Garden Round Up

No, I don't mean the weed killer! (Although the dear husband/ivy soldier is considering selective use of it on particularly stubborn bits of ivy that keep re-growing despite his having dug out the roots many times.) Just thought I would share some pictures of what we have been doing and organize my thoughts about what I want to get done this summer and fall. If you click on the pictures, they get a little bigger, but the plants in them are still small and hard to see!

I really shouldn't be planting native plants in the summer. They do better if planted during late fall and are allowed to adapt during winter when there is some rain. I know myself too well to try that, though. Just about the time I planted them, we would have a dry spot and I would be in school so I would forget to give them the extra water they would need for getting started. I can't even count the number of plants I have killed in my lifetime by planting them and then getting busy at school.

We started working on the ravine in the front yard. My plan is to have a "suburban hedgerow" all along the side fence. Click here to see the article that gave me the idea. Other reading about it led to a study that showed that the number of beneficial insects increased on farms with hedgerows. I could sure use more beneficial insects! Anyway, to start the hedgerow we planted some bush mallow (like lavatera), some coffee berry, and a sticky monkey flower. It doesn't look like much now, but it is a start, and it is way better than the ivy, the vinca and the bush that smelled like urine!




We also planted in the back in two places. First, down in the ravine in the back corner of the yard where the tree had to come down. I planted two pink flowering currants and one yellow flowering current. They will eventually get 4-8 feet tall and they will have fruit for the birds--and maybe for us. I'm not even sure what a currant tastes like before it is dried and in a box! This area of the yard has become a priority since the tree came down. Some of these logs will stay in the garden to provide food for fungus and bugs, but most of them will be moved out. Unfortunately they are extremely heavy.

The other place we did some planting is just behind the planting bed. We had some poppies that we are hoping will naturalize in this empty, sunny area. Just before we planted I noticed that we had two native buckwheats growing here! Excitement!!!!! Not only do we have natives voluntarily coming up in this part of the yard, I was able to recognize them and not dismiss them as weeds!



Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with the size of the job in the yard. The ivy and vinca and cotoneaster were covering so much. Removing it is great, but then we have to fill the space with something else. The plants all seem so small when you put them into such a large space. But there are a few views in the yard that I really like and when I feel overwhelmed I sit and look at just that view! Here is a spot where the garden looks great and I try to remember that just last year, some of these plants were also very little and lost.