Why I Oughta...

Last Spring, I planted four small (1#) Green Velvet Boxwoods in our front porch bed in a spot that was created when I took the Norway Maple tree down and opened up the bed.  My goal was to plant some evergreen shrubs here that extend the hedge of existing Green Velvet Boxwoods that are planted closer to our stoop.  These were late-Spring 50% sale plants and I planted them with a mix of compost and biosolids.  They seemed to handle the heat of the Summer just fine and have survived this past Winter.  Have a look below to see the little bit of new, Spring growth that all four have put on in recent weeks:  At the top of the photo, you can see the trunk of the Triumph Elm tree and a few other things hanging around - including some left-over Tulips that survived the stump grinding , a Summer Beauty Allium in front and a Matcha Ball Spirea over on the left of the photo.  Further back, there are a couple Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses and some of the Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas that I

A couple of days ago, I posted in my [compost bins] diary a look at the current state of my bins now that I've topped them off with a lot of ornamental grass material - reeds, canes and blades.  I tried to chop the material down into smaller segments in an attempt to break it up a bit and speed decomposition.    While I was cleaning up the grasses, I also went into the front porch bed and clipped off and cleaned up the front of the bed.  That included a number of Dusty Millers and all of the Seslaria Autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grass) .    Here, below, is a look at this bed after I trimmed up the Moor Grasses - but left behind some of the Fall leaf litter that has accumulated over Winter:  I also have three large Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses in the island bed between our driveway and front walk.  I pruned all of those ornamental grasses and cut them off an inch-or-two above their crown.  That island bed after the ornamental grasses have been cleaned up for Spring is below: I'

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.

What's better than *some* sedum groundcover?  MORE sedum ground cover is, well...the answer we have on hand.  As part of #FallPlanting, I added three quart-sized Stonecrop groundcover plants to the front yard.  I put two down by the sidewalk IB2DWs (extended) and one on the southside by the patch of Angelina Sedum close to the front porch. For keeping track of to-do's and what-have-you, I'm saying these 2 plants go toward 3 goals:   #2 (IB2DWs extended), #3 (plant and improve front porch bed) and #17 (keep going with Groundcover).  This is a variegated sedum - you can see the sign above.  And, it was jumping off the nursery bench to me at the end-of-season sale at The Growing Place.  Here's what Gardenia has to say (screenshot below): Below is a look at the one in the front porch bed: And here's one of two down by the sidewalk: I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

Looking at my 2023 to-do list, there are a number of items that sort-of 'work together'.  Like...evergreens and under the lindens.  #3 (improve the front porch bed) and #17 (keep going with groundcover) are like that:  they work together. This post is the lastest in my 'Fall Planting' series and focuses on groundcover - specifically Ajuga Chocolate Chip .  The past week or so, I bought two small ones from Lowe's and a six-pack from the orange big box store.  Fall Planting in full swing. I tucked the two larger ones in the island bed on the stair-side of the Karl Foerster Grasses.  Below is how they look from the driveway: And below is the view from the stairs; the two groundcover plants are tucked in close and will (hopefully) fill in this area with a sort-of 'living mulch'. The six-pack is like the ones that I planted earlier this year: I put three of the six in that same island bed, but this time on the driveway side: And, I put the other three in a line o