Red slabs in the sunset

The red slab edging is in place, at least for the major portion of the border. The border finally looks "real"!

I found a very small butterfly bush in the garden area, but I have no idea how it got there.

I don't remember planting one that spot in the previous border of many years ago. Anyway, I decided to transplant it to a better spot in the border and I was surprised to find out that it was three plants! I transplanted one but I am not sure that it liked the transplanting process. Well, if it doent't come up in the spring, I still have two more!

Still buying, still planting

We went to Home Depot in Fairfield today to get some red slabs since the HD in Norwalk didn’t have any and was not getting any until next spring and I wanted to edge the summer border now. This we did and it looks very neat. Besides, now I can take away the string edging that I keep tripping over!

HD was having a great (50-75% off) end of season sale on plants and shrubs—so of course I had to buy some:
Echinacea purpurea Achillea 'Moonshine' Potentilla fruticosa ‘Pink Beauty”
Agastache ‘Purple Haze’
I planted them in the border and gave them a spray of Miracle-Gro. The plants have some flowers on them and look very sprightly.

Since the day was so nice, I decided to transplant the Mock Orange (Philadelphus ‘Snowbelle’) and the Spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Anthony Waterer’)from the porch garden to the summer border. They certainly weren’t happy by the porch, so I hope I have found better spots for them.

I am still in a quandary as to how to arrange the porch garden. It is not a big area, but I really don’t want it to just have the Korean lilac and the hydrangea--although now that I have untied the hydrangea it has taken over. I am also thinking of trying to do drastic pruning on the lilac after it blooms. If worse comes to worst, I will remove it and plant something else there and plant a new Korean lilac where it can sprawl to its heart content.

Another nice day for gardening

I can not believe what a gorgeous day it is -- considering that we are threatened with thunderstorms later this evening.

I bought another three Hosta from Home Depot the other day. I was very impressed with the first plant I bought, and now the $5 plants are 25% off! I added them to the edging in the summer border with two of them behind, sort-of. I transplanted another yellow foxglove that was growing in the wrong spot to a better spot in the border. I also transplanted a number of ajuga (I seem to be being taken over by periwinkle, ajuga, and Lamb's Ears--but it's ok since I like them) to the border. I also found a lonely physostegia growing elsewhere so I put it in the border also.

I found a young autumn olive growing in my woods so I moved it to near the gazebo.

I gave all the just-planted a good dosing of Miracle-Gro with my sprayer and decided to call it a day. I will rest on my laurels. I am a staunch believer in spraying plants with Miracle-Gro. My plants love it.

Shrub border to block view

I was at a loss what to do to block the view into my neighbor's woods from my summer perennial border. There is a rock wall but it is low and rather rough and tumble. I got some good ideas from a "gardening coach". Her name is Debbie Roberts and I found her through the Garden Designers' Roundtable web site. She lives in my area so she is very knowledgeable with the problems and good points of this spot and knowledgeable of gardening in general.

The space between the back of the border is only about 12 feet from the property line at its closest point. I need room to work the border from the back as well as the front. I thought of a fence, but while I wanted to block the view and add some privacy, I still wanted something casual but nice looking. I have nothing against fences--in fact, I think they are a great idea, just not necessarily for this spot. Plus I like the idea of breezes being able to flow through, especially in our hot and humid summers.

She offered ideas for shrubs to use and how to position them--a staggered planting of shrubs ("WW") along the rock wall with a narrow walkway between the back of the summer border and the inner row of shrubs.

Also, I was not sure how to tie the two sides of the grass oval together since one side has the summer perennial border and the other side, the all-season shrub border. She also offered some design ideas. It seems pretty simple--copy colors from the perennial border to the shrub border in a number of places. Of course, now I just have to implement it! I have allowed next year (2011) to complete the summer border and the following year (2012) to complete the complimenting shrub border, so I should have enough time to get it right! (Famous last words.)

Still moving plants around

Everytime I think I will shut down for the season, the weather improves and I get another bout of energy.

