Weather woes and spring cleaning

Greetings!  It is that time again when I begin to regale you with my tales of gardening, nature and outside happenings!

Alas, we once again had no true winter to speak of.  Sadly the best snow we got was actually just a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful snow, the wet heavy kind that sticks to the trees and makes everything seem so ethereal, if only for a short while.  The snow was gone within twenty-four hours, all seven inches of it.

The weather has been all over the place.  I have heard Mother Nature being referred to as 'bi-polar', 'off her meds' and even 'hormonal'.  The irony to me about all of this is that historically, the weather is doing what it always does, whatever the heck it wants to!

Friday and Saturday found us basking in sunshine and almost ninety degrees.  Too hot, too fast for every living being.  It also meant it was time to get the pond circulating again and find out were there any fish left!

Tucker was quick to answer the fish question!  They are not only in there but they are huge and beautiful.  I still would like to get a couple of Koi since the current residents are so shy and hardly want to eat in front of you.

We had a great net up over the pond this past winter, huge and with a tight enough weave that it keep the blasted poplar seeds out.  It was glorious until the freak wind storm came and ripped it out of the ground and uncovered the pond!  So it will take a few days of circulating to get a good visual on the bottom and find out just how much muck is down there.  Thankfully, the rocks are gone so getting the leaves out should be fairly easy and not require much more than the pond rake!

We invested a little bit of extra energy to clear the leaves away from the flower beds that I worked so hard on last year.  While doing what we gardeners do in the spring I was delighted to find something lovely blooming among the leaves.

A beautiful bloodroot!  There were lots of flowers blooming, lungworts, Lenten roses and even a blue Anemone has made it's way to that side of my garden!  Of course, the false marsh marigold is everywhere but I saw pollinators all over them, so I can't complain too much.  Even some of the woodland poppies have burst open with their happy yellow flowers. 

So while it felt like summer yesterday, today the temperature will be forty-four degrees.  Which in all honesty would be more pleasant to work in!  I told Randy that next year, I'm going out in my parka and layers to clear the leaves from the flower beds because now they are up and mulching is going to be a challenge!

Happy Spring-Winter-Summer Weekend!

How a garden grows..

I’ve been going through and labeling my gardening pictures.  I always planned to make a scrapbook that showed how the garden changed over the years.  Looking at the pictures has made me very aware of how much has changed, how the trees have grown and even the loss of some plants. 

Look at all that sun this was 2002!  There was so much sun that I had a vegetable garden.  That’s pretty amazing.  Things change though, the maple trees grew and grew.

No garden but there are those maple trees.  Just a mess of leaves and weedy brambles and vines in 2009.

In 2010 we built the new pond right were the vegetable garden had been, between those maple trees.

The maple trees are still there in 2011, but we’ve got a gazebo base, over looking the pond.

2012 the gazebo is up and it’s when we added the stream, the fieldstone walls and the bog.

Big changes in 2014 when we cleared the weeds and installed the deer fence, so much was about to change in a way I never dreamed of.  All those years of dreaming of plants not being eaten by the deer.  Of having quiet paths that meandered through a woodland garden rich with natives and shade lovers.  A place that was quiet and peaceful, with niches to sit in and just relax.

2017 finds me still working but well on my way to achieving the dream I have.  Some day I’ll be able to walk all through my gardens with less weeds and less work.  Until then I’m going to keep relishing all the changes and enjoying every moment of striving towards my dream.

Plants, herons and pots…

It doesn’t look like much but one day…

I spent some time separating the hosta with the white and green leaves from the ragwort.  These hosta were planted along the other side of the path but I wanted to mix them in with the solid green hosta.  I have I think about 24 of the white and green ones and countless solid green as I found more of them the other day.  This is my first attempt at actually planning where I’m planting things.

