Dreams of glory

I'm thinking more about the new garden planned in the front, where full sun makes many things possible. Scale and sustainability are important, leading me away from a crab apple (too big) and towards some shrubs and even an evergreen for four-season interest. Although this decision is based on looking at the lawn from the front of the house. When you look from across the street, it seems that the space is big enough for a small crab apple to work. (Of course, you also notice the shutter in need of repair - just squint and it will be less noticeable.)

 

But I'm also dreaming of planting lots of colorful perennials that won't thrive elsewhere in the garden. Inspiration comes from every mixed perennial border you've ever seen, and more recently from this display at the National Arboretum last June:

 

Tell me if you can spot a color scheme here:

Echinacea - Just bought three 'Tomato Soup' - bright enough for you?? (No, this is not my photo, but when I bought them they were indeed this color.)


Larkspur

Achillea

Japanese anemones

Really tall things, like eupatoriums, or perhaps vines on a trellis or stakes

Lilies - Adrian Higgins' recent column provides lots of inspiration

Poppies

Roses

Salvias

Rudbeckia - maybe this one touted by WFF



Etc.

The first step is to lay out the bed and start mulching this fall. Then annuals next summer and planting in the fall of 2011.

Three projects

Having all this time to garden means doing more than the routine maintenance. No, new peaks must be scaled! Hence three projects, at least two of which will test my abilities.


The first is the expansion of the back corner, which was looking awfully bare after the forsythia was grubbed out a year or so ago. The current plan is to plant three oakleaf hydrangeas 'Alice' that should provide height and mass (plus three-season interest). (My sources claim they grow 10-15' in height and width, though their label claims only 8' - we'll see.) Then I'll underplant with hostas, spring bulbs, etc. Here is the project so far. And here are the plants waiting to be planted.






Second is a raised bed beside the cutting garden which will be a home to sun-loving annuals and vegetables. The very nice man at Home Depot assured me I could do this. Yes, but... Here is the lumber, and below is a picture of the raised bed frame, a bit cattywompus because I had to use screws and a drill instead of my sewing machine.



 

The third is putting up the trellis, which I did today with a little help from Alison as to moving and placing everything. At its feet are the cardinal climber vines, eager to clamber up the trellis. (Or is it an arbor?)

And the fourth of the three projects is to get rid of the grass underneath the viburnums. Newspaper and mulch on their way!

Oh, the possibilities

The white dogwood that came with the house has been slowly dying back the last few years, and I finally had it taken out. Of course, the first thing I realized was how nicely it had screened the neighbor's driveway from view - not entirely, but just enough to give us both some privacy. But it also revealed that side of the front lawn as ripe for development!

Here are views from the house looking down toward the street (the weird mess at the top is the Soil Moist), looking up from the street with the neighbor's driveway at left, and up toward the house, with just a few branches of the maple in view at right.

 
 
 

It certainly looks bleak, doesn't it? Apart from the scraggly state of the lawn, I am most aware of the full sun that this side of the lawn enjoys. Many possibilities have been floating through my mind: a set of shrubs, including a lilac just for the flowers; a perennial border of sun lovers to include scads of lilies; a wee little vegetable garden bordered with low shrubs... But of course, the most important consideration is what would actually look good there from a design sense. How to make whatever garden is there flow with the rest of the space? And what garden should be created that will not end up being burdensome to maintain?

And don't forget Mom's advice to keep it low.

The Warts and All Garden Tour

Very bravely, I invited Becky and Martha to come see the oak tree garden at its peak, knowing full well that they would insist on seeing the whole garden, bare spots and all. Even when warned off from the side cutting garden, they forged ahead and now know all my dirty gardening secrets.

They were, of course, kind and generous in their comments and gave me lots of good ideas. Among them:

*Instead of ripping out the honeysuckle and the akebia (which is actually at its most charming now, with tiny scented bell-shaped flowers and new citrus green leaves everywhere),

 

how about companions? Maybe a rose in front and some clematis in back?

