Why I Oughta...

A few days ago, I wrote about a pair of small Canadian Hemlock trees in our backyard and mentioned that a place where I could add another one of the unique trees (Conifer that grows in shade), might be the stumpery.   I first wrote about stumpery gardens in the Fall of 2023 when I came across (now) King Charles Stumpery at High Grove .  Upon learning about the idea, I immediately ran back to my pile of wood pieces and grabbed a few stumps and hauled them up to a spot closer to the house.  With those three small stumps, I created my own stumpery .    That first growing season, I planted a few ferns around the stumps.  Last year, I added a few more.   I put some Shredded Umbrella plants in the garden bed adjacent to the Stumpery , but figure that I should add some of those to this bed this year.   In January 2024, I first documented the "winter interest" in the stumpery .  I seem to have not posted any winter/snow-covered photos from 202...

Another entry into the recent [Winter Interest] category of the garden diary shows off a feature in our backyard garden:  a handsome pair of Greenspire Linden Trees that are trained into a four-tier horizontal cordon espalier.  There are eleven (11) Green Velvet Boxwoods planted the base of the two trees .   The photo below shows the current state of the dormant Linden trees and the boxwoods showing-up against the white Winter snow.  This is a vignette in our garden that is close to our house and patio and one that we can take-in during the months where we rarely venture outside in the back. A few things to note: 1.  The Lindens need a haircut.  The top-growth on the uppermost tier of the espalier has gone ham.   2.  Last Spring (March 2025), I took a photo showing this same shot but covered in a thin layer of snow .  Not sure it ever looked better.   3.  The boxwoods have grown.  They were planted as tiny 1-gal...

One of the very best things I did in our garden this year was planting an Arctic Jade Korean Maple in our backyard .  It was/is our second Korean Maple with the first one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple that I planted out front in 2024 .  I posted photos of this small tree when the foliage was green .  And when the foliage was yellow .  And when the foliage was turning red .  Here, below, is a look at the tree when the foliage is, well...gone.  The tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves.  Last week, when I posted this peek at some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the snow , you could see the side-profile of this Arctic Jade.   With it being 'naked' during the Winter, it gives me a chance to observe the structure.  Now....one of my "Great Garden Rules" is #8:  Don't prune anything for a while.  That means there's no touching this tree for a couple of seasons.  But, I can already see something that I'd prune of...

Yesterday, I s howed one of two small Canadian Hemlock trees in our backyard and talked about how one of them was being eaten-up by some (dang) rabbits this Winter .   Here, below, is a look at the other one of these conifer trees that was planted at the same time.  This one is MUCH-MORE full.  But, about the same height (five-ish feet tall).    Similarly tucked into the 'understory garden', this Canadian Hemlock is one of just two remaining of the six that we originally planted.  I mentioned yesterday that I need to include the Canadian Hemlock on my list of trees/shrubs/flowers that work in our garden and think about adding more.   I think the Stumpery is a prime location as well as the unplanted bed that sits in front of the fire pit garden.   Speaking of the stumpery ...I should revisit it this week to show the 'winter interest'.  

All the way back in Summer of 2019, I bought and planted a number of VERY SMALL Canadian Hemlock trees from an online nursery .   Three of them were planted along the north side fence line .  Today, two of those three are still standing .  Seven years ago, these trees weren't even a foot-tall in height.   Today?  This one is probably five-feet tall.  But, sparsely branched.  And, the caliper of the trunk is probably up to almost an inch.  Below is a look at this Canadian Hemlock tucked into the 'understory garden'.   Would I plant this tree back here, close to these other trunks - if I was to do it all over?  No.  Would I plant this small of a tree - if I was to do it all over?  No. But, here we are.  Seven years later and the tree is in this spot. The growth of the tree isn't really the point of this post in my garden diary.  I was out taking some kitchen scraps to the compost bin and took a number of ...

Planted back in the Fall of 2021 , we have a (still) small Mugo Pine in the backyard northside bed about 3/4's of the way back.  It is planted pretty close to the Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree that I posted about yesterday .  It was a #1 gallon conifer when it went in and cost just $5.00.   I posted about it one-year after planting as it was establishing itself (but not putting on any growth at that time).   Then, in Fall of 2022, I noted that the (dang!) rabbits were feasting on this small shrub .   By Fall of 2024 it had grown a little bit , but it still was small.   Today? Like the Harry Lauder Contorted Walking Stick Tree ...this one has been 'slow-growing'.  Here, below, is the Mugo Pine peeking up out of the snow: I included the idea of ' conifers should come first ' in my v1 draft of Jake's Great Garden Rules   and this Mugo Pine is an example of a conifer that I planted earlier than most.  Was it likely too ...

Planted in the Summer of 2020, this Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree sits in the back part of the garden in a tucked-away spot, but when you see it when it is bare and dormant, it provides A LOT of winter interest.   It is described as 'contorted' and that's certainly the case with this small tree that I spotted on my way back to the compost pile this weekend.  When I snapped this photo (below), I muttered to myself:  "this tree has hardly grown.  How long has it been here?" [Sidenote:  I wrote about Contorted Trees at Disneyland Paris here that's worth checking out .  That was the inspiration for buying and planting this tree in our garden.] The answer to the second part is:  This year will mark its seventh (7th) growing season ('20, '21, '22, '23, '24, '25, '26).  That's far longer than I thought.   As for the second part;  has it grown?  Let's look.  Here, below, is what it looks like currently: Looking back at th...