Something I've Neglected

From afar the garden doesn't look too bad and fairly typical of a garden in December. Dead branches, bare bushes, and fading perennials are all common this time of year. But there is something in these garden areas that I'm disappointed in and it's my fault...weeds! The winter weeds are creeping into every garden all because of my lack of attention. My excuse is that my mind has been on other areas - greenhouse construction - but really I've had a few moments I could have done something. My other excuse is the weather - it's cold - well really today was very cold but I've had other opportunities to get a little done in the garden.  It doesn't take much to keep my garden in check but it takes a whole lot more when I let it go too far. The gardens are all fairly close to the house except for the gardens by the greenhouse but those haven't been established yet.

Here you can see a small island garden with a viburnum, two ponytail grasses, a statuesque standing stone and the birdbath garden is behind it all. The stone pathway is disappearing below the top level of the grass - I still haven't accomplished my final mowing. Maybe I'll mow in January...

The pathway leads over to our patio on the other side of the deck and passes by the birdbath garden. Again, from a distance it's not so bad. Grasses are creeping into the edges of the beds that are lined with stone.

But when we look close we can see it all. One of the most annoying weeds of winter - chickweed! It's not the only weed in this picture but it's there - front and center. It's easy to pull and remove from the garden but if you let it go over the winter without removing it it will take over. It's appeared in every garden just taunting me to get out there and remove it! One of these days...

..but for now it's too cold...and I have a greenhouse to finish!

Have you put off any garden chores because of the cold?

October in the Garden

Yesterday during a reprieve from the rain we went out to examine the state of the garden. The past two weeks I've been mostly concentrating on the greenhouse project and I felt it was time to see what I've been missing.

The celosia I planted from seed this year did really well. It's a virtually no maintenance annual unless you consider the weeding of extra seedlings I may not want next year. 

The Dusty Miller I planted in the spring has finally emerged from behind the purple sweet potato vine. The Potato vine took over the location beside the arbor covering the Dusty Miller, Columbine, 'Purple Homestead' Verbena, and variegated liriope. The Dusty Miller is a semi-hardy annual to tender perennial here. It can handle some of the cold temperatures we get and may come back the following year. It's cheap to replace and usually gets treated as an annual.

 

Beside the back deck I planted a 'Shasta' Viburnum. It didn't bloom this year as it was probably protesting being moved from it's previous location. In the background is a 'Firebird' Penstemon. 'Firebird' Penstemon is rated to zone 7 cold hardiness but I planted this one last year and we live in a frost pocket so I would guess that it's relatively safe up to zone 6. It's easy to take a cutting from and overwinter indoors or in a pot in the garage.

 

My 'Dale's Strain' Heuchera is doing great. I bought it last year and divided one of the two plants to make a grouping of three. The two that were divided are smaller but still doing well. 'Dale's Strain' has a nice green and white variegation that turns into caramel coloring in the winter.

 

If we hop over the wire fence into the vegetable garden we can see my strawberries have run amok! It must mean that it's time to expand the garden. I hope to add some more raised beds then transfer the rampaging strawberries over. After the strawberries were done fruiting in the spring I fertilized them with bloodmeal which combined with the rich soil in the raised bed spurred lots of runners (don't fertilize strawberries before fruiting since that will produce green growth and not fruit growth). Strawberries need rejuvenated every couple of years by eliminating the mother plants and replacing them with the young runners. Every runner will eventually turn into a new mother plant and the process can be sustained indefinitely. This strawberry bed began as 3-4 plants from a pot and 6-8 plants from a plant swap. 

 

My grass is green and shiny thanks to all the rain! I haven't fertilized the yard yet in the two and a half years we've lived here and really have no plans too with anything other than sifted organic compost. I believe that a lawn can be environmentally responsibly grown. I overseed with a new variety of grass every fall. Now if they would just come out with a riding reel mower...