*The transition from the aucuba along the walkway garden would be made beautiful by some black elephant ears, a wonderful contrast to the gold.

*When I take out the oddly failing white azaleas in the white garden, how about a hydrangea?

*Since the dogwood out front is soon going to its reward, all the more reason to rip out the forsythia along the fence and plant a pagoda dogwood (which I happen to know Colesville has in stock, but maybe I'll wait till fall).

Inspired by these ideas, I've also decided it's time to take out the less attractive of the pink azaleas I inherited by the front steps, which will allow me to come up with a better transition to the walkway garden on that side.

It was delightful to have them here, and I'm so grateful for their advice!

 

Vision and reality

"I want to have a year in the garden this year which is the opposite to 2008. I want to finish the year without feeling like I've bought loads of random plants from plant sales and then come home and stuck them in wherever. I want to feel like I've taken care of what's actually there, and not ached for it all to be totally different. And most of all I want to stop arranging my garden so that it needs more work than I ever have time to do, and ends up feeling like an evil, sulking presence in a corner of my mind."

So says Emma Townshend.

Actually, 2008 was not bad for me. But this spring, I've been worrying about all of the following:

Shouldn't I just root out all the forsythia along the back fence?

Was the akebia a mistake and should I have put in a climbing hydrangea after all (like Martha's, I say longingly)?

I've really got to do something about the front garden, because although it's looking better this spring, it is still nothing but HOLES.

What in the world should I do under the maple tree in front, where the BARE EARTH is showing between the wee patches of mulch?

When will I ever clean up the compost pile so that I could invite a gardener over and not be totally embarrassed?

And so on. I need to calm down and stop aching for it to be totally different.

Planting plans

When I was visiting Mom a few weeks ago, I asked her advice about a couple problem areas. The first is the long, narrow bed next to the walkway. It's anchored at one end by an azalea bush, which is about four feet high, so it needs something that transitions from that height to a lower height. At the moment, I have a couple place-holders: a hellebore, some Solomon seal, and a hakonechloa (sp)at the gate end of the bed. Here's a look in black and white.

 


After talking with Mom, I think it makes sense to plant a mix of daffodils and day lilies for color and height and ease. I'll look at one of the WFF mixes and might just make up my own mix.





Another question has to do with my longing to add another sunny garden. There's not much room for this - only in the front yard, and only in a part of it, since the maple tree takes up so much space. I was thinking about a trio of small trees or shrubs like crape myrtle and lilac once I take out the slowly declining dogwood tree, but Mom thinks I need to keep the plantings low so as not to compete with the maple tree, and I think she's right. She suggested an L-shaped bed along my neighbor's driveway and the road, and I think this makes a lot of sense. However, this will only happen in the way future, since I haven't finished planting the new beds I already have, and they're looking kind of thin.

I'm planning to expand the planting area around the maple tree, bit by bit. The other day I mulched the bare spots and ended up with this footprint.



Plans now are to plant lots of tommy crocuses this fall, and beg some pachysandra (the good kind, not the invasive kind) from Judy.




Judy has also offered me a cutting from her kerria bush, which would be great in the back shrub border. I think the one she has is Kerria japonica 'picta' since it has lovely white-margined leaves. Here's a picture of one from raretrees.org.


I'm also thinking of one or two more sweetspires, since I love the one I have and there are lots of bare spots in that border.

Most beautiful container contest

My own contest, run by me, judging my containers - and the winner is this pot by the shed:

This container is closely modeled on the "Red, Green and Ice" annual combination offered by White Flower Farm this spring. The 'White Christmas' caladium and 'Dipt in Wine' coleus are their suggestions. I'm very pleased and will have no compunction about stealing their ideas again next year.


The runner-up is a similar pot with pink angel-wing begonias and white impatiens and without coleus. I love the dark purple of the begonia leaf:














Okay, and the loser is this poor little pot, which has some height and a nice trailing effect with the sweet potato vine, but whose colors are muddy and not so great. It started out looking okay:


...but by now it's looking a little raggedy:

Too bad - better luck next year!

