Why I Oughta...

Back at the end of February, I published my 25 point "to do" list for the yard and garden for 2021 .  In that list, I included what I called two "priority areas" as #1 and #2.  The item in spot #3 was to work the area between the two driveways. The first two priority areas are in the backyard, but this one is in the front yard and I didn't label it as a priority area before I published the list, so I'm not sure I can now.  Instead, let's just call this"Between Two Driveways".    I mentioned it yesterday as a potential location for some transplanted peonies. This is a long, narrow strip that was - up until last fall - just turf with a very small Bald Cypress and a troubled Chanticleer Pear tree .  Our neighbors directly to the north of us have recently built their new house and moved in this past Fall.  As part of their new construction, they added a new driveway that runs parallel to ours - thus creating this long strip of land.  The Bald Cypr

Last year, I added five Guacamole hostas to our backyard - three larger ones, two smaller ones.  In two different spots .  The plan that we're working from calls for Guacamole hostas in a couple of different spots including in what I've called "Priority Area #2" for 2021 - this woodland garden section .  Here's a look at part of that section that highlights the hostas.  Green = what I planted last year.  Yellow = what is remaining. In terms of cultivar, Guacamole Hostas have a lovely color that resembles...you guessed it...guacamole. It has margins on it and is a two-toned green.   And, 'tis the season for impulse buys, right?  Well, Nat was at Costco recently where they're selling packages of perennials like hostas and other-what-have-yous and, well, I couldn't help myself.  She sent some photos and I ended up pulling the trigger on a different variety that I think will complement the trio of Guacamole hostas.   Say hello to Frances Williams Hostas. I

Yesterday, I published the first of my 2021 garden/yard priority areas .  Today, is my second one - with the hope that this exercise helps me contain my enthusiasm and force me to focus on adding things that matter.  Like a lot of you, I find myself in a daze when Spring comes and I add things to my cart that I don't really need just because they're, well, there.   Priority Area #1 for 2021 calls for 15 plants (8 Allium, 7 ferns), so that part ALONE is a substantial investment.  Priority Area #2 calls for even more.  41 plants.  Yeah...41.  This one might take two years to swing in terms of getting the plantings right.  But, lets start by looking at the area in question.  This is in between Priority Area #2 from last year AND the trio (at the time) of tiny Canadian Hemlock trees I planted along the north side of the fence line.  Here, below, is a look at this area: You can see that this area calls for: 10 Lenten Rose 9 Guacamole Hosta 7 Bottle Rocket Spiked Ligularia 8 Hadspe

Yesterday,  I posted about the purchase of a Red Fox Katsura tree from the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale and talked about how it has a columnar habit and purple-ish leaves that turn green as they mature.  This is the 52nd tree that I've now planted on our property and the 17th of the year - matching the high-water mark of 2018 when I planted 17 trees, too.   This tree is VERY thin.  Like, VERY thin.  I was told it is a two-year old tree and has very little limb activity going on.  The top of it is so tall and thin that it is now drooping over in what you would think was a weeping habit.    Here, below, is a photo showing the tree with the top weeping over and the one branch that exists.  I dug a nice hole, removed the clay with the post-hole-digger and heavily amended the soil with composted manure.  I need to buy some bamboo and straighten out the top.   Below is the tag that shows the height (40-60') and spread (25-40').   I mentioned that I planted this as an "u

I've posted a number of times - across houses, towns, years - about Ostrich ferns .  We had them back in Elmhurst at our old house .  And when we moved, we transplanted a few clumps of them over at Nat's Mom's house in Naperville .  When we bought our lot in Downers Grove, we inherited some of what I've been calling " Survivor Ferns " that lived through the construction and re-grading of our lot. As part of my 2020 to-do landscape list, I identified area #2 that includes the planting of a series of Ostrich Ferns - along with other items.  One of those 'other items' is the planting of hostas around a large Oak tree - in an area adjacent to where these Ostrich Ferns are supposed to be planted.  I posted about those variegated hostas yesterday .  The plan calls for Hadspens, but I decided to go with Variegated hostas because I had quite a few of them on hand. In that Priority Area #2 post, I mentioned that the plan called for 12 Ostrich Ferns in t

My #2 priority area in our backyard for this gardening season is around the large Oak tree that is home to our tree swing.  That part of the plan called for adding a series of hostas, ferns and connecting the beds between the Hornbeams and this nascent bed.  The plan called for the addition of 10 or so Hadspen blue hostas, but there were two factors that made me go a different direction. First, I planted three hostas in this area already.  First, there are two, existing variegated ones present:  Christmas Tree and Fantabulous from 2018 .  Second, there was a third, variegated hosta that I tucked behind the tree - the miniature variety that I really like .  And finally....I had a mixed variety of Hostas that I've tucked underneath the Hornbeams over the years - including mixed variegated ones with more blue ones.  So, I decided to get the variegated ones out from below the Hornbeams.  And move them to where you can see in the photo at the top. Below, you can see all the new

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a miniature hosta that I transplanted from the far back part of our yard to underneath the Oak tree swing trunk and mentioned that I was watching it to see if it was healthy enough to divide into multiple plants.  While I wait for that....I wanted to post about a few other hostas that were certainly *healthy enough* to divide.  You see them above in the photo.  These are all "teardown hostas" that I grabbed in the Fall of 2017 and was surprised in 2018 when they all emerged.  Hostas, are indeed, hearty perennials. This post shows the location in question and the landscape plan that was drafted :  it includes 4 Hadspen Hostas that wrap around the corner of our house.  If you look at the photo at the top of this post, you'll count five (5) hostas.  And...in the middle of that photo, you can see one of them is bigger than the rest. I'm thinking my plan is to dig out the two 'middle ones'.  That would be the largest one and t

