Why I Oughta...

We have three Emperor 1 Japanese Maples in our backyard.  Acer palmatum Emperor 1.  The largest one is back by the firepit with a couple of smaller ones closer to the house.  They all were her during the Cicada swarm of 2024 and all suffered some damage from them.  The largest tree (by the firepit) suffered the most and has been set-back pretty sizeably.   The 3rd-to-be-planted is also the smallest one.  It is about half-way back on the north side.  It went in the ground in 2024 (Cicada year) and I protected it with some fabric .  That didn't completely protect the tree from the slits from cicadas and the top-part died-back.     But, that white tulle wasn't the only protection that I set up for this small Japanese Maple.  I also have left-up a ring of Chicken Wire around the tree, in an attempt to keep the (dang!) rabbits away from killing this tree in Winter.  That has...somewhat worked.  But, it hasn't stopped ...

I have a couple of small juniper groundcover plants in the backyard.  They were planted years ago as 'bonsai nursery stock' that I transitioned to just going into the ground in the same spots they were stored.  I'm pretty sure this is a Youngstown Juniper that went in back in 2019 .  It has since grown up and out, but this year appears to have suffered a bit of dieback.  I didn't see this earlier, so am guessing it might be winter-weather related.   The photo below shows the front third of the juniper has gone brown and appears to be dead: Before Spring comes, I'll get out there and prune off the dead limbs and hopefully stimulate a little bit more growth to fill in the (now) bare spots in this groundcover. 

The large Northern Red Oak tree in our backyard (tree swing tree) has mostly dropped its leaves this Winter, but there is a small bit of foliar marcescence going on closer to the trunk on the lower, newer limbs.  Below is a look at the canopy of this mighty oak where you can see the brown, dried leaves only on the central, lower section of the tree this Winter: Over the years, this tree has dropped its leaves at different times, but this year was an 'early' year.  But, that was (I think) driven by an early Snow, so there's tons of these hard-to-break-down oak leaves scattered around our backyard that are still buried under the snow.  They'll wait for Spring clean-up and mulching by my mower.  

The good folks at Forno Bravo sent out their monthly email newsletter this week and it included a look at customer's oven that they bill as being straight out of 'Fantasy land'.  And, I immediately glom'd-on to the images and video about the oven and have begun to pour over the details.  Here's a link to the newsletter (web link ) and below is a screenshot of one of the images in the newsletter that shows off the oven.  This is one of their off-the-shelf ovens that is wrapped in an enclosure.  That enclosure is faced with stone (veneer, I'm guessing) with a cedar (or cedar-inspired roof). This is not my photo.  Source via Forno Bravo's video .  Here below is  their YouTube video that accompanies the story about this oven that shows off even more details: A few things of note: 1.  The wood storage has a door.  Split in the middle and matching the roof trim.   Love that.   Here, below is a slightly better look at the oven w...

The last full-view of the hedge of Frans Fontaine Columnar (European) Hornbeam trees was in late Spring 2025 when they were leaf'ing out and creating that narrow, green screen.  I posted some photos this past Summer showing how I was pruning back some of the tips over the boardwalk on the side of our house - with this being the first *real* pruning I've ever done to them in eight years.   Over the years, these trees have been true to their reputation when it comes to 'holding their leaves'.  They're decidous trees, but thanks to the magic of foliar marcescence, Frans Fontaine Hornbeams typically hold onto their brown, dessicated leaves much longer than most trees around here.    Here's a post from November 2024 showing how the leaves were hanging on in Late Fall , well after everything else had dropped its canopy.  Here's a whole category of posts talking about the phenomenon of [ foliar marcescence ].   And, over the years, I've seen thes...

Trees and winter interest series continues with a pair of Spring Grove dwarf Ginkgo trees that are planted on either side of our back stoop.  These were the first two (of now three) dwarf Ginkgo trees in our garden and were planted in May 2023 .  They've had three full growing seasons in their spot and were replacements for some Rhododendrons that never really performed in these spots.   Over the years, I've posted about their small, green, fan-shaped foliage , how I've fed them/supplemented them with lime  and municipal biosolids  and admired their golden fall leaf drop .   The two trees are different - one having a lower main trunk and multiple branches with the other having a more traditional apical meristem.  But, they've both grown.  Quite a bit.  Here's a bare-naked post from December 2024 (13 months ago) to compare size .  Below is what they look like right now: One of my (recently posted) "Great Garden Rules is #8:...

Another entry into the recent [Winter Interest] category of the garden diary shows off a feature in our backyard garden:  a handsome pair of Greenspire Linden Trees that are trained into a four-tier horizontal cordon espalier.  There are eleven (11) Green Velvet Boxwoods planted the base of the two trees .   The photo below shows the current state of the dormant Linden trees and the boxwoods showing-up against the white Winter snow.  This is a vignette in our garden that is close to our house and patio and one that we can take-in during the months where we rarely venture outside in the back. A few things to note: 1.  The Lindens need a haircut.  The top-growth on the uppermost tier of the espalier has gone ham.   2.  Last Spring (March 2025), I took a photo showing this same shot but covered in a thin layer of snow .  Not sure it ever looked better.   3.  The boxwoods have grown.  They were planted as tiny 1-gal...

