Why I Oughta...

One of my 2026 to-do items is to 'expand the beds in Fall'.  I say 'Fall' because of how I utilize what I call the "lazy method" of smothering out the turf with cardboard.  That means that in addition to materials like cardboard and municipal biosolids, I need time.  Time for the grass to die.  Time for the cardboard to breakdown.  And time for the biosolids to MELLOW OUT.   Last year, I missed the Fall window to do some bed extensions, so I started to do them this Spring.  The first one was a few weeks ago with the Island Bed taking on new edges .  I used cardboard, municipal biosolids and composted manure to create a blend that I'll plant up (and mulch) later this Spring.  In the sideyard, I want to do the same thing:  expand the beds along the foundation to be more proud of the house.  Last year, I planted out the Dahlias in late May/early June.  I like to have about six weeks of time between laying down these bed exten...

Yesterday, I posted the first "Getting to Know" posts about the set of plugs that I bought from Garden Club this year: Lisianthus Celeb 2 Metallic Blue .  Next up is another blue bloom: Didiscus Lacy Blue .  This one is a direct recommendation from Erin the Impatient Gardener.  She mentioned that she grows these.  So...that's why I added to my cart.  So, what are they? Here is the listing from Floret : There is nothing like this super-productive, dome-shaped beauty. Each graceful disk is made of hundreds of tiny, forget-me-not-blue flowers, and the branching stems are smothered in buds. ‘Lacy Blue’ will flower for months, is slightly scented, and is the perfect size for bouquet work. Well...that sounds perfect, no?  They get 2-3 tall and need just 9" of spacing. Here is a photo from Farmer Bailey showing these growing in tunnels: Source via Farmer Bailey The Farmer Bailey growing guide mentions that they want some afternoon shade, so I think that mea...

Yesterday, I posted my Garden Club plug order and talked about how all six varieties are new (to me).   Lisianthus Celeb 2 Metallic Blue is the first one up.  I bought eight plugs and this is my first Lisianthus.  If you follow any flower farmer on Instagram, you can't go a week without hearing about Lisianthus.  They're rose-like and from what I've come to understand have good 'vase life'.  These "Celeb 2" Metallic blue are described by Garden Club as: The 'Celeb' series features large to extremely large, fully double, fringed flowers. This series dominates the Japanese Lisianthus market, and many of the cut flowers we see imported from Japan are Celeb types. Those Japanese gardeners.  They're so prolific .  Anything BLUE is of immediate interest to me, so the name made these an easy-add.  The photos show a more purple color, but we'll see what happens when/if they bloom: Source via Garden Club Ball Seed says : Huge blooms with strong, w...

This past weekend, I published the 25 items on my 2026 yard and garden to-do task list and included a number of cut-flower-related items.  Growing dahlias.  Supporting dahlias.  Growing more accent plants in the vertical garden.  All were on there.  But, so was another one - number 8: 8. Experiment with other cut flowers.  Plant them in the ground (in the garden beds) and add some variety to my arrangements. New varieties.  That means new (to me).   I'm a foliage gardener.  But, I have had so much fun becoming a flower gardener, too.  I've learned so much about dahlias the past few seasons and have found some flowering perennials that I can use in some cut flower arrangements, too.   But, this year, I wanted to try some new flowers that I can use in my arrangements.  Why?  Because, if you look at them, they're VERY dahlia-heavy .  That's not a bad thing.  But, if you're not changing and learning, you'r...

Yesterday I posted my annual to-do list of 25 items I'm aiming to tackle this growing season .  I'm starting off with an early win by taking-on Priority item #2 on the list one-day-in.  I've talked about how I've adopted what I call the 'lazy bed extension method' of using three factors:  1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. That 3rd factor (time) is why I'm going at this garden upgrade in March.   Here's what I wrote for #2: 2. Priority Project 2:  Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed .  But, use a ‘fewer curves’ approach to making a curvilinear shape . Last year, I planted Coleus (which was great) and Supertunias (which weren’t), so strike the right balance between colorful annuals (maybe mirror what I put in the front porch bed) along with some coleus for foliage. I also included further down the list at #12 a "Fall ...

