Why I Oughta...

My list of potential projects is now posted and includes a couple that I've already posted about and one this one - that I'm going to call number three for the year.   My 'early look' list is here.  Priority 1 - the renovation of the bluestone chip gravel garden path is here .  And, Priority 2 - the minimum viable product on the pizza oven project is here .   My third project is in the front yard - the island bed.   I created this bed in mid-Summer 2024 when I planted the Korean Maple (Northern Glow) and cut out a kidney-bean-shaped bed in the 'front-ish' of our front yard.  Kind-of in the corner between our sidewalk and driveway.  I added a Spring Grove dwarf Ginkgo tree next to the Korean Maple a couple days later.  I also planted some Inferno coleus as an annual  and an October Daphne sedum (that the rabbits ate up all Summer...).  In the Fall, I added even more to this bed - three dwarf Seslarias (John Greenlee) , ...

This week we're facing our largest snow storm of the season with anywhere from four-to-twelve inches of snow forecast to fall in our neighborhood.  But, the past few days, the late afternoon temperatures have hovered in the upper thirties - which feels like a balmy, Spring day to me right now.  Because of that - and some pushing from this post from Dr. Jared Barnes where he showed he was getting a start on his annual garden clean-up - I decided to go out and try a few things in the garden. I grabbed a pair of gloves and some pruners and walked into the front yard.  I opted to start with a couple of the Seslaria Autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grass) that are planted in the front porch bed.  Now...I normally wait until a bit later in Winter to begin clean-up.  Everyone says to...'let it lay' until the harshest part of Winter has passed.  Leave the leaf litter and stems to protect the plant crowns from cold.   And that's what I've done - for the most part....

Yesterday, I showed how I moved out a 'mystery' Sesleria to the IB2DWs bed down by the sidewalk.  That left a hole in the front porch bed that I wanted to fill with what was already there:  Autumn Moor Grass.  These things are THRIVING, so it was easy to pick up and divide it. I ended up dividing a clump into three pieces.  I put one back into the original hole, one in the newly created hole (via mystery sesleria transplant) and I tucked the third one into IB2DWs - next to some Serendipity Alliums.   Below are a few photos - first the two smaller divisions: far left and second from the right.  I tucked them in with a combination of compost and biosolids.   And here below is the third from the division - in the IB2DWs bed about half-way down the driveway: This gave me a +2 plants via division.   I need to total up all Fall:  +2 trees, +2 John Greelee Grasses, +6 Ajuga = +10 planted.  And...+1 red swtichgrass, +1 mystery gra...

Last year, I bought and planted a number of (what I thought at the time) were Sesleria Autumnalis - Autumn Moor Grasses - across the front of our front porch beds.  I say 'at the time' because I've learned in the time since that ONE of the plants is not like the other.  The Autumn Moor Grasses put on a show the past two Falls and have thin, yellow-ish blades come October.  The other grass is blue-green and doesn't have the fireworks explosion that the others have each Fall. See below for a look at this one mystery blue-green grass in between a volunteer Dusty Miller and an Autumn Moor Grass: The Autumn Moor Grasses are THRIVING, so I figured...why not transplant this mis-label'd 'mystery' grass and replace it with a divided Autumn Moor Grass.  That's what I did - I dug it up and moved it.  Not before dividing it into two good-sized clumps and one HOPEFUL strand.  I put them right against the sidewalk in the hard-to-grow area IB2Dws.  I filled the hole...

The hedge of Sesalaria Autumnalis - Autumn Moor Grass - is throwing off a fireworks show of seed heads in our front porch bed.  I planted these last year - in front of the existing boxwoods.   And...they've done a really great job of getting established and putting on some size.   A look back at late Fall last year (October 2023) and you can see that they're not quite touching each other and were spaced appropriately.  This year?  They've butting up against each other side-to-side.  Pretty nice.  See below for the current view from our front stoop looking south: I split this front bed between these Autumn Moor Grasses and Summer Beauty Alliums.   The post I put up a few weeks ago showing the full front porch view really shows the difference between the Alliums and these grasses .  The alliums are MUCH more showy.   I'm thinking about a garden edit up here - removing the Summer Beauty Alliums and replacing them with ev...

