LandRemedy Blog – Page 15 – How We're Restoring Our Landscape

May 2014 – Healthier Pond Without Phragmites

It sure is nice to see the pond without any phragmites, dead or alive!

photo of pond — White ash, blue point juniper, river birch, elm, dogwood. Sensitive fern on far side of pond.

May 2014 – Things are Looking Up

photo of plants on slope — Evergreens, purple salvia, willow, eastern red cedar, lilac, campion

May 2014 – Buckthorn, Revisited

The east side of our property still has buckthorn and bittersweet.

photo of invasives and trillium — Think that 3-leaved plant at the bottom of this photo is poison ivy? Actually it isn’t. It’s a desirable native trillium.

photo of brush — Some pretty huge branches were removed that day.

photo of bench — After I hauled away these invasive things, there was actually a place to sit afterwards, to rest.

May 2014 – Lookin’ Good

photo of garden, W slope — The slope where the knotweed once was is looking much better these days.

May 2014 – Knotweed Recedes in Importance

photo of weeds — Knotweed resprouts are not as numerous as other undesirable interlopers we weed from the slope these days.

photo of knotweed — A wimpy knotweed resprout. Its days were numbered.

photo of dogwood, knotweed — These resprouts, in front of the silky dogwood, managed to get taller. We removed as much of their rhizome as possible.

April 2014 – Phragmites Revisited, Again

The east end of the pond is the shallowest. One day, the wind blew all the dead stalks into that area, so I gathered up as many as I could into piles. Then someone with more muscles came along with the tarp or tractor, and hauled them over to the burn pile.

photo of stalks — More dead phragmites stalks

another photo of dead stalks — More dead phragmites stalks

photo of dead phragmites — When they’re wet, they’re heavy, so I make smaller piles.

photo of another pile — another pile of dead phragmites

photo of alders — Pruned alders at the pond’s E end

November 2013 – What a Turkey!

photo of turkeys — Actually, two turkeys! A rafter of 5 browsed our front yard that day.

Sawfly Larvae on River Birch

Rather than use chemicals, I hit these up with a good stiff spray of water from the hose, and they all went flying off. I hope this works!

September 2013 – Phragmites, Revisited

At the end of the summer, the level of the pond has gone down, exposing more dead phragmites stalks, and some new resprouts. There is so much of this dead material! We’ve got to