adventuresinnativegardening-blog

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Progress

6/4

Hey it’s June and I have been delinquent in my posts. Things have been progressing very well given the rain. Something - maybe a rabbit - came along and decapitated my tomato plant so I bought a new one. This new one is a Brandywine variety. 

My blueberry bushes are getting - you guessed it - berries. Before I can eat them they go to the birds, evidence by their absence and all the purple-hued crap on my patio. Fine by me. I got this stuff mostly for the birds anyway. 

A couple of my trees are dead, and I think they were DOA as they haven’t done anything but turned gray since I put them in the ground. Everything else is thriving, however. I need to take more pictures. 

I went to Laurel Hill Gardens and bought a bunch of native plants yesterday for the front yard, which is badly in need of some attention. I will take photos but for the front by the door I bought a clethra. By the road I planted blue star or amsonia and a muhlenbergia capillaris, or pink muhly. I can’t wait to see this one bloom. 

For the front near our overhang I planted Dutchman’s pipe, which I will train to climb over the front door. 

More backyard progress: 

It looks like a jungle. 

Other than that I’ve been pulling out more invasive plants and doing my best to not overdo it. 

In other news, I discovered I have a tulip tree and some of kind of willow in my front yard. My very sick holly bush which was ravaged by honeysuckle will probably have to go. My husband and I started turning it into firewood this weekend. In its place I’ll probably put a cranberry bush. 

And there’s some kind of mystery vine on my bank. I might have planted it and forgotten I had, or it might be honeysuckle. Everything these days is starting to look like that damn stuff. 

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More to plant = More to water

We’ve hit a dry spell this week, so instead to biking right home and chilling with a delicious Dogfish Head beer, first I have to tend to the new plantings. 

Over the weekend I had guests over, and so was unable to report anything, however there is a lot to report! I’ve made my life more complicated by planting the following shrubs: cranberry bush, chokeberries, elderberry, spicebush, mock orange, clethra. There might be another I’m leaving out. Needless to say I was exhausted after all that planting, made infinitely easier by the help of my awesome husband. 

Here are some photos:

Mock orange (lazy man’s watering method: just poke some holes in a gallon jug and let her rip.)

chokeberry

And also just for fun, the gorgeous azaleas that were here long before I: 

So, more plants = more water. Lesson learned, but I’m excited to see what they end up doing. (Hopefully growing and not dying.)

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Raised bed!

4/28 was beautiful and warm. I picked up a bunch of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, watermelon, and pumpkin and planted them all either in the bed or around the property. 

Pumpkin plant below:

Progress on salad:

Additionally I planted a lilac and tore down more honeysuckle and ripped up more vines. It is hard work not only tearing shit out but also then having to wrap it up in twine. I’ve learned that I should only tear down what I’m then willing to bundle and dispose of. 

I also planted more daffodils, citronella, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, ferns, native geranium for ground cover, and more sedum. All gifts from my MIL.

I have a number of pots to plant and more cardboard to lay down. Maybe if I’ve got the energy I’ll do that today but it’s not likely. The weather isn’t going to be as nice and, wow, am I tired. 

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Stonecrop and mystery trees

4/22/18

Yesterday was beautiful so I did more yard work with my husband, who took down a decrepit fence and more honeysuckle. I pulled more ivy and planted some stonecrop. I was unable to find native, but a blend instead where I think some native might be. 

Above the stonecrop is my hummingbird feeder. Might be a little early for it but whatever. 

I also have this mystery tree on my property that I rescued from certain death by English Ivy. I’m not sure what it is.

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Killing grass

Yesterday I began the long process of killing my grass to make way for the meadow. It’s going to look very ugly out there for a long time, but the payoff will be great. Also, I ran out of landscape stakes so I had to stop. (More are on the way.)