Back in March, I posted about Lenten Roses (or..Hellebores / Helleborus) and how our plan called for a few of them in parts of the yard.  On the same trip that we bought the Summer Beauty Allium, we also bought ONE (1) Hellebores (or...I think Helleborus).  It is called "Sally's Shell" and you can see it below:  I planted it in the bed on the northside of our backyard - and since there is just one, it is standing alone.  For now.    Here's a little bit wider of a shot - that shows the larger tree trunk that is set a little bit 'in' the yard that shows this is planted about six feet to the West of that tree.  (also note...that at the time of this photo, I had pulled up our Automower boundary wire and spooled it here while I remade some of the contours of the beds.   The plan calls for ten (10) of these - from this one and to the left - that I'll add over time.   But, since this area falls just outside of Priority Area #2 , this

You can't open up gardening Instagram this Spring without seeing a post or a story about someone's  hellebores in bloom.  Oh...what's that?  You call them Lenten Roses?  Oh...me, too.  Actually, I haven't thought much of them at all.  But, all this posting made me remember that we have a few clusters of them spec'd in our backyard landscape plan.  Like this section you see below that calls for a grouping of ten (10). What are hellebores or Lenten roses?  From one of my favorite gardening bloggers Deborah Silver in Detroit who posted about the month of March in her garden and how Lenten Roses or hellebores play a role: Any gardener who reads here knows I am a fan of hellebores. They are, in my opinion, the perfect perennial. Thick glossy foliage persists in its green state until late in the winter. The flowers emerge on leafless stalks in April, and bloom for a very long time. The green remains of the flowers can persist in the garden well in to June. T

As part of my 2020 planting/buying plan, I've begun to focus on a couple of areas for prioritization.  We have SOOOO much to do in regards to buying new plants per our plan that I thought it would make sense to break things up into chunks.  The first one up on my priority list is this section of the landscape plan that is visible from our patio.  It calls for seven new Alice Oak Leaf Hydrangea bordered on one side by a series of Summer Beauty Allium and underplanted with Fanal Astilbe out front.  You'll see in the image above that I've called out 3 'columnar trees' in teal.  That's based on this tree-planning post .  We have three existing hydrangeas in this area - where the Oak Leaf ones are supposed to go - including this Tuff Stuff and this Everlasting Revolution and this teardown Limelight .  The first two were planted very small and have NOT bloomed, but the Limelight one that I transplanted bloomed last year , so I want to think about what to d

With the calendar turning over to the new year soon, my mind has naturally drifted outdoors to our backyard to think about what kind of 'tree planning' we should be doing in Spring.  Right after Christmas, I posted my front yard tree succession planting plan .  And because we've been filling our bird feeder, my mind has been focused on the area you see in the photo above.  I've covered this section of yard before with this Fall of 2017 post showing the landscape plan here . Of note, what I'm showing here differs from what the plan includes, but that's because the plan doesn't call for many new trees, but instead uses the existing trees and augments them with shrubs. To set the context - or edges - of this image, you can see two trees that I've posted about before. First, in purple, on the left is the Weeping White Spruce Columnar tree . And, in red, on the far right is the Weeping Cedar tree that I planted and lost .  I've left the corpse

Last September, I posted a series of photos showing how I was taking down a Buckthorn tree in the far reaches of our backyard .  It was a small tree, but took some time between cutting and digging out the roots.  I mentioned that I had a few more Buckthorn trees around - and because they're an invasive tree - I wanted to get rid of them over time.  In fact, I included 'Buckthorn removal' in my 2019 To-Do List addendum and didn't get around to taking down any of the trees this Summer.  That changed this past weekend, when I was out back and tried to take on this tree you see here.  This is a medium tree, but it is in a state of both alive and dead - at the same time.  I know that seems strange, but I'm pretty sure that the main tree is dead, but the suckers on this thing keep coming back, so there's life in there somewhere.  I first started with sawing off a bunch of the limbs.  Then I cut it in half - and let the top-half tumble down into the bed.  In

I had a credit an an online tree nursery from a tree that we tried that died that was about to expire, so I went hunting on their site to find something useful and interesting for our yard.  To date, we've planted 26 trees ( full list here ) and have 21 of those trees that are still with us. If you read my post about my 2019 to-do list , you might remember that #8 was to 'do something with conifers'.  I started my 'conifer journey' this Spring by adding three Gold Cone Junipers to the backyard .  But those aren't technically trees as they're classified as shrubs . Taking those couple of dynamics (having a credit and wanting to do something with conifers), I decided to take a peek at our landscape plan and decided to pick out six VERY SMALL Canadian Hemlocks.  You can see the size of them in the photo at the top.  With the pot, these are about three feet tall. This post is about just three of them, though.  I'll post again when I get the other th

Back in 2017, I showed part of our landscape plant that was just outside of our kitchen window that called for a variety of perennials and some shrubs including Green Velvet Boxwoods.  You can see the plan here in this post from October 2017 .  Here's a look at that portion of the plan : The plan called for four Green Velvet Boxwood plants.  You can see in the photo at the top of this post that we indeed, planted four of them.  I ended up staggering them a little differently than the plan called for, but they're mostly in the same spot.  The reason for clustering them more closely to the window well is to fit in a spot for our grill.  This [ Garden Diary ] post can be found in the feed over on Hornbeam Hill .  This post is to talk about shaping of these boxwoods.  We have a set of these in our front yard beds directly in front of our porch that you can see in this post that we're trying to let grow a bit.  I'd like them to get larger, but the ones in back?