The other morning I was sitting in the quiet enjoying my coffee when I saw something very large fly towards the house, as it made it’s was past the French doors my heart sank it was a blue heron.  Now our pond is not hunter friendly, the thing is almost 4 feet deep in the center.  The sides are not flat and I did this on purpose because I didn’t want anyone to be able to hunt my fish or frogs.  I have a Koi cave as well that looks like a log and if the fish hide in there you can’t see them.  On top of all of that I also have an aerator now and it does a great job of obscuring the view into the pond.  All those things are supposed to make it unfriendly to heron, yet there it was flying away and I didn’t know if it had a belly full of fish or not.  I quickly ordered a couple more Koi caves and a decoy heron.  Supposedly heron don’t like to share space with other heron and won’t come to a pond that is already occupied. I will move this guy around the pond all season, just to keep any heron that might be checking in thinking there is someone already here.

And then there were two..okay technically there are still 5 plants in pots left to be planted.  This dogwood and fringe tree, a yellow twig dogwood, a huge Turks Cap lily with some creeping fern and a Japanese rose.  All but the fringe tree require assistance in planting because they need big holes dug and the pots are heavy!  Ironic that I’m down to 5 and am about to hit a mega plant sale this weekend.  I will not however buy anything that I don’t have a place for!

Last but not least, my Sweet Tea finally made it into the ground!  I bought this at a plant sale years ago.  It was huge.  I brought it home and planted it in one of my shade beds and it slowly died away to just a few leaves in one season.  At first I thought it was transplant shock but the following season it did nothing.  So I dug up this pathetic little thing that barely had a leaf on it and planted it in a pot where I could keep an eye on it.  After 2 years in the pot it finally got big enough to try in the ground again, I’m hoping that this area is more to it’s liking because I love the colors on this one.  Oh and yes I planted it with these green hosta on purpose, funny, I’m gardening on purpose now!

Clean pond and a garden makeover

It’s raining today, we are supposed to get an inch or more.  That’s a good thing if it comes down slow and steady and the ground has a chance to absorb, not so much if it pours and causes flooding, especially around my freshly cleaned pond.

Last weekend we set out on the task of finally getting the rock and sludge out of the pond.  Maintenance should be much easier now and if anything makes it to the bottom we should be able to just scoop it out.  I think though…I want more fish as I only have 8.  There were also 2 bullfrogs and one Pickerel frog 12 huge snails and about 5 bullfrog tadpoles.  I haven’t seen or heard the frogs since we put them back in the pond, hope they didn’t leave.

In other news, I’ve made a garden changing decision, I’ve decided to move all my perennials onto one side of the yard.  I’m going to concentrate everything into the area from the left side of the gazebo down to the area where (hopefully) my garden shed is going. 

All the beds that the perennials come out of will get low maintenance shrubs or small evergreens something easy to weed and mulch around.  For me having everything spread all over the property is to much for me to handle alone.

So I started my design process by going around the yard and taking pictures and making notes in my garden book about what I wanted to do in that area.  I got to work the next day, because a garden waits for no one!

The first thing I did was move logs that Randy had cut into sections for me to give him a solid mow line between what is a jungle but will one day be a mostly sunny flower garden and home to my garden shed. (I’m sure if I say it enough it will come true!)

Next up was moving filed stone to start a break between the grass and where I want to create a new planting area.  The grass has never done well over here and it’s very hard to mow. The cardboard is just the start to suffocating weeds and grass clumps.  I’ll add more cardboard and will be pulling some leaves that are already decomposing on the other side of the yard to pile on top.  I’ll also get some topsoil and compost of some kind to add in.  While it percolates to planting perfection,  I’ve got plenty more to do.

Like protecting plants from big feet.

I added fieldstone from the ‘stone steps’ around the back and along the side of the large hosta.  I wanted to leave an area for bog maintenance, but to designate the rest as a no walk zone for big feet of the four and two variety.  I’ll put something down like gravel or wood chips suppress the weeds and stop erosion.

On the other end I did the same thing blocked off the flower bed ara and opened a spot in the path to allow access to the filter.  The big feet crew like to take shortcuts through flower beds and I’m hoping that this will at least lessen that, fingers crossed.

I know this is going to take a lot of work, I just think in the end it will be easier for me to take care of.   So for now it’s one section at a time.

A break in the rains..

Last weekend Randy worked very hard to get the gazebo roof completed.  It’s been a long time coming but I love how it turned out.  We pressure washed it to get it ready for some quality sitting time this summer. 

