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Showing posts with the label erosion

Totem Pole Switch Grass - Front Bed - Spring 2021

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I first spotted something called a Totem Pole grass at Hinsdale Nursery earlier this year.  It was billed as a grass that can get to six feet tall.  I was intrigued.  So, when I saw this Prairie Winds Totem Pole Switch Grass at the Morton Arboretum Spring sale, I knew I had to buy one.  (I know, I know...I shouldn't ever buy ONE of anything.  But, I broke *that* rule for this grass due to the size and sun requirement. ) In the photo below, you can see this grass in the nursery container in a spot in the bed kind of tucked behind the tulips and the Norway Maple tree and kind of straight out from the corner of our screened porch.   Here, below, is the front/back of the tag: The back of the tag reads: A sturdy, durable ornamental grass that withstands adverse weather conditions.  Grey-green leaves form a strictly upright column of steel blue foliage.  Golden seed heads in fall.   And...note the 72" height listed at the top of the back of the tag. Walter's Garden has a listin

Floating Mulch Flagstone Retaining Ledge Installation

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A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of some of our orange tulips blooming in the front yard and mentioned that in that photo there was a detail of a small (potentially partial) project that I had knocked off my list.  In the photo at the top you can see that project: a little buried flagstone retaining 'ledge'.   In mid-April, I posted about my 'floating mulch' problem in this area due to the grade (it is on a slope) and water run-off (some gutter downspouts come out in this area).   In that post, I speculated that if I dug-in some retaining blocks that I could keep the cocoa bean hull mulch from migrating too far into the lawn.  But, at the same time, I didn't want to make it super visible from down near the sidewalk.  What you see at the top of this post is my compromise.  I dug in the blocks a few inches and left them proud of the mulch by about 1/2" or so.   If you look at the photo below, you can get a better sense for how they look from a

Floating Mulch Solution: Installing A Small Retaining Ledge

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Our front yard is pitched from the house down to the street.  There's a significant grade difference between where our house sits and the curb such that our yard is on a slope and parts of our parkway are on a pretty severe slope.  But, so, too, are the beds in front and on side of our front porch.  You can kind of see/appreciate the grade difference in the photo above in this post. This is a profile view of the area that you can see in the photo on this tulip post from last year .  In that photo/post, you can see how the grade from about halfway back on the house all the way to the front of this bed is downhill.  But, it also slopes away from the foundation, too. This area is where I get the most erosion in any of the beds around our property.  We get rainwater erosion and plenty of floating mulch.  A couple of times a year, I break out the rake and pull the mulch back into the bed. Here's a post showing all the mulch in place .  If you look at the white boards on the