Thursday, January 12, 2012

Before The Snow Arrived

I took a load of rubbish to the dump dump and returned with a load of woodchips. The roadside vegetable garden is now more than halfway covered with a fresh load of woodchip mulch. I'll mow down the dead dried sticks of the perennials in the wildflower surround at some point before spring and planting time arrives. I keep thinking we might get some real deep snow and that's when all those dead dried sticks get more interesting.



Even without a lot of snow in this winter that isn't, we are getting down to the bare bones around here. It is so much easier to plot garden improvements in the basic bone structure department without all those damn wildflowers cluttering things up.

I need another gold tipped juniper to go with the single one planted to the left of the stock tank well head cover. One is such a lonely number.



The Feather Reed grass will get dug, divided and rearranged in the spring. I want to use it to screen the stock tank from the road a bit more - metal thieves, loose cows, things like that you know - and allow easy access to the hose bib that will get connected. Perhaps a hose pot there would be a good idea too.

One day that Mugo Pine could actually be touching the stock tank. I try to plant with mature size in mind. It's hard though when the plants I can afford to buy are so small and the space I need to fill is so big. Some things may end up closer than they should for the long haul. I'll live.

I must get many many more of the Yucca filamentosa to create big drifts of them. They really stand out in the bare bones of winter.



They are getting big enough for the filaments to start showing up. Just imagine big drifts of them with tall flower spikes and loads of white blooms. Not in the winter mind you.



I'll be needing more of this cold hardy clumping bamboo, Fargesia rufa or perhaps a taller Fargesia species. It has proved reliably evergreen. It seems happy and is growing. Maybe this will be its leap year coming up. The point of more is to get some strong repetition of form going on in the garden to be. That will give the garden more flow and cohesiveness.



Little tiny specks of green in the bare bones of winter hint at the larger garden to come in time.



Before the snow arrived, garden thoughts were on my mind.

2 comments:

Lola said...

Glad you were able to get more chip mulch. It sure is proving to be a big asset. Yes, the grass will look much better surrounding the tank cover. A hose pot would be nice. Gotta watch that it don't walk off tho.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You make me feel like a slug what with all you are accomplishing this winter. I need a group of gardening visitors to arrive sometime this summer to motivate me. :)

Have you ever considered the native cane for your garden? It harbors a particular type of butterfly. It is almost driven out of most areas and the butterfly is extirpated in most areas. The cane does tend to run though. It might not be good for a garden but your garden is so big.