I have a nice area by the kitchen porch where I seem to have planted to many plants. Originally, there was a Hygrangea macrophylla and a Korean Lilac (Syringa patula) which may, or may not, be 'Miss Kim'. The area needed a few more plants so I added some more. Perhaps it was due to all the rain in this area in the winter and the spring, but the lilac and especially the hydrangea, grew like "gangbusters" and overtook everything! The hydrangea grew to a mound 5 foot x 5 foot and 5 foot tall and was overcome with very large, blue flowers!

I am now in the process of trying to figure out what to do here. After tossing around a number of ideas, I decided to transplant two sections of the hydrangea to the new summer perennial border in the back row. I decided to let the rest of the hydrangea and the lilac have the area, except for the spring bulbs and the edging of aguga. In the spring. I will move the heath, spirea, mock-orange and bearded iris to the summer border.

Mulch your grass!

It is always nice to see that an idea of mine that I thought was a good idea, is actually be used by others and it is a good idea--mulch your grass in situ!

The article in this Fine Gardening eLetter has such an article. I have a Toro "mulching" lawn mover. I only rake a few leaves out from around some of my plants if they seem to be too packed. Leaves on my lawn simply get "mowed" with the grass and remain on the ground. They are mulched very fine. My soil can use all the improvements it can get and the grass seems to love its mulch amendment. If I seem to have too many leaves, I rake them into an area and then run the lawn mower over them. I then put that mulch on my gardens.

Don't tread on me!

One of the articles in the current Fine Gardening eLetter talks about"to rototill or not to rototill". It reminded me of when we decided to landscape this property and discovered that we had very little topsoil and mostly clay, and rocks from pebbles to boulders. We immediately bought a Troy-Built Horse size rototiller. We never regretted the purchase since without it, we would have no gardens and no lawn. In fact, this year when we decided to resusitate our property, Tillie went to work again. (I named the tiller Tillie the Toiler, and toil she did!)

I remember reading back then about not overtilling the soil -- just get it usable and then keep it in good shape. We bought tons of peat moss, topsoil, and lots and lots of earthworms! I think the earthworm purchase was another brilliant idea. (By the way, another reason not to repeatedly till the soil is that you may "chop up" your earthworms!) As we are turning over the soil (I use my favorite tool-- spading fork) this year, I see lots of big, fat earthworms -- it is a wonderful site.

One of the ways to keep the soil is good shape is not to walk on it! Now this is not for lawns and play areas, but for gardens. I remember learning a good way from the "Square Foot Gardener" Mel Bartholomew. I was into vegetable gardening at the time and he had a fantastic system for intensive gardening. (I used it and I had almost more produce than I could use.) He said never, never walk on your garden soil, and offered that you should put stepping stones in any garden that needed to be tended from within. The author of the current article says the same thing, showing that good ideas stay around forever--the previous generation teaching the current.

I enjoyed the eLetter article.

This and that

I managed to paint at least the section of the gazebo where we had to pull vines away and then sand. I put one coat of paint on the exposed areas. I was hoping to repaint the entire gazebo but it will have to wait for spring. I forgot that even painting is tiring work. At least, all the wood is protected.

We decided to cut down two "Dwarf" Alberta Spruce in front of the den windows. They grew too large and at one one end the Korean Lilac and the Inkberry (Ilex glabra [sp?]) really wanted to expand ... something had to give. We decided that if we took down one it made design sense to take down both. Actually, it looks very nice now. I might plant a rose bush. It will look nice against the house and since I only buy fragrant roses, the scent will be nice by the open window.

Our tree man came to discuss trees to take down/neaten. On the property line in back of my new summer border is the tallest, ugliest, poison ivied, decrepit Pine. It has been dropping its branches all over the place, so I decided to have it put out of its misery and save myself constant cleanup from it. We also found a few tall, skinny trees with "rugs" of leaves 35 foot up -- they also will come down. This should also let a little sunlight into a needed spot. I think we are finally making a good setting for the magnificent trees: oaks of all kinds, hickories, Stuartia, Black Cherries, American Elms (yes, I actually have some in perfect condition!), Tulip trees, a European Linden, an Ash, a Purple Beech, a Sourwood, and some nice looking Sassafras and Birch. Most of the trees were on the property when we bought it, or Nature planted after we moved in. We will try to keep a "managed woodlot".

