Why I Oughta...

Last Summer, I added eleven Green Velvet Boxwoods (1# size) at the feet of the horizontal cordon espalier Green spire Linden trees in our backyard - up against the fence.  I bought them small, due to the cost of adding so many of them in one spot and they didn't take up much space.  You can see what they looked like last June in this post .  Spring is when my boxwoods put on growth, so I thought it was interesting to see how much they had grown in a little less than a year.  These were put in at the end of June - with a biosolids and topsoil mix - and I'm thinking put down roots all of 2023.  This Spring - 2024 - the tips of the shrubs have leapt up and out, adding light green tips to the (still) small evergreen shrubs.   Below is what they look like currently - in the middle of the Spring flush of new growth: There are seven in the back row and four in the front.  They may NOT look like much (on their own, in this photo), but here (below) is an animated gif showing the before

One evening, I peeked out at the backyard and noticed this combo view (part ours, part borrowed) of two different Linden trees.  Ours is a Greenspire Linden that is trained into a horizontal cordon espalier; backed by our cedar fence.  And just behind and lit-from-below is our neighbors (unknown variety) of a Linden Tree that is covered in the day's snow.  Quite a look isn't it?  I posted about "Winter Interest" just a few days ago and mentioned that perhaps as a result of lacking conifers, the majority of the "winter interest" in our garden is from snow + structure.  Here...just add "light".  And you have a little bit of winter garden magic.

This morning, we're getting walloped by a big snow storm, which will leave behind six-or-so inches of new, fresh white snow.  Yesterday, before that arrived, I walked our kitchen compost out to the bins (and of course, dumped it in the active compost collection bin with the "Feed Me" sign hanging on it ), figuring that it might be a couple of days before I was going to get back there.   On my way back to the house, I was struck by some of the 'winter interest' that I came across in the garden.  Most of the time, it sure feels like when I read about 'winter interest' that they're mostly talking about evergreens.  Shrubs, trees, etc.  And, those surely provide interest during the winter.  But, as I've posted about (and have some regret about), I've made a long-term mistake by neglecting conifers as a key part of our garden and rather focused on deciduous trees and perennials.    I've begun to address that conifer situation and will continue

A few weeks ago, I posted back-to-back photos and posts showing how I dug out and transplanted a number of perennials including hostas and alliums to prepare the bed at the feet of the espaliered Greenspire Linden trees for a replanting of evergreen (Boxwood) shrubs.   I opted for Boxwoods underneath these two trees as part of my 2023 to-do list (#1 was evergreens) and this area was my #1 priority .   I originally planned for a full, staggered double hedge of Boxwoods and I bought 13 Boxwoods.  Seven Green Mountain for the back row.  And six Green Velvet for the front row.  The one gallon boxwoods at the orange big box nursery went on sale recently and I bought when the price dropped.   I started by cutting the new (further out) edge of the bed and had to deal with locating the cable line in the ground.  I was careful to not cut that cable, so I mostly dug out by hand with my hori hori.  I then went and measured the spacing for the 13 boxwoods.  In order to try to not disturb the r

Yesterday, I posted some details and photos about preparing the bed underneath the espaliered Linden trees to get ready for a boxwood hedge.  I transplanted some hostas (and then...transplanted *other* hostas) and planted them in the back.  In that post, I mentioned that I also had to move a few Alliums that were in the same bed.  As a reminder, below is a photo showing the 'before' state of the bed - featuring some allium to the right of the photo. There were two Allium Bulgaricum that I moved behind the row of Astilbes.  And three-or-four good-sized Summer Beauty Alliums.  I put one on the other side of the Weeping White Spruce - close to the fence.  That one is below: I also tucked in another one amongst the Oakleaf Hydrangeas in the kitchen window bed: I put the third one in amongst the other colony of the same Summer Beauty Alliums a bit further back in that south side bed.  See below of this one next to my kneeler.  It flop'd over after transplanting, so I'll wat

One of the big planting projects that I have tee'd up for this Summer is to plant a series of boxwoods underneath the pair of espalier'ed Greenspire Linden trees to add some structure and four-season interest with evergreen shrubs.  One of the things that I've learned from observing the garden over all four seasons is that while I claim to be a 'hosta gardener', I have begun to fall out of love with them (just a little bit).  Why?  Because they totally disappear during the late Fall, Winter and early Spring.  Sure...there's still a lot to love - they grow in the shade, are all-about-that-foliage, their Spring emergence is a fun little gardening moment and...they're forever dividable (meaning...they can be endlessly divided every Fall).  But, when I look at my beds during the month of January or February or March...and you didn't know they were planted out, one might think that the beds were totally empty.  As the hostas disappear. All that to say...I don

