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Look Around The Garden Beds - Backyard - Mid-August 2026

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There is too much going on in the garden to break everything down into an individual post in the [garden diary].  Some of the more meaningful things that I'd like to track get their own posts, but other things that I just want to note are going to be included here in this round-up.  Calling it "A Look Around the Garden Beds".   Start with the Garden Edit under the tree swing tree.  The Summer Beauty Alium are in bloom, but starting to fade.  They're doing great here.  Makes me remember why I liked them out of the gate. One of the climbing hydrangeas that I planted on that same tree swing tree is growing.  See the vine climbing up the trunk: A little bit behind these Allium is a layered look of ornamental grasses and Little Lime Hydrangeas. And Three Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio' Maiden Grasses. The grasses are "dwarf" grasses, so they're staying shorter than most grasses, allowing the blooms of the (also dwarf) Hydrangea show through. I've ...
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Firewood Consumption Check-In - Pre-Seasonal Order - August 2026

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It might be August, but I'm starting to think about firewood.  And, putting together my order for the year.  Like I've done in the past few years, I wanted to take an inventory of what we have on-hand (and what we've burned thru) and get an idea of how much we need to order.   I did this type of post last year and showed that I had about 150 pieces left .  And, I ended up ordering three facecords (Birch, Oak, Cherry).  Most estimates say that a Full Facecord has between 200 and 275 pieces.  Let's call it 250 for easy math.  That means that I started with 150.  Added 750.  Ended up with 900 pieces of firewood. I stashed them on the various racks.  Inside the screened porch.  Out on the side stoop.  Under the cover in the sideyard.  And, a new place for last year:  under the pizza oven.   Here's how the racks look today.  After a full Winter of burning indoors.  And, a bunch of pizza oven burnin...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Frans Fontain European Hornbeam Tree Hedge - August 2026

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Back in July, I posted a photo or two about how I had to prune back some of the lower limbs on some of our Frans Fontaine European (Columnar) Hornebeam trees to make traversing the sideyard boardwalk a little bit easier.  They were encroaching on the pathway.   That is part of the collection of posts about these trees that you can find here:  [ Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam Trees ].   2026 marks their eight season in the garden and you can go all the way back to when I was first researching the trees and when eight 2" caliper Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees were planted in May 2018.  They were planted 6-feet trunk-to-trunk .   Over the years, I've documented their growth, leaf-fall, bud setting and opening in Spring. Here's what they look like right now - after eight seasons: They're big, and leafy.  But, they're starting to show some holes.   I haven't pruned these at all.  But, the neighbor to the north has pr...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Ruby Muhly Grasses - Summer Update - August 2026

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Back in the Fall of 2023, I planted three Ruby Muhly Grasses - Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'Undaunted' - at the edge of the boardwalk in our backyard .  They were a deal on the 'end of the season' sale at The Growing Place.  But, they were also a grass that I had read about/come across them and thought their 'cloud-like' seedheads are something I'd like to have in the garden.   They went in very late in the season, but came back just fine their first year.  Here they are in mid-August 2024 prior to putting on any seed-head growth .  They were snug in their bed that I have subsequently expanded a little bit (and should expand more this Fall).   By September that first year, they had some seedheads .  But...not the 'clouds' that these grasses are famous for, at least.   Fast-forward to now.  This is their third growing season and they seem to have established themselves.  I don't pay much attention to them in terms of watering/...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Hicks Yew Hedge - From One-Gallon Pots to Year Seven - August 2026

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Seven years ago, I planted a hedge.  Or, what was (hopefully) something that was going to grow INTO a hedge.  Of Hicks (upright) Yews.  I bought 15 (fifteen) very small, one-gallon pots of the evergreen columnar shrub and planted them on about 30" centers across the back of our yard .  When I say "very small", I mean "very small".   The last time that I looked at this hedge was in January, when everything in the garden was dormant and the green needles of the Yews stood out .   Below are a few photos showing the current state of this hedge.  Is it a hedge, yet?  Well...not quite.  But, we're getting close. They're filling in the gaps (not totally) and growing up (in an uneven fashion).  The inspiration for using these (well...) yews was an undulating hedge that I found on Instagram .  I also found " Wirtz hedges " that are sort-of cloud-pruned.   So, that means that the 'uneven-ness' isn't a bug.  It is (pot...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Carex Montana Update - One Month From Planting Plugs - August 2026

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A little over a month ago, I planted seven Montana Sedge plugs in and around the little path on the southside of our backyard that takes you from the yard to the cut flower sideyard garden.  There are some flagstone steppers that define the path and there were some existing Carex Montana in this area from a few years ago.  I tucked the seven new plugs in along the path in June .   Today, they've grown and put out their full flush of blades (is that what sedges have?  blades?  like grass?)  Below are a few photos showing the blend of old and new groundcover along the path.   I put one on the 'other side' of the path, but it lives under some hosta foliage.  It is persisting, but not thriving here.   And, below, you can see a couple of the existing sedges.  These are further back from the yard, but since they've been around for a while, they're bigger. As we get past the heat of August and I start thinking about some 'fall p...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Spring Grove Dwarf Ginkgo Trees - Year Four - August 2026

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In the Spring of 2023, I ripped out a pair of Rhododendron from either side of our back stoop and replaced them with a pair of Spring Grove (dwarf) Ginkgo trees .  They were in larger nursery containers at the time I bought them, but they were small.  Short.  Well...dwarf.  Which usually means they're very slow-growing.  I wrote this 'getting to know' post about Spring Grove Ginkgo and talked about how they were discovered as a Witch's Broom in Ohio.   That first Summer, they were stressed.  This is a sunny location and the hot afternoon sun beat them up.  So, I put up some shade cloth to try to get them through August.  That worked and by September, they were leafy and (mostly) green .  Ever since, they haven't looked back.  And are growing faster than I thought they would.   Here they are in October 2024 .   Over the years, I've posted Wintertime photos showing their 'frames'.   Today, despi...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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