50 Trees or so for Murmur

I have just joined DG what a wonderful story. I'm in the prosses of making a small woodland garden on part of my acer of land in poulsbo. I have a idea in mind, I feel you have inspired me more so. I would like to start my tread as soon as I learn how and to add pics. can't wait to hear more about your trees.

Looking good Murmur!!!

There's a plus for all those nettles.....believe it or not....they are the caterpillar host plant for the Question Mark, Red Admiral, Milbert's Tortoiseshell and the Eastern Comma. Maybe leaving a Nettle Nest would be good, for the bfs and your back. lol

Welcome, Tillysrat!!! And hope you start your thread soon - it will be fun to watch your progress, too!!

And, Pixy, this thread is only five days old so it's not surprising you hadn't seen it yet. BTW, I couldn't agree more about the Trillium - I'm afraid to transplant it . . . think I'll dig a huge hole and just put all the soil, etc., in as carefully as I can. For now, I am simply enjoying looking at it every time I walk by!!!

Here's a photo of the whole pot - I darkened it a bit in hopes of the lovely shade of pink showing up more, but it just doesn't do it justice!

Fly, thanks for the bf info!! I will do just that . . . and believe me, there is no lack of nettles - I have to be careful if I go walking anywhere back on that property!!!!! There is also a huge crop of some sort of thistle - yellow flowers, look rather like Scotch Broom. They are also everywhere and the "foliage" is painful!!!!

One more photo, looking back at the "meadow" through my arch (no comment on the tilting of the arch - I put it together installed it myself into some very hard ground!!). Don't you just love those big piles we've been looking at for three years? Fortunately, there are no windows on that end of the house so it's not something we have to stare at all the time. And I have consoled myself that those piles are great hiding places for wildlife - I had even hoped some fawns might be born in one, but I don't think it has happened. And I have seen the deer actually playing out there - chasing each other around.

I hope you can see some of the trees in the foreground - I have green tape on each one, but obviously it doesn't show much!!

Poochela....what a wonderful thing you've done for such a wonderful person. I can already see that she'll turn this into a masterpiece and you are the major contributor! I can't wait to see Murmur's pictures one year from now. This is going to be incredible.

Sorry so late getting to the thread but, MAN!, was the wait ever worth it.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Glad the trillium is still in a pot! It will go dormant and then will be safer to replant.
Have you considered poplar trees or do you want to stick with the northwest forest trees? I was thinking poplars because they grow fast and make a nice mature tree with an interesting trunk. There is also Empress tree, which grows super fast, has beautiful purple blooms and makes a fabulous tree. But, of course, it is not native. Maybe you mentioned wanting only natives and I missed that.

Bad thing about nettles is that they sting, but good thing about them is that they make an awesome compost tea full of nitrogen. They make good compost, period.

They make good compost IF you harvest the growth, DO NOT compost the roots! Do you get dock also - here we also have dock growing where ever nettle grows. The dock leaf is the antidote to nettle sting. Rub it on and the sting goes. Amazingly effective.

But, this is an exciting thread.

Must stop - go to work, earn money for plants!

So true about the roots!! I did not know that dock leaf would neutralize stinging nettle. The bracken is useful for that, too.
As to the piles of sticks, maybe consider them to be nice natural cover for small animals??

I had to work all weekend with no chance to comment, but now I will just say WOW! Murmur, I love the plantings and that arbor is wonderful. I can almost envision the woods of the future there.

The trillium have bulbous ?bulbs/corms with stout roots, so if the soil isn't too wet in the pot you should be able to reach in and excavate them safely. The tiny ones won't be so sturdy. When the neighbor clearcut he gave me permission to take any plants I wanted: told you he's a great guy! I went with my 5 gallon buckets and got about 25 trillium. The trick is to dig deeply and loosen the soil down the stalk as you go, as they curve or angle sometimes and you run the risk of severing the stem from the root. Give them some nice humus-rich soil. Plant so the white stalk is under ground level and you've given them a good chance to survive.

I'm absolutely thrilled with Hundred Acre Woods so far! Fighting the urge to get more trees for you, Murmur. Tee hee!

