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Ten Hakonechloa Macra Grasses Planted In Front of Pizza Oven Bed Border - July 2026

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This post is going up in early July, but I seem to have forgotten to post about this planting earlier this growing season.  I actually planted these in late May, so this is six weeks late.  Better late than never (for the Garden Diary), right? I planted up the front border of the Pizza Oven bed that was marked as one of my "Garden Edits" from a few seasons back and was the basis of my #3 Priority Project post earlier this year .  At that time, I called for twelve (12) Hakonechloa Macra grasses to fill the front border and filling in spaces in front of and behind the tree swing tree.   Over Memorial Day weekend, I bought ten one-gallon containers of the straight variety Macra grasses from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm.  And, I lined them up along the front edge from the one legacy grass stretching (almost) all the way to the front corner of the pizza oven. See below for a couple photos of the grasses spaced out in their nursery pots: Here, below, is ...
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Oakleaf Hydrangeas Proving Me Wrong? July 2026

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In a series of posts ( starting in January ) and then via an individual " priority projec t" post and my 2026 to-do list , I've talked myself into the idea of replacing my Oakleaf Hydrangeas in the garden.  It was, in fact, my #1 task on the list.  NUMBER ONE.   But, something changed.  I wrote about the 'surprise blooms' on these shrubs in Late June .   And, now I'm reconsidering.  I might have, well....been.... wrong. Why am I reconsidering?  Aside from those blooms.  I'm also seeing tons of foliage growth.  Even on some of the shrubs that I thought were dead from rabbits.  Here, below, is one of the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas that I thought was dead.  It is tucked in behind the peonies in the [Kitchen Curved] bed.   But, when I look closer, I see a few shoots coming out of the ground, too.  See below for two of them: This tells me that not only are the shrubs full of energy and growth.  But...also...th...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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More Pizza Oven Brick Veneer Added - July 2026

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 Last month, I posted a couple of photos of doing some of the brick veneer on the pizza oven .  #5 on my 2026 to-do list is to 'finish up the oven' - which means finishing up the...well....finishes.  The exterior.  On the enclosure, that means brick veneer.   I started the veneer late last year before the temperatures dropped .  Didn't get far.  But, due to the temperature tolerances of the veneer mortar, I had to wait out the Spring .   With this being the first-time doing this type of work, I'm learning as I go.  I started on the back of the oven and moved around to the front.  Veneer isn't cheap, but there are higher-quality bricks and lower-quality ones.  My thought is that I could use the more-expensive veneer on the sides of the oven that people will see.  And, the cheaper stuff on the back.  Against the fence.   I ordered a bunch of boxes of the 'cheaper' veneer and over the past few weeks got to...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Orange Dream Japanese Maple Planted - July 2026

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#21 on my 2026 to-do list was to 'add another ornamental maple' to the garden.  So far, this season, I've planted a pair of them:  a North Wind Korean Maple (to replace the Arctic Jade) and an Alpenglow Korean Maple under the large tree swing.  Both from Iseli Nursery. Over the years, I've moved towards those Korean Maples. Acer pseudosieboldaianum. They have performed well (aside from the Arctic Jade).  They're more cold-hardy than Acer palmatums or Acer shirasawanum or Acer japonicum. But, the pull of the traditional Japanese Maples is still strong.  When I came across an Orange Dream Japanese Maple that was priced...ummm....right, I brought it home.   Also note... I still think about the full-moon maples like this one , too.  Below are a few photos showing the foliage, the tree form and where I planted it (in the back edge of the "Kitchen Curved" bed). The leaves in Summer are green with red(ish) stems: The tree has a low-graft and is about ...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Dead Tree Roundup - July 2026

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I recently planted a new tree (more on that tomorrow), but before I get to that, I neeed to write up a post that cleans-up my tree planting list.  There have been a bunch of "LOST" trees that I never documented, and that skews the numbers.   It is time to get the data back to clean. Starting with the Belgian Fence, there are now just two out of five apple trees remaining. Next, while not technically TOTALLY DEAD, the small Baby Blue Spruce in backyard is toast. I called it on the Arctic Jade Korean Maple.   The Hemlock the rabbit gnaw'd at is dead .     5 of 6 dead now. The Northern Red Oak by the firepit is dead.  So is an Emperor 1 by the firepit.  All the Mr. Maple trees are gone.  The pair of Dogwoods by the garage are dead, too.   That brings us to this....."Updated" running tall 2026 is our tenth tree-planting season. Overall, I've planted 110 trees on our property. Before this accounting, I was claiming 75 trees al...
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