Why I Oughta...

A couple days ago, I showed how we planted two new, bareroot Disneyland Roses (Floribunda roses) in the sideyard along-side the three existing Disneyland Roses .  In that post, I talked about how I was hopeful that the three legacy roses would come back this year - despite a TOUGH 2024.  They had leaf-drop, pests (sawfly larvae) and disease.  So, I wasn't sure if they were going to make it. But, Spring is the most hopeful time in the gardening calendar.  And, that's because there are signs of rebirth all around us.  These Disneyland Roses are the latest case.  All three legacy roses are showing signs of life with red-ish tips and green growth.    Below are some photos showing the three legacy roses and their new, seasonal growth: And more good news is that the two recently-planted bareroot Disneyland Roses are *also* showing new, seasonal growth with red buds emerging on the green canes.  See below for a top-down view of both of these new p...

Planted in Fall of 2022 , we've lost the small caliper Exclamation London Planetree that I had planted in the parkway.  The tree likely suffered from drought and it started to drop leaves in the Summer.  I thought it might make it back this Spring, but alas...there's no green anywhere under the bark on this tree. Below is the tree after being pulled out: This is the first entry into the [trees planted] log here on the garden diary. 2025 marks my ninth tree-planting season.   Zero trees planted (so far) in 2025.  And one tree 'lost' so far this year.  -1 for the year.   Overall, I've planted 103 trees on our property.  That's a wild number to me.   With this loss, we have 69 of 103 alive.  66.99% success rate. It is early this year, so these numbers (below) are skewed:  103 trees planted/9 growing seasons  = 11.44 trees on average planted each season 69 trees alive/9 growing seasons  = 7.66 trees on average surviv...

I seem to have failed to post photos and details of the dormant pruning that I did earlier this year on the pair of SugarTyme Crabapple trees that are trained into horizontal cordon espalier on the south side of our house.  The last time I posted about these was in September 2024 when the trees were going ham with new growth and tons of foliage .  At that time, I talked about the need to prune back both of these this Winter and noted how the tree on the right was growing faster/stronger/bigger than the one on the right. I pruned both of them while the trees were dormant, but I seem to have only take a photo when I had pruned back *just* the tree on the left and before I started with the one on the right.  That photo is below: I ended up pruning both back, of course.  And, they're now breaking bud with early foliage.  Below is a photo from this week (mid-April) showing the first sets of leaves emerging on both trees.   The photo above shows a few detail...

The multi-trunk Saucer Magnolia tree is getting ready to put on its annual Spring flower show.  And, after the harsh (at times) Winter, we're seeing a great sign:  pink flower buds have emerged from their fuzzy shells and are putting on size ahead of their full bloom. Below is a photo of one of the pink flower buds on the Saucer Magnolia tree tips.   This is three-and-a-half weeks later than the same pink buds emerged in 2024 - just over a year ago .   That was earlier than normal.  And this year - mid-April - is more in line with historical timing for this flowering tree.   2025 - Flower buds emerged in mid-April.   2024 - Flowers emerged in mid-March.  Peaked first week of April. 2023 - Mid-April peak-Magnolia bloom 2022 - Late-April 2022: Peak-Magnolia at end of month 2021 - Mid-April 2021 : In bloom by mid-month (April). 2020 - Early April 2020 : Blooms began the first week of April. 2019 - The tree did NOT bloom at all. 2...

Here we go:  twenty-five items on my 'to-do list' for 2025.  Just like the past few years, this list includes twenty-five garden ideas, projects, plans and priorities.  Here's 2024's to-do list .  And scorecard (18 out of 25 complete ).  Here's 2023 to-do list .  And scorecard (22 of 25 complete ). Here's 2022's to-do list .  And scorecard (20 of 25 complete).   Last year, the seven that I didn't complete include leaf mulch, working the lawn, parkway planting, building an orangerie box, improving the southside entrance landing, being a weeder and paying attention to my tree nursery.   A few of those will persist and show up in the 25 below. 1. Gravel Path Improvement. This was marked as 'Priority Project #1' this year . And, I've already completed about 60% of the renovation . Once I finalize the pizza oven project, I'll use the remaining nonwoven fabric to finish the gravel path. 2. Make the Pizza Oven operational. This was marke...

