her books, so I am greatly enjoying this broad view of her garden philosophy.

PHOTO: GERTRUDE JEKYLL'S HOUSE & GARDEN AT MUNSTEAD WOOD

But I had to laugh when I came upon the quote below and realized that all gardeners — whether working then or now, famous and not — are all dealing with the same issues:

"Of bird, beasts and insect pests we have plenty. First, and worst, are rabbits. They will gnaw and nibble anything and everything that is newly planted . . . The necessity of wiring everything newly planted adds greatly to the labour and expense of the garden, and the unsightly grey wire netting is an unpleasant eyesore. When plants or bushes are well-established the rabbits leave them alone, though some families of plants are always irresistible — pinks and carnations, for instance, and nearly all cruciferae, such as wallflowers, stocks and Iberis. The only plants I know that they do not touch are rhododendrons and azaleas; they leave them for the hare, that is sure to get in every now and then, and who stands up on his hind-legs and will eat rose bushes quite high up."

The above shrub is Hamamelis vernalis 'Quasimodo,' a natural dwarf Witch Hazel. I got this in 2016 from Rare Finds Nursery in N.J. They offer many of their shrubs in different sizes and since this is a dwarf, I splurged on a large plant. I was thrilled when it arrived as it made a nice little statement in the garden from the get-go. It never occurred to me to cage it as I have large Witch Hazels elsewhere in the garden that were never caged and never touched by any browsing critters. Alas, the bunnies ate most of Quasimodo that first winter. So it's lived in a cage ever since and is just now really taking off and getting larger than it was when it arrived. Eventually it will be 3-4 feet high and wide. I hate the way it looks caged but I hate the way it looks chewed up more. 

On the other hand, sometimes the bunnies do a nice job of winter pruning. This Fothergilla gardenii is almost 20 years old. Some years we cage it and some years we don't. It has a beautiful shape and size which we attribute to periodic bunny attacks. It is old enough and hardy enough that it comes back if it gets munched on. Since it is directly in our view from indoors year round, I really would rather not look at a cage all winter.

But the garden is full of cages at the moment even though I removed many of them before our recent tours. They'll go back on soon, while it is still lovely out and I won't mind spending an afternoon dealing with tightly rolled up lengths of wire. Things like my dwarf Ginkgos are at their mature size now that they are a dozen years old. No way will I chance someone deciding to munch on them this winter. But some folks clearly enjoy the idea of rabbits roaming free in the garden.

PHOTO: UNKNOWN PINTEREST SOURCE

Thanks

Thanks for all the recent comments about my Monday vases and the ducklings visit to the garden. We are having a few beautiful days that are perfect for gardening. The weather forecast says those will be followed by a few days of rain. I spent Monday digging out a large area of Vinca and re-designing and  re-planting the space. Today I'm going plant shopping with a gardening friend so I will be away from the computer again, if you are wondering why you aren't hearing from me. 

. . .

Many of you commented on the ducklings so I thought I would just mention that they stayed in the garden most of the afternoon which was a lovely treat. We did not seem them leave but a neighbor mentioned that she saw them waddling down the street. We live on a fairly busy street and not far from the corner of an extremely busy road. But last time we had ducklings for a visit they left the same way: following mom down the street. Exactly where they go from our garden is anyone's guess.

The one thing I can say for sure is that Ethel only brings them once. At least that is our experience from the two prior times she brought her little fledglings. Though we were still both working in those days, so maybe they all came back and we missed the return visit because we weren't home.

Here is a prior duckling post with much better photos.

A perfect weekend: Part ll

On cold, rainy and rather miserable days we often see Fred and Ethel splashing about in the pond, but they disappeared from the garden during the recent hot spell. So we were glad to see them here again on Friday. Mark was off doing Saturday errands this afternoon when I looked out the window and saw Ethel standing on the round stone at the edge of the pond. When I glanced out again a few minutes later I couldn't see her but there were a bunch of little birds wobbling around the pebble beach that edges the pond. As I stood at the window watching them, I suddenly realized they weren't birds — they were ducklings!

In the twenty years the ducks have been coming to our pond, this is only the third time that Ethel's brought the ducklings. We don't have enough secure cover for them to actually nest here.

Luckily Mark arrived home in time to take a few pictures. The minute he walked out the door Ethel and the kids started swimming away from him. 

This morning the pond was almost completely covered with seeds from the surrounding trees. Turns out the ducklings and even Ethel are almost impossible to see swimming amidst the gold and green and brown dappled surface of the water. 

They swam to the farthest edge of the pond from Mark and went into the Irises behind the big rocks that are in the water. Once Ethel decided it was safe, she let the kids come out into view again.

All ten of them were practicing their swimming technique while she watched.

Then she rounded them up and they all went to the back edge of the pond for a nap.

The ducklings must all be underneath her because they aren't in the water and they didn't leave the garden. Another perfect afternoon in the garden.

Happy Anniversary, kids!

Today marks the twenty-first year that our pair of Mallard ducks — Fred and Ethel — have made a springtime appearance in our garden. This is also the latest date by a week since I began tracking their initial arrival in 1998. When the first snowdrops appear, when ice melts and our pond is fully open, and when the kids arrive for their annual visit are the three events that I maintain phenological records about. 

If you are unfamiliar with the term "phenology," it's the branch of science that studies natural events that recur periodically in relation to seasonal and climate change. I keep copious notes in handwritten journals but these are just dates written on index cards under the appropriate title, such as "Fred & Ethel." They're my personal nod to garden history, local climate change and Aldo Leopold. 

