Projects 16

Good luck with your new babies!

Thanks The ones I have already are sure thirsty.

Off work next week means some borders get enlarged and planted and some "toddlers" will have homes. Time to schedule the tree trimmers again now that the necessity of a third day from them this year is clear.

DH is helping to find spigots and hoses to plan a line of water to go up the hill for easy access as that area develops. it means we can reduce sewer costs if it gets its own water meter. Seems there are a lot of ways to mess up, though. We will see if we really do have to hire a plumber as the town bylaws state, or if we can just get our handiwork inspected.

I can't wait to put larger trees and the arctic kiwis back there in the "pangea woodlands" and to try to uncover some more boulders. Blueberries will wait for another year. This is a multi-year project.

All projects seem to be, Rosemary! My son is coming over this evening with his chain saw.....my butterfly bush has to go, but as I look around, so do many other branches!

poor bb Is it shading other plants? 69° here & bright sun.

The butterfly bush has one live shoot....it's about 15 years old, so all those woody trunks have to go.....I'm hoping the live shoot takes over....if not, I'll have to get another one. Son didn't come as he forgot to put the chainsaw in the car before he left for work.....

At least a new bb would grow fast.

Should be a nice weekend for garden work. Every day a little shovel work and the body is ok.

I planted a lot of evergreen plants in our front yard 20 years ago with occasional magnolias and one JM. Most people think they look good, but, unsatisfied, I'm the major pruner to keep things shaped up. Hand clippers did their job. Then the loppers but I'm ready for the saw. It will then be clear what's left for the tree guy. If I can persuade DH, he might see what to trim with a saw on a pole so the tree guy can cut more stuff later.

A difference here, is the trees (except the tulip poplar & cornelian cherry were here. We are on a property which was divided from land which was on a 30 year 'no build' area. It was then cut into lots (ours is long & 250' wide). So it was wooded & our builder was able to save as many trees as possible near the house including our lovely beech tree in front. The house did destroy the roots of a lovely 3 trunk birch which had to come down as they died. this all was 40 years ago & we have enjoyed it, however the trees have grown to shade garden plants so they have had to be moved west, with the irises mainly moving to the old pony paddock. However as I don't walk as much, it has been hard on my getting to it.

Wow, moving those trees must have been something! I'm sure you have done a lot to improve the property over the years.

sorry, we didn't move the trees, moved the shaded plants.

OK . Still a chore.

I've been in this house 38 years......lots of trees have come & gone, but some of the original apples from the orchard that was here 100 years ago are still alive & bearing fruit.....they are not in great shape, but I can't cut them down!

No they should be rewarded for their hard work.

We have a golden delicious apple tree that was part of the original orchard here. Except for a few, the orchard and green house were bulldozed about 70 years ago. I did buy diatomacious earth to put near the trunk in case that will help reduce pests, but we don't eat the apples either. This week I am talking to neighbors about us having the tree guy cut a big limb off their Norway maple because it is killing part of the tree.

This is a digging break. It required a pickaxe to move the large rocks buried where Picea abies 'Gold Drift' is intended to be. DH pitched in once I got tired Now the sun is there, so I will move on to digging for the dwarf prunus trees. Oddly our composting center is open on Sundays but not on Saturdays in summer.

DH solved the problem of splitting our huge logs with a $100 portable log splitter. The others seemed to require a truck. this one is just slow, and the axe can finish the job.

Sounds like you are getting tons of stuff done....projects are like dominos.....they impact many other aspects of yard work!

There are times when I think the neighbors had it right when they had the bulldozers flatten everything and hired a lawn service to keep a lawn. However, that's not us.

That's a shame of an idea for many people.

Couldn't agree more... But why?! It was so %#*+# hot today I was flattened. And it's not even a heat wave, only in the 80's. Grrrrrr!

I did manage to fix the problems with the irrigation system in Zone 1 and did at least a ton of weeding. But I didn't put the emitters into the birdbaths to keep them from going dry when we're not here, and I still have a few things to plant from the WFF sale. Not to mention the veggie garden, the entrance area (no pics today!), etc.

I wouldn't give it up for the world!!!

Looking lovely, Pam. You've kept up your garden extremely well. When garden chores are done, it does give a nice peaceful feeling, doesn't it?

We have a very small room with big windows right on the main view. We call it the garden room. In other years we've sat in there, me for short breaks, he reads the paper and nods off, but this year we added a small table and have had breakfast and lunch in there every day. I see things from there that are so amazing.

For me there has always been something Zen about working in the garden, but sitting in that room overlooking it all is even more... Indescribable!

How wonderful it must be to enjoy that view!