If anyone living in this area of Connecticut, I have a great tree man: Robert Finch of Finch's Tree Service in Wilton.

I just read an emailed letter from Fine Gardening magazine. Two articles were of great interest. I will talk about them in the next post -- it is time to clean up and make dinner.

Last barrows!

Finally, a gorgeous day and we dumped the last five wheelbarrows needed in the "to be" summer perennial border. This brings the total dumped by my hard-working wheelbarrow totting husband to 33! I am sure that in the spring, after the soil settles, there will be some fill-in needed. Fortunately, we have more than half of our 6 cubic yards left. I also have plans where to put some extra soil as I find more places to fix up!! I hope I don't have to buy any more soil. I think that having to move soil is more onerous than having to pay for soil!

Tomorrow, I really should paint the gazebo. Supposedly, we are back to rain on Tuesday.

Disappointing

I went to Home Depot today before going to the supermarket. It was a non-productive trip.

No large bales of peat moss, and worse, no red concrete slabs! Actually, I don't know why I am surprised. While the plant selection has been terrific, HD has been quite remiss through the years with getting red concrete slabs in stock. We have often had to go to the Fairfield HD to buy them in the past years. The other decorative blocks that we like and use for walkways and patios are 16 x 16 inch red slabs with brick pattern impressed in them. These too, we have had to go to Fairfield to get on many occasions. I don't understand this. Also, on some items, Fairfield is cheaper.

Well, it is a cool, grey day and the weatherman is talking about 1 - 2 inches of rain and much wind. I guess I will just relax inside and sulk.

Getting ready to be an armchair gardener

I think I will wind down planting/transplanting in my summer border. I am getting ready to just read and re-read my garden books, get others from the library, and make more lists of flowers and shrubs. I need to review my "Five-year Plan". I need to do some serious thinking about my landscape in relaxing comfort in front of the fire. I had hoped to do more this season, but as I look around, I am amazed at how much my husband and I accomplished. I get tired just thnking about it. Maybe it's alright to slow down. Besides, I have some other outdoor work to do such as re-paint the gazebo before the winter.

I have come up with some ideas (some with the help of friends) for the living room garden sections.

--Since I have started using 8x16 inch red contrete slabs as "mowing strips/edging", I will continue them as edging for the summer flower border and the summer shrub border. I may get the summer flower border edging down before the winter.
-At the back of the border, I will pound tall green wooden stakes into the ground at various intervals. These stakes will support four foot tall green vinyl garden fencing. This fencing will allow me to support vine plants such as clementis and roses in the rear row as part of the border. Gertrude Jekyll used posts and chains for this, but I like this better and this should blend into the background.
--Brick and slate steps going from the lawn =garden level to the slightly lower level behind the summer border. This may or may not, get done this year.
--The property boundary behind the summer border is not very wide, but I would like something to break the view into my neighbor's woodlot. I will leave about three feet clear behind the back of the border and then do a staggered planting of interesting shrubs.

Another day, another seven barrows

We are having another nice day but by tomorrow afternoon we are back to rain for a couple of days. I know we have oddball weather here, but this is getting surreal.

We moved another seven wheelbarrows of good topsoil to the summer border, added peat moss to the mix and turned it over. My husband thinks that we need at least another three sets of seven... hmmm.... We only move the soil when it is not raining and we have free time, so this could take a while. It certainly would be nice to have an entire week rain-free. Besides, the soil doesn't get a chance to really dry out. We are using a dapper orange steel True-Temper 6 cubic-foot wheelbarrow that we bought from Home Depot this spring for under $100. It has a solid tire. It seems very sturdy.

