Each Little World

Where they went

I think my sister's unexpected death early last December sent me on a garden buying spree. Online or in person, I have been buying plants non-stop since last winter. The last perennials just arrived along with bulbs from two suppliers.

I've posted pictures of my worktable covered with plants a few times. But I've never shown where the plants went. Many are being used to correct problems, fill in unfinished areas or to create a focal point once a plant attains some size.

. . .

I planted Helleborus 'Kingston Cardinal' in 2008. At some point I added a self-seeded boxwood from elsewhere in the garden and a clump of Japanese painted fern. These days the Boxwood is hiding the Hellebore and the fern has spread wherever it could. 

The biggest problem is rabbits who keep chewing the ferns off midway and lolling around in them. Each time the ferns grow back and everything starts to look good, they're attacked again. The loss of a tree also means the ferns are getting more sun than they like.

I decided it was time to redo the whole area. I intended to quickly rip out the ferns — which took two days of intense labor with my "Root Slayer" Shovel and a Cobrahead weeder. This area is a little over 2' wide in the rear and 4' wide along the gray gravel path. 

It was just an inch shy of six feet back to front. 

I bought this Salix candida 'Iceberg Alley' on sale and plopped it in a pot that I set in the spot where the rabbits ate the ferns. There it sat during the last two big tours of our garden. 

I planted it where the Hellebore had been and moved the Hellebore forward.

I added clumps of Adiantum venustum (Himalayan maidenhair fern) from elsewhere in the garden. I'm hoping to add a few more this fall so it will fill in quickly and suppress weeds. 

The big question is whether I got all the Japanese painted ferns out of the area.  I want to be able to just enjoy my handiwork and not have to do any more digging in this space come spring. 

Caging season

Last fall, my gardening friend, Ruth, and I visited Ken Nordlund's beautiful garden. We bombarded Ken with questions, including wanting to know how he kept rabbits out of his mostly unfenced garden. His plants did not appear to have been randomly munched as in my garden.

He took us inside his garage to show us his plant cages. While I was spending lots of time hooking cut edges of wire together to make round cages, Ken slipped a pair of bamboo stakes through the coasted material he used to bind his cages together. Then he pushed the stakes into the ground. When he didn't need the cages, he flattened them and piled them up in the garage. 

Ruth and I both went right out looking for material similar to Ken's. I bought a small roll of plastic poultry netting. I already had a stack of old bamboo stakes. As it was the end of the season, I didn't make any cages with this new material last fall. When I discovered rabbits had already munched on the emerging foliage of a trio of Viola 'Irish Elegance,' I grabbed my green netting and went to work over the weekend. 

The net is 2' wide and I cut it in half as that's much taller than I generally need. The cut edges are still sharp but I put that end on the ground, since most of the cages had a smooth edge as well. 

I made five cages in two sizes in nothing flat Saturday afternoon. I made a few more yesterday as I saw Tulips and Fritillaria thunbergii pushing up. I know those plants are rabbit candy. I am thrilled at how quick and easy it was to make cages using Ken's method.

I used sod stakes to hold the other edge of my cages securely to the ground as I have lots of those. At this point the green cages are much more visible than my old wire ones. But that means I can see them, so I am less likely  to trip over them. I'm hoping they will be less visible as bigger green plants grow up around them. Truthfully, these were so much easier and quicker to make, that it is unlikely I'll go back to making wire cages. Thanks again Ken for showing us your cages. 

Another tree departs

Before we were ready to start work on our garden, we had a nasty Norway maple removed, but didn't really give much thought to the other trees on the property. All our attention and budget was focused on putting in the pond.

Almost thirty years later we're taking down what we hope is the last problem tree in the garden; the one that should have been removed first — before we did anything else. 

The tree in question is a tall curving cherry tree on our side of the lot line. It was growing into a Tsuga canadensis, a Scots pine and a Stewartia. Mark's beautiful fence had been built around the tree's trunk and I had planted boxwoods and ferns at its foot. 

