I began my spring planting right before winter last week with the addition of some new dwarf evergreen conifers to the winter Under Garden. They look to have survived the cold blast with no problems.
The native spring ephemerals are waking up. I added these Trout Lilies to the garden since none exist here that I know of. It's about time to wander into the forest and see what is stirring in there. April is the normal time for the forest floor to bloom.
The Oconee Bell was a gift that I gladly added to the garden. Over time it will form a dense groundcover. The bloom then can be quite showy.
I am giving red and yellow twig dogwood another try. Word was cut stem pieces could be stuck and they would root. They did not. Some rooted stem pieces followed me home when I gave a patch of yellow ones the spring chop down. Starting with roots works much better.
I decided a while back to borrow the land below the Great Lawn that is the backdrop of my garden. I started cutting it down each season two years ago to initiate a change in the inhabitants of this space. As usual a whole lot of the Clematis viginiana has to be uprooted and the Blackberries beat back.
Then it made sense that this was a good location for the red and yellow twig dogwood that I wanted for winter interest. Think a huge mass of spiky Chihuly in winter. So it has begun. Now I need to find a red twig dogwood to chop down. I have also considered trying to see if the stems would root in a bucket of water.
Late this afternoon the grasses along the scenic byway came down. I am now at my most exposed position of the barren time.
In another month it will all be green and Lush again.
I can't believe it. Damn Varmints!!!!! As I was cutting the grasses on the slope below the roadside vegetable garden, the crowns were pulling free as I pulled the cut tops away. The whole crown of two clumps were entirely eaten, as in gone, no more and will not return. The third clump has about one fifth of it left.
I loved those variegated grasses there. Damn Varmints!!! I can't believe they ate the whole thing.
I need more cats. Or better cats. Button is actually a very good hunter only here he is aiming for Miss Collar and a loud ruckus could ensue. I don't like those loud hissing ruckuses. Neither does Miss Collar.
One minute they are sleeping peacefully side by side. The next minute there is a rumble - at 6:30 am. Button can be a butthole.
Spring is here and everybody is spending more quality time outside getting things done. Ten springs later, a garden has grown substantial form.
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3 comments:
It does feel good to have a plan come together and begin to look like you envision it. The damn varmints have destroyed things in my garden too. You need an owl to get rid of those varmints. We found evidence of a Great Horned Owl in our garden this month. I hope it ate well.
The only way we have kept voles at bay is constant diligence. As soon as a hole is found (hopefully not after they have decimated something), my husband puts a trap out and covers it with a pot. He has caught 100's of those boogers.
Lisa I have resident owls that I hear every night - and fox, coyote?, raccoon, snakes, hawks, ravens, skunks - and semi-useful cats. My supply far exceeds demand.
Sallysmom I would need a husband. That would be a full time job here and I don't have the time for it.
I think my meadow style of gardening gives the voles just the kind of habitat they like. Every winter they have eaten the root crowns of something from hosta to purple coneflower, the hesperaloe and now grasses which surprised me.
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