 

My 'Daiblo' Ninebark (Physocarpus) has grown a little. It's a new addition to the Birdbath garden this year and is paired with a pair of 'Powis' Castle artemisias. I'll need to keep the artemisia trimmed lower to prevent it from completely enveloping the ninebark but that will just give me an opportunity to make more free plants! I don't think you can go wrong with planting silver and purple foliage plants as companions.  In the background you can see the current state of the greenhouse shed. It's coming along!

 

And here's a closer look. The plantings in front of the greenhouse will need some reworking but I'll worry about that after construction is complete!

 

Around the Garden in October

It's been while since I showed larger scale pictures of the garden.  Mostly because it was such a mess over the summer. Today I'll share a few photos of the various garden areas.  The resiliency of plants is simply amazing. With neglect, wet weather, dry weather, hot weather, and lack of time my plants seem to be doing fine!

The Front Garden Walkway

Right now in the front garden along the sidewalk you will see mums becoming the center of attention. The red mums to the right have been in the ground for several years and have gotten quite large.  I didn't cut them back even once this year and their timing seems to be just perfect.  The mums on the left side of the sidewalk are the 'Clara Curtis' mums I mentioned in an earlier post. The 'Autumn Joy' sedum is going to seed while the gaillardia is still producing blooms.

 

The Surprise Garden!

In Saturday's post I told you about my surprise garden.  Essentially the spring garden cleanup resulted in the germination of the seed the spring garden produced.  It' snot a bad problem to have but it does make mowing around it a little difficult. Cilantro, arugula and lettuce can all be found in this garden patch.

The Herb Garden

My herb garden is located just off one side of our patio.  Oregano stretches itself onto the edge of the patio but you will also find lemon balm, stevia, and catmint here.  On the opposite side is thyme, lemon basil, and one of my favorites, sage.

The Birdbath Garden

It's still without a birdbath at the moment but the birdbath garden is putting on a good show. The 'Sheffield Pink' mums are in front of this picture with salvia, red twig dogwood, catmint, and a butterfly bush all nearby. 

The Lawn Garden

OK it's not really a garden but it is a part of the gardens.  It connects them all together through a sea of green and is a void of space that allows the gardens to stand out. The trees in the back are well on their way to fall color.  The lawn looks pretty good now that some of the oversown seed has emerged.  It's not perfect but I'm not looking for the perfect lawn, just one that does what I need and provide a great place for the kids to play!  I don't use pesticides or herbicides on the lawn.

The Shed

Back by the shed the gardens have filled in fairly thick.  It's time to move a few plants to other locations.  I'm looking forward to seeing the two crape myrtles on either side of the pathway grow into larger trees to flank the path.  Also flanking the pathway are two 'Shenandoah' switchgrasses.  The one on the right is significantly larger even though both were planted at the same time and were in the same size pot.  The difference is the light.  The one on the right gets a couple more hours of sunlight than the other.  A few hours makes a huge difference.  I was trying to be symmetrical but one of the problems with symmetry is that it can be hard to get both specimens to match for a variety of reasons. In this case they grew at different rates.

The Trees

The trees are well on their way to being naked.  While the cooler weather will be welcome for a little while I'm going to miss the growing season.  Spring will come along eventually and we'll get the opportunity to try new things in the garden.  For now though we'll just have to live in the moment and enjoy the colors as they turn.

Join the 2011 Fall Color Project and share the brilliance of Autumn!

The Birdbath Garden August Expansion

August isn't really the best time to expand a garden. It's hot, not much water, and usually the nurseries don't have a whole lot of nice plants to choose from since they are waiting on the fall stock to arrive. Even though I wouldn't recommend buying and planting plants right now if you promise the plants that you will water them when needed and won't be leaving them for any extended lengths of time then they may allow you to plant them. Such is the case with my new friend 'Diablo' (Physocarpus opulifolius). Diablo is a ninebark and a pretty neat one at that! Ninebark is native to North American and has white flowers in the summer.  Because I purchased this ninebark impulsively (I've wanted one for a while and just found a nursery nearby that sold them) I spent a few days figuring out where to put it. I finally found a spot on one side of the birdbath garden that I could expand where I paired it up with a couple 'Powis Castle' Artemisias I propagated from cuttings. The silver and purple look is one I really enjoy! They're little now but they will grow fast!

