Why I Oughta...

Last year, I planted three Nepetas that were new (to me) named Chartreuse on the Loose down near the pizza oven in our backyard.  By Summertime, they had grown-in and were re-blooming .  In that post from July 2025, I wrote: I've mentioned that I need to continue to remind myself to add more of WHAT IS WORKING instead of adding net-new stuff. But, these are both a reminder that sometimes new things can be great. But, now that I see them working, I have put them in the category of 'more of this plant because it is working'.... Repetition comes into play here, too. A few pops of this - along with my other 'backbone plants' (Hakonechloa, Alliums, Astilbes and Stachys) create that idea of 'repetition' - leading to...you guessed it: increased legibility. I also wrote (earlier this year) in my 2026 to-do list a few items worth referencing right now: #4 - Plant up the Pizza Oven Bed and #15 - Stay focused by using the concept of Repetition vs. new.   With t...

Lazy bed extensions were listed as a "Fall Project" in my 2026 to-do list .  And, I need to do that.  But, I also wanted to use the time I had this Spring by knocking some of the bed extensions off my list while I could in March and April.  I've posted a few times already when I first extended and reshaped the front yard island bed .  Then, I did an initial expansion on the southside of the house in the cut flower foundation beds .   Today, I'm doing an initial expansion of the small corner bed that I call the "Saratoga Bed" because it features the tiny Saratoga Ginkgo tree along with some Little Henry Sweetspire Spirea shrubs .   By now, I've laid out the elements of my lazy bed extensions: 1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. Here, below, is the 'before' photo.  The bed needs more breathing room by extending things outward....

Yesterday I posted my annual to-do list of 25 items I'm aiming to tackle this growing season .  I'm starting off with an early win by taking-on Priority item #2 on the list one-day-in.  I've talked about how I've adopted what I call the 'lazy bed extension method' of using three factors:  1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. That 3rd factor (time) is why I'm going at this garden upgrade in March.   Here's what I wrote for #2: 2. Priority Project 2:  Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed .  But, use a ‘fewer curves’ approach to making a curvilinear shape . Last year, I planted Coleus (which was great) and Supertunias (which weren’t), so strike the right balance between colorful annuals (maybe mirror what I put in the front porch bed) along with some coleus for foliage. I also included further down the list at #12 a "Fall ...

Last week, I posted my first [Priority Project] for 2026 that focused on replacing the Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are being destroyed each year by the (dang) rabbits.  These [Priority Posts] help me begin to formulate my annual yard-and-garden to-do list.  I've found (over the years) that I NEED to prioritize some key projects and keep a running list of goals so I have focus and accountability.  Otherwise...I tend to wander and get distracted. Today is a look at Priority Project #2: Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed.   Starting earlier this year, I posted an exploration of how I could expand the front yard island bed and then , after thinking (or... because of WRITING ABOUT IT ), I changed my mind and reconsidered some aspects including the orientation and number of curves .  I initially was thinking about attacking the project by GROWING the bed from the sidewalk-backwards towards the house.  I say 'attack' because I know myself and...

One of my ' early early' potential projects was to add a garden arch to the backyard.  That's because I was gifted a garden arch for Christmas.  It is still in the box, so I'm not totally sure what it looks like, but believe it to be a square one (non-arch) and it is made of wood.  Where could it go?  The first spot is obviously the fire pit entrance.  To help frame/create that as the 'entrance' to the fire pit .  Like this: But, I could also put it closer to the house.  Either off the boardwalk.  Or, as part of a 'hide-and-reveal' entrance off the patio?  If I did that....what would we do back by the firepit?   The answer is, of course easy:  Revisit the idea of building a moongate back there .   I suppose the installation of the arch certainly isn't permanent.  So, if I end up starting with it back there, it doesn't mean we can't build the moongate, right? 

Earlier this year, I posted a couple of pieces on the notion of 'legibility' in the garden .  It was new (to me) and as part of learning about it, I wrote out my thoughts, researched what other people were saying and then followed-up with a post that outlined what Dr. Jared Barnes has created in his list of 'elements' that create garden legibility . Here are the seven elements (or components) of Garden Legibility ( via Dr. Jared Barnes ): 1. Clean edges 2. Desire lines and paths 3. Primary and secondary axes 4. Sightlines 5. Focal points 6. Entrances 7. Seeing over plantings Clean edges includes cut-edging, but also installed edges.  I've written about garden edges a number of times over the years.  Here , here , here and here .  Most recently, I was drawn to this timber-edging from a YouTube gardener and thought about using it as a retaining-wall(ish) under the Greenspire Lindens .  I still think that's a good idea (note for 2026 projects), but I was pointed...

One of the shade-tolerant foliage shrubs (is it a shrub?) that continues to be a standout in our backyard is Japanese Golden Spikenard - also called Sun King Aralia.  I have a drift of them in the far back 'nook' behind the small Weeping Nootka Cypress tree.  And this year, I planted three more on the other side of the garden - in hopes of bringing some of that sweet 'garden repetition' to the backyard .   I called them 'foliage' plants because that's what they're grown for:  bright green, almost-tropical-looking foliage that thrives in low-light conditions.  But, for the first time...I now have discovered that they also FLOWER.   See below for the little cluster of flowers that has appeared out the top of the canopy:  That's new (to me).  But, wait...there's more (than flowers).  Via the Missouri Botanical Garden listing : Sun King’ is a golden-leaved cultivar that features a large rounded clump of golden yellow compound leaves whi...