Victory Garden redux

Some of us remember when Roger Swain, with his scratchy beard and generous middle, led the original Victory Garden team, along with Marian Morash, wife of the producer and a wonderful cook, and Tovah Martin, who as I remember concentrated on herbs and container gardens. But since 2001 the show has been led by Michael Weishan, whom I'm beginning to like.

His book is actually quite good; he starts out with the obvious question, why another basic gardening book? This one, he says, is a basic sampler of good gardening practice that helps you to ask why as well as how. He concentrates mainly on design, with entreaties to amend your soil and pay attention to light requirements, all good advice (that I sometimes follow). He encourages gardeners to start with the house when designing gardens. Pay attention to which parts of the garden you see from the house and integrate your house's style into the style of your gardens and hardscape. Those ubiquitous and boring foundation plantings should be designed in layers to make it look as though the house is emerging from the garden rather than being tightly outlined by shrubs in formation. Finally, he makes the very good point that outdoor scale is big - you need more space for tables and chairs than you might think.

The photos are inspiring without being so amazing that the ordinary gardener feels humiliated. Nicely done.

Good Taste

Anne Raver, well, raved about this book in the New York Times, and I agree that the photographs are awe-inspiring. Several of the photos were taken at Heronswood, with their combination of cool good taste and sly surprises. I was particularly struck by the use of negative space, as in empty pots or pots filled to the rim with water that looks black or mirror-like.

Rogers concentrates on color, form, texture, and other qualities that make up good design, so it's more of a design book than a practical guide (not that these things aren't important). He's a huge fan of cordylines like the ones pictured here, tropical Australian palms with striking colors and architectural foliage, as well as other tropicals like Agave.



His favorite container plants will not easily be found locally but would be worth seeking out.

This is fun to look at but not a book to own.

After, Part Two: The terrace is finished!

Won't you come into my garden? Here is the new path from the driveway. Lots of room for some low plantings along the edge, plus opportunities for trailing things along the low wall.
 

 
Here is the view from the gate looking toward the shed..

 
The view from the back door...

 
From the terrace looking back up the path, you will notice the wrong gate. The carpenter did almost exactly what I asked, so I can't fault him. But he started the half-moon too low on the gate, and the cut is not smooth. I think this is a mistake and have already decided to have them re-do the gate with a straight cut just a foot shorter than the fence. That will still give a tantalizing glimpse of the garden (I hope) without looking so fussy.

 
The path and the stone wall may be my favorite parts of this project. (The wall above will need to be re-painted.)

 

Now that the terrace is installed, the trellis no longer looms oddly in the landscape like something from 2001.

I am very pleased and can't wait to work on planting ideas!

After, Part One

The carpenters were here on Thursday to install the trellis and re-do the back gate. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, but I'm not sure it's right. You know that sinking feeling you get about things like this? My concern is that eight feet is too high for the trellis - six feet would be better. And though the carpenter cut a half circle in the back gate as I had asked, it's a little wobbly, and it goes way too far down. I'll ask Shelley if I can have them come back to re-do the gate, but I'll wait and see about the trellis until the terrace is installed next week. Stay tuned...


 
Here's the carpenter at work

 And here's a view of the trellis

Big plans

I took the plunge! Shelley Meadows from Meadows Farms came out a few weeks ago and together we worked up a plan that I'm very excited about. A stone path will lead from the driveway to the gate, with the narrow existing bed along the house raised up with a nine-inch stone wall. The gate will be replaced with a new one four feet wide and a half-moon cut the right way (or, if that doesn't work, a lower height than the fence so visitors will get an intriguing glimpse of the joys to come).

The concrete pad will be mostly taken out, and a stone terrace put in its place. The solution to screening out the neighbors is especially pleasing: a trellis eight feet long and eight feet high coming out from the low wall, with a foot or so of planting space on each side for hostas, ferns, bulbs, etc. Shelley suggested a climbing hydrangea (shade), which I had thought of, too, but Mom says they're awfully slow to grow. At any rate, the trellis will provide privacy and also enclose the terrace, so that it becomes a garden room, with the open corner looking out to the oak tree garden.

