Author: Susan
Inspiration from the U.K.
In November, there were few visitors at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, SW of London. Nothing’s blooming that time of year, however, it’s a great time to see “the bones.”
The Second Order of Dozens of Trees and Shrubs
In October of 2012, we placed our second large order of trees and shrubs:
10 Green Mountain Boxwood – mostly for the front of the house
10 Sargent Crabapple (Malus coronaria ) – a N. American native
10 Moonglow Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) – a N. American native
10 Wichita Blue Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) – a N. American native
10 American Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) – native, great for all
10 Northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) – another great native
10 Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) – great native
10 American Scarlet Elder (Sambucus pubens) – native
5 Mugo Pines (Pinus mugo pumilio) – could survive on the slope
It was a challenge getting all these plants into the ground, during a busy fall season at work. Plus, during Thanksgiving week, we went away, so there was no time to catch up. I was planting things in the dark the week before we left!
September 2012 – Visit from Conservation Expert
The Conservation Department in our town is incredibly helpful. Today, its director came over for another walk-through, to see the all progress that we’ve made. We appreciate all the useful information he’s able to offer. It’s also great to have someone acknowledge all that we’ve done, and who really understands what you need to do to obtain these kind of results.
Fall 2012 – Sale Plants
We’re pretty desperate to repopulate our slope with plants of various sizes. We’re aiming for a balanced mixture of small trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers.
When we order plants, we try to order a lot, and then plant them in various spots we think they might be happy, and then see how they actually work where they were sited, over time. It’s good to order numbers of things also, since not all will survive.
The fall is a great time to pick up plants on sale. Each fall, I try to hit the big garden places and pick over what they’ve got left. Twice, I found Clethra alnifolia (summersweet) this way. Otherwise, clethras can be pretty expensive. In fall of 2012 I also acquired:
1 Sweet Autumn Clematis – W side of nursery area
1 Phlox Paniculata Eva Cullum – garden phlox – mid slope, close to “lawn”
1 Vaccinum Macrocarpum “WSU” American Cranberry – W slope dappled sunlight
3 Monarda didyma “Bee Balm” “Fireball” – slope E side, closer to pond
Northern Black Racer?
Junipers and Arborvitaes Instead of “Lawn”
Teeny tiny young arborvitaes and junipers are planted in what used to be a “lawn.” It hadn’t really been a lawn of grass. Though it was kept mowed most of the time, calling it a lawn would have been stretching it. We don’t really need a lawn there, anyway. The turtles, snakes and groundhogs seem to prefer the plants, also!
Looking Across the Slope Toward the East in July, 2012
To the left of this large willow, we discovered another small (and non-invasive!) shrub. You can barely see the tiny young groundcover junipers. In the lower right is a variegated red twig dogwood I got for a great price at good ‘ole Costco.
Native Birch Tree Grove Planted Over Knotweed Area
From the first big plant order, we sited 3 Betula nigras on the slope, over the area where the knotweed infestation used to be. I hope to add more in the future, of these beautiful NE native trees. They’re just whips in this photo; see the round circles of mulch around them:
Young Princeton Elm Newly Planted on Slope