Tilly, I look forward to seeing your woodland develop. To post photos, just upload them to your computer, usually as a jpg file, then use Dave's handy Browse feature at the bottom of each potential post. That will usually open your files, including photo files. Highlight one and click Open, or Okay, or Go, or Just Do It (whatever the button says that isn't 'Cancel') Then come back here to your post; hit preview to see if a small version of your photo shows up; then Send. A larger version of your photo should then be included with your post. This is based on using Windows/Internet Explorer.

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are all planted except for a few Foxglove which I will take care of after I eat the huge, healthy lunch that DH just fixed for me.

This is just too exciting, I tell you!!! I'll try for pictures later in the day if I can still stand up!

Everything's in and I even moved a couple huge clumps of Crocosmia from the driveway to the back - they're just sort of heaped on top of the piles of "stuff" I keep putting on the other side of the ditch - towards the house below me, not towards where I have planted the trees. It is sort of a lasagna gardening effort (kitchen scraps, dead leaves and stalks, grass clippings, etc.) - and we all know that Crocosmia will grow no matter what you do to it so I figured that was a great place. I also put some small Vinca vine plants that were being thrown out at Ace - they don't look too good, but again they are a hard plant to stop so will probably make a comeback. They'd better understand that they are not to come on MY side of the ditch!!!

I am beginning to feel very pleased with the overall effect - still a lot of cleanup to do along the ditch, on both sides, but I'll get there! I don't even want to think about all that needs to be done in the front! And the side! And I should be out there putting out slug bait, but I'm showered and ready to kick back for the evening so I guess the slugs can just have at it tonight. Creepy things that they are.

For some reason I apparently ordered 50 glads and 60 Glory of the Sun (Leucocoryne Andes) - and I have no idea whatsoever what I had in mind . . . where in the world am I going to put them???!!! Did I have a plan? And last night I potted up about 40 things I had ordered off the Internet for which I apparently had no plan, and I have 15 more that I got from Annie's Annuals a while back that need to be either planted in the ground or put in bigger pots. I do believe I have completely lost my mind.

And I haven't even mentioned all the other things I've gotten from Ace that were being thrown out and have recovered rather nicely. A flat of Sea Lavender, a ton of ornamental grasses, some cute ground covers, some Violas, and other things I can't even think of right now.

And the couple hundred pots of plants from divisions of my own plants - for my plant sale next month.

I think I need to spend some time in a padded room.

Your mind is in good company, murmur. It must be hanging out with mine. LLLOOOLLLLLL!!!! A PLAN??? You mean there are people who actually PLAN their gardens??? Wooo hoooo! That's a good one! At least you are getting things that could be considered 'rescued'. I joined a coop wholesale forum on another website and it's been non-stop buying ever since. I will never ever catch up with all the things I will be planting. And the pot ghetto is just taking on a life of its own. So what do I do today?? I go to Lowes and find that they have a Glowing Embers hydrangea that is really nice in a 5 gallon pot for less than 20.00. It now has a new home. Oh and I forgot to mention the petite little early blooming peach colored iris that I had to buy because they were the only peach ones among an entire table of blue and purple. Oh, and then there was this water lily that I knew was a good one, even though it was labeled simply 'red'. It's now in the pond. Shall I go on?
You are in very good company on this website, murmur. So enjoy kicking back after a nice day of planting out! And if you want to join the wholesale coop, let me know. But have your wallet ready.

This addiction knows no boundaries....it's statewide...it 's national. We're all in trouble.


Love and laugh and enjoy your garden bounty!

I already looked at that coop, Pixy - and even with Gwen's help, I was totally lost . . . and probably a darn good thing!!!

I shouldn't tell you this, but I got a Glowing Embers from Ace (also in a 5 gallon pot) for nothing. They thought it was dead and threw it out.

