Hi, Dave - Soferdig and I are just getting into some deep discussions as we begin to work with our woodlands and prairies. I've got about 2 acres that at this point are completely untouched. We wondered if a forum might be possible - don't know how many folks are into this type of gardening. Thanks in advance for your consideration - Dax
Below is a pic of just part of the property I'm going to be working with -
Dax that is a good picture to use as a before photo. how desolate! Winters in the midwest are bleak. I can't wait till the trilliums are poping and the morales are hiding under all the green foliage. It looks to me to be a potential Poision Ivy location. I'm headed up to AK tomorrow early so no pictures of woodland except for the one I've already finished.
Second.
Yep - the first job is just that - get rid of the poison ivy!! I've eradicated it in the one path I've cleared throughout there, but it's a constant battle - in fact, a great thread to begin with in the forum - how do you get it out and keep it out?
And you're right - we do wonderful before and after pictures here in Iowa cause it's so dead looking in the winter, and springs forth, literally, in late March and April. Attached is a picture of the phlox that will transform that exact area to magic in the next eight weeks -
Dax, I envy you. My husband and I would love to have a bit of timber to clean up. He would clear, we would clean, and I would plant. My daughter is lucky enough to own land with natural springs and lots of jewelweed. Poison ivys natural antidote. She's not interested in flowers yet, being a new mother with another on the way, but maybe someday we can get her interested. My grandchildren will be taking nature walks with me soon. Enjoy your land. It's who we are.
I would be interested in a woodland garden forum. I started a woodland garden three years ago. No woods around here so decided to try to grow my own.
DonnaS
Jewelweed is poison ivy's natural antidote? How does it work? Guess that means I'll have to go out and dig up some jewelweed from a ditch to bring it back in after getting rid of it all last summer. :)
Hi Mickgene, I've never tried it, but break it off and rub the juice on the affected skin. It's said to relieve itching. They say it grows near poison ivy, but I'm not sure my daughter has that. If someone else knows, let us know. (My source, Audobon Society - Wildflowers, and All About Weeds by Edwin Rollin Spencer.)
Thanks, billyporter. I have loads of poison ivy in the surrounding woods; and usually get a little touch of it every year.
Yep anyone - let us know! I was never allergic until about two years ago and now can't seem to come within 2 feet without catching it. So I really want to either eradicate it in the woodland area or neutralize it somehow - Becki
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a small, round, two room camper, parked, with a screen porch built on. It was outside of Fruitland, Iowa, on the ''brakes'' of the Mississippi. I never was sure what that meant. There were very few summer homes there, so we got to run wild. As wild as allowed in the early 60's. I came home every time with poison ivy. I never was allergic, but I swore I only had to look at it to get it. I hope you can get rid of yours. I sure hate the stuff! My other grandparents had a timber and as long as the cows fed there, there was no ivy. Later there was poison oak. Guess who got it?
I always knew that you could make a poultice from the leaves of Jewelweed, but didn't realize that it was as easy as crushing the leaves and applying the juice from them. Found this information and think the ice cubes are a great idea:
"In the southern Appalachians and in much of the eastern U.S., there is a plant remedy that works very well. Jewel Weed comes in two varieties, with a yellow flower (Impatiens pallida) or with an orange flower (Impatiens capensis). The great thing about Jewel Weed is that it often grows right next to Poison Ivy and is fairly common along roadsides. This plant is a well-known folk remedy for P.I. and has no reported side-effects. The juice of the Jewel Weed can be extracted from the stems or leaves, preferably before flowering, but it seems to work at any time. If you are out in the woods and realize that you have exposed yourself to Poison Ivy, and are able to find Jewel Weed, you are in luck. Crush the stems of Jewel Weed to extract the juice and apply it to the area affected by The P.I. or, apply a poultice of the crushed leaves to the area. The juice is somewhat sticky and will stay where you put it pretty well. Some folks have said that tea made from Jewel Weed works as a preventative. To keep a reserve supply on hand, the best idea seems to be to save the juice as ice cubes to rub on the infected area. Shred leaves and roots and place in boiling water for 15 minutes to half an hour, then freeze the liquid in ice cube trays. Jewel Weed relieves the itching, stops the spread and helps to heal the Poison Ivy rash. We have found Jewel Weed to be the best remedy of all, even better than prescription products."
Thanks, rcn48. That's great info. I never get it too bad, but the itching drives me nuts. I'll try it.
And now, back to dax's thread about a woodland garden forum. I'd love it since I have 5 acres of woods around the house (and more deer than I can sometimes count all at once.)
I have a gardening buddy that is filling his woods with primarily hellebores and hostas. He lives in prime deer country (what isn't these days) and doesn't have a big problem with their destruction of his plants. He can't explain his luck, though.
I have so many great songbirds and woodpeckers around that I'd love to create habitat for more, as well as to see some more interesting things in the woods than brambles and brush. After the bloodroot and lady slippers bloom, my woods are pretty much done for the year.
Yes - thanks much rcn48 - I'll be sure to get started with Jewelweed this year - and I'm just beginning to investigate how best to convert (restore) the woodland on my property - about 2 acres. I've got deer going through, also, and would even like to have some of the property specifically for them to munch on, if that's possible. Right now I'm investigating the medium height tier - shrub height. I've got a good base with the tall hardwoods and the second level of shorter trees. I don't have any shrubs in the area, though, for wildlife habitats and nesting places. That's why I think we could have a number of very good threads going about all the ways to build a beautiful and attractive woodland garden.
I've been checking out rhododendrons - I hear they grow well in woodlands in the shade and are attractive to many forms of wildlife - anyone have any tips on them?
Becki
I know this is an old thread...where's the woodland forum?
I don't think it ever got created, if it had there would have been a note on here with a link to the new forum. But I think discussions of woodland gardening would be appropriate in the Native Plants & Wild Plants forum
I would like to see a woodlands forum too--I'm in support of it.
=)
There are a couple of threads in Native Plants and Wild Plants about gardening with such, and I'm sure we'd welcome more.
I have much Poison Ivy arround my property in town and arround our camping grounds where we have woods. I use good old Round up on it every year. It vines underground so when I dig I always get it. I used to take shots for it but now get a perscription topical which keeps it from itching and me spreading it. I would love a woodland forum. I have a little one at home and am planting at the campsite too. Let's go with it. BEV
Yes, I am still waiting for a Woodland Garden forum. Mine is coming along, but the trees are slow.
Donna
Gee, I'd love something like that. I'm surrounded by woods, mostly pines, but I'd love to make it more attractive. At least get some ideas to start so it wouldn't feel so overwhelming to me.
For now, you can come on over to the Native & Wild Plants forum, that would be a great place to talk about woodland gardens.