One of the very best things I did in our garden this year was planting an Arctic Jade Korean Maple in our backyard .  It was/is our second Korean Maple with the first one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple that I planted out front in 2024 .  I posted photos of this small tree when the foliage was green .  And when the foliage was yellow .  And when the foliage was turning red .  Here, below, is a look at the tree when the foliage is, well...gone.  The tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves.  Last week, when I posted this peek at some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the snow , you could see the side-profile of this Arctic Jade.   With it being 'naked' during the Winter, it gives me a chance to observe the structure.  Now....one of my "Great Garden Rules" is #8:  Don't prune anything for a while.  That means there's no touching this tree for a couple of seasons.  But, I can already see something that I'd prune of...

Yesterday, I s howed one of two small Canadian Hemlock trees in our backyard and talked about how one of them was being eaten-up by some (dang) rabbits this Winter .   Here, below, is a look at the other one of these conifer trees that was planted at the same time.  This one is MUCH-MORE full.  But, about the same height (five-ish feet tall).    Similarly tucked into the 'understory garden', this Canadian Hemlock is one of just two remaining of the six that we originally planted.  I mentioned yesterday that I need to include the Canadian Hemlock on my list of trees/shrubs/flowers that work in our garden and think about adding more.   I think the Stumpery is a prime location as well as the unplanted bed that sits in front of the fire pit garden.   Speaking of the stumpery ...I should revisit it this week to show the 'winter interest'.  

All the way back in Summer of 2019, I bought and planted a number of VERY SMALL Canadian Hemlock trees from an online nursery .   Three of them were planted along the north side fence line .  Today, two of those three are still standing .  Seven years ago, these trees weren't even a foot-tall in height.   Today?  This one is probably five-feet tall.  But, sparsely branched.  And, the caliper of the trunk is probably up to almost an inch.  Below is a look at this Canadian Hemlock tucked into the 'understory garden'.   Would I plant this tree back here, close to these other trunks - if I was to do it all over?  No.  Would I plant this small of a tree - if I was to do it all over?  No. But, here we are.  Seven years later and the tree is in this spot. The growth of the tree isn't really the point of this post in my garden diary.  I was out taking some kitchen scraps to the compost bin and took a number of ...

Planted back in the Fall of 2021 , we have a (still) small Mugo Pine in the backyard northside bed about 3/4's of the way back.  It is planted pretty close to the Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree that I posted about yesterday .  It was a #1 gallon conifer when it went in and cost just $5.00.   I posted about it one-year after planting as it was establishing itself (but not putting on any growth at that time).   Then, in Fall of 2022, I noted that the (dang!) rabbits were feasting on this small shrub .   By Fall of 2024 it had grown a little bit , but it still was small.   Today? Like the Harry Lauder Contorted Walking Stick Tree ...this one has been 'slow-growing'.  Here, below, is the Mugo Pine peeking up out of the snow: I included the idea of ' conifers should come first ' in my v1 draft of Jake's Great Garden Rules   and this Mugo Pine is an example of a conifer that I planted earlier than most.  Was it likely too ...

Planted in the Summer of 2020, this Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree sits in the back part of the garden in a tucked-away spot, but when you see it when it is bare and dormant, it provides A LOT of winter interest.   It is described as 'contorted' and that's certainly the case with this small tree that I spotted on my way back to the compost pile this weekend.  When I snapped this photo (below), I muttered to myself:  "this tree has hardly grown.  How long has it been here?" [Sidenote:  I wrote about Contorted Trees at Disneyland Paris here that's worth checking out .  That was the inspiration for buying and planting this tree in our garden.] The answer to the second part is:  This year will mark its seventh (7th) growing season ('20, '21, '22, '23, '24, '25, '26).  That's far longer than I thought.   As for the second part;  has it grown?  Let's look.  Here, below, is what it looks like currently: Looking back at th...

While the (dang) rabbits were able to get to *some* of my Japanese Forest Grasses (when they were green), on-balance most of them are showing off a little bit of their 'winter interest'.  Are these the largest masses of grasses?  No.  But, they're SOMETHING - in terms of sizes.  I transplanted these over in 2024, so they have had two growing seasons on this border .  Here's a post showing them re-emerging for year two in April 2025 .   Here's the grasses right now, under a light blanket of snow: Here's hoping that they'll FILL OUT and get 'fat and sassy' in 2026.  