It is beautiful, I've been there sipping lemonade! Pam, what goodies did you get from the sale?

Aha! I cleaned up the first day, then the next day my daughter and I went back. She spent a small fortune on shade and deer resistant plants for her place in New Jersey. I got another bunch of blue Delphiniums for the Blue Garden, which isn't nearly as blue as I would like even since then. I also got some Bergenia cordifolia which I've never grown before but looks interesting, a pink iris, a hellebore, and a very bright phlox. Nice dark foliage and heavily budded. The sign said coral, Google said scarlet. Now it's blooming, I think it's neither, what do you think? But I like it! All in all, a very successful endeavor.

I vote for scarlet.

That is one of my favorite garden colors. Somewhere between scarlet and fuschia but not coral. Berginia is one of the plants I'm getting more of to plant in the shadows of a mature blue spruce, but Meehan's mint in the deep shade.

As long as it's not orange red, it's OK with me. It's a nice zingy addition to what was boring last year. I bought 3. Interesting, though, at $5 each they're not such a great bargain. The pots are only 4," the same as Bluestone sells for a little less on sale, and the WFF pots aren't as full. The phlox are only a single stalk per pot. Granted, all the perennials were the same price, and many were much bigger. But I would never buy from them at full price!

Perhaps you can get to WFF in person, which makes all the difference. For mail order, although I like Bluestone too, the perennial plants I get from Lazy S nursery are still the ones that amaze me.

Love the phlox...it's similar to mine which is Coral Creme Drop, dark foliage, but my bloom is a little more coral.....I think! Hard to remember from last year! Lord Clayton is also around that color. You must have gotten to WFF after I left, Pam. I was there at 8:15, left at 10:30. My art teacher met me there, & I ran into the folks I rescued my last airedale from....they had tons of stuff!

What did you end up with? There was so much variety!

I like Lazy S too, and their plants are a little bigger for mail order. But they are also a little more expensive. When Bluestone does their sales there are great bargains. This year every Friday they marked 50 plants at 50% off, and combined them all into one shipment at the right time in the spring.

I bought 2 hellebores, dianthus, cimicifuga, lilies, elephant ears, hens & chicks, Ebb Tide rose.....just a few things.

I should really get dianthus.

I think I have a delivery of hellebores outside right now from a coop.

Nice to get hellebores. I would definitely recommend dianthus for low all-season blooms and neat growth. Although I put in some green ones, it is easier to recognize the deep blue of Fire Witch when the hoe comes out.

Major trimming and spreading of pine bark mulch in a small conifer and magnolia forest along our driveway is almost done.

I intend to take down two more of the smaller hemlock trees, and by next year take out a third to replace with one of this year's babies. The so-called Alaskan yellow Cedar (not a true cedar) would be a nice statement with its weeping scaly needles, located behind two blue spruce bound on each end by the weeping hemlock and the one remaining tall hemlock. Alternatively, Bennett's Oculus Draconis is a white pine with the dragon's eye variation, and maybe it shouldn't be hidden in the backyard where I know it will thrive in the drier soil. It is currently easier to keep the soil near the driveway mulched and moist, so cedar impostors will probably win.

I am almost conceding defeat by the wooly adelgid attacking tall hemlocks. The Bionide drenches just do not seem to be enough and the hemlocks are rather tall to spray Neem as high as necessary. The weeping hemlock responds very well to the drench. It must be a factor of size vs. reluctance to use chemicals.

Our few hemlock were sprayed a couple years ago (it has to be done in the fall) and problem has not returned.

You are very fortunate. I use the prescribed drenches in the fall and again in early spring and spray what I can. A grouping of hemlocks has been a terrific sound and sight barrier but not very practical.

The hemlocks here are doing fine.....shading out my garden, but the birds love to nest in them.

I hope this adelgid pestulance doesn't spread any further and more lovely tall hemlocks can be saved. it appears that in many applications, Balsam Fir is equal or better for shade tolerance, but i was thinking of the sequoia in the West when I planted the hemlocks from $5 pots 22 years ago.

DH planted the hemlocks behind our front wall to help screen about the same time as yours. 2 years ago a couple showed evidence of the disease, but we have not seen evidence of the disease since then. Keeping fingers crossed.

My hemlocks are 35 years old......we used them to screen our swimming pool.....have since cut a few down, but I know I should cut a few more....don't have the heart to do it, though......

Once we cut a few down it turns out noone missed them that much. The remaining ones grew wider in another year and hopefully got more air circulation to lessen the problem. Also less pesticide needed is a cause to celebrate.

True! My project for the next few weeks will be edging some of my gardens in brick.....