We started with one Disneyland Rose back in the Fall of 2017 and grew the collection to three by 2022.  In Spring 2023, I was gifted three more bare root Disneyland Roses for my birthday and I planted them in the front porch bed under the Triumph Elm tree .  All three of those 'new' roses didn't come back in 2024 - and that's where I planted a few Dahlia tubers.   The three Disneyland Roses planted in the sideyard struggled last year.  Between pests and drought, they had limited production during the 2024 growing season .  I failed to water them enough during the early part of the season, but baby'd them later in the year.   This year, for Christmas, I was gifted two MORE Disneyland roses.  They, too, are bare root.  They arrived via UPS in a box and were well-packed.  The roots were still covered in wet paper, so they didn't dry-out during the travel.  Below is a photo showing the packing of the two Disneyland Roses from Jack...

Back in the Summer of 2021, I bought and planted a Japanese White Pine that included the name "Nana" on the tag - but otherwise the cultivar was not-listed.  This small conifer tree was hanging out at the big box parking lot nursery for months and when it dropped in price, I grabbed it.  By Summer 2022, the tree was gone.  Browned out and dead .   What caused the death? I'm not sure. Drought, likely.  But, also...could it have been 'over watered'?  Not sure, but who knows.   What about hardiness? Are they hardy down to our Zone 6a/5b borderline? I'm not sure, either. Did I plant it incorrectly? Perhaps. These Home Depot trees are typically ball and burlap and are air-pruned/rooted - I think. They usually have a large, main trunk that terminates into a cut-end that has been rooted with some small root growth. In the past, I've cut these balls open - and when I did that - I've almost always LOST those trees. More recently, I've left t...

Our three-bin compost bin setup includes a finishing bin (on the right), a mixed bin (in the middle) and a holding/storage bin (on the left).  You can see those three in the photo below - along with the 'FEED ME' Compost bin sign hanging on the holding bin on the left.  Also note, on the right - finishing bin - the new cedar planks that I added last Fall to the bottom to help hold in the finished material: Last Fall, I filled the two non-finishing bins with gathered leaves and other garden waste .  Over the Winter, I've been adding our kitchen scraps to the holding bin .  Also, Nat got a new coffee machine that produces A TON of grounds, so the bin is filling up with spent grounds.  And, most recently, this early Spring, I've been putting our garden waste like turf, seed heads, etc - other than the 'chop and drop' material - in the holding bin.  You can see that piled on top of the leaves.   I'll plan on turning these bins later this year - some...

The pair of square beds that sit on either side of our back concrete stoop have changed over the years.  Starting with a pair of Rhododendrons, I replaced them with Spring Grove Ginkgo trees (dwarf trees) in Spring 2023 .   I also added some (volunteer) Angelina Sedum to both sides that has had ups-and-downs. After doing a clean-up in this bed, here below are what the two square beds look like currently.  The trees have been attacked by (Dang!) rabbits.  And the sedum has seen better days.  I'm hoping that the weather will warm up and these sedums will spring to life.   First is the south bed - close to our grill: And, here below is the south bed.  In between the stoop and the screened porch door:

In the photo below you can see a number of 'crowns' or slightly different colored dots that are scattered around this bed.  What are those?  Ostrich Fern crowns.  They're filling up the bed behind the Oak tree - tree swing tree.  And, they've naturalized.  They're spreading and multiplying.  It feels like this is a moment:  keep or dig up and remove.   As I mentioned...they multiply.  So, this year there might be twenty.  Next year...there might be 40.    The issue:  I don't have anything to replace them.  But, despite falling in love with Ostrich Ferns, I've moved on to other ferns.  Autumn Ferns, in particular.  But, those don't naturalize.   This is where I've always envisioned a 'garden path'.  Perhaps I leave these now (don't do a "Fern Upgrade") and utilize non-woven cloth to smother out any Ostrich ferns in the way. 

Yesterday, I posted a couple photos of the Louie Pine tree - a gold-needled standout in the garden. Next to the Louies on the pallet in the parking lot of the orange big box nursery were a few Charlie-Brown-like pines.  They were tall, thin and...scraggly.   A closer look reveals they're Weeping Pine Trees.  See below for some photos - of the trees and the tag.  Retailing for $99.00, these are about 40" tall from the root flare.  These are true weeping trees - and need to be trained.  From Gertens : A weeping and trailing shrub or small tree, very unlike the species; features soft, blue needles, tends to crawl along the ground and over rocks or walls, or forms a small weeping accent plant if trained on a standard; beautiful if properly grown. Weeping White Pine is a dwarf conifer which is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its highly ornamental weeping form. It has attractive bluish-green evergreen foliage. The needles are highly ornamenta...