And only part of my stash are rescues - I have this darn Internet addiction - just too darn easy . . . and the pictures are always gorgeous!!! At least I'm doing better at not losing them from not getting them planted. I don't even want to think about all the money I've thrown away doing that!!!

to add to the chaos in my yard, I also have been collecting empty pots for my plant sale - that's how I started getting all this throwaway stuff from Ace, but then of course discovered lots of things weren't dead (even if they are, I get the potting soil and the pot). next I started begging for them from friends and relatives. More piles. The other day I was driving away from my folks house in Seattle and saw a pile of gallon pots on the other side of the street with a "free" sign . . . I made the world's fastest u-turn - across a double yellow line - and drove back and got them. All 96 of them. Then Sunday I visited the fabulous Glennynden Rhododendron Garden here on the island (not Meerkirk, which is famous), and the owner gave me 60 more pots! The corner of my yard that I use for my re-potting is a MESS. Containers and trays. Everywhere! i could easily go into panic mode, but the dumb thing is I will get more pots first chance I get!!! Just need to find a nice tidy way to store them. yeah, right. Tidy - that's me!!

Kristi, I know you Texans are just as bad!!!!

Oh, murmur, I can't stop laughing - and I have to go do some work, and keep a straight face.

AcK! Murmur! If only I lived closer to you! I gave away about 300 pots on freecycle last fall! In a moment of maturity and decisiveness I realized I didn't need so many gallon size pots and little bitty pots. My goal: organize my work space once and for all ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Kristi, you are so right! And DG forums just encourage us because we all enable each other! Poor Laurie. I hope she can stop chuckling long enough to be serious at work!

Too bad you couldn't get the hang of the coop group, though. For awhile there it was extremely chaotic, it's true. Now it's more organized with a file that lists every open coop, the date it closes, etc, and another file for invoices. She got some help from another DGer who is computer savvy. It's really rather a fun group. Only problem is now I've ordered all these hostas:

2 komodo dragon 2.65
2 Rainforest Sunrise 3.75
2 frosted jade 1.95
2 fragrant blue 1.75
3 toku aureoneb 2.59
2 toku flavo 2.49
blue mouse ears 2.65
cheatin heart 2.49
great expectations 1.65
hyuga urajiro 5.50
liberty 2.75
2 miss tokyo ; 4.50
nancy 5.00
prairie sky 4.75
queen of seas 4.25
sun power 1.99
sunshine glory 2.49
dawns' early light 3.50
blue hawaii 4.50
twist of lime 1.99
great arrival 3.75
ice age trail 7.50
2 rosedale golden goose 3.75
my claire 5.00
green mouse ears 5.00

Don't do the math because the amount is staggering. I literally do not know where I will put them all. Do I have a plan??? NO! Letting me roam free with hundreds of hostas available is similar to letting a food addict roam free on a cruise ship. Likely I will pot them the first year anyway so they can get bigger before planting out with the big boys.

Fortunately, some of the stuff they are ordering is too small to tempt me. I'm at the age where I don't want to have to wait 10 years for something to mature. I'd rather put a larger specimen into the ground and get instant gratification. I am not ashamed to say it.

Pixy, the purchases sound divine!!!!!! And I know what you mean about not wanting smaller items - at 62 1/2, I definitely think along those lines!!! With the trees it doesn't bother me as they will at least be there for someone else, but with garden plants and flowers, I want to enjoy them myself - and chances are, the next person that owns this house someday will either rip everything out and plant grass (like it was when I bought it) or at the very least, change everything. I saw a mouse ears hosta (can't remember what color) @ Sally's Nursery in Coupeville recently - darling little plant . . . I don't know how I had the willpower to not buy it! Of course, I'll be back there before long!

I'm pretending I didn't read that you gave away 300 pots - lol!!!

As is my prerogative: I'm pulling a 180 on my deer opinion. I retract my idiotic opinion that deer are 'delicate and graceful.'
http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3417040
Deer are the ugliest, most savage and stealthy animals on earth and should all be banished to Kittitas County, or Wyoming, or better still, Canada.

Overnight they mowed down one of my most treasured trillium patches in the shade bed, and an astilbe, and two hosta! And where was the mighty wonderdog during this assault? Snoring on the bed.

This is war! I've not been plagued by deer for years but now the Liquid Fence will come out daily if necessary.

Pixy, that is a serious hosta horde! Your yard is going to be a paradise.