 

I also settled on a spot for yet another big rock as a low bench. What do you think about planting plants in the heat of summer?

Around the Birdbath Garden

Today I went out and took a few quick photos of the birdbath garden. It's come along way from it's beginning three and a half years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday, all young and small, with barely a plant in the garden. It's amazing how quickly they grow up!

Here's a look at the birdbath garden now. Please excuse my shadow - the sun still refuses to move to the right spot when I ask it to. The main feature is the butterfly bush which dominates the scene with a profusion of purple blooms. Close up you'll see an 'Oranges and Lemons' gaillardia. To the back and right you can find a 2 'Powis Castle' artemisias and a Diablo ninebark. If you get a chance to buy either of those three plants you should do it without even thinking about it.

I like the way this pathway has turned out. All the stone for this stepping stone pathway was imported last year. I say imported and it makes it sound very fancy (like it's some sort of fancy Olive oil) but really it was just imported from a few miles south (I suppose I technically could say that it was imported all the way from Columbia). Tennessee is rich with stone perfect for stepping stones and dry stack walls but it's a mixed blessing since the more stone you have usually means the less awesome your soil is. I have a lot of pretty good soil which makes me a lucky gardener, but I have to become an importer to get neat things like stepping stones for pathways or border stones.

The pathway splits the gardens. To the right is the birdbath garden and the left is our deck garden. In the center of the pathway is an arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum 'Morton' ) of which I'm a big fan. If you don't have a viburnum in your yard go right now and get one them plant it! OK, I'll give you a few days to do it but it must be done! (You can't go wrong with these viburnums: Arrowwood viburnums - a native to the U.S. with blue berries the bird love, or a Burkwood viburnum - which smells even better than honeysuckle in the spring - or at least it's a close second!)

Here's the butterfly bush again looking pretty. The bloom stalks are just beginning to bloom and this bush will be covered in color in a day or two.

I bought this Asiatic lily last year on a discount rack. It looks pretty good don't you think? I was actually expecting it to be orange! I must have put that one somewhere else.

I had to share this long shot of the yard. The garden shed is way in the back and the vegetable garden to the right. I'm thrilled with the lawn at the moment. The rainy weather has allowed the cool season fescue to stay green despite temperatures that have been very hot. The fence on the left side of the vegetable garden has several perennials that should start blooming before too long. Mondarda, 'Black and Blue' salvia, butterfly bushes, and several others call this spot home (as well as several weeds). One of these days I'll get that fence taken down and a nice wooden picket fence put up. If you know anyone who can add a few hours in the day please let me know!

Around Our Garden Landscape

This weekend after all the garden related chores were done for the day, and just before sunset came, I took a few photographs of how our gardens look this April.  I still have mulching, pruning, weeding, and many other things to do but I thought it would be a good time to share some of our garden with you.  These pictures are mostly of the backyard but there is one of our sideyard garden where the arbor is. 

The first picture is a wide shot of the backyard.  The lawn in the middle is framed by the vegetable garden to the right and the birdbath garden to the left. One of these days I'll repair the birdbath and get it back out there!  This year has been extremely busy and I've put off some projects in favor of others.  The birdbath is one of the "do later" chores.  You can see in the vegetable garden the two wooden trellises I made last year for cucumbers and melons.  They worked great!

We'll shift slightly to the left and see more of the birdbath garden.  Irises are blooming right now but soon other perennials will be showing off.  The two shrubs on the far side toward the back of the garden are a ninebark and a witchhazel.  I need to move one of them but I'm afraid it may be too late this year.  Perhaps this fall I'll attempt it. 

