Why I Oughta...

This Winter has been brutal on our garden thanks to the (dang) rabbits.  The pests apparently set up shop in our beds and feasted on everything they could find.  Including the Oakleaf Hydrangeas .  And all three of our Gold Cone Junipers .  Those two things had material that was well above the snow cover.  But, they were also pretty active BEFORE the snow came.  How do I know?  Have a look at the Everillo Carex that are planted in our backyard.  Sheared right off at the ground: The same thing happened in previous seasons - these same Carex Everillos were eaten by rabbits in Fall 2022 .  At that I time, I posted the photos with a little surprise - as most sources on the Web say that rabbits will stay away from Sedges.   Not so fast, my friend.  What does all of this tell me?  I have to go back to being more proactive with chicken wire cages in Fall 2024.  

The original (to our garden) sedges - Everillo Sedges - have been in the ground since the Fall of 2020 .  They're bright grasses in a dark, shade garden.  But, I don't think that I've been using them in the right ways - as I've planted them in a colony together with very little matrix-planting around them/interplanted with them.   They've been mostly neglected and suffered a bit from rabbits .  Below is a look at the 'pre-dividing' planting of these sedges: A closer look at the one on the top of that photo shows that there's some 'center rot' going on and there are a number of smaller, independent sedges.  This is just like what is going on with the Elijah Blue Fescue grass IB2DWs .  Below is a look at the carex in question that I decided to divide: There's a small buckthorn seedling coming up in there that is (obviously) due for removal.  But, It is easy to see a number of sedges here.  I opted for dividing this clump into five.  Three *real

I've just about had it with the dang rabbits.  Most recently, I posted some photos of how they've gnawed at one of our contorted trees and one of our evergreens (Mugo Pine) .  And, before that, there are a bunch of posts showing these pests eating things up in the garden .   For the most part, the dang! rabbits seem to have focused on everything but the sedges in my garden.  Until..... Today. That's when I was out puttering around and saw what they had done to a few of the Everillo Sedges - Carex EVERCOLOR everillo .   I have five of these yellow-green (or some may say chartreuse) sedges planted around the Kwanzan Flowering Cherry Tree in our backyard.  Three from Fall 2020 , two from Spring 2021 .   They've done ok in this spot - with some of them growing larger than others, but for the most part, getting established and filling in some bare spots. This Fall-time damage is a first for these sedges.  I posted about how these same plants were eaten-up by the dang! rabbit

It was back at the end of May when I featured a look the little cluster of three Waterslide hostas in our backyard beds where I celebrated how all three had come back for their second full growing season.  See below, they've started to fill in the gaps and get up to their fully-mature size.  The ruffled foliage is a real star in the garden and is something I'll look-to when I bring on more hostas.   Also note - in the photo above - you can see that some of the Everillo sedges are growing at different rates.

In the photo above, you can peep a bunch of things;  a few of the Everillo Sedges on the bottom right.  A couple of small Hicks upright Yew in the middle left.  The Chocoholic Snakeroot in the top right.   But, the focus of the photo here in the [garden diary] is the three ruffled hostas planted on a diagonal.  They are Waterslide hostas and they're looking really great.  I first planted one in fall of 2020 that I bought at the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale .  I (now) know that buying one of anything is a mistake.  So, in Spring of 2021, I remedied that mistake and brought home Waterslide Hostas that I found at Home Depot .   The one closest to the back (by the fence) is the oldest and the two one-year-old versions are closer to the front of the bed.   They're a cool blue/green color and the ruffled foliage provides a nice contrast to this area that features the sedges and yews.   I mentioned then - and it still holds true - that I'm drawn to ruffled foliage on these hos

A week ago, I started posting a series of photos of the plant material that we brought home from the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale.  The first of those posts were these three Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are bright chartreuse in color and are dwarf (under 5' tall) in stature.  The plan called for three Little Lime Hydrangeas, but because this spot is deeper into the shade than it used to be (when the plan was built/drafted), I decided to call the audible and move to an Oakleaf variety.   I tucked these three into the area just to the West of where I dug out the Lilacs.  They get four feet tall and four feet wide, so when mature, they'll (hopefully) fill in the current spacing.  You can see the three Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangeas standing OUT in the landscape below: Here, below, is an annotated version of that same photo showing where these are located - understory of the flowering Kwanzan Cherry tree and bordered by the Everillo Sedges and one (of th

  Sedges are something that I've just recently (in the past few growing season) gotten to know and planted in our garden.  We have five of these Carex Everillos planted around my flowering cherry tree in the backyard.  They're a nice little pop of color and are evergreen through the Winter.  Normally.  Based on my experience last year, I found myself leaving the foliage all the way through Spring clean-up and then I trimmed off all the leftover blades and cut it back to a clump.  From there, the normal cycle of regrowth took over and - just like an ornamental grass - new growth emerged from the center.   This year?  Much of that 'clean up' was done for me.  By rabbits.  Those same jerks that have been eating at my Oakleaf Hydrangeas all Winter .  Or was it?  This document from Good Oak in Madison Wisconsin says that rabbits don't usually eat sedges.  From that pdf : "Rabbits do not typically eat grasses, sedges and ferns, however, there are always exceptions.

I recently came across some #1 Hicks Yews on a massive sale (these were sub $5 each), so I grabbed seven of them (and some other items) you can see below.  These seven join the other ones that I already have in as a hedge across the back and the recently planted pair that I'm trying to grow into a topiary .  I've had good luck with all of the previously planted Hicks upright yews not having too much trouble with drought, but they've had a little bit of rabbit damage over the years. I took six of these upright yews and put them into a hedge that will span the back of this bed to the front and - when it grows - will be shaped into that 'swooping' profile that I'm chasing .  My thought is that this new section of swooping hedge will evoke the same feeling as the one in back and work to tie the garden together by repeating the look with upright yews.  Here, below, you can see some of the yews set up for placement below: For record-keeping purposes, here (below) is t

Last Fall, I bought my first sedges.  They were these Evercolor Everillo Sedges (Carex o. EVERCOLOR 'Everillo' from the Morton Arboretum and I planted them around the trunk of our Cherry Blossom tree .  I initially planted three and this month when I saw them at the Morton Spring sale, I bought two more.   They went up in price (last Fall = $10 each, this Spring = $10.95 each) as you can see from the sale sign below: If you look back at this photo from late September of 2020 , you can tell the color of these after a Summer of growth, but not look at the photo below, they seem to start a little bit more muted.  With five of them planted, I'm starting to get a little bit of a drift going on - right next to the Waterslide Hosta that I planted last year (and the two new ones from this year). I'm about to get these mulched in and that should keep them happy for the hot growing season.  I didn't do a THING to these this Spring - didn't clip off any growth, but thinkin