Posts

Showing posts with the label front yard

Saucer Magnolia Pink Flowers Appear - March 2024

Image
It is (barely) Mid-March and I'm ALREADY seeing our Saucer Magnolia tree (multi-trunk) in our front yard dotted with signs of pink petals that have begun to emerge from their wooly shells after a long Winter's nap.   What is MOST striking about this is the timing:  a full month ahead of 2023.  Here's a post from April 12, 2023 that shows the pink flowers at the same state they're currently in - photos below. 2023's bloom-time of mid-April was (mostly) in-line with historicals.  2022 saw the tree in peak-bloom in late April .   2024 - (so far) flowers emerged in mid-March 2023 - Mid-April peak-Magnolia bloom 2022 - Late-April 2022:  Peak-Magnolia at end of month 2021 - Mid-April 2021 : In bloom by mid-month (April). 2020 - Early April 2020 : Blooms began the first week of April. 2019 - The tree did NOT bloom at all. 2018 - Early May 2018 : Didn't bloom until early/mid May 2018. This tree was planted in 2017 , so this make it the eighth growing season (seven ful

Front Porch Bed - Cardboard to Smother Grass + Top Soil + Biosolids - March 2024

Image
Just a week ago, I spotted some issues in the corner of our front porch bed .  It is a low-spot and because of that was taking on some water from the downspouts.  But, the front part of that bed was also showing some signs of turf coming back.  This was a small extension that I carved out of the lawn last year.  And...it turns out...I must not have pulled out/dug out all of the turf.   I decided to kill-two-birds in this project.  (Well...half of a project since I didn't have enough materials to finish it.) First, I laid down some cardboard to smother the grass.  I cut holes for the handful of tulips in the area, then spread out some thick, unpainted cardboard on top of the turf.  I then went back to the pile of topsoil and clay that I excavated from the Pizza Oven foundation and spread that on top of the cardboard.   I started by the property-line edge and went north.  Below are a few photos showing the progress - first with the cardboard and topsoil + clay.   I initially only di

Front Porch Bed - Drainage and Turf Issues - March 2024

Image
Last Summer (June), I extended and (attempted) to clean up the front edge of our 'front porch bed' along the south property line .  The edge had been creeping 'inward' over the years, so I decided to use a shovel to remove as much of the grass as I could, carve off a clean edge and sort-of 'extend' the swoop of that bed a little bit into the lawn.    If you look back at the photos in this post , you'll see a nice, grass-free edge that I planted with bedding plants ( dwarf, French Marigolds ) and Dusty Millers .   By September, the dwarf (French) Marigolds took off and filled in the new border.  They looked great and were thick/full of oranges, reds and yellows .  Behind those annuals went a colony of Summer Beauty Alliums .  Backed by some small Green Velvet Boxwoods to extend the existing short hedge of boxwoods.   All was good last year.   This year, I've already started to clean up this bed - cutting down grasses and raking out some of the season

Parkway Tulip Tips Shoot Up - February 2024

Image
We've had a VERY mild Winter.  There was a span of about three weeks when it was brutally cold and it seemed like it snowed every.single.day.  But, overall...it was mild.  And that's likely turned a number of gardening variables on their ears.  Emergence.  Bloom time.  Exposure to late Frosts.  And, more, I'm sure. One of the 'mild Winter' related change that I saw VERY early in January was that the tulip bulbs that I had planted around the parkway tree had ALREADY come up, out of the mulch.  By January 5th.   J A N U A R Y. That seems VERY early.  It was BEFORE that three-week spell of 'brutally cold' weather that I mentioned above.  But, tulips being tulips, the foliage didn't mind the weather.  (or...the snow blanket was sufficient insulation.) I'm *very* aware of mulch volcanoes around trees and worry that every year - when we add another layer of mulch - that I'm burying things and creating problems.  Everyone says that you're supposed t

Cleaning Up Front Porch Beds - Ornamental Grasses for Compost - February 2024

Image
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'