 Another slight shift to the left shows a viburnum on the corner.

Inside the garden is a statue placed in a patch of catmint.  Catmint is one of my most favorite perennials simply because it is so easy to grow!  It's easy to propagate too and you can turn one into many very quickly.  It attracts pollinators and is said to repel certain undesirable insects (like termites, cockroaches, and mosquitoes)!

This pink phlox has made a nice home underneath a crape myrtle.  Unfortunately the crape myrtles in our yard are severely frost bitten. They will recover but if they bloom will most likely bloom much later than normal.  We can blame this on the early warm weather and the frost combo.

And last I'll leave you with this photo of our side garden arbor and the corner shade garden.  Hostas, heucheras, oak leaf hydrangea, ajuga, hellebores, Japanse ferns, and astilbe all are in the corner shade garden.  The Japanse maple is a little frost bit but mostly came through the frost OK.

I hope you enjoyed that quick tour!  There's more to come soon!

My State of the Garden Address - Part 2

Yesterday I showed you part one of the state of the garden which contained mostly the front yard and side yard, today we go into the backyard to visit the gardens.

The Vegetable Garden

Let’s start by looking at the department of agriculture. The vegetable garden isn’t being very productive right now even though it could be. Hoop houses constructed over the beds would have been an asset this year if I had ever gotten around to building them. As it stands the only plants still alive in the garden are the cilantro, the strawberries, and of course - the weeds. There’s a weed for every season isn’t there? A major cleanup is needed but I’ll do that right before I begin planting, possibly in conjunction with my new raised beds I’m planning on building. It won’t be long until it’s time for sugar snap peas and spinach.




The Birdbath Garden

Here is the backyard birdbath garden. It doesn’t seem like much now but the mounds of dead branches and foliage once contained bright flowers like coreopsis, verbena, and salvias. The bush on the left is the butterfly bush while the one on the right is a ninebark. I surrounded the ninebark with two ‘Powis Castle’ artemisias both made from cuttings.



Here is one artemisia now, just trying to maintain its silver foliage throughout the winter. It looks a little worse for wear but once warmer weather returns it will once again be big, bright and beautiful!


  
My ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint isn’t looking too happy right now. Really, not much is! Once things begin to warm up I’ll cut back the dead foliage and the plant will be good as new – and maybe better! I like to leave the foliage on through the winter to help shield the crown of the plant from cold weather. It’s just a little extra insulation to keep it safe and sound. I rarely trim anything back in the fall.



And here is my wayward ‘Purple Homestead’ Verbena. I’ve found that it detests wet winters. A shady spot where it’s wet in the winter is doom to this drought tolerant sun lover. This verbena was a cutting from another one I have on the north side of our house. This one is in full sun on a slightly mounded bed which was ideal for it to prosper last summer. It overtook my ‘Jethro Tull’  coreopsis fast and kept going. Verbena seems to walk by rooting along the stem in various places and dies back over the winter from where it started.



Can you guess where our next destination might be?




The Greenhouse Gardens

If you guessed the back gardens and the greenhouse you got it right. In front of the greenhouse area are two garden beds haphazardly created last fall with grass clippings and leaves. Grass clippings make a great mulch/compost layer and break down very fast. The leaves were gathered up in the fall with the push lawnmower and it's bagging attachment. I know that mowers are not the most eco friendly tool to use (especially when you catch them on fire) but it’s still a necessity in our yard - there are only so many gardens I can put together each year.  I would love to try out one of the battery powered mowers one day but right now they seem a little on the pricey side, but enough about the economy!