'Tis the season for setting my goals for the yard and garden this year.  As I've done for the past few years, I've put together my annual "To Do List" as a way of keeping myself on track.  Thanks to this here garden diary and posts like this one ( early, early look post ) and this one ( last year's final tally ) and this [ 2026 to-do ] tag help make putting together this list much easier.   Like anything in life, in order to be successful in the garden (or...I should say...in order for ME to be successful...), I need a goal.  A target.  Otherwise, I'll be aimless.  Will I get some things done?  Yes.  But, are they the most impactful, most critical, most enjoyable parts?  Maybe?  But, when I sit down and think about what I want to accomplish both short term (this season) and as part of a longer-term approach, I find that I can reference this list as the season goes on to ensure that I'm spending my time and resources effectively....

I've recently posted about a number of [priority projects] for 2026 and (at the same time), I've been drafting my full 2026 to-do list.  That's typically 25 items that help keep me focused in the yard and garden.  One of the items near the top of that list is going to be:  finish up the pizza oven enclosure. Last week, I burned the first small fire in the oven for the season and talked about getting motivated to finish it.  A big part of that finishing is applying the exterior brick.  However, I need the temperatures to improve and stabilize before I can get busy.  Here's what the specifications sheet reads in terms of application temperatures: 50 degrees for 72 hours after application of the mortar.  According to *some* models , we should be hitting that 50-degree average right around early April.   Last Fall, I applied just a handful of bricks to the rear part of the structure - figuring I'd LEARN how to apply the bricks on the part of th...

We're moving on to my #3 Priority project for 2026.   First one was to stop fighting nature (nature finds a way) with Oakleaf Hydrangeas . Second was to re-cut the edges of the front yard island bed .   Today, I'm posting the details of #3:  finishing a project that I started two years ago:  A Garden edit.   I wrote about this earlier this year and talked about how I relocated a colony of All Gold Hakonechloa Japanese Forest Grasses from around the tree swing tree and moved them to the other side of the yard.  I moved them right before I began excavation for the backyard pizza oven.  Now that the oven foundation is built out, I had the bed extended around it last year, creating a long empty border.   My plan has been to fill that border with a series of Hakonechloa Macra (straight variety) grasses .  Both from the Oak tree 'backwards' and 'forward'.   Here below is the area that needs to be populated: And here, b...

Last week, I posted my first [Priority Project] for 2026 that focused on replacing the Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are being destroyed each year by the (dang) rabbits.  These [Priority Posts] help me begin to formulate my annual yard-and-garden to-do list.  I've found (over the years) that I NEED to prioritize some key projects and keep a running list of goals so I have focus and accountability.  Otherwise...I tend to wander and get distracted. Today is a look at Priority Project #2: Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed.   Starting earlier this year, I posted an exploration of how I could expand the front yard island bed and then , after thinking (or... because of WRITING ABOUT IT ), I changed my mind and reconsidered some aspects including the orientation and number of curves .  I initially was thinking about attacking the project by GROWING the bed from the sidewalk-backwards towards the house.  I say 'attack' because I know myself and...

Dahlia season is coming fast.  Or, at least it is feeling like it is coming fast to this gardener.  The past two seasons, I've started my tubers indoors, well ahead of the last frost date (around Mid-May here).  In 2024, I started them in early May.  There were only six tubers  to start.  How quaint.  Looks like I ended up with twelve total .  I planted them outdoors in June 2024 .   Last year, in 2025, I also planted them up starting indoors.  In early May .  By mid-May they were showing signs of growth .  I began to harden-the-off towards the end of May and (like 2024), planted them outside in the beginning of June .  Last year, I also pinched them all back to try to get bush-ier growth.   My plan for 2026 is to follow a similar trajectory, but I'm thinking I can start them even earlier.  Like mid-April.  The last frost date varies around here , but generally is between the middle and end of May....

