Winter Comes to the Garden

Welcome to "Sycamore Gardens"

This morning we awoke to our first snow fall for the season. Nothing like a brisk walk in the garden in winter to enjoy mother nature and all her beauty.

The Japanese Garden

Spruce

Blue Atlas Cedar

The Woodland and Hydrangea Garden


Happy Gardening!

The Creative Gardener

Fall Comes to Sycamore Gardens

It is that time of the year when the garden is slowly going to sleep for winter. Surprisingly for being November the garden is still showing lots of color and has many flowers still blooming. This is one of my favorite seasons in the garden because I now get to work in my garden. Yes, I am one of those few gardeners who gardens in the winter. With my garden maintenance business, I don't have much time to work on my own garden. I do add new plants during the growing season to establish them for winter, but most of the time the beds are not completed till late fall and into spring. I use this time in the garden for pruning, cleaning up leaves, adding hardscape and cleaning up the beds. I know that when March rolls around my garden becomes low on the list for work. My projects for this winter are adding more rocks around the flower beds, moving an arbor to a different garden, adding a new bird house on a post, and building the structure for the living wall that will be planted in the spring with sedums. I also have my hosta seeds planted and they are just starting to germinate. I will continue growing them inside the house under lights till spring when they will be moved to the garden. I am also propagating sedums for the living wall. You can see that my fall and winter will be busy with gardening. I took a walk in the garden and snapped what will be the last of the pictures of the garden for the year. We are expecting the killing frost at anytime. Hope you enjoy the photos!



Dogwood Tree

The Fairies in the Woodland Garden

Lots of mums blooming in the garden

'Sweet Autumn' Clematis seeds

The wonderful fall colors of 'Witch Hazel'

Happy gardening and have a wonderful fall!
The Creative Gardener

Protecting Your Plants During Drought

This Dogwood's flower buds have died and the leaves show stress from lack of water.

This year my zone 5 garden experienced a very dry growing season. We started the year out with lots of rain and the garden was growing great. Then we started getting less rain or a light shower that was not enough to wet the ground. August was the driest in over 100 years in my area. Many flowers, trees and shrubs have been stressed from the lack of rain. We are now having "no burning" bans due to the lack of rain. It seems that everyday the news on TV is about corn and bean fields catching on fire.

If you live in a zone that has been experiencing drought, watch your trees and shrubs for water. I have been seeing many shrubs and trees with curling leaves or loosing their leaves due to lack of water in many landscapes. It is not good when the small limbs "snap" due to die back. Take a look around your landscape and if you are seeing problems, start watering before it is to late. Check closely on shrubs or trees that are growing under larger trees. I would suggest putting your garden hose at the base of the tree and allow the water to run for about 1/2 hour slowly. If your soil is really dried out, and you run the water fast it will run off the top of the soil and not go where it is needed most, the roots of the tree or shrub. Repeat the procedure several times a week as needed based on rainfall in your area.


This Burning Bush will not be red in color for fall this year.

Now is the time to make sure that your trees and shrubs are healthy and strong for that long winter to come. Remember to continue to check on them during the winter for water if we a have a dry winter and don't be surprised that some trees and shrubs may still have problems come next year.


Happy Gardening and hope for rain!

The Creative Gardener

Spring in the Garden

Spring is one of my favorite seasons in the garden. It's that time of the year when the garden renews itself. Over the long winter, I spend time reviewing the "bones" of the garden from my upstairs window where I can see the entire garden. From there I make my plans for the upcoming growing season. Spring allows me to see what survived, multiplied, needs help or didn't survive. When I first started the garden, my property was weeds, mature native trees and lots of Poison Ivy and Euonymus vines covering all the trees. I spent the first two summers removing vines and itching from Poison Ivy. Around two thirds of my garden is in flood plain and the first few years, I didn't plant anything in that area after seeing my first couple of floods. Now the gardens are large and extend into the flood plain. When it floods, the gardens are under water for about one week. Flooding occurs during winter to early spring, when the plants are dormant. I have never lost a plant from flooding. The gardens are about one and half acres of flowering trees and shrubs and a wide assortment of perennial plants. To create a garden of that size requires lots of plants. I buy many of my plants at the end of the growing season on clearance. I also grow my perennials from seed and start many shrubs from cuttings or layering. I also receive lots of plants from friends and family who don't want them any more for various reasons. Every plant finds a home in my garden. Each year, I focus on adding certain elements to the garden design. Last year I planted lots of flowering shrubs to create the walls of the garden. This year I am adding more hardscapes like arbors, a retaining wall and enlarging the pond and waterfalls. I like to do the work myself, which is part of the fun of gardening! My garden is very young and each year I find it exciting to see how it has grown and continues to mature into the garden I envision. The plants are young and small, but the vision of a beautiful old mature garden is there. As I see it, my garden and I will grow old together!


Apple trees in bloom

Magnolia

Sumac - Sutherland's Gold

Narcissus

Brunnera


Narcissus

Cleveland Pears

Happy Gardening!

The Creative Gardener

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - April 2013

The blood root is in full bloom.

 

This Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, finally has the garden alive and blooming.  We had a sudden warm up and the garden responded with lots of growth, buds and flowers.  My weeping cherry tree is in full flower and the bees are swarming all over it.  I have never seen so many different types of bees at one time on this tree. If you want to see what is happening in my garden, take a look at the photos of spring in my garden.

A honey bee enjoying the flowers of the weeping cherry tree.

A bumble bee flying from flower to flower.

 Hellebores are now in full bloom.

The fragrance of a blooming hyacinth is wonderful.

The forget me nots are up and blooming.

The forsythia bushes are all in full bloom.

The vinca is blooming all over the garden.

The red bud tree is starting to show signs of flower buds.

Marsh marigold is blooming.

The flowering quince should be in full bloom in several days.

My lilac bushes are all in bud.

 If you have been reading my past blog post, you know that we have been working on a patio and deck remodel.  The patio is now complete and the deck construction will be complete in about another week. During the construction, I had moved several trees, shrubs and lots of perennials. February was not the best time to dig up plants, but I was trying to save as many plants as possible before construction began. I am happy to report that they all survived their moves and are now leafing out in their new locations.  I still have a few plants to move, but I need to wait till they are fully up.  It is not easy to design and plant a garden when the plants are not up.  Now is a good time to redesign and plant the new garden with cool temperatures and lots of rain.  I will be doing a full blog post in the next few weeks of the completed project.  You will want to check back for the post with the before and after photos.  Should be exciting and a very big change!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the warmer weather and the beginning of a new garden season.

Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day!

Debbie


If you are not a follower of my blog, please become one.  I enjoy hearing from you!