Signed the contract on Friday and installation should start in just a few weeks. And it only took 18 years to make it happen...

How it's going

The front garden has undergone a big transformation. When I took out the beloved but way overgrown rosemary 'Arp' and, sadly, the Fairy rose that Dad had given me years ago (not enough sun any more), to say nothing of grubbing out tons of vinca, I had an almost clean slate. I am trying to keep in mind that this is the garden I see most frequently so it should be the best and most well-tended of all. It is mostly shaded now, with just a few slivers of early morning and mid-afternoon sun.

The astilbes have struggled a bit, I think because we've had such dry summers. Playtcodon is very happy, coming up in random spots as the fancy strikes it, ditto garlic chives. The edging of coral bells that Mom gave me when I started the garden continues to thrive, though I have a few bare spots that I need to fill in. The only problem there is the timing: the fuschia azalea that came with the house is in full bloom at the same time, and the soft coral clashes with the intense azalea color.

At any rate, I checked out and quickly bought "The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer" by Stephanie Cohen and Nancy J. Ondra. I love this for its practical approach and its specificity. Based on their design for "an elegant entrance garden" (not that I'm making any claims), I designed the front garden to include dark foliage (Heuchera 'Plum Pudding,' Cimicifuga 'Hillside Black Beauty,' et al.) and brighter colors (Hakonechloa macra 'Albo-striata,' my new favorite, and three Brunnera 'Jack Frost'). Last fall I put in three geranium 'Hocus Pocus' but there's no trace of them now - either they're very late to appear, or I planted something right on top of them (another reason to order that marking pen that Dianne B. recommends).

The next order of business is to choose spring bulbs - all that's there now are a few grape hyacinths, plus the Thalia daffodils I planted around the new August Moon hosta. In line with the idea that this garden is the most visible, why not choose something spectacular like double bloodroot? McClure & Zimmerman carry the single one, at only $8.95 for three. Carroll Gardens lists the double at $17.85! but it's not available this year. I may have to sneak into Judy's woods and grab one of Mom's while they're not looking.

Getting Things Done

Laid out new bed on north side of house, and Billy tilled in a bag of pelletized lime and two yards of compost (= 27 forty-pound bags); it looks awfully bare now, but it's a big improvement over unhappy Japanese holly bushes and lots of moss

Moved the Japanese painted fern to the other side of the front bed and put three Brunnera Jack Frost in their place, after moving one of the Hakonechloa to a new spot

Planted the single cimicifuga I got from Wayside, after being scared by its price and size out of buying three - may live to regret this

Weeded dandelions and that pesky weed (what is this thing? it's all over the front garden, and now it's spread to the back)out of the front flower beds





Put peony support in, should have done this earlier (note to self: insert in early April)

Planted two of the three tuberous begonias I bought on Route 20 in a new pot I just bought at Roxbury Mills; this is the triumph of hope over experience, but it's been so long since I've tried tuberous begonias that perhaps a miracle will occur

Laid a bag of river stones along the drainage channel of the new bed, like the effect and will need to buy more; also get some for drainage channel in side front garden




Ordered a rain barrel from the Friends of the Rappahannock, should arrive in three weeks

Picked up two 40-pound bags of mushroom compost at Roxbury just because

Placed the three lilies of the valley and the six dragon-wing begonias on the new bed

Pulled up four stepping stones from the path to the gate and placed them in the new bed leading up to the faucet

A week off is a wonderful thing...

Nor'easter of Ought Seven

We needed the rain...but then the garden floods. I'm thinking about a dry stream bed to border the white garden and somehow lead out the gate to the path.


The back corner always floods.

Here's where the dry stream bed might go.


There needs to be some way to drain the path.

Another spot for the dry stream bed (and that door could use some work!).