In the Spring of 2024, I did work on a number of what I was calling then "garden edits".   One of them was focused on the plantings around the base of the tree swing tree.  I moved out all of the All Gold Hakonechloa Macra grasses and relocated the band of Summer Beauty Alliums back closer to the trunk.  I was set to add a full border of the straight species Hakonechloa Macra grasses , but haven't gotten around to it it.   But...the alliums?  They look good.  Better than good.  Here, below is a photo showing the alliums ringing the Red Oak tree: See that lone Japanese Forest Grass?  Imagine a mass planting of them in-front of the Alliums.  That's what's remaining here.  

A little over a month ago, I planted a pair of small quart-sized containers of a dark-red coleus named Flame Thrower in a patio container .  I had not grown this variety previously, but I liked the the shape of the foliage and having planted some Inferno coleus in the corner patio bed, I thought this would help with a little bit of 'garden legibility' via repetition.  Of colors and plants.   This container sits on our back stoop and gets full afternoon sun.  Being close to the house, it isn't until about mid-day when the sun arrives, but it sticks around here for just about as long as anywhere else in our backyard.   How is the coleus doing?  Very well, I'd say.  Below is a photo showing the current state of the pot.  A lesson learned for me:  coleus as a monoculture works well in a container like this. See that bright green next to the coleus?  I'll post about that tomorrow. 

Back in June, I planted three (more) Sun King Aralias in the backyard.  Last year, I planted six of the same plant in the far backyard and they came back and are thriving.  So, at the Morton Arboretum Sale this year, I bought three more for the yard.   I tucked them into the other side of the backyard (southside) about half-way back near the Green Giant Thujas.  This is a spot where I previously had an Oakleaf Hydrangea (rabbits killed it) and these three bright-green perennials check a few boxes:  1.  Repetition.  With this second colony of Sun Kings, we now are starting to show a little bit of the notion of 'repetition'. 2.  Lean into what's working.  With the six (that I ignored last year) coming back, I knew these would work well in our conditions. 3. Japanese-inspired gardening. I mean...the plants are named Sun King Golden Japanese Aralias. 4.  Foliage gardening.  These don't flower.  Or, at least don't flower mean...

Back in June, I p lanted ten (10) small plugs of White Polka Dot Plant Annuals in between the Green Velvet Boxwoods that are planted at the base of the Linden espalier.   I saw these same white ones in the Morton Arboretum Fragrance Garden (the shade part) in 2021 and loved them since back then.   They handle the shade and with their white dots on the foliage, can brighten up some of these darker spaces.  Being planted right under the trees, this area gets no direct sunlight.  It isn't SHADE, but it stays pretty dark and - when watered - damp.   All ten of the annuals have survived and are now putting on some size.  Below is a photo showing them in late July: I'm already thinking about these for cut flowers as accent pieces.  And, for next year - as annuals in the backyard.   One of my goals is to focus (more) on repetition.  These might be the annuals that I can tuck in around the back to help increase the 'legibility' ...

The hedge of Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam trees that are planted along the side of our house have NOW been pruned.  Just a little bit.  These are now in their eighth (8th) growing season and up until now I have NOT touched one branch.  No pruning what-so-ever.  But, that ended because of the boardwalk along the side of our house.   I'm eager to keep the idea of miegakure - or "hide and reveal" with these trees and the boardwalk that provides the pathway. That 'hide-and-reveal' is for the full backyard. After a big rain, the branches are loaded with wet leaves and the lower ones on these Frans Fontaine European Hornbeams begin to droop.  And, lean against the screened porch.    This weekend, I grabbed my small hand pruners and began to cut back some of the lower branches.  I picked spots that had foliage back behind the cut, to ensure there would be continued leaf-out.   I didn't want to hack the whole thing back, but ra...

One of the thing that's been on my mind over the past few months is the concept of 'legibility' in the garden.  I wrote up a post about it - when I first came across the concept.  I also included it in my 2025 to-do list .  Part of legibility are 'entrances'.  Entrances to garden spaces.   One of the primary entrances to our garden is along the side of house via the boardwalk.  In my 2025 to-do list, I mentioned 'planting up the boardwalk' as something I wanted to get done.   Over the past few years, I've planted a few things there - but nothing has worked.  Ferns.  Hostas.  I think it is too dry and too dark.   But, I'm trying again.  This time...with an Ajuga.  Bronze Beauty Ajuga.  Here's the six-pack of groundcover that I bought: Along the screened porch, there's a long, thin bed.  Below is the before/after of planting these six plugs: I watered them in and they looked flat that first day....

I've made it clear that Autumn Ferns are near the top of my list for favorite perennial in the garden.   Having fallen in love with ferns via the Ostrich Fern, I've come to understand that there are other varieties that perform better - at least for me.  When I talk about performance, I'm talking about full, four-season interest.  Ostrich Ferns - which...naturalize....look great for a season-and-a-half.  They're great in Spring and most of Summer, but they begin to brown out in the heat of August.   Autumn Ferns put on a show all year long - and are....semi-evergreen.   I've been on a multi-year journey that I call my 'hosta replacement' program - that includes upgrading some of our borers from being hosta-centric to include other, more-preferred plants like Hakonechloa Macra grasse and....Autumn Ferns. At Menards, I found a pair of Autumn Ferns for just $3.99 each.  They were in quart-sized containers and were hanging-on (as stuff does...