South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping

For most folks, when friends come to visit for a couple of days they’ll send a little note of thanks when they get home. When your friend is a garden blogger, they’ll blog about your garden.

My friend and English garden tour travel partner, Layanee, did just that, posting about my garden here on her lovely blog Ledge and Gardens.

The Woodland Garden and, we hope, future Moss Garden

It’s very interesting to see someone else tell the story of your garden through their eyes with their camera. It was Layanee’s first visit here, although she has seen many photos of my garden over the years on this blog. As we walked around the winter devastation she said more than once, “I haven’t seen this view!”

I particularly appreciated Layanee’s view of what we are currently calling the Woodland Garden. Our hope is that over the years moss will cover this area to create a serene and green woodland setting. On Layanee’s advice, we cleared the underbrush and hauled in and spread about 10 tons of stone dust. (Well, “we” didn’t do it. My 6’4, 180 lb 20-year-old son did it.) The stone dust will keep down the weeds and provide a surface for the moss to grow.

It’s nice to have friends in the horticulture business who can give you free advice!  By the way, you can get your own free advice from Layanee and her radio partner, Sam, by calling into their Sunday morning radio show, “Garden Guys.” You’ll have to find your own strong 20-year-old to do the heavy lifting.

Winter is not the best time to visit my garden, but Layanee kept reassuring me that she could see the “bones.” I do hope that she returns when things are growing and green. Better yet, come visit around July or August when I could use an extra pair of hands weeding it all!

Layanee with my little dogs, Sarah and Sophie

Thank you, Layanee, for a wonderful visit and such a kind thank you note.

Robin

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Filed in: Blogging, Garden Design, Gardening, Gardening Life, Trees

Article source: http://www.bumblebeeblog.com/2012/01/21/when-friends-come-to-visit/

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I thought I would post something a little more appropriate to the season this morning, even if the season has been completely upside down, backwards, and inside out. And might I add that the conifers were particularly beautiful in the early twilight last night? Walking around and between the earth-broaching stone by the sleeping Azalea Garden–just before sunset–is a lesson in zen, as of late.

I recommend it.

Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’) — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Tags: Blue Atlas Cedar, Morning Eye Candy, New York Botanical Garden, NYBG

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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2012/01/photography/morning-eye-candy-blue-atlas/

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Over the weekend I tackled more prep work in the vegetable garden. I’ve already planted several things in the raised beds including onions, potatoes, lettuce, and spinach but planting wasn’t the main weekend task. One of the things I really didn’t like about my vegetable garden is now officially a thing of the past – the grass! In each of my garden layouts I’ve had issues with a grass pathway down the middle of the garden.  It required me to bring in the mower each week to cut the grass down to walkable heights and I decided that this year I would make things easier in the long run. I laid down pieces of cardboard over the grass and covered them with mulch to completely smother the grass that was still present underneath. Hauling all that mulch into the vegetable garden wasn’t fun but the overall time and work involved will be much less in the future.

As I can I’ll convert the mulch pathway to either stepping stones, bricks, or a combination of both. Only two things stand in the way of that: money and time. When you have the money you don’t have the time and when you have the time you don’t have the money! Mulch was the cheapest option even though it will need replaced eventually. Ultimately I’d like to see a steppable ground cover like elfin thyme in between paving stone cracks. We’ll see, I might change my mind again!

Hopefully the vegetable garden layout I have planned will be very efficient and allow me much more room for growing vegetables. I’ve noticed that each year my vegetable garden ideas get bigger and bigger and my allotted garden space hasn’t. That means that my vegetable garden must grow! That’s a given isn’t it? I may need to expand the garden back another 8 feet to allow for more raised beds, or at least some in ground vegetable beds that could house corn or beans.

You may have noticed some randomly shaped paving stones in the picture. Those are broken remains from another project. They work pretty good as paving stones which gave me the idea to randomly add more and more stones as I could to form the walkway through the vegetable garden. I hope to replace the beds on the right and left with larger beds made from stone or concrete blocks. Not the gray cinder block kind but something nicer, like what you would use for a patio or retaining wall project. When the garden is 100% finished (yeah right) I want it to be a feature of my yard that draws the eye.

The long raised bed to the left of the picture is where the potatoes are this year. Carrots and bush beans will make excellent companion plantings for the potato plants. The raised bed to the left only has garlic and cilantro in it right now but will most likely end up with a tomato or two planted there. I’m toying with the idea of a trellis to go over the walkway from the second raised bed to its twin across the pathway. Cucumbers would cover the trellis.

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I think it’s important for anyone interested in gardening to visit the local garden shows every now and then. Nashville’s Lawn and Garden Show was this past weekend and I stopped up to pay a visit. Overall it was a nice show but I have to say I wasn’t as impressed with it as I was last year. The display gardens of last year seemed more creative and unique while the vendor selection was a little better. Most likely it’s because of our current lackluster economy. Despite that fact there were still a few things that I found worthy of mentioning – and a for taking a few pictures!

The Gardens of Babylon had this demonstration garden set up for aquaponics. Aquaponics is a growing system that uses fish and plants together to sustain each other. The fish water feeds the plants which helps them to grow.