Yesterday I went to the amazing Morris Arboretum where the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. I saw a white tailed hawk, two lovely swans in the pond, mallards, and numerous bluejays and robins. The place is truly a living museum where you can see amazing specimens of flora from all over the world. My favorite trees were the paper bark maples, giant sequoias and redwoods. 

I also got inspired by the beautiful stone crop that grows in the crevices of the stone walls and staircases of the rose garden. I think I’ll be getting that for my stone patio in the back and for the walk in the front. I will try to focus on buying only native species such as sedum ternatum, and sedum spathulifolium though I might break the rules a little if I find something I really love. 

I also started the arduous process of pulling English Ivy from the periphery of my property. I’m hoping to completely eradicate it in the next couple years but I know that’s optimistic. I have a lot of it. 

Rose garden at Morris, not yet in bloom:

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Building symmetry

Kinda...

I’m working on creating a semblance of symmetry in my yard. It won’t be perfect and I don’t want it to be anyway, but the lovely trellis that was kindly left here by the previous owners has pretty much determined that an attempt will be made.

This picture really doesn’t reflect the symmetry at all but it’s getting there, trust me! The seasoned gardner might notice a plant in the picture that’s not native. I’m totally going to bend the rules a little bit here and there and plant non-native on rare occasion, like today where I bought a plant because it draws hummingbirds. 

Today I planted bee balm and goldenrod, below. Goldenrod is in the back because it’s shy.

I watered my trees and shrubs today, too. My blueberries are looking pretty (below). 54 degrees today. Cold but really nice in the sun. 

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I planted more stuff

Yesterday I took an hour and attacked more grape vines and honeysuckle. The grape vines are so aggressive that they’ve managed to even strangle the honeysuckle so it’s a battle between bad vs. worse. The good is my poor cherry tree, which is a little more freed up than it was before, though it will take time to get it to where it should be as I don’t have the right equipment. (I am going to hire an arborist at some point.)

I also fell into the cherry tree when pulling a particularly nasty grape vine off of it. The cherry broke my fall but I definitely hurt my foot. I hope the neighbors weren’t watching.

I planted more stuff: surprise lilies and mountain mint. 

My plan is to kill the grass around it by laying down cardboard. These plants (above) are the first additions to the meadow. I’m doing it a little backward here but my MIL gave me plants I wanted to incorporate, so I’m planting them before the grass is dead. 

Pretty sure I have the L. maackii honeysuckle bush variety on the edge of my lawn. The above is Lonicera, and from what I’ve read it’s native to the Southeastern US. I have a John Wheeler variety and one other I can’t remember. 

Set up the bird bath!

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Beginning

Well, you have to start somewhere. I am fortunate to have a great canvas to start with: .25 acres of land in PA. It’s small, but even a small space like this can become an important place for native flora and fauna. 

Full disclosure: I don’t really know what I’m doing. This is very much a learning experience and a way for me to track my progress as I work to transform my space. 

Last Saturday we had amazing weather. I was out from 10 - 5:30 pulling down overgrown invasive honeysuckle and grape vines that were strangling holly and cherry trees. I have a TON of work to do, but it’s a start. 

Additionally, I planted the following: serviceberry, vibernum, low bush blueberries, polaris blueberries, spicebush and a redbud. My soil is almost entirely clay, as you can see. :(

I’ve learned that it’s good to have different varieties of blueberries growing together to promote berry growth. I’ve also learned that digging holes is a lot of work and to buy small gallon plants if I can be patient. Seriously, that was a lot of digging. This stuff better not die. 

I’ve also started up salad seeds in an aeroponic container in the basement. 

I’m also composting! 

(Conspicuous compost tumbler, which I’ve since moved to a better location)

Some of the sources I’m using on this adventure are Doug Tallamy’s amazing book: Bringing Nature Home and Attracting Native Pollinators from the Xerces Society. Also, an enormous amount of knowledge and hands-on assistance is coming from my amazing mother-in-law and my husband. I couldn’t fumble through this without them. 

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!