The lifespan of a Mallard is 5-10 years in the wild but they can live to twenty. Whether this is really our original pair of ducks is anybody's guess. We would have had to band them or id them in some way if we really wanted to know exactly who visits the pond each year. Frankly, we don't really care. They are the perfect pet since they don't require anything of us except to enjoy their antics. Mark shot these photos through the living room windows where we also noticed our squirrel with white-tipped ears had stopped in as well.

Frosted vignettes

A few more of my favorite snowy garden images that Mark snapped on Sunday. 

The gravestone is on the right side of the driveway when you are looking toward the street, in front of the house.

You can't tell how many shrubs are buried here nor that there is a zig zag stone wall under the snow. This vignette is to the left gravestone.

Across the driveway looking at the big stone wall. The rocks look like melted marshmallows. The tree with the leaves is a Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) and always holds its leaves until spring. That characteristic can cause problems when the snow is wet and heavy. But all of the snow we've had recently has been quite dry and light, even though there has been a lot of it.

Looking at the garden from the street.

There are animal tracks all over the yard. But none of the tracks were distinct enough to decide for sure who visited the garden. The University is conducting a study of the habits and locations of urban canids (fox and coyote) and our side of town is one of the places they've been seen a lot. So we think the fox we sometimes see might have been one of the guests.

Buddha and the wise one

We got our most significant snowfall this weekend. It started coming down on Saturday and fell on and off for most of the day and evening. Supposedly there will be more today and tomorrow. Last night about 7 p.m. I looked out the living room window to check on the weather but couldn't see how hard it was snowing. Plus I could vaguely see something odd on top of Buddha's head. So I switched on the light that shines on the deck to see what was happening outdoors. 

Imagine my surprise when whatever was on the Buddha's head started moving. I called Mark and told him to come quickly. When he saw this little guy, Mark ran to get his camera.

He stayed perched where he was a good five minutes. We were amazed that he didn't immediately fly away when he was unexpectedly bathed in the deck light. Or when I pulled back the curtain to peer out. Or when Mark came and went and came again to the window. 

He's probably a Saw-whet owl. Though we sometimes hear owls, we've rarely seen one and we don't recognize their calls to even identify who's living nearby. What a thrill to discover him. He made an already perfect evening magical.

Ash trees down

I started writing this post back in November when the city tree maintenance crews turned up on our street. The piles of sawdust collecting in the gutter is the sign of what they were doing.

Like many communities across the country, ours has been hit by the emerald ash borer and the infected trees on our street were finally coming down. First they marked all the underground utility lines. Then they came for the trees.

I didn't have the heart to go out and watch them do the deed. I glanced out the windows once or twice and have to say that the crews did a good job. They were hard workers and though they were efficient, it still took them a couple of days to remove the dozen trees that came down on our part of the street. 

Once the trees were down another crew came through and ground out the stumps. Then they put down soil and grass seed with a compostable membrane everywhere they had removed a tree. 

Our next-door neighbors lost three Ash trees. They were not sorry to see them go as they made it difficult for them — and for us — to get a clear view down the street when we pull out of our driveways. Losing those trees has improved our view and our safety.

And if you look down the street, you can see that we still have lots of tree canopy. A variety of big trees is one of the real advantages of living in an older neighborhood. The loss of a dozen trees is barely visible no matter what direction you look on our street. Given the devastation caused by the emerald ash borer, our neighborhood has been lucky.

Turkey trauma

The local flock of a dozen turkeys are not coming into my garden every day but they show up so often that they are becoming a real problem. The front garden with the driveway, gravel paths, stone walls and ground covers can survive their running around and scratching behavior.

But on their last couple of visits the turkey team flew over a neighbor's fence into my back garden. When I went out this morning to see if anything might still be blooming for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day tomorrow, I discovered turkey damage. Their scratching dispatched a group of primroses that had settled in nicely after a late summer planting.

Turkeys don't do the kind of damage that rabbits or deer do. But they're big birds who pack a wallop when they land on top of a plant. They've come down on a gorgeous Hosta 'Krossa Regal'. Now one landed on a big Hellebore clump. Consider how most of my Hellebores look at the moment (below): Green and glowing and standing tall.

Now look at this one. This Hellebore has been growing in the same spot for a dozen years or more and it has never ever been flattened and splayed about like this. Sure it may look the worse for wear when the snow melts in March, but it's still more upright than this. Hellebore leaves are so thick and cover the plants so densely that it is rare to ever see stems except in Spring when the old leaves have been removed to showcase the flowers. 

I know I have ranted plenty about the rabbits but one can occasionally catch one in a live trap or protect precious plants with a cage. But there is nothing that can be done to protect a garden from a flock of turkeys that can fly in and out at will. Everyone in the neighborhood has seen them at their house or on their street. They roam around but they know who has a pond and lots of room to scratch and scrabble. It's hard to accept that the heavenly garden one has created is what is actually drawing all these critters into that self-same paradise.

Just ducky

At the end of last week I looked out into the garden and saw Fred taking a late season splash in our pond. Typically Fred and Ethel hang out at our pond between mid-March and the end of June. After that we never see them again until the following spring. I'm not sure what this November visit means but it was a pleasure to see our old pal in the pond again.

Arboretum jumping worm survey

The UW-Madison Arboretum is working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Vermont on a survey to determine how extensively the invasive Asian jumping worms (Amynthas spp.) have spread in the state. I've taken the survey and it is quick and easy to do online. There are lots of opportunities to add more detailed information about your experiences with the worms. There is also a shortened version if you want to get involved but don't actually have these worms in your garden or on your property. Take the survey here.