A new old favorite

Us gardeners we will get our hands on a lot of tools over the course of our gardening lives.  Some we will hate, some we will like and some we will love, but there is one other category the ones that we can’t live without.  These are the tools we will reach for over and over again, the ones that we take good care of, the ones that we always know where they are.  I had three such tools, now..I have four.

 

Meet my new old little garden shovel!  This is an inherited tool, when my husband’s grandmother moved she left behind a few things for us.  A wheelbarrow, a pitchfork, a birdbath, some concrete garden statues and this shovel.  At first glance it’s just a little shovel on a long handle, but for me this is the perfect shovel for planting, for scooping mulch into tight spaces, and even chopping up roots.  Regular size shovels are heavy for me, the handles are thick, the blades are big and when dirt sticks to them they can weight a ton.  This little guy skinny handle, small head and so no issue even when dirt sticks.

I’ve been using this shovel daily and I told my husband I now know how his grandmother managed to do so much for so long.  So thank you Grandma for giving me this shovel I love it!

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!

A cart for a gardener…

As a gardener who’s garden is more then a few feet, I need a cart.  It has to be easy to handle, it has to be able to haul more than a couple of plants and it needs to be versatile. I have had a FoldIt cart for years and I love it. 

This cart has gone with me to plant sales, it has hauled mulch, rocks and logs.  The ends come off making it perfect for hauling sticks or dumping, really this is a great cart!  Bet now you are wondering what’s wrong with the cart, nothing really it’s just that this cart is wide and that makes it hard to navigate on smaller paths, the tires are big and don’t maneuver well in tight areas and on occasion lose air (though now I see you can get tires that are airless).    So how do you replace a cart that you adore?  Where can you find something that will make your little gardening heart pitter patter???

You stumble on it while looking at shredders, no seriously that is exactly what happened!

Meet the Worx Aerocart now this cart isn’t just a cart.  This cart can be a dolly with that handy little foot on the front.  It’s perfect for moving big pots, bags of mulch and even concrete statues!  See those arms on the side they fold out and with the included accessories you can haul boulders and strap down taller items.  Don’t want to use it as a dolly, fold in that foot and you’ve got a great cart that will dump mulch, rocks or dirt with ease.  Add the wagon accessory, pop off the handles and the cart is now a wagon that you can pull into the garden with a built in seat and water bottle holder!  There is also a tool bag you can get that fits into the bucket for all your gardening supplies, but wait there’s more (sorry couldn’t resist!) there are clip sets you can buy that attach to the sides and will hold 2 of your long handled tools.  As if all of that wasn’t enough, the cart is small with never flat tires.  It is super easy to handle and fits perfectly into all those tight places in my garden.  I have already beat this cart with rocks, mulch and field stone and the interior of the bin still looks good.  I also love the fact that like my Foldit cart it’s sturdy on it’s wheels, no tipping over.

Now I won’t be getting rid of my FoldIt because it can haul more plants and I need that for my plant sales!  Plus since it does fold up it isn’t taking up very much room at all and as I said it’s perfect for hauling sticks when I’ve got piles to go to the brush tile.

So there you go.  Two wonderful carts that work hard for gardeners that work hard!  Oh and I’m not getting anything for reviewing these carts, I’m just sharing my experiences with you!

A new pollinator

 

I met a new pollinator the other day and you know how much a gardener loves pollinators.

At first glance I thought it was some sort of honeybee but there were several and they kept disappearing down into the bottom of the plants.  I grabbed my camera and took some pictures and then searched online.

Meet the digger bee.

Digger bees are solitary like mason bees only they make holes in the ground.  One female can make a lot of holes and she can be pursued by a lot of males.  They won’t be around all summer, just early spring and then again next year.  They are docile but can sting if handled or bothered, so we won’t do either.

It’s amazing to me how many types of pollinators we have and don’t really notice.  I mean sure butterflies are beautiful.

So of course we are going to see them and bumble bees well they are just goofy and fun to watch.

But the ones that we don’t see or pay attention to are doing some hard work.  Mason bees, leafcutter bees and all manner of ground nesting bees, like the digger bees.  Next time you are out in the garden, take a second to see who’s flying around.  You never know who you might meet!

Plans paid for and otherwise…

 

In 2014 while we were finishing up the deer fence, we had an official garden plan drawn up.  The plan shows existing trees, the pond, the gazebo etc.  It is a good representation of the bones of the garden and where it could eventually go.  The plan wasn’t cheap and to be honest we had high hopes that it would lay out what to do with the plants we had and what plants to add to complete the garden.  We didn’t think it would be an over night process more like several years and that was okay.