That bulge on the cherry branch above is the arborist! I took these next shots of him with my phone from inside the house — the full depth of the back garden away from the work area. 

I could hardly watch it made me so nervous. This was a very difficult tree to take down as big equipment could not be used and there were not a lot of big branches to work from. 

There wasn't enough snow on the ground to cause the work to be postponed, but it was slippery as the snow has been melting and refreezing with an icy crust on top. Not the best surface for the other members of the team who were hauling piles of branches on the icy path. 

It's always a shock to see how much comes off a tree that I barely noticed when walking under it or even looking at it while they were all busy working. 

We had them cut the trunk at the same angle as the fence roof where we will just let it slowly fade away. You can't see from this photo, but everything around the cherry looked untouched. This crew was so careful lowering all the branches and chunks of wood through the other trees and around the boxwoods below. 

Now our trees and the neighbor's Dawn Redwood can be seen without a dying monster in their midst.

More great work by Tree Health Management and Lundin Tree.

What does lower maintenance mean?

Now that Mark and I are in our mid-70s, it seems obvious that we need to seriously "reduce maintenance" on our garden. It's a concept that's widely touted, but harder to define. I've had a garden consult with Madison's Jeff Epping, Director of  Horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. I've Googled the subject and read endless articles on it.

The articles tell you that if you think of all the chores that your garden requires, those are generally what you need to reduce; jobs like watering, weeding, pruning, deadheading, and dividing plants and cutting grass.

Ann Lovejoy, whose garden books were among my first purchases, suggests installing gravel paths instead of grass. That's because gravel paths let water drain and they don’t need the maintenance that grass paths do. But we did that a dozen years ago. We also replaced our concrete driveway with pavers set in sand.

Surrounding trees with plants instead of lawn is another idea. Done.

Grass is one of the highest maintenance plants one can grow; getting rid of it reduces maintenance and helps the environment — which is probably not news to most of you. We've been in the process of saying goodbye to the last grass on our property for a number of years. There's one little bit left that should be gone by the end of next summer. We're mainly replacing it with native sedges.

Jeff suggested adding more ground covers and shrubs in mass plantings the way we've already done in our driveway. Since I have a lot of shade, I have been adding more ferns (native and other), Carexes, Epimediums and Hellebores. I have a list of shrubs I'm hoping to add this year.

Jeff also said that I should only have a couple of special areas for plants that require work. I have been trying to reduce the number of perennial beds, but it's hard to do. I am trying to think in terms of big sweeps of one or two easy plants with a few drama queens mixed in. I'm currently inspired by this area of the Hermannshof Gardens in Germany. (Photo by James Golden)

Perhaps the most helpful concept about lower maintenance I found was this question: 

"Where do you spend the most chore time in the garden, and which part of the garden is the most enjoyable?"

The article pointed out that it is unlikely that these places are the same. It suggested that identifying high maintenance areas should then help us to make good choices about which garden features to alter or eliminate.

They suggested replacing a fast-growing hedge with a fence. We pulled out our dying hedge and put in a fence last year. Another hedge, generally low maintenance, will have dying shrubs pulled out and replaced with new ones this spring. 

If each of these changes is the right one, then it should mean less work and energy will be needed to still have a satisfying garden. Whether I am really moving far enough and fast enough in the right direction remains to be seen. 

Stylish security

Mark's youngest brother Greg, a wonderful carpenter, always has an improvement project underway at his house. When we stopped by last summer we discovered a new paver walkway to his front door and this lovely gate and fence into his back garden. 

Mark is 5'10" to give you a sense of the size of the structure. Though it is an attractive way to provide privacy, I think it is intended more to keep Greg's dog enclosed. 

I love how this metal tree insert adds a bit of whimsy while letting you see into the garden. 

Even the "Beware of the Dog" sign keeps to the style of the project. 

At Greg's house, every project — no matter the size or location — gets serious attention resulting in beautiful solutions for every situation. 

The year in photos

This year ended on such an unexpected and sad note, that I really did not want to look back at it. But checking in on my favorite garden blogs suggested that looking at my gardening year would be a positive experience — and it has been. So thanks to all of you who posted about 2021 in your gardens.

