Ohhh gawd I cant imagine dealing with PI and VC to make a garden.
Big rewards for hanging in there.
Your woodland shade favorites
Ky, 25 acres... yikes! I thought it was a colossal achievement to clear my 2!
When I read about the 25 acres of honeysuckle, the PI and VC, along with the Campanula I thought I should shut up and thank God I don't have those issues.
I leave most of the creeper as it is a pretty vine and very common to our woods anyway.
Doug
25 acres to take care of is daunting. Hats off to you, Doug.
I think DD is more challenged than I. Lives on top of a ridge in rural TN, well sunk in a shallow aquifer, battling bermuda grass and rocks, hauling water from her rain barrels, either too wet or too dry, long stretches of 90+ degree days - all to grow some pesticide-free veggies. Now that's determination.
I don't think I can live long enough to clear all 25 acres, but it's good exercise and keeps me busy, lol. It is pretty, smells nice, and feeds the birds, but like they say, too much of a good thing...
I also like the virginia creeper vines. We have some growing up the side of the house, which has cedar siding. Do you think that's okay, or should we pull it off? It's just a small area right now.
Oh I am so excited about my blue mouse ears now!!! You are correct they are so cute.!!! BTW these are NOT Blue Mouse Ears! lol
This message was edited Jun 30, 2011 6:15 PM
My 'Blue Mouse Ears' has buds. I'll try to remember to take a shot when it blooms. One can never have too many pictures of BME. It is an adorable little hosta.
Krossa Regal and Arunucus
Hi Paul. Nice contrast. Which aruncus is that? I like it's scale.
Unfortunately I've had the aruncus for many years, didn't keep a name, don,t remember where I got it. I've seen a number of pictures but they never look exactly like mine. Perhaps some om this forum with more knowledge will know.
Beautiful! It reminds me of fireworks!
Here is hosta Nana blooming.I found it in the daylilies this spring and planted it in a container.Its much happier there.
Pirl got me interested in trying annual caladiums for color in the shady woodland.
They love our heat and humidity, apparently.
What she didn't tell me is that the deer apparently don't care for them!
I'm astonished. They look good enough to eat to me!
For comparson, check out the hostas about 10ft away...
Bambi's favorite!!
An all you can eat salad bar! The bad thing about the remaining stems is that you get to stare at them for the rest of the season. Been there.
Love the Caladium in the landscape. I had planned on trying that as well but my order got "lost" and bulbs didn't come until late June. Maybe once they sprout, I can slip them into the ground.
Cindy - plant them and they'll grow. I kept some in packages for too long but they were planted before June 4th and they are thriving now.
So happy it worked well for you, Weerobin. The deer did nibble on mine last year but only those in the front, not in the back. Your hostas look pitiful, as you know. Would you consider a large piece of the ugly green plastic coated fencing to place on top of the hostas so the deer can't get to them?
Somebody ate my caladiums one year, but not the hostas! Bunnies, maybe.
We have rabbits around here but they don't touch the caladium. They love lilies but I do use Blood Meal to keep them away.
Hmm, if that works, I'll try it. Thanks!
Organic and not expensive. Just keep applying it to new growth that the rabbits are more prone to eating.
pirl, do you ever end up overfertilizing with BM?
No. I go around sprinkling like it's fairy dust making sure I get the new growth and also put it on the grass leading to the lilies the rabbits prefer. Even the grass doesn't grow any better than the untreated grass.
Good to know. :-) My rabbits like creeping phlox, winecups, blue fescue and probably others I can't think of right now. Grrrrrrrrrr.........
Clover and lily leaves top their choices here. The red fox tops off his list with rabbits
Wish the fox liked deer.
Oh, Pirl, if you could take a glimpse at my yard, you'd see that I don't shy away from protective barriers.
My wife complains that our yard looks more like an armed fortress than a garden.
I've got hardware cloth cages for the small plants, bigger gauge wire cages in a variety of sizes for larger guys,
then of course there's the heavy duty plasting trunk protectors
to keep the deer antler rubbing from girdling my young trees.
But you can't cover everything! The hostas above are close enough to the house,
the deer haven't bothered them in the past. I guess the deer are getting friendlier!
Either we have an armed fortress garden or very few plants. It's a miserable choice but each deer eats eight pounds a day so we have no choice. They do eat the hosta flowers and spikes that grow through the squares in the green fencing.
The last thing we need is friendlier deer! Should we invite them over for venison stew?
I have felt bad because we have deer in the yard during the winter and last year they stayed long enough to eat the young buds off the roses but they've never bothered my hosta. Must be discouraging!
I've battled the deer ever since we moved to our current home. My first attempt at a barrier across the 150 ft of my back property line consisted of a grid of "invisible" rope strung between trees. Then came the green snow fencing which turned brittle and broke up over the years. Last year my brother installed a woven mesh fencing for me. It's 6 ft tall and is attached to metal posts. My back property line is very rough and uneven, bordering a wooded wetlands so setting posts in concrete for a conventional chain link fence was going to be a lot of work. He just had to hammer these posts into the ground. And because he's a hunter, he knew the weakest points in my defense system. So far, the new setup seems to be working better than my previous attempts. Now if it would only keep the raccoons out...
We do have our battles and yet we don't give up. That's a mighty testament to our love of gardening.
While I hate the look of the deer mesh we had to put up to the 10' height around the vegetable garden, it does keep the deer out. It appears invisible here due to the time of day the photo was taken (1 PM) but it shows up in photos of the lilies on the opposite side.
We have gone OT so let's get back on track with shady gardening. Sorry!
Nice garden setup you have there, pirl!
Thanks. Jack's pride is the vegetable garden but I do the mulching.
It's really all Jack's work, not mine. Thanks, though. I'll be sure to tell him.
As Pirl reminds us, back to the topic.
Here's one of the mainstays of my shady yard - bottlebruch buckeye.
In full bloom today.
It's hard taking a satisfactory picture, but you get the point.
Lovely. Your hardscaping is wonderful.
Here's a lily that enjoys the shade - Purple Prince (hardly "purple" but a sales pitch instead)...
I love Brunnera 'Jack Frost'
Hosta, of course
Hosta Krossa Regal and Aruncus