Poochella - lol (sorry to laugh, but I've been there with my darling deer!). Yes, Liquid Fence is a must - I've been using it steadily!!! Especially since I got the trees from you and since I planted my new roses. I'm heading out right now to spray the Trillium you gave me!!!!!

Murmur, you can pretend all you like, but I did it just the same! LOL!! I'm having a clairvoyant moment: I see murmur back at the nursery fingering the lovely little velvety leaves on the 'mouse ears' hosta..... I see Murmur reaching for her wallet.....

Oh, Poochella that is really a shame! But the deer do have to eat, you know, and I do believe that they are lovely and graceful creatures. (Although I admit that my entire yard is fenced so I have yet to see a deer in my garden.) I picked up a tip over on the coop forum that might help. I have just learned today that many gardners across the country put mothballs on top of their soil around desireable plants that they want protected from wildlife! Yes - mothballs! Perhaps that will help with the deer issue? I am going to try them around my ornamental grasses. They never even get a chance to become large and graceful as all of my dogs and cats eat them unmercifully from the moment they shoot their little heads above the soil.
I also believe I picked up a reference to 'male predator urine' that some people buy in the hunting department. Then someone else made the point that if you are married to an adult male, you already own your own male predator. You just have to have him.....well, .... you know.... on your plants! Most of us with male children spend a great deal of time teaching the lads to potty INSIDE when they are young. Perhaps we were on the wrong track after all!
Your plants will come back. I completely blame the dog. Miserable wretch!

Pixy, you are so funny!!! I haven't been back to Sally's Nursery yet, but darned if two Clematis didn't jump into my car at Fred Meyer today in Seattle!!! $8.00 apiece for a Nelly Moser and a Jackmandi (sorry - can't think of the right spelling).

Then of all things, I stopped in at Sears to use the bathroom and lo and behold a little statue jumped into my car . . . I have 15 or 20 statues of children and this one is adorable . . . a little girl riding on the back of a tricycle which is being "driven" by a little boy. And, yes, I certainly did need another one. I have two "Children's Gardens" - mainly because I ended up with so many statues!!! And then there's the Fairy Garden, the Frog Garden, and the Angel Garden.

My nephew told me my place should be called Whimsy Gardens (he loves my statues, bless his heart!). My over abundance of statues is not for everyone, but doggone it I just can't resist them!!! I guess eventually I can start putting them in the New & Improved Hundred Acre Woods?

Here's one pic - I need to learn how to make a mark of some kind of a photo - then I can indicate where the trees are. I am really enjoying this project (in case you hadn't noticed!).

That's a lot of satisfying work you have layed out there, murmur! It's is truly a fun project!

Just a little update here (I'll try to take some pictures later). Most of the trees are really doing well - many showing new growth, but I have lost one and probably will lose another. Have no fear, Poochella, it's not YOUR tree which I have named "Annie's Song." I've been dragging more fallen branches (log size) into the area and hope to - one of these days - have a layer of wood chips. I think I have a source for free ones, but it will take a gazillion trips in my car to get enough of them.

I will definitely try for some photos later - either today or over the weekend.

Hope you can get the gist of these pictures.

#2

#3

#4

Annie's Song. And last photo for today.

Looking good! They will be large enough to screen your views in no time at all.

Hope I live that long - lol! Remember I'm almost 63 now . . . will I be 83 when they reach what I consider a 'forest' height? Of course, my plan is to still be here in this house and still out there gardening to my heart's content at 83 - 93 - maybe even 103? I had a great aunt who lived to be 99 and was still gardening (and in her right mind) - maybe I'll take after her?

These kinds of thoughts are constantly in my head because of my parents (especially my mom with Alzheimer's). Scary stuff.

Thank the Lord for gardens!!

Murmur - there is some interesting research showing that physical activity has a decided effect on mental agility in later years -keep digging! I loved one research project - they found that the elderly in traditional chinese villages, where the cobble stone paving were retained, had much higher mental acuity than in villages where modern pavings were put in. They attributed it to the stones acting as a massage to the soles of the feet (stimulating nerve ends), as well as needing to maintain balance on uneven surfaces. So, can you imagine what we are doing all day digging and forking and walking on uneven ground - bright, my goodness are we going to be bright! By time we are 103 we will have IQ's to match!