JANUARY

I read more books this past year than in any other period in my life; even more than during 2020 which was a record-breaking reading year for me. I know this because I keep a record of everything I read during a given year. I bought a lot of garden books, more than are in this photo, but still haven't made my way through all of them.

FEBRUARY

2021 was also a record year for tree work in our garden. We had old and dying trees of various sizes removed during the year, along with pruning on an assortment of other trees. The garden is healthier and looks better after all the work. And the gardeners are happy to have discovered a great company to do this important work.

MARCH

Once March arrived the garden and I both came alive. One of the first Hellebores I ever bought, Royal Heritage Strain, was moved a few years ago and settled in with no problems. Always a thrill when that happens.

Equally exciting was this combination of Luzula 'Solar Flare' interplanted with snowdrops; an idea I adopted from Adrain Bloom's garden in the U.K. 

APRIL

This is the month that Mark began to disassemble the old ponds and connecting stream as the first step in turning them into symbolic water gardens with raked gravel. 

I will remember April as the month I spent covering and uncovering delicate plants; especially those that were injured by late frost the year before. It was a real slog, but worth the effort when everything bloomed as the season progressed. 

MAY

I went crazy buying plants, bulbs, and shrubs this past year. After going nowhere and hardly buying anything in 2020, I splurged and did not feel a bit guilty. Eventually I did feel exhausted, trying to get everything in the ground while we did a major redesign project as well. 

Our new water feature was put in place and filled this month and turned out just as we had imagined it. 

JUNE

Three other gardeners who all live on my side of town started our own little in-person garden social group with me. We met indoors and out at each others houses and gardens until Omicron put a stop to it. I think it may be time to do a group Zoom this month. We toured each other's gardens, answered questions, shared advice, books, websites and food.

Flowers were blooming and projects continued but the temps started rising and the rain disappeared. I can't complain about drought compared to many other spots in the nation. My water bill, however, is proof that we did not get our typical summer rainfall. 

JULY

We entered the home stretch of the pond redesign when the top layer of quartz chips were delivered. 

AUGUST

During the growing season, something lovely was always blooming in the garden. We were so focused on the pond project, however, that it dominated every week of the year: talking, planning, and doing the work. It was a thrill when Mark made two different rakes and was able to try raking patterns into the gravel. 

SEPTEMBER

We finally unveiled the pond with an open garden day on Mark's 75th birthday.

OCTOBER

If the Spring gave us late frosts, so did the autumn. The Toad Lilies (Tricyrtis) were spectacular. 

The Ginkgoes never got their full golden color before dropping, but the rest of the garden put on a glorious show of color. 

NOVEMBER

We ended the year as it began: Taking down another of the original trees planted when our house was built in the mid-1950s. A good-size Oak seedling has been growing in the maple's shadow. We're hoping that it takes off with  more space and light. 

DECEMBER

The mostly dead Arborvitae hedge, that Mark took out in the spring, was replaced with a cedar fence.

It was so warm and dry for most of December that I was able to cut Helleborus niger to bring indoors for Christmas vases. 

It's hard to know what 2022 will bring; but looking at the weather, politics and Covid, it's also hard to be optimistic. I'm looking forward to time spent in the garden and visiting your garden blogs to keep me sane. 

A new fence

I posted these first two images in the summer of 2020 when I was writing about garden reality versus the pictures we post on FB, Instagram and our blogs. 

This was the state of our Arborvitae hedge along the west property line after almost 20 years. It was being shaded out by trees we planted and damaged by snowfalls and snow piles from our neighbor's parking spot. 

In December of 2020, we had a big snowstorm which brought down one of the trunks of the neighbor's Arborvitae tree (rear of the scene) and almost flattened our hedge on the right. This year we kissed the hedge goodbye and Mark took it out. 