The conifers are starting to show up at the nurseries and big box stores.  There's one orange big box store that always orders in some unique trees - including conifers.  Over the weekend, I popped in there to see what is already in-stock and saw a pair of yellow pine trees.  Hmmm...those are interesting.   Here, below, is a photo showing these yellow pine trees.  They sure stand-out, don't they? What are they?  According to the tag, these are Louie White Pine trees for $99.00. Interesting, right?  Let's get to know the Louie White Pine.  From Conifer Kingdom : Gold decorates this outstanding Pinus strobus ‘Louie’ all year. In the cold of winter, the brilliant golden hue is brightest at the needle tips. In summer, needles change to a wonderful soft golden green, unlike other pines. Globose when young, the medium-sized tree develops a beautiful conical form. "Medium-sized" tree.  I like that.  Not a dwarf, but not going to be a giant...

A fall-planted Allium bulb that is a stand-out in our garden is the Allium Christophii that we have in various spots around the front and backyard gardens.  Below is a pair of the star-shaped foliage that emerges in early Spring from these alliums.  This is in the original IB2DWs bed - and you can tell that based on the bronze Bald Cypress needles that these are growing-in: When I think about Fall bulb planting, I'd add more of these alliums to the list of 'wants'. 

Sedum groundcover is something that I've added over the past few years - some of it works, some of it is a work-in-project.  In walking around the beds this weekend, I noticed the pair of Sedum kamtschaticum 'Variegatum' that I planted in Fall 2023 are doing the best of all of the groundcovers.  These are IB2DWs, down by the sidewalk.  You can see them in this post from a year ago .   They're tucked in near some legacy tulips - that you can see both of below.  Tulips on the right - just foliage.  And, right down the middle of the photo, there are two clumps of sedum that are putting on Spring growth: These put on small yellow flowers in mid-Summer.  Here's a photo from June 2024 showing the flowers .    One of the big changes here is the expansion of this bed in the past 12ish months.  These were, when planted, adjacent to lawn.  Now, they're surrounded by mulch.   Groundcover continues to be something I'm going to fo...

Another sign of Spring:  one of (at least one of) the Brookside Geraniums has emerged from the mulch in the square bed next to our backdoor stoop.  These are growing in the shadow of the Spring Grove Ginkgos.  Planted in 2023 from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale , this will be their third full growing season.  They're the only Geraniums that we have growing, but that might be something I'll add this year via the same Morton Arboretum sale. Below is the green foliage emerging in late March 2025:  

Progress on the pizza oven MVP continues.  At least in terms of the hard surface part of the project.  Back ten days ago, I showed the first timber (6x6x8 treated ground-contact) being placed on site and talked about how much more excavation was required.  A few days ago, I posted a photo showing the three other timbers that I brought home from the lumber store that were ready to get placed for dry-fitting .  Now that I have the first four timbers on-site, I can start to see how much more excavation is required.  With the wall being about ten-inches-tall, that means that I would like to have about ten-inches of gravel behind the wall.  Thus, excavation is for the space required for the timbers to be square plus ten-inches in each direction.  Below is a look at the current state of the area:  All four timbers are on-site and I've been pulling away at the earth that needs to be retained: My plan is to use a flat shovel to create a clean edge in the...

Last I checked-in on the pizza oven ground project, I was dry-fitting the first 6x6 treated (ground-contact) timber that I'll use to retain the earth and (I think) hold in gravel in the middle of the surface.  I spent a little bit of time this past weekend doing more excavation and found time to run to the hardware store to bring home three more 6x6 timbers.   Below, you can see the three timbers (and a pile of bags of gravel) that I'll haul to the backyard in the coming days.  Once back there, I'll use them to make sure I've excavated *enough* earth.  My plan is to dry-fit all of these in the ground, then measure what over-dig still needs to be done that will allow for a foot-or-so of gravel to sit *behind* (earth-side) of the wall.   I'll next update the project once I put all the timbers in and fit.  After that, I'll finalize the excavation, lay down the nonwoven fabric, establish the grade for the first course of timbers with gravel and/or pa...