Imagining A Front Yard Conifer Garden With Miegakaure - February 2024

Image
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a pretty lengthy garden diary post that outlined some of the inspiration and design ideas that I've been cataloging for the front yard .  I also posted this conifer inspo of three blue junipers (upright) in a mixed perennial bed .  What would it look like?  Ideally... something like this house .  But, that's not realistic - just yet.   In that post, I talked about doing a 'phase 1', but doing it with an eye for the entire design.  What's the key, defining characteristic of the 'entire design'?  I think it is centered on three things: 1. A path. 2. A bern. 3. ...and some miegakure. I was out front - taking the garbage cans out - this past week and because there was some frost on the front lawn, I thought I could (sort-of) shuffle my feet through the grass and leave a mark of what feels natural in terms of a front-yard path.  See below for my winding, curved (potential) garden path.  It starts closer to the driveway, winds *b

Front Yard Conifer Combo Inspiration - Blue Needles and Purple Perennials - January 2024

Image
Yesterday, I created and published a lengthy - and winding - post about a potential front-yard garden transformation that is anchored in conifers and contains a potential 'path' through the middle.  In that post, I talked about using a berm in part to create some elevation change and I also sort-of came to the conclusion that I would certainly NEED to start in phases as the project is a multi-year planting (at least for me).  In that post, I concluded that based on some inspiration, I could (in theory) start down by the sidewalk with a small bed and expand from there.   One of the dependencies is the creation of the berm and the location for said berm.  My current thinking is that the berm is created if-and-only-if, I do some excavation for the pizza oven.  I would haul the material that I excavated from the back out to the front and build up a little berm on the driveway side of the front yard, down near the sidewalk.  I bring this all up, because I recently came across a pho

Front Yard Garden Design - Inspiration, Ideas and A Starting Point - January 2024

Image
Beyond the pizza-oven build, my mind has been thinking about the front yard for 2024.  I went ham on the IB2DWs extended bed last Fall with my new conifer garden , but I've been reading and watching things on the Web that have me thinking about the rest of our yard.   If I'm being honest, our front yard isn't bad. Not at all.  It is, however...traditional.  It is what everybody in the suburbs has: a foundation bed with a corner tree and a stretch of front lawn from that bed down to the sidewalk.  Followed by a turf parkway between the sidewalk and street.  Over the years, I've done a few things:  planned for some tree planting .  Tucked a Saratoga Ginkgo , some Stachys Hummelo and Sesleria Greenlees into the small island bed by the driveway.  And extended the front porch bed a bit this past year .   The rest is a blank canvas.   Some of the things that I've come across/influenced me a bit include this piece from Garden Design focused on curb appeal  that talks thr

Getting To Know North Light Dawn Redwood - January 2024

Image
I have been spending some time tool'ing around the Conifer Kingdom website recently as I try to think about adding dwarf conifers to our garden this season.  I have a full post that I should do that details a bunch of what I've found interesting (so far), but there's one tree that (at this point) warranted a 'getting to know' post:  The North Light Dawn Redwood.  Or the 'Schirrmann’s Nordlicht' Dawn Redwood. Metasequoia glyptostroboides.  The Conifer Kingdom listing for the tree is here .   The guys over at Mr. Maple have the tree listed there , too.  And they do a good job with their description (screenshot below).  The image at the top of this post is also from Mr. Maple ( source ).   Here's how they talk about the Nordlicht Dawn Redwood: Via Mr. Maple What's not to like about what they say about the North Light Dawn Redwood.   It is a dwarf.   Has spectacular foliage. Compact habit. Winter interest. Award winning. Yes, please.  But, tell me about

Parkway Tulip Tips Emerge First Week of January In New Zone 6A - January 2024

Image
Imagine my surprise when - on my walk to take the trash cans to the curb this week - I notice that there's some new, green foliage tips that have emerged from around the large Maple parkway tree in the front of our house.  "It's January 1st", I said to myself.  "What the heck is going on?" What is going on is (apparently) some of our tulip bulbs have begun to wake up and begin their 2024 growing season.  Here, below, are a couple of photos showing these confused (or, just too-early) tulips.  The first is a wider shot, the second is a close-up of the same tulip tips: Our tulips emerged in mid-February in 2023 .  This is a full six-weeks earlier.   That move to Zone 6a - from 5b - sure is meaningful, huh?   I suspect that these tips will remain just that - tips - for the next month-plus.  We haven't really had a lot of cold, cold Winter (yet), but I know it is coming in January.  