I didn’t get a lot of time outside this week the rains came and hung around making it to wet to weed or plant.  The one day I did get out though, I worked all around the pond area trying to get the work done before the plants exploded in growth, I barely made it!  I did however manage to get the topsoil, leaf grow mix added to the pond walls and leveled out the stones.  I also managed to get the weeds out and the mulch down.  I still need to attach the stones but that’s another day when it’s dry out.

Today with a break in the rain we moved quick tackling a bunch of little things; moving some outdoor furniture, spreading mole repellent, cleaning out under the deck, mowing the front lawn, moving a massive pile of pots to the front for recycling, spreading some pine straw under the azaleas in the back and installing the water canon in the back flower bed.

Several years ago I bought some metal frogs that were brightly painted and I wanted to mount them to the gazebo.  I asked Randy to drill holes in them and he eventually did but they hadn’t gotten mounted.  Today he mounted them only the way he did it is leaving me with a really gruesome feeling.

Those nails were not quite what I had in mind and while he doesn’t understand, it’s freaking me out.  I wanted a smaller nail, much smaller that I could put a dot of paint on so the frogs would just look like they were hanging, not like they’d been, nailed.  Yeah, we gotta do something about that.

In other and much less gruesome news, the azaleas that were planted to hide the heat pumps are doing very well, even though the deer ate them last fall when they broke in to the backyard.  They don’t all bloom at the same time which is not really a bad thing, because it means lots of flowers at different times, but I bet they would be amazing blooming all together.  I  guess I need those guys that do Amen corner to come take care of mine!

Speaking of blooms, I’ve been waiting years to see this bloom,

It’s been eating by deer, mowed over multiple times and now transplanted to a safe spot behind a crepe myrtle.  Maybe one day it will even manage to climb into the crepe myrtle but for now, I’m so happy to see all these beautiful flowers!

Woodchip Wednesday

Yes, I’m back with another blog post.  Why am I not outside you wonder?  Well I was, I went out a little after 8 am and worked like a gardener possessed, but then the weather came.  Which in all honesty was probably the only thing that was going to get me to stop working outside as, I’m a little hard headed like that.

I have in my head a million and one garden plans.  I committed myself (and probably should be committed!) to spending as much time outside as I possibly can.  Today I tackled the wood chip pile and the spreading of the woodchips behind the pond.  We had some trees taken down and they asked could they leave the woodchips and I said sure.  At first I was going to use them for the paths, but decided that was way too much work. Ha!  When I started out this morning I was happy and full of get up and go, go, GO!  By the time I got done my go was gone and I was actually glad the rain was starting!

I started at the front end down by the bog.

I worked my way back around to the front by the steps of the gazebo.

Finished it all off by stacking those fieldstones.  Now I’ve got a couple places that need a little more but wow did it make a huge difference in how it looks over there.

I decided that along this edge I’m going to plant some of the hosta that are being relocated as well as woodland poppies and some ragwort.  This area is a tough place for anything to grow so I need plants that are tenacious!  You can also see that I started my log edging

That’s sort of cool looking isn’t it, I think it makes a good edge too.  For some reason I look at it and it makes me think of a stream bed coming out of a mountain.  I’m contemplating getting some of those blue glass stones and some blue glow in the dark stones and filling it in with them.  Hmm, maybe I’ll put a tiny gnome or faerie nearby, maybe even a faerie door….

Sunday happenings..

Last week was one of those weeks, the kind that you just want to put behind you.  The loss of Zoe while not sudden was still hard and we both have had moments where we were looking for her.  It’s such an adjustment to your life when you lose a pet that’s been a part of it for so long.  Cooper went for his neuter and pexy on Friday.  I was a wreck, so today it was wonderful to see him back to his amazing self.  He and I spent a lot of time together sitting in the sun and enjoying the day.

When Cooper tired of sleeping outside, he went in with Randy who was doing this and that inside.  I however did not want to go in and so I worked on clearing out the flower beds around the pond.

I’m never alone when I’m over there, this bullfrog kept a close eye on me while I cleaned around him.  I also found several wood frogs and even a beautiful little ring neck snake that I couldn’t resist holding for a while. I love seeing all the wildlife in my yard, it’s nice to know that I provide a little piece of sanctuary for them.