Espalier displays could be seen in several areas. Espalier is a very cool pruning technique but I have to say it takes more time to do it properly than I would be willing to spend. It would definitely be worthwhile for someone with just a little gardening area who wanted to grow fruit trees.

There were lots of water features.

Many of the display gardens featured edible plants. In this picture there are several kinds of spring vegetables.

Need a new ornament to add to your front garden? Why not try this big head made from carved wood? Bring that Easter Island feel to your garden! I would put one in but then my neighbors would just say that I had a big head…

If you’re crazy about eights you might try growing your vegetables in a figure 8 planting bed! Who 8 the garden?

I liked how this garden with the Japanese maple spilled out from the stone bed and poured out the tulips.  The stone walkway was a nice feature as well.

Of all the water features I thought the following two were the most creative. This first one was made from several hypertufa leaf castings put together into a multi-tiered fountain.

This other water feature was actually built into a rustic table. The water spilled out from the side of the table into a small pool with a few water plants.

It was a good show but not as strong as in the past. When I go to a garden show I expect to see something new, something creative, or something very unique and I really didn’t get that feeling this year. If you want to see a list of the display gardens and who made them you should check out the display garden page.

What was the most unique garden display you’ve observed at a garden show?

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The daffodils are officially in bloom here in my Tennessee Garden! Every year I like to mark the beginning of the daffodil blooms as it is one of the many signs of spring. (Coming very soon: Forsythia) It’s hard not to get excited about spring’s arrival after such a cold winter isn’t it? The first daffodil of 2009 was photographed and posted on February 12th! Very early while the first daffodil of 2010 didn’t shine until March 17th. It looks like we’re right in the middle this year with February 25th!

This year the daffodils in the birdbath garden are the first ones to appear in full bloom.  You’ll notice that the birdbath is actually that copper piece of metal resting beside the daffodils. Looks like it’s time to solder. 

These daffodils are planted among some daylilies. You can see the fans emerging in nearly every garden.

Also appearing in the birdbath garden are the hyacinths. These were from Valentine’s Day of 2008 and were transplanted in the fall to the birdbath garden. Originally they were three but the bulbs multiplied of the the years into more than 12.  Some are planted here and others are planted on the other side of the garden.

The stone edges of the birdbath garden bed needs cleaned up before the chickweed invades! At least it’s an easy weed to pull, you can even eat it, or so I’ve been told!

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The weather this past weekend was perfect for outdoor gardening activities! Unfortunately we are still a good six weeks away from safe outdoor planting and many of the tasks on my long term spring agenda need to wait until the frosts are done, but there is always something that can be done! Garden preparation!

By far the biggest job my garden requires in mulching. It’s essential. Mulch keeps the weeds at bay, keeps the water from evaporating from the soil too quickly, breaks down and feeds the soil, and looks pretty spiffy too! On Saturday I picked up two yards of mulch and began the cleanup and mulch process. Each ornamental garden bed was weeded, edged (I did that prior to this weekend), and mulched with a fresh layer of hardwood mulch. You can use stone mulch if you like but I always prefer the organic mulches that feed the soil. It’s more work since you need to add more each year but as the mulch breaks down the soil quality improves. When you have heavy clay soil that extra organic matter is a major asset.

Two yards of mulch and 6 garden beds later – not to mention one sore back – my front gardens were prepared for growing. The front porch garden is ready. The daffodils are springing up fast. I still need one more ‘Otto Luyken’ Cherry laurel to complete the evergreen backdrop. The crape myrtle on the left will be gorgeous this year – it has no choice… One problem with this bed is the natural stone border. I love the natural look but the stones tend to sink quickly into the grass once the growing season starts and they become hard to see, even after trimming. We may have a solution: I’ll buy some cheap concrete cap stones about 4 inches thick as a bottom layer to raise up the natural stones. No one will see the concrete and the natural stones will remain above grade to give us that natural stone border look.

The front sidewalk is cleaned up now. The scraggly sprigs of stuff on the right are the leftover stalks of the salvia. To the left is my winter jasmine just barely making the shot. I still need to trim the yews – I just ran out of time. 

One newer bed that received a mulching is the one under this Bradford pear tree. The pear tree is slated for removal soon but we thought we would give it one more bloom before cutting it down. This bed already had irises, agastache, penstemon, and a viburnum. 

My goal is to get all this mulching stuff done way before warm weather comes. That way I can simply enjoy the garden and maintain it rather than work myself to exhaustion – but most likely I’ll end up getting myself into some other project!

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Oh I know, I’m keenly aware of the Superbowl coming up but this post has nothing to do with it. You see Saturday is destined to be a day outdoors – nothing short of the weather forecasters getting it completely wrong can stop that. We all know that never happens…

The temperatures are said to finally be reaching the 50′s! I even heard on forecaster mention the words “approaching the 60′s.”  Needless to say I’m looking forward to spending some quality time outdoors with the rake, the shovel, the wheelbarrow, the shed, the garage, and any other activity that I can find to do in the great outdoors.