I have always believed that being active kept a person young, but my mother was always cleaning, running errands, doing laundry, etc., and look what happened. Of course, she didn't garden much (it was a chore, not a passion) and I do maintain that gardening is absolutely marvelous for anyone - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually . . . and anything else that might come to mind.

An IQ of 103, eh? I can hardly wait - lol!!!

I had the sprinkler going on the Hundred Acre Woods today - everything should be well saturated. We've had so much wind that's it been hard to keep things from drying out and it hasn't rained for awhile either.

I am pooped tonight, to say the least. Think I'll just hang out with my grandson and watch him play video games!

Here's a pink variegated Weigela with tulips growing through it - Happy Mother's Day!

Murmur, they do look good and I'm so pleased to see my beloved fir and with a name yet! I walk the dog past the empty spot of earth from which it came as a wee seedling and wonder how it's faring to the north. Doing well, I see; and so lovely with the sun shining on it. You are an excellent tree hostess and I wish you another 30 years to see good growth!

How are the cedars doing? Those are the ones that will spread their wings after a few years and give you some good, wide green screening. Also coveted by deer though.

Laurie, I want an IQ taller than 103, please! Is that asking too much? I also firmly believe that digging is good for all that can ail you: physical, mental, emotional. I wish we had more programs for kids to get them out digging and nurturing early; get them off to an active start instead of sedentary, mindless video games. One of my favorite things to see at the NW Flower and Garden Show is the childrens' class projects where they decorate theme gardens in a box on a small scale. Very creative fun stuff.

Murmur, I feel for your strife with your mom so. Alzheimer's is such a thief. Enjoy every moment with her and know that somewhere deep inside the mask of confusion or memory lapses, she will always be found.

This is such a frantic time of year: I declared an absolute moratorium on digging for one day just to let my muscles rest. I have trees to move for a new garden bed ( for next year) and I just can't face the pick axe to accomplish the task until tomorrow. Mothers Day: Pick axe and shovel, it just doesn't get any better than this.....

Pixy, I missed your comment above about the dog being a miserable wretch as far as deer patrol goes! LOL. You are so right, but she did alert us to an invading bear again the other night, so she is back on the down comforter living in style and gloating in her conquest as guard dog extraordinaire. I have discovered that a black bear will run if one launches out on the deck and yells " Hey, get out of here." It's just that easy.... but deer, they are cunning and stealthy and hungry!

Annie, the cedars are all doing well, I believe - I'll try to get more close-ups next time. It really is fun . . . just wish there were more hours in a day.

I've sprayed the trees fairly often with Liquid Fence Plus - so far the deer haven't nibbled . . . of course, now that I've said that, they will.

Murmur you should know better than to say those kinds of things out loud! LOL!! Don't you know that magic is real?

103?? Hmm. I was hoping I was already passed that mark. But then again, there are days where I simply am not sure. Maybe more digging, hm?

What do I know about IQ ratings - have I reduced all to morons? Would you settle for 206? I've got the magic wand, if you've got the number.

Wow! 206? would I be able to relate to ordinary humans?? LOL!! I could have used a few extra IQ points when I built my pond. I became, I am afraid, a bit myopic in the building of the bog filter and I am now paying the price for that. Maybe a few extra points would have prevented the problems I am now fixing. This involves tearing the entire connection between bog and pond apart and re-doing the whole thing. My body aches from top to bottom. So now I must go out and continue my chore so i can get the pond filled back up. The weather will be warm today and I need to get that liner replaced. All this to say that getting too focused on a project too big for one person will certainly decrease the old IQ by a number of useable points! LOL!

Pixy .... you never cease to amaze. Do you take vitamins? If so, i must know what kind! :) Your reservoirs of energy seem without limit.

Your poor body will need an epsom salt soak tonight, for sure!

She is indeed a going concern - wish I had 1/10 of her energy!!!

BTW, my dad has an IQ of 172 or so - wonder why I didn't inherit that???!!!