Why I Oughta...

The three Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that are in the island bed in between our driveway and our front stairs have been stars since we planted the landscape.  They were part of the original planting and have done well in this spot.  I've divided these a few times over the years. The first time was the one closest to the house in Fall of 2021 .  Did more in May 2022 .   This Fall, I've opted to dig up and divide the front two.  The first one...in the front I totally removed.  I took it over to my Mom's house and divided it into three.  Below is a photo showing that Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass totally removed.   I then dug up and divided the 'middle' one and split it in two.  Put half back in the middle hole.  Half in the front hole.  See below for the three back in place: This gave me a +1 plants (or grass) ON MY PROPERTY via division.  And +3 more at my Mom's.    #11 on my 2024 to-do was to 'focu...

Fall Dividing is rolling on with some Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses being divided in Fall.   Like most other ornamental grasses, Karl Foerster grasses suffer from center rot and require division every three-or-so years.  I found a large clump that is planted close to the Bald Cypress tree IB2DWs that I dug up and divided into three.  I replaced 1/3rd back into the existing hole.  And then....took the other two divisions and placed them further down IB2DWs along the property line.   See below for the two new grasses - via division.   I have a few more of these that I need to divide that I'll get to this week.  This gave me a +2 plants (or grasses) via division.   #11 on my 2024 to-do was to 'focus on fall planting' .   These two divided clumps of Karl Foerster grasss find me running my total up to 20 'new plants' for 2024.  That feels pretty good.  Here's my math: +2 trees, +2 John Greelee Grasses, +6 Aj...

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...

In October of 2021, I bought and planted a single Shenandoah Red Switchgrass down by the sidewalk - IB2DWS .  It was an end-of-the-season #FallPlanting purchase and I put it in that spot because the description said that Panicum are well-known for being 'drought tolerant' .  This was a VERY hard-to-grow spot with harsh conditions:  hot concrete on two sides, competitive mature tree roots and gravely soil.   It went in and hasn't done super well, but...persisted.  There's something to be said for persisting in a spot like this was planted.   In the years since, I've left it alone.  But, as I've learned over the years, ornamental grasses need to be tended-to and do well to be divided every few years.  They will end up with 'center rot' and will get rejuvenated when they're divided.  I've typically done my ornamental grass dividing in the Fall, so this past weekend, I decided to divide a few - starting with this Shenandoah Switch Grass...

I planted three Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio' - Dwarf Maiden Grasses in the backyard back in 2021 sort-of near the tree-swing tree.  They were - at that time - part of a layering that was going on over there with Hakonechloa Macra All Gold Grasses in front, these Dwarf Maiden Grasses in the middle and some dwarf Little Lime Hydrangeas in the back.  I posted about this 'slice' of my garden last September.    But...now...the pizza oven has happened.  And it is close to this spot.  I already moved the All Gold grasses out.   Now, with #FallPlanting here, I've turned my attention to these grasses.  They have done a lovely job of growing these past few season.  And...now it sure feels like they're good candidates for dividing. See below for current state of these dwarf Maiden grasses: I see a few spots for these: In back:  around the patio - to layer with Karl Foersters.  Or, on north end to anchor that corner. In front:  paire...

The star of our garden are the All Gold Hakonechloa Japanese Forest Grasses .  I have two colonies of them - one in front and one in back.  I have a dozen places where I could use more, but they are always very expensive and rarely go on sale.  So...I thought they might be a good candidate for Fall Division.   I selected one to test this Fall - in the front IB2DWs bed.  And only chose one because I haven't divided these before.  They've been really hard to get established, so I didn't want to put too many of them at risk.  But...if this works this year, I'll divide a few in the Spring and then even more come Fall 2024. Here's the before - I was targeting the largest one in the back. And, here's the after -below.  My process for this was to first tie-up the grass blades, so I could get a good shot at digging out the clump.  Below is the grass all tied-up. I opted to divide it FIRST into half.  Then, I took one of the halves and divid...

Earlier this month, I identified the Elijah Blue Fescue ornamental grasses that are planted in the IB2DWs bed were ready to divide.  One of them was suffering from 'center rot', while the other ones were just not performing.  Were they suriving?  Yeah...but not doing what I wanted them to do.  So, I've opted to include them in my annual 'Fall Dividing' program.   I started the  process with three Elijiah Blue Fescue clumps that I planted in April of 2022 .   I took the one with center rot and pulled it out: And, I pulled out the other two and divided them.   Here, below, is a look at the 'best' one of the bunch with a nice root ball: I used my Hori Hori to divide the clumps.  Like the Everillo sedges that I divided recently, it wasn't as easy as dividing grasses.  The root system is different and not-as-easily 'splitable'.   See below for a Elijah Blue Fescue grass divided in the Fall: I started with three and no...