 When we got the plan we realized there were some issues, for starters she hadn’t included any of the plants that were already here.  The plantings while lovely on paper for the most part weren’t correct for our growing conditions.  When we asked we were told she would get back to us, she never did.

Now here I am some 3 years later doing my best to design with the plants that I have around the bones that were on the plan.  I’ve taken an inventory of my plants, I researched their growing conditions and the best times to transplant.  I’ve also been devouring plant combination pins on Pinterest as well as suggestions for additions to the gardens.

The thing is, planning a garden this way involves a lot of thinking.  Over the years I’ve basically just plunked down plants where the growing conditions were close to what they needed.  I’ve occasionally tried to put color combinations together, but I’ve never worried about texture or varying heights.  What my eyes didn’t see in my 20’s they now see very clearly in my 40’s.  I need evergreens for height, winter interest and for the birds to take shelter in from hawks.   I need shrubs that will add color and focal points and I need texture in the form of grasses and different types of leaves.  I see it clearly now and the work that is ahead.

For me gardening is the best stress release there is.  I get pleasure from working outside till I can barely walk, being covered in dirt and knowing that when my head hits the pillow I’ll fall asleep. 

Even if it is to dream about garden plans…

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.

Misty morning musings..

It’s a misty foggy morning here, so while the laundry tumbles and I wait for the sun to shine, I’m taking a moment to have a cup of coffee and reflect on my garden plans, schemes and dreams. 

All our property has massive potential I mean really 5 acres is nothing to laugh at these days.  We however aren’t going to be cutting down all the trees on the property and the overgrowth of weeds on the outside of the fence would require a herd of goats and men to clean it all up.  Then there is the whole up keep thing, I can only do so much on my own and my husband, well he just isn’t into gardening.

I don’t know if it’s a gardener/non-gardener thing or man/woman but where I see possibility I think he just sees, leaves, weeds, work, rocks, mud, etc. etc.  For example there is an area off to the side of our shed, that spot had some dead stumps in it. Now he saw something to haul off into the woods where I saw something that if surrounded by ferns and other woody plants would look interesting.

This is year 2, I started with just a few ferns, a couple of hosta and a bleeding heart.  The leaves need to be mulched, the weeds pulled but it is starting to look like what I ‘saw’ when I looked at those stumps. Something old and ancient surrounded by fern fronds, something that spoke of the trees that use to be.  Maybe this area needs a fairy too…

The former home of the beehvies is a hot mess of weeds and violets.  There are a handful of plants that I want to save, waiting to be transplanted but what to do with the area?  My ultimate dream is a garden shed of my very own.  A place to pot up plants, a place to store my tools, my pots, my dirt, my pond supplies.  A place that has windows and light and is quirky and maybe even cute.  Maybe something in this style…

A little paint, maybe stone around the bottom, something that reflects my eclectic nature and it could be perfect.  It could sit right at the end of this ‘path of leaves’, nestled there like a magical cottage that has always been.  Maybe the area in front becomes a well tended herb garden, with boxes and rows or maybe I transplant the hydrangeas here and let them fill in the area with their giant blooms. 

I can see it with a little field stone patio in front, a comfy chair to sit in after a long day of gardening?

Here’s another one for you, I’ve said for years (and years) that we needed a path through the grass.  Our backyard is sloped and adding a path at the sort of flat point seemed like a good idea.  Now my idea for the path are big pieces of irregular slate or some other flat stone sunk low enough to mow over.  Something like this..

Now tell me wouldn’t that look perfect right through there..

Guess who made this path, not me, Cooper and Tucker! This path could lead from the deck stairs around to the back door and heck we could go crazy and run it right to my little garden shed, or to the pond or the gazebo even!  With the stones in the ground there is nothing to worry about, the grass would fill in between and maybe the mud would even be subdued.

I pinned this one a long time ago to my gardening board. 

This is my dream vision for my backyard gardening area, a meandering path that takes you to different places to sit and relax, or maybe see a quirky sign or a magical fairy.  Granted I haven’t got nearly enough plants (yet) for things to be this dense but the path with the plants off to the sides, I knew this was what I wanted.

It’s not there yet, but it’s getting there plant by plant.  I trust my crazy ideas and I love seeing my dreams and visions come to fruition.  They may not always be clear to others, they may seem like a mess or jumble, but the idea is there.  It just takes time, work and dedication to get from the glimmer of a dream in my head, to something you can walk and admire….