First Snow on the New Conifer Garden - December 2023

Image
I've mentioned that I failed/made a big gardening mistake when it comes to conifers.  The rule of: "Conifers Should Come First" is something that I wasn't aware of, until this Fall.  That's when I went about a dizzy'ing spring of planting my own conifer garden IB2DWs.  What's so great about conifers?  Texture and structure are a couple of big reasons to believe in conifers.  But, four-season gardening is (maybe?) the biggest for this Zone 5b (Now Zone 6a!!!) gardener.   Everything around here goes dormant.  Some perennials like hostas just totally disappear.  Grasses hang around all Winter.  Decidious trees go bare.  But, conifers?  They stand tall and proud during the Winter.   This past week, we had our first real snow fall of the year.  And, the dwarf conifer garden was a new highlight.  Below are a few photos showing some of the conifers covered in snow:

Pow Wow Wild Berry Echinacea Planted IB2DWs - November 2023

Image
A few days after my last post about new flowers, I'm picking back up on fall planting list - with something way, way, way out of my comfort zone:  Echinacea.  I have no coneflowers.  I have little sun, but that's not the point.  I've been way out of my element with echinacea with little understanding of the entire world.  But, let's get uncomfortable, right? I found and bought one (a single...yes...I know...that's a mistake) Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower.  I saw this on the side of the container: And went online. Walters Garden sold me with these details : This variety is incredibly impressive for a seed grown Echinacea. It’s no surprise that it is a 2010 All America Selections winner. In our trials, we noted how floriferous the plants were. Each stocky, relatively short plant carried a bouquet of fragrant, 3-4”, deep purple-pink to near-magenta flowers on stiff, branched stems. More branches result in more flowers per plant and a showier display in the landscape.

Five More Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Tri-Color Groundcover Plants - November 2023

Image
Ajugas.  More Ajugas.  They're awesome plants.  So, why not fill in some spots, right? I've already posted about a pair of Burgundy Glow Ajugas (one IB2Dws and other by Screened porch) and eight Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' - five in the Driveway Island bed and three on the south border of the front porch bed.  I bought another six-pack of Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' and while I'm pretty sure I planted all six, I can only (now) count five.  Here are a few photos showing those five.  First, three in the front IB2DWs section - filling in the space by the 2-year-old GreenVelvet boxwoods.  Then, two more in back - fronting the new Baby Blue Spruce tree by the Linden espalier. I've had some luck with Fall Planting Ajuga, so here's hoping these five take.  And..who knows...maybe I'll discover the sixth this Winter - once I pick up all the leaves. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

Fall Dividing Allium Serendipity - November 2023

Image
A couple of seasons ago (Summer 2021), I planted three Allium Serendipity in the IB2DWs bed after being influenced by Erin the Impatient Gardener .  I've had Allium Summer Beauty in the garden since the beginning and Serendipity felt like a nice improvement - at the time.  I mostly just ignored them.  Until this Summer.   When I noticed that they were, indeed, an improvement over Summer Beauty. Why? They bloomed a little bit later.  And for MUCH LONGER .   Fall is the season for dividing perennials, so I picked up my shovel and got busy. Here's the before - two nice-sized clumps of Allium Serendipity: I took those two and made five total plants.  Why five?  A hedge, of course.  I split one in two - in the hopes that those two larger clumps had a better chance of survival.  If I killed the smaller clumps by dividing them too late, or not watering them in enough, or having them heave this Winter...at least I still had what I started with:  two clumps.   I put three of the Allium

John Creech Sedum spurium - Two Planted In Front - October 2023

Image
Fall 2023 is (now) going to be a moment that I'll look back on and think about sedums.  Sedums as groundcover have been on my radar since the success of the volunteer Angelina Sedum that started in our backyard and I've transplanted in a number of places.   The past few weeks have featured a few Sedum that have gone in - a Chicks and Hens Hopewell and a pair of Voodoo Sedum - all of which are IB2DWs and are part of my growing groundcover collection.  When I was at The Growing Place, I came across another new (to me) sedum:  Sedum spurium 'John Creech'.  You can see the sign above in this post.  They say:  A fantastic groundcover.  Distinctive, spoon-shaped leaves.  And it forms 'an extremely tight, dense mat that weeds don't have a chance '.   Who is John Creech?  From the Missouri Botanic Garden listing, they say :   John Creech, former director of the U.S. National Arboreteum, reportedly collected this plant at the Central Siberian Botanic Garden in 1971.