This bed is the left hand bed. Since you really can’t see much of anything other than leaves so let me tell you what is here. You’ll have to trust me now and you can see it later! (Did I just sound like a politician or what?)  A small maple tree that needs moved is on the right and a ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass is on the left. The switchgrass was a gift from my parents last year – is it odd that I like getting grass for my birthday? The little pot is a temporary protection measure I put around a crape myrtle to prevent rabbits from finding the small plant. It came from cuttings I made in the spring. On the far end of the bed are several small forsythias that I planted in the fall.  They will border our yard and this garden. Also in this bed is another artemisia, a salvia, a bunch of seeds that I hope will sprout for 2010.




This garden is on the right side in front of the greenhouse. The mound in the back needs leveled once the greenhouse work is mostly completed. Another switchgrass is on the right and together the two grass clumps flank a wide grass pathway between the gardens. Another crape myrtle is hiding behind its plastic palace of protection while Russian sage and artemisia help to fill in this garden. There’s yet another small maple that needs a new home as it stands right in front of the greenhouse front door. I’ll find it a new home in the next couple weeks.



Lastly you can catch a glimpse of the front of the greenhouse. Siding is on its way up and a new special feature is in the works for the front – hopefully soon! It depends on the weather of course (as I’m writing snow is still falling - in excess of four inches).  To see more of the greenhouse including the other views visit my post on putting siding on the greenhouse!

I hope you enjoyed the state of my garden! Please keep in mind it’s still January and I’ll be in a better state of mind in Spring!

The Birdbath Garden: March Update

This past weekend was a big work weekend for me.  Not only did I tackled the paths on the garden but I had a couple other projects in mind to accomplish.  One of which was our Birdbath Garden expansion.  This project is also a small memorial garden for our cat Amber who passed away in December.

This is how the birdbath garden started. It began with a small copper birdbath that I attached to a 4"x4" post that came from an old wooden palette. I stained the 4"x4" with a cedar stain to improve it's color.   Afterward I planted a few reliable plants like coneflowers, irises, and coreopsis.  The irises came from my parent's house and the coreopsis from seed I gathered at my in-laws house.

This is how the garden looked in June of 2008. I added salvias, miscanthus, mums, and a butterfly bush to the mix.  The butterfly bush became a bird favorite for the shelter it provided.  I think I add salvias to almost every garden area, I just can't get enough salvia!

By July I had added a natural stone border to define the boundaries between the garden and the yard. A purple leaf plum was added but I later removed it as the deer seemed to like it too much. It's now in a location by the road where I'm hoping the deer don't find it.

Later in the season I found a viburnum and added it to the garden.  This little spot just keeps growing larger and larger. This picture was taken in the fall and you can see the mums blooming around the edges.  The coreopsis faded too quickly since I let it go to seed way too early. You can keep them going all summer if you deadhead properly. There is also an 'Appalachian Spring' dogwood on the other side of the garden that we added. 'Appalachian Spring' was developed at the University of Tennessee and is the most anthracnose resistant variety of dogwood bred so far. Too bad it's not deer proof.

Here's what it looks like now. It's not complete by any means but it is well on it's way.

I added a simple bench area. The seats for the bench haven't been added yet but they will be soon.  I'm using reclaimed wood from an old deck to make the seats. In fact I also used the same reclaimed deck wood to create an edging for the gravel area to help keep the stones contained. Behind the seat is a rock border made form natural stone we gathered.  We need to collect more stone to complete the border all away around the new section.

 

Here's another angle on the bench area. I cleared out the grass in the gravel area then covered with newspapers and landscape fabric. I topped the fabric with a combination of small round stones and pea gravel.  The stumps came from a tree cutting project at my in-laws house last fall. 

  

When you look at the garden from this angle you can see how large the new section is. Lot's of room for planting!

  

At the end of the garden on the left there is a little witch hazel that was given away last year at the Bloom 'N Garden Expo. The deer grazed on it last year but I'll let it go for now until I'm sure it won't make it. It will be fun to see this new area grow throughout 2009!

 

What still needs done:

• Planting
• Finish the bench
• Add the stone border