One of my ' early early' potential projects was to add a garden arch to the backyard.  That's because I was gifted a garden arch for Christmas.  It is still in the box, so I'm not totally sure what it looks like, but believe it to be a square one (non-arch) and it is made of wood.  Where could it go?  The first spot is obviously the fire pit entrance.  To help frame/create that as the 'entrance' to the fire pit .  Like this: But, I could also put it closer to the house.  Either off the boardwalk.  Or, as part of a 'hide-and-reveal' entrance off the patio?  If I did that....what would we do back by the firepit?   The answer is, of course easy:  Revisit the idea of building a moongate back there .   I suppose the installation of the arch certainly isn't permanent.  So, if I end up starting with it back there, it doesn't mean we can't build the moongate, right? 

Here, below is a look at an unfinished part of a 2024 'garden edit'.  There are just three Hakonechloa Macra (straight green) grasses planted.  I think there's room for four or five more.   The other side of this bed (the pizza oven bed) is on my early, early priority list for adding the same grasses.  I'm thinking we need to do both ends:

A couple of my backyard 'garden edits' involved what I termed the "Hosta Replacement Project" - where I yanked out some hostas and replaced them with something else that persisted in the winter (grasses, astilbes, etc).   I moved a bunch of them out, but there are many more left in place.  Perhaps, another section of the great 'hosta replacement project' could be one of my potential "2026 priority projects"?  I'm not convinced.  But, like Paul Graham has said :  writing helps you understand what you actually think.  As he put it , "Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn't know it as well as you thought." Below is a photo showing the northside bed that is about half-way back (behind the picnic table).  The thing you see standing tall and proud are those white stalks.  Those are hosta flower stalks that are hanging around after the foliage disappeared when the perennial went dormant.   ...

This Summer will mark seven (7) years since I planted and installed twelve (12) small Hicks Yews in the far back reach of our yard in a straight row spanning the width of our grass/yard.  Here's the post showing them in the ground for the first time when the needles were barely above the mulch .  That was mid-Summer 2019.   Seven years and this will be the eight growing season. Back then, I had a swoop-ing, undulating, but formally pruned hedge in mind .  That closely-clipped hedge was a product of YEARS of growth.   I watered them in the first year, but have mostly left them alone.  *Knock on Wood*.  I haven't lost one.  Yet.  Here they are in August of 2020 - one year after planting . Here the hedge is in November 2021 - four years ago . Here are some photos from December of 2022 showing the growth . And.. the Hicks Yews snuck into this post from Summer 2023 where I was talking about some ferns . Here's a post showing the gr...

The hits-and-misses that I've had with cut flowers and vegetables this past year has me (already) thinking about next year.  I wanted to make 2025 the year of 'even more cut flowers' and with all of the dahlias that I planted, we made that happen.  But, the constraints of our property mean that I'm close to the limit on what I can do going forward.  We have a ton of garden space in the backyard.  But, MOST OF IT is in shade.  That means that if I want to grow more things like dahlias and other cut flowers that need sun, I have to rethink things.   I could plant up more of the front yard or...I could do something bigger.   That something BIGGER is a cut flower garden.  In a part of the backyard that *is* in sun for a good part of the day.   And, a cut flower garden that uses raised beds.  We had raised beds in Elmhurst that lived inside of a fenced-in enclosure.  That garden produced a BOUNTY every season.  Vegeta...

I've mentioned that Winter snow came early this year and that cut-short some of my typical garden cleanup. It also dropped most of the leaves on the Frans Fontaine Hornbeams that normally hang around all Winter.   And, those two things - snow packing down and leaves falling - has created a full bed of leaf litter at the feet of the Hornbeams.  Below is a photo showing the fallen leaves that have been matted-down by the heavy snow (that has since melted).   Just in FRONT of these trees is the newly-expanded Pizza Oven bed.  That bed is full of clay soil. One of the things I've been talking about doing this Winter is amending the clay soil to make it a little bit more hospitable to gardening next year - especially with more dahlias on their way.   My first thought was to utilize municipal biosolids and just pile it ON TOP OF THE CURRENT MULCH.  But, now, seeing this leave litter, I'm thinking that I should try to rake it up on top of the clay b...

In May, I added three upright Wichita Blue Junipers to the (newly expanded) pizza oven bed .  They were small - in two-gallon nursery containers and from the big box nursery.  But, they were priced right and I've been eyeing them for a while , so I took the chance.  I planted them in a staggered pattern forming a triangle. Four months later (early September), I p osted an update with new photos and talked about how they seemed to have handled the heat of Summer with minor browning-out.   Now, as we head into our first Winter, below is a photo showing them as of late December.   Here is the original inspiration photo showing Wichita Blue Junipers with some Stachys Hummelo planted in mass .    I didn't get around to planting anything around these, but that will be on my 2026 to-do list.  But, if I'm grading myself as a gardener, I'd say that I lived up to the statement that:  " Conifers Should Come First ".   Have these gro...