The view from the curb of our front porch bed has changed SO MUCH in just a years time.  That photo above shows what you see as you view the front of our house and includes a few big changes that I'm seeing grow into their mature forms in a very short period of time.  The tree - a Triumph Elm tree that was planted in Fall 2022 is the biggest change; as it replaced a much-larger Norway Maple.  That large Norway Maple with A MASSIVE MAT of surface roots was out-competing just about everything up there.   That meant...boxwoods that were in the shade and being starved out.  Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas that were undersized and losing the battle.  And, a pretty inhospitable environment in terms of soil. I suppose that's the starting point - the soil.  In Fall of 2021, I documented the root mat and hydrophobic soil that supported no plantlife .   I tried to build a remedy over time - including adding nitrogen via Alfalfa cubes and planting a...

Last year, I planted a number of Seslaria Autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grasses) in our front porch beds that I picked up from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin.  They did REALLY well in their first year - so well, in fact - that I decided to roll-the-dice and divide a couple of them in their FIRST Fall in the garden.  I divided three of them and planted the three new divisions in the backyard - around the tree-swing Oak tree .    Some of my other Fall Divisions dealt with some 'heaving' and I'm not sure if they're going to make it.  But, these three Moor Grasses?  See below - they appear to be putting on green blades for their second growing season: These are inter-planted with some Summer Beauty Allium that are planted closer to the border.  And, what appears to be some to-be-determined Allium bulbs (based on the foliage) closer to the trunk of the tree.   My plan is to (likely) divide a few more of the Moor Grasses in front, bu...

Fall is the right time to divide Seslaria.  And, I'm going to attempt to divide and transplant first-year Seslaria Autumnalis.  Why?  Because I've been so happy with them up front this year.  I identified the three largest plants in front - like the one below - and dug up and split it in two. I wanted to improve the ring around the tree-swing tree with something more interesting - so I moved the new divisions to sit in between the Christmas Tree hostas that I moved here last year.  These are behind the Summer Beauty Allium divisions from last year, too.   Below is a look at some of the divisions and where they went in the backyard. I tucked the original plants back in, too.  Now they were just half-the-size. There's a photo above of a TINY division.  I'm not counting that, so, we're calling this a +3 free plants for Fall Dividing. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

Back earlier this Summer, I bought and planted eight Autumn Moor Grasses - Sesleria Autumnalis - from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin .  They went in a staggered planting in our front porch beds to provide two things:  something interesting in front of the boxwoods that wasn't too tall AND something that would come up after the large Allium foliage begins to die back and would hid the dying leaves.   One of the things at all gardeners chase is the notion of a four-season garden.  You want things to be interesting and in-bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.  And, ideally have a little winter show during dormancy.  That notion - of bloom time coupled with their short height - is what sold me on these Autumn Moor Grasses .  They show strong in the Fall.  Here we are on October 1st and what do they look like in their first year?  Like real stars: They're just what I wanted - with low, mounding foliage and see-thru seed heads that rise up ...

On Monday, I posted about adding a series of perennials to our front porch beds - including Autumn Moor Grasses and eight Summer Beauty Alliums that are in front of some small Green Velvet Boxwoods (that I planted last month).   As I was planting those, I realized that the edge of the bed has crept-in and I needed to cut the grass that had been growing in there - out.   I've been thinking about the extension of the curved portion of the bed (where the Norway Maple tree *was* and have been musing about how to use some dry-stacked stone there and/or how the bed can be extended down the property line to (eventually) connect with the small, circular bed around the Saucer Magnolia.   But, for now....I decided to just simply clean the bed edge up and extend it out - just a little bit.  Here, below, is the 'after' - a natural edge like this makes the bed look that much more polished.  That (above) is the after.  Here, below is the 'before'.  Q...

The front porch bed continues to be a spot in our garden where I've focused some of my attention this season.  It was #3 on my 2023 to-do list - to plant out that bed after the Norway Maple tree was removed last Fall and a small Triumph Elm was planted.  In early May, I posted a 'plan' of sorts for the bed that included the planting of a short, compact grass along with some clumping Alliums in front, backed by some new Boxwoods, Disneyland Roses, grasses and some flowering shrubs.  How have I done so far this year? I worked the soil conditions - using biosolids in a vertical, deep-dug mulching exercise .  Then, I dug out and transplanted a Boxwood to the back . Once the slate was clean, I started to plant.  First, with three bareroot Disneyland roses .  Then, I planted five Green Velvet boxwoods (1 gallon small ones).   And most recently, I planted a new Fire Light Hydrangea shrub where I had previously had a Vanilla Strawberry variety. ...