Mark checked with the neighbors and the city and located the lot line. Then we decided on the kind of fence we wanted to put in, in place of the hedge. It's cedar, board-on-board, meaning the front and back sides are the same. The boards are the same width as the ones on the neighbor's fence, so ours will complement theirs (below). Ours will also fade to the same subtle gray color. 

We used a company called Amerifence. The gentleman who came out to talk to us and give us the estimate and the team who put in the fence were all pleasant and professional. On Tuesday of this week they put in the metal support posts. 

They came back the next day to attach the boards. 

We get along well with these neighbors and have a gate into their garden in the fence that separates our properties farther down this side of the garden. They knew we wanted to hide their white vehicles, so they were fine with the type and height of fence we put in. 

There's so much greenery on both sides that the fence will be much less noticeable in the growing season. 

The crew was very respectful of the plantings and followed the gravel path through the front garden; which meant walking along meandering curves to avoid dormant plants and a lot of "fern crowns."

Even thought the fence was just a long straight line, I was amazed to watch it all come together so quickly. 

Look at the way those River Birch trunks show up against it.

It's such an attractive backdrop, I think I will plant more big ferns in front of it. 

It really changes the view of the front garden as you come down our street. Mark thinks the fence will become the landmark people look for when they come to our house in the future. I think he's correct for now. But I'm guessing it will be barely noticed once the garden is green again. 

Pods and more pods

The last year or two we had fewer Honeylocust pods; meaning fall cleanup was much easier. This summer's hot dry weather sent the trees into overdrive producing record numbers of seedpods. We've filled bags full of them to take to the dump; usually working while the wind continued to knock them down on top of us.

They've carpeted the ground under the 'Golden Shadows' Dogwood and everywhere else you look. We've managed to get them off the pond, the paths and the area around the Tea House. There's still going to be an awful lot to clean up in the spring, and the weather's turned nasty enough that I'm not tempted to do any more work outdoors at the moment. 

So long, Sugar Maple

When we moved into our house, I was a little disconcerted to see a Sugar Maple and a Silver Maple planted in a line next to each other in the front yard. Once we added understory trees, I realized what an advantage it was to have overstory trees.

The Sugar Maple, planted in the mid-1950s, has been going downhill to the degree that it needed to be removed. Last winter the crew that came to work on a number of our trees realized that they would need city permission to close the lane of the street directly in front of our house to take out the maple. So that put the job off until last week. 

Mark was out there with his safety vest, camera and a big lens to record the process from the get go. 

The giant crane with the "jaws of death." Mark had watched videos with this piece of equipment online, but it was all a big surprise to me. 

Some of the branches went into the shredder (below), but much of the tree was carted away as logs.

The fire hydrant marks the west property line of our front garden. The maple is the tree behind the clump of Hakonechloa grass that has gone dormant.

Those big "jaws" clasp the desired tree branches. 

Then the saw proceeds to cut the branch. 

And lifts it out of the way. 

This is all operated by one person using the "keypad" below. 

There was constant activity as the branches were carted off. 

The pink tape marks the understory trees that we wanted protected. The black plastic containers were placed to protect the crowns of big ferns. 

The trunk was still a fairly good size when they put a chain around it and sawed it down. 

Then the crane hoisted it up and out of the way by the chain. 

We left the stump at ground level. 

The number and size of the branches give you an idea of the size of the tree. 

Cutting a tree down once the leaves are off makes sense from an engineering standpoint. It also makes sense for us because we would have been looking at a big open view all winter anyway. It would be a much bigger visual shock if a leaf covered tree came down. The Sugar Maple was shading out a variegated Witch Hazel, a Manchurian Maple and a small Oak tree all growing beneath it. So we expect those plants to take off with more sun and room to grow and spread out. Knowing that makes the loss of the big tree easier to accept. 

The first freeze

For all the years we had the pond, I always noted when it froze over for the first time in the autumn and when he thawed in the spring. Though our new water feature is much smaller, I am going to use it as my weather guide. 

As was so often the case with the big pond, it froze this first week of November. It froze solid, in fact on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. We haven't decided yet if we will leave it uncovered to freeze and thaw all winter or if we need to cover it for protection.