I went out to do a little bit of late Spring/early Summer pruning on the pair of espaliered Greenspire Linden trees in our backyard and noticed something unusual on some of the leaves.  There were these redish/yellow growths that were stuck to the face of some of the leaves.  I first noticed this below: Then, a closer look revealed that certain leaves were covered in these galls: What the heck?   I went to the Web to discover that these are gall mites .  Mites!   After reading more, it turns out that they don't affect the tree's health.  From the Royal Horticulture Society : Like most gall mite there is no harm done to the hosts overall heath and vigour and these animals are part of the biodiversity that healthy trees support. Even knowing that...I still don't like them.  Not one bit.  I went in with a pair of scissors and started to prune out every one of the leaves filled with these galls.  I clipped them off and tossed them in our trash.   A few years back, I discovered

The pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are in espalier are putting on a 'bud show' this week as their leaves emerge from these pink-hued bud covers.  These trees are interesting when they're naked and dormant.  When they're covered in green, Summer foliage.  They turn golden yellow as they start to go into dormancy in the Fall .  And...also in Spring when they are colorful like in the photo below.   A little over a month ago, I removed the training posts from these horizontal cordon espaliered trees in our backyard .  

Five and a half years.  That's how long the three posts have been installed in our backyard as a training device for the pair of Greenspire Linden trees that have been pruned in an horizontal cordon espalier.  This past weekend, I disconnected all of the wire and pulled the three posts down.  I put the posts in the ground in September of 2017 - look how NEW everything looks here .   Over the years, I've worked these trees to be a four-level espalier and it had matured (enough) to no-longer require the heavy-hand of a post and wire system.  See below for the pre-removal state:  And....below...are the trees with the posts and wires removed.  Feels VERY DIFFERENT over there (to me, at least) now. The top row of the cordon is thick and strong and vibrant.  Each layer down gets thinner, but the bottom layer has finally reached the fully-mature length.  I'll work to keep that bottom row horizontal with a bamboo pole.   #9 on my 2023 to-do list was to 'keep working the espalie

One of the things that I've had on my last few annual 'to do lists' in the garden is to keep up with various seasonal tasks like feeding, treating, pruning, etc.  Basically....good garden and tree maintenance.  This year, it came in at #16 on the list and included items like feeding the roses ( which I did last week for the first time this season ) and dividing perennials, protecting everything from winter and rabbits and... treating trees.  For the past few years, I've had the fine folks at Davey do an annual deep-root feeding treatment of everything in the yard (in the fall) and I've complemented that application with one of my own on a few select trees.   Start back in 2020, I noticed that our Greenspire Lindens were being covered in Yellow Jackets and upon inspection, it appeared that the trees were inhabited by aphids - which in turn created honeydew - which was what the Yellow Jackets were after.  In order to get rid of the Yellow Jackets, I had to get rid

How old are our pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are in our yard? I'm NOT sure.  But, I know that we have them in our yard for  (coming up on) six full years - and this will be our seventh growing season.  Planted in the Summer of 2017, the have grown into their own across those six growing seasons.    The last time I showed these trees was in October when they were putting on a fall show with orange and yellow foliage .   This past September, I documented via caliper sizing the overall growth of these trees:  they are both greater than 3" calipers now.  They went from a little bit over 1.5" to more than 3" - doubling in size since 2020.   My plan for this year is to plant underneath these and remove the frames.  But, before I do that, I went out this weekend and began to prune some of the tops of these trees.  That top layer of the espalier is thick and full of new growth.  What kind of growth?  What would appear to be something like a waterspout that sends s

The pair of Greenspire Linden Trees that are planted in a horizontal cordon espalier have held on to all of their leaves to date.  They're just starting to turn yellow - see photo below - with a mix of green and yellow foliage across all four levels of the espalier.  You'll note that some other plants - like the hostas - have gone dormant and turned yellow, while others (the Summer Beauty Allium on the bottom right) have remained green.    The last time I showed this espalier was earlier this Summer (June), when the trees put on ALL of the leaves in a couple of weeks .  If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see some growth on the top level that needs to be pruned back in late Winter as the top-level continues to try to establish a leader or leaders in normal-tree fashion. As measured this Summer, these are now BOTH over 3" caliper trees and have been in the ground here since August of 2017 .  That's five years of growth here across the growing seasons. Wh

What a difference on month makes.  Especially when that month is in late Spring/early Summer.  Below, you'll see what the current state of the pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are pruned into a horizontal cordon espalier form in our backyard.  They've put on a TON of growth in the past four weeks and are in need of a cleanup.  It appears that the lowest tier of the espalier has (now) reached the end of the frame, so I'm thinking that I can take the framework down. However....as you can tell from the photo....the tree is SO thick and lush that you can't *really* see the frame. Here is what they looked like four weeks ago .  Below is a photo from mid-May of this year where you can see ALL FOUR levels of the horizontal cordon espalier:

Starting last Spring, I decided to be a little more proactive in terms of protecting some of our trees from pests.  That started with the Greenspire Lindens that are currently espalaiered into a horizontal cordon.  For the past few years, I noticed that the trees were being swarmed with yellow jackets and/or wasps .  Turns out, they were there feasting on aphids that are drawn to Linden trees.  So, starting last year, I treated both Lindens with five gallons of this tree protect & feed solution .   It seemed to work and there were no wasps around all season.  This season - NOTE: I'm posting this in early June, but I actually did this project in early May, 2022 - I pulled back the mulch around the Lindens and made a little ring for the solution to soak in around the base of the trunk.  I made up five gallons of solution per tree and slowly dumped it on. See below: This year, I also decided to treat the Saucer Magnolia tree out front the same way.  Last year, I noticed it seemed

Earlier this week, I showed off the new haircut that I gave to the pair of crabapple trees in our sideyard and talked about my plan for shaping them into a Palmette Verrier form along the side of our house . I thought it would be wise to document my other (or...as the kids say:  OG) espalier:  the pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are shaped into a four-tiered horizontal cordon. The last time that I showed these trees was in early April when they had NO leaves on them .  I mentioned last week that they had broken bud (very pretty buds, btw) and were leaf'ing out.   What do they look like this week?  Really lovely set of espalier - with four tiers.  Well...almost four.  See below: On the left, the bottom tier is done on the left, but needs some help going right.   On the tree on the right, the bottom tier needs some help extending both ways.   I'm thinking those will get done this growing season.   #6 on my 2022 to-do list was to continue to work the Lindens (these have bee

This is the third in a series of shrub exploration posts that are helping me think and plan how I execute on my #1 priority for 2022:  plant shrubs in a deliberate way .  I started with this 20' area where I need to replace some lilacs with an evergreen layer and three Tardiva Hydrangeas . Yesterday, I looked at an adjacent spot that calls for a similar (but different) evergreen layer fronted by three dwarf Little Lime Hydrangeas that are planted in a way to NOT foreclose a potential path.  Today, I'm looking at the area that lays at the feet of the pair of Greenspire Linden trees along our fenceline.  Here's what it looks like today: Orange ovals = Greenspire Lindens in a horizontal cordon espalier.  Green ovals = Summer Beauty Alliums. I've always wanted a little bit more structure in this area - but haven't done anything meaningful. There are two problems:  First...the plan is SILENT here.  No plantings.  Second, there's a bit of an elevation/slope that is

We're now five full growing seasons in with our pair of Greenspire Linden trees  ( Tilia cordata 'Greenspire' ) that we've espaliered into a four-tier horizontal cordon.  Planted in 2017 , I initially went one way with the layout of the branches (at one time, I had six tiers and was even planning on shaping it into a candelabra form ), but last Spring (2020), I finally had a cogent thought (after looking at these trees for years) and made a call to prune A LOT back and go with a simple, four-tiered horizontal cordon.  In the Summer of 2020, I got busy pruning things back and because I was SCARED to really go for it, I ended up leaving a few little branch 'nubs' 1 with some growth on them just to make sure I wasn't pruning off TOO MUCH of the tree at once.  You can go look at this photo here and you'll see the little orange things that I left (at the time).   With all the leaves dropped from these trees, I can start to look at the form they've crea

It has been a while since I posted a full-frontal photo of our pair of Greenspire Little Leaf Linden trees that have been trained into a four-tier horizonatal cordon espalier in our backyard.  These are planted in Zone 5b and trained with wire alongside a six-foot-tall cedar fence.  You can see the top tier is a foot or more above the top of the fence and the root-flare of the trees is BELOW the bottom of the fence.   Thus, These are eight or nine feet tall.    The last time I showed this shot that you see below, was back in September of 2020 - close to 10 months ago .  When I compare the photos, I see a few things: 1.  Tree on the left: The lowest tier has grown out a bit - mostly the right side. 2.  The trunks have thickened up.  I'll have to grab some caliper measurements soon to confirm. 3.  The two little 'scaredy cat' pieces I left on last year are still there on the tree on the left.  Should prune them off soon. 4.  Tree on the right:  the bottom tier has grown out.

A couple of weeks ago, I took some steps to head off the annual aphid infestation that has been occuring on our Greenspire Linden trees that leads to them being swarmed by Yellow Jackets who are eating the aphids.  Back in mid-May, I applied a Systemic Soil-Application insecticide and - just to be doubly sure - I also sprayed a persistent contact spray to the leaves just to kill whatever might already be on the leave s.   As a reminder, this is what the underside of the leaves looked like when the Linden Aphids were living on them (back in late Summer 2020).  Doing this check-in on the Lindens (which...are currently espalier'd in a horizontal Cordon, btw), I looked at the underside of the leaves.  And, while I don't see any of the aphids like I did last year, I do see some white, hairy spots at the intersection of the leaf veins.  See below for a zoomed-in shot of the leaves: I've done as close of an inspection as I can on these photos and I can't tell what that hai