The pond is a mess!  Even though we put a net up to keep leaves out, some still got in and I’ve got string algae and muck galore.  I did the spring treatments today and I’m betting vacuuming the pond bottom will be in order soon.

I discovered a lungwort blooming out from under the leaves that I planted last year.  It was a happy surprise because I didn’t think it had survived.

I need mulch for the beds around the pond, before all these plants get full size.  I also need some filed stone to finish the edges, so the frogs have more basking spots.

As a gardener you dream about how things are going to look.  Sometimes it works out great, you get to watch your ‘vision’ come alive.  Sometimes Mother Nature laughs at you and says not so fast, I’ve got plans of my own!  When we put in the stream for the pond I knew I wanted it to have plants tumbling all over the rocks.  I wanted it to look like it was nestled among ferns and hosta, with moss growing happily on the rocks.  For years the deer have prevented a lot of that from happening, but since fencing in the back yard things are now growing nicely.  This sedum is spreading all along the stream edge and it’s filling in all those bare spots, growing in between the rocks.  So even if it’s just a little glimpse of how it could be, it’s enough to keep me gardening!

Have a great week!

Dog Tired…

After the weekend this is pretty much how we all felt! 

We got a lot of little things done like putting the spider shade and new safari straps on the Jeep.

Cooper loves riding in the Jeep and I love taking him with me but I wanted him to be safely inside so now the Jeep looks cool and I know he’s safe!

Randy finished putting all the new grilles in the windows and installed almost all of our new window screens.

We still haven’t decided if we want to try and stain them to match the honey of the windows or let them age naturally…

We also spent some time cleaning, clearing and marking around the pond area for the new plants and transplants.

This is the start of the new path, it’s made from the sticks and pruning's.  It’s actually supposed to start back further in the grass but we aren’t quite ready for that.

This area was pretty clear already, I started pulling out the bittersweet and weeds last year.  I still have some small stumps that need to come out but it’s pretty much ready for planting.

This is the view of the pond from the path, it’s getting there.  I am thinking that I want to do a bench in this area it’s one of my favorite views. (Just got to get rid of those rocks!)

The path heads off into the bittersweet jungle, literally, it’s a jungle of oriental bittersweet that has to be pulled out.  Randy wants to just mow it, but because there are actual native plants like Jack in the Pulpits, Mayapples, Solomon's seal, native viburnums and ferns I just can’t do that.  So one section at a time I pull, cut and move forward.  The leaves will be shredded and left in the planting areas, the sticks and branches chipped and put down as the path.

Cooper reached a milestone too, his crate was taken down.  We’ve been leaving him out recently and he pretty much just sleeps on the bed while we are gone.  We will keep an eye on him (we have a Cooper Cam ) and if he starts getting into stuff we can always put the crate back up.  My problem with that is he’s just inches from being too big for it!

I know the day has passed but the sentiment is genuine when I say Thank You! to all the veterans that protect the freedoms that I hold so dear!

I can see clearly now..

The muck, mud, leaves and who knows what else is gone!
From the pond that is.
Living Waters finally got out to take care of a much needed deep cleaning for us and I’m so happy that it happened AFTER that monsoon of rain filled it with mud, sticks, leaves and all kinds of stuff on top of the string algae, muck and yuck that was already in there.

Nick (I’m having good luck with guys named Nick these days) set up two blue pools to fill with water, since the water itself was pretty clear.  He caught my 3 surviving gold fish, 2 minnows and 8 bull frogs, 4 of which were bigger than both my hands put together.

Here’s the sludgey mess that he was mucking about in. Yuck!  It didn’t smell so good either, but he prevailed, one bucket at a time.  After he got out all the solid stuff he pressure washed everything down, reset all the rocks that had been knocked into the pond and he even installed 3 pond lights that we’ve had for years waiting to be installed!

Here’s the pond all clean, clear and full.  Now I just need a half pallet of field stone to finish the edging and we are all set!  Oh and to be sure we get the net on the pond and over the bog and stream this year BEFORE the leaves get in!!!