My Jackson 8 wheelbarrow, which I just love, has two tires and they constantly need air--what a pain! I think I will buy solid tires for it. We do have a trick for putting air in the tires which we had to develop because we could never get air in the tires without help from our garage mechanic. We inflate a flat tire with a partial can of "Fix-a-Flat". This works great and we can fix a tire immediately and keep working. We have done this a number of times. I suppose at some time, this may stop working. Talk about making things up as you go along!

I have to go to Home Depot to buy more peat moss--another item I could buy by the truckload. In the spring. I buy a lot of peat moss at once because I like to keep adding it to the soil.

A little more planning & planting

We made a slight adjustment to the back edge of the perennial border--fortunately before we added the soil! This new edge will allow a nice transition of steps to go from the lawn level down to the back of the border, since the land slopes downward. I wasn't sure how to handle this, but I found a good idea as I was cruising the net. I will not do all the landscaping that is in this picture, just brick steps with flagstone treads and some low-growing plants on the side at the edge of the border. This is looking from the lower level up. I finally decided that the border had a good-enough look to take a picture. I will try to take another one on a sunny day so that the border can be better seen. The rock wall at the right edge is the end of my property. My neighbor's woods are on the other side. Also on the right is the sloping area between the border and the lacecap hygrangeas. I am still deciding what to do to block some of the woodland so as to give a nice backdrop for the border. You can see a bit of the gazebo at the far end.Right now the back edging for the border is made from 2 x 10 inch planks. They are held in postion by wooden stakes. Ultimately, something nicer will replace the planks. The front edge is back to being 8 x 16 inch red concrete slabs from Home Depot. I am using them for edging the other planting sections in this living room garden area, and this will add continuity, I hope.

Oh, my aching body!

A nice sunny, mild day is not to be wasted ... hmmm ....

On Saturday, I finally bought screened topsoil, six cubic yards of it! Unfortunately, it couldn't be dumped very close to the perennial border. I am not sure how much soil I will need for the summer border but I know that on this property, no extra soil goes to waste. It is a good thing that we bought a new, strong wheelbarrow from Home Depot about a month ago. The barrow will certainly get a workout.

I am in charge of putting down peat moss and then turning over the soil at first. My husband is in charge of filling the wheelbarrow and dumping the soil. Then I smooth the soil and do a second light "turnover". I use a spading fork. Thank heavens the soil was, at one time, a prepared garden -- the going is still hard but I hate to think if we were starting from scratch!!

I found my notes from my old garden and found that the tall grass in question that I transplanted is Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' Maiden Grass -- a beautiful, strong growing plant. I can make quite a few divisions from it. It has been growing for about 20 years. It is growing into an area of Yucca filamentosa, or perhaps the Yucca is growing into the miscanthus. Anyway, I have to try to dig up some of those plants too. They also have been growing in that spot for about 20 years! Yuk! I finally took a picture of the unknown grass that I decided to let grow and see what happens next spring. Not the greatest picture but it really is quite attractive in real life.

Higgledy, piggledy can be a garden principle

As I was, once again wondering where to put my latest "must have" plants in the garden that I was supposed to "plan before I plant", the term higgledy - piggledy came to mind. I know that I did say that I would create a layout of the garden following certain design principles, but I did also allow for a "stream-of-consciousness" approach now and then. I guess, I am getting quite a few "nows" as my garden plans itself! My grandmother put things in her garden where she liked them to be (she never took a course, nor read a gardening book as far as I know) -- and what a wonderful garden she had!

This reminds me of some letters to the editor in September/October issue of Fine Gardening magazine. They are in response to a letter to the editor in a previous issue (I don't have it) about "personal taste not that important" which they challenge. I agree.

The whole point about a garden is to bring enjoyment to the owner! Gardens are personal things, design principles can just be guidelines to follow as you wish, not to be held as a law immutable: a right way versus a wrong way. Remember Jim Crockett's statement that I consider applicable to many things (if not a "life" principle): Life is to short to stake asters, and modify it to: Life is too short to not have your garden as you you like it.