In the Spring of 2021 (two growing seasons ago), I bought a singular (broke the rule of buying multiples), large-scale ornamental grass named Prairie Winds Totem Pole - Panicum virgatum .  Planted it on the edge of the front porch bed as a vertical accent.   What caught my attention at the Morton Sale?  The height of this grass being listed as 72" tall - 6 feet tall .    It came back in May of 2022 - and is a late starter every season.  A year after planting, the grass was still small , but by the end of the growing season, it was probably four-feet-tall or so.  And had some nice Winter Interest .   But, that front porch bed has changed quite a bit in the last year - the Norway Maple is gone.  Replaced by a smaller Triumph Elm.   That has opened up this bed to more light and reduced root competition.   And the results on this ornamental grass?  The tallest it has ever been - and close to the promised 6-foo...

A couple of years ago, I planted some Elijah Blue Fescue grasses in the IB2DWs bed along with some other blue-colored plants like Cat's Pajamas Nepeta .   Those grasses have never thrived, but they seemed to have survived over the years - despite that being what I'd consider a 'hard-to-grow' area.  Between the poor soil, the adjacency to the driveway and the lack of irrigation, it isn't a great growing bed.  But, like I said...these seemingly have survived.   But, like all grasses, it appears that Elijah Blue Fescue grasses suffer from center rot.  And need to be divided every few years.  How can I tell?  Have a look at one of the crowns of the blue fescue grass below - with three distinct tufts of blades emerging from the edges: Here, below, is a look at another one of them where you can see the center of the grass is brown'ing out and showing no growth: Everything that I've read on the Web tells me that these need regular dividing and tha...

Over the past few weeks, I've posted a couple of times about how I went about digging up, dividing and transplanting various mature perennials like hostas, ferns and even alliums .  At last count, I had created 32 new, 'free' plants this Fall through divisions .  #12 on my 2022 to-do list was to focus on adding plants through division .  I'd say that 32 count as completing the task.  But, there's another item on that same to-do list that I wanted to cover:  #4.  Enhance the In Between Two Driveways Strip .  The intersection of plant division and IB2DWs is how I went about trying to check both boxes.  Over the past few seasons, I've focused my Fall dividing on the various Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses around the front and backyard.  A few larger ones suffered from 'center rot' and NEEDED dividing, while others were just simply large enough to divide into new plants.   That's the plant - Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass - that I ...

I know that Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses are very (as they say) basic.  You'll find them in plenty of landscapes around Northern Illinois.  But that's for good reason:  they are really strong performers.  Across multiple seasons.  They stay upright and proud to provide winter interest, but they also put on a show as they grow in early Summer.  In fact...I'd say that right now (mid-June) really *is* PEAK Karl Foerster grass season.  They've grown up for the season and have put out their flowers on the tips that are light green.  But, the blades of the grass - in particular their color - are the real stars of the show.   Here's a few looks at various Karl Foerster grasses around the yard right now below.  First, some of the grasses planted right off our patio.  These were planted last Fall and were divisions. Next up are the three that are in the mulch island between our front walk and our driveway.  These, too, were d...

I've posted a series of times about the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that we have in our landscape and how I've been digging them up, dividing them and transplanting them to various spots of our beds to provide that notion of a cohesive design with repeating patterns of specific plants.  I started doing this last Fall and then did even more this Spring after realizing that the ones I divided last Fall were just fine.   Last week, I showed how I made eight new divisions in the backyard and planted them in various places in the backyard.  The final Karl Foerster grass that I needed to dig up and divide was this large one in between our driveway and front walk stoop.  It was left there as a hedge - but is suffering from some center rot.  It needed to be divided.  See below for the 'before'.  The two further back were divisions from last Fall and are showing some new green tips this Spring: After digging that one out and dividing it up, I put on...

Last week, I posted some photos and details of the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that I divided last Fall and transplanted around the yard with (so far...) success.  At that time, I mentioned that I had a few more grasses that I left in place as a sort-of hedge against the division killing all of the grasses.  This past weekend, I got around to digging up the remaining grasses and dividing them into new clumps ready for transplant.  Starting with the little bed outside our kitchen window, we had (as of this Spring) three large clumps.  Now, we're back to five smaller grasses - three in the back, two in the front.  See that below: The other grass that was ready to divide was one outside our screened porch.  I dug it up and divided it and put one of the divisions back in place - you can see it below.  The newly divided grass is on the right along with three other grasses that were planted in subsequent years.  Now there are four grasses in thi...

Last Fall, I went around and started to divide up a bunch of Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that were either suffering from some 'center rot' or simply just large enough clumps to warrant division.  There were two sets: one in between our driveway and front stoop that had three and another set out of our kitchen window that had five. As I look around the yard today, I have good news:  All of the divisions were successful and the grasses have come back for Spring.  For now.  First, let's start with the kitchen window grasses.  I hedged a little bit and decided to dig up and divide just TWO of the five.  I left the back three in place.  Below, you can see those three remaining and in front of them a couple of divots where the other two came out. Where did I put them?  I divided both of them into three new grass clumps.  I put the first three on the corner of our patio - you can see below.  These three are happy and green. The other one...