It may not be super easy to tell in this photo below, but our Dawn Redwood tree has continued to grow.  And it is taking on a nice upright-ish form.  But, the apical meristem - the leader - is wandering.  It isn't straight up in the air, but rather...leaning back.  My thought here is that a potential 2026 project might be to try to pull the leader back into a more-upright position.  A rope, plus some sort of trunk/bark protection (like a piece of garden hose) pulled tight to a stake to help train it back to be more upright?  Or....should I prune this a bit more to clear out some competition?  Maybe both?

Back in early January, I wrote a post titled " An Early, Early Look at 2026 Projects and To-Do List " that included a look at a bunch of potential projects.   One of the items listed for the backyard was this: Replace Oakleaf Hydrangeas. Dang rabbits.  Maybe add a few Thujas , too.  I think I've arrived at a place where I have to do something about the Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  I have loved them - but the rabbit pressure has just about killed them the past few years.  Here's a post from January, too where I showed how the (dang!) rabbits had gnawed away at these shrubs .  I wrote this then, and still feel it today: I've protected some of them with chicken wire cages, but the small ones (dwarf) are just about eaten back to the trunks. And some of the Alice (larger ones) have been reduced, too. I *REALLY* like Oakleaf Hydrangeas. But, I don't know if our garden is going to work for them. Working AGAINST what works is something I need to stop doing as a gar...

Over the past couple of seasons, I've learned to 'know' (and plant) a pair of Korean Maple trees in our garden.  A Northern Glow in the Island Bed up front and an Arctic Jade in the backyard .  We also have a couple of Emperor 1 trees in the backyard (but...I'm pretty sure I lost the largest one this Winter.  It was ravaged by the Cicadas of 2024 and didn't seem to recover in 2025).   My success with the two Korean Maples has lead me to think about adding another one - and I wrote a 'getting to know' post about The Northwind Korean Maple from Iseli Nursery that is part of their Jack Frost Collection of cold-hardy trees.   But, as I was poking around in my Google Photos recently, I came across a cluster of photos of a different ornamental tree that I took at The Growing Place last year - on the same visit where I bought the Arctic Jade.  Those photos were for this Fernleaf Fullmoon Maple.  Acer japonicum 'Acontifolium'. This is - as the name...

A couple of days ago, I posted the details of the eight-pack of dahlia tubers that I picked up at Costco on a recent visit.  The tubers are from a source that I've purchased many tubers/bulbs from: Longfield Gardens.  And, this eight-pack featured four tubers of two different varieties.  I already posted about the four Rip City dahlias (they're informal decorative dahlias).  Today, I'm posting about the other four:  Saint Martin dahlias.   I mentioned that these were both new (to me) varieties, but I was drawn to their heights.  My preference is towards shorter varieties that don't have the same staking/support requirements of many other dahlias.  Below is a photo of the back of the package showing the Saint Martin stats.  Note the spacing (20") and height (30").   And, here below is the front of the package showing the Saint Martin having slightly smaller blooms that are two-toned in white and pink.   Besides the he...

Last year, I planted a pair of Pink Beauty Viburnum shrubs in the backyard.  One on each side of the garden, in the rear of the beds, pretty close to the fence line.  The first one went in on the northside behind the Dawn Redwood .  The second one went in on the southside closer to the wine barrel water feature.   They seemed to do fine in their first year and even showed some berries come late Summer .  This being their first Winter, I'm observing how it is overwintering for the first time.  And, I've come to realize that I 'missed' on protecting these from rabbits this Winter.  I forgot the lesson I learned with my Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum their first season:  These need rabbit cages until they get to a certain height and size that rabbits (dang rabbits!) can't affect them too much.   These didn't have cages, and in the photo below, you can see the rabbit pressure: gnawed-off lower limbs.  The good news, it appears...