Giving in to temptation

Today was "before we stop at the supermarket we stop at Home Depot to see if any exciting plants arrived", day.

Every week for about the last month, I stare at the Montauk Daisies-- they are so striking! I am always tempted but always pass them by. I was getting tired of being tempted but I tried to remain strong -- after all, I shouldn't buy any plant that I don't know where I am going to plant it. Besides, Montauk Daisies bloom from early to late fall, and I am planting a summer garden.

Montauk Daisy Nipponanthemum nipponicum, early to late fall bloom, white, 24 - 36 in. tall.
My husband broke the impasse by quoting Oscar Wilde: The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... Now I just have to find a place for it. I also bought a Hosta plant -- only $5 for a good-looking plant -- now I have to find a place for it, too.

Hosta hybrid 'Francee', mid to late summer bloom, lavender, 22-24in tall (with flower stalk, I presume)

Amazon version of Gertrude Jekyll book

My husband just told me that Amazon is selling a number of Gertrude Jekyll's books. I was curious about the book that I have: Color Schemes for the Flower Garden. Yes, they have it but not the 1983 version that I have. Evidently, the current version is somewhat edited and it does not seem for the better.

The border plans are edited and the scale notations are removed! Also, her black and white photographs are missing. I think there was other editing, too.

The reviewers made some other comments. I want to add some of mine lest some of those comments keep you from buying this book. The reviewers did give the book great reviews.

-'This is not a "plug and play" book.' Very few gardening books are. You still must know your environment -- even what grows in your neighbor's yard may not grow in yours. This also applies to sites that offer a garden plan and all the plants for it. Also, it is true that you will want to have a plant reference book nearby for this (and many other) books.
-'Gertrude Jekyll had a trust fund, 10 acres, and many gardeners.' This is not a book for only similar people. It is meant to lead you to see what can be done whatever your resources, and if not in your current lifestyle, perhaps later on.
-'For the experienced gardener.' Yes and no. To understand all the nuances of how and why she is arranging her plants, you need to know about those plants, but you can get glimerings of ideas of how to start going about the process of creating a "painting" with your garden.

This book was still enjoyed by the reviewers. Buy this book but be on the lookout for the original, or at least, the 1983 version.

A little more transplanting

I took advantage of another dry, sunny day (more rain coming for the rest of the week -- yuk) and transplanted another division of the tall grass whose name I finally discovered last night in some old notes -- miscanthus gracilius (sp?). I added it to the grass plot -- so now I have two miscanthus and one pennisetum. I hope they all survive. It could be a little late for transplanting.

I was inspired, so I transplanted a naturally growing tall Goldenrod to the border next to the Ligularia. I don't know if this is a perennial, biennial, or annual Goldenrod. If it is not perennial, maybe it will self-seed in that spot so that I will still have a Goldenrod there. We shall see ...

I gave yesterday's and today's plants a spray of water and Miracle-Gro on their leaves. The ground is still wet, and with this week's rain, the soil doesn't need any extra water

Much rain but got the new plants planted

My goodness, did it rain -- what is going on with this weather?

Anyway, today it is cool but at least we have sunshine. The ground is soggy but it could be turned over (spading fork) and soil amended with good topsoil and peat moss. At least I won't have to water the plants!

I planted the Solidago and Plumbago in the front row as edging plants. I may add another Solidago behind and to the side of the first. I am beginning to get into this "drifting" planting -- it's fun!

The Pennisetum grass went in the rear row at about the middle of the border. I know that I am getting "holes" in the border that will have to be filled at, but I couldn't resist buying the grass and that is where I wanted it to go. I also transplanted some grass from the other old perennial border that will become the new shrub border some day next to the pennisetum since the grass was alloted a four-foot stretch by 3 1/2 foot deep. I have to find my notes for the old garden because I can't remember if the grass is a pennisetum or a miscanthus -- but it is tall and good for the rear row.

I have to buy some screened topsoil before I can go much further with the border since at this time the back of the border is on land that slopes downward!