Where am I going to start?
Here’s the Weekend Garden Gameplan:

1. The Vegetable Garden

• Remove four of the small 2×4 beds and replace the old 4′x8′ bed with these. 
• Put in the stone retaining wall circle raised bed for the center of the garden.
• Lay down cardboard over the still grass covered walkways
• clean out the old tomato branches and get those beds ready for planting!

2. Birdbath garden

• lay down mulch over the small expansion I did in the fall. 

3. The yard

• Plant a maple tree – still have on in a pot in need of a home!
• bring compost to the compost bin and give it a turn – or two.
• Prune while I can still see all the branches. Pruning trees while dormant is usually the best time but don’t prune spring flowering trees unless you want to remove the blooms – can’t figure out why you would want to do that though!
• Move a magnolia! That little plant I started from seed still needs a home.

4. The Shed

• water anything that needs watered
• general cleanup
• move some boxes away from the windows so that more light can come through.

5.  The garage

• clean it
• clean it
• clean it
• did I say clean it?

Now I wonder if the odds makers in Vegas have set the line Dave vs The Chores? Doubtful…

Who’s your money on?

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What can I say really? It’s January and my vegetable garden is awfully sad. The winter air has been colder than Tennessee cold should be.  If I were by myself I might be brave enough to get outdoors but bringing my almost 7 month old son outdoors during the day really isn’t an option. He’ll get his fill of gardening for sure but not in 30 degree weather. Needless to say many projects that I would love to have tackled already are going to require some patience.

Take for instance the tomato beds from 2010:

One project I really want to get going is the vegetable garden remodel, maybe I can in February. You can see some of the stone ready to go for the center circle bed. I really can’t wait to get out there and start moving dirt!

There isn’t much to show in the garden right now. Some garlic, some strawberries, and some cilantro. One of these days I’ll get around to building that hoop house to keep year round spinach. Maybe in 2011?

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The other day I posted about the next evolution of my garden on its way to becoming a more formalized vegetable garden. Today I’ll show you the layout of what I hope the vegetable garden will eventually become. There are some distinct advantages to the layout changes that I am planning on making that I’ll share with you below the diagram of the vegetable garden layout.

First a Short Description of the Vegetable Garden:
I want to divide the garden into 4 main sections that curve around a center circle bed. Each bed will be lined with retaining wall blocks (most likely cast concrete) to define the beds and keep the soil inside. The central path and circle path in the middle will be approximately 4 feet wide. The pathways to the left and right will end with a couple of large pots filled with herbs as an edible exhibit. The corner beds will be 12 feet long on the outside edges and about 6 feet long along the straight edges of the pathway. Stepping stones will be placed inside each garden bed to allow easy access to the areas hard to reach from the pathway.

Vegetable Garden Layout in Parterre Style

The Advantages of this Layout:

• It divides the garden into four main beds which is ideal for organizational purposes when you are considering crop rotation. 
• The 4 ft. wide pathways give easy access to wheel barrows and equipment and make maneuvering around the garden a piece of cake. 
• The stone edged beds won’t rot like my wooden beds have. They can also be stacked higher to make deeper raised beds. My plan is to begin with one layer and add more height over time as needed.
• Stone borders will also heat up faster and retain heat over the night hours which may improve the length of the growing season some. In the summer the stones will be shielded by the foliage and won’t absorb as much heat.

The Implementation of My Scheme (Scheme sounds a bit more dramatic than “plan” doesn’t it?):
Rome wasn’t built in a day neither will this garden be. Over time I can add the stone borders for the raised beds. The first step will be to make the circle bed in the middle and mulch the remaining grass area.  That stone is already resting in the vegetable garden waiting for the gardener to get with it! Fortunately (for the garden but not our budget) we just had to replace our refrigerator and I saved the box for use as a weed blocker in the vegetable garden. I’ll lay the cardboard down and mulch over the top which should be all I need to get rid of the grass. The cardboard will last through this season and maybe some of 2012 before it completely disintegrates into the soil. I may sneak some newspapers underneath it for good measure and to recycle the newspaper – we sure have enough of it stored in the garage!

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Another year comes and guess what – I make more changes to my vegetable garden! I haven’t done anything yet but below you’ll see what I intend to change from last year’s vegetable garden design. This is step one in altering my garden into what will eventually become an awesome parterre layout. I can envision it now – brick lined paving stone paths, elegant raised beds, integrated companion plantings with flowers spilling over the edges of the stone lined raised beds. Can you see it?

For now the changes will be small. According to the 2010 Vegetable Garden Layout I had four raised beds flanking either side of the central path. For 2011 I’ll be moving those out and replacing the worn out raised bed in the lower right corner with the four smaller beds to make one large bed. In the center of the garden will be a circular garden bed. Nearby I plan to use some rather large pots I rescued from the dump to create herb planters. I’m planning on spray painting the outsides with a metallic paint to dress them up a bit then plant various herbs or flowers in the large pots.

The center circle bed will be made from stone blocks I already have on hand. The brown/tan coloring on the other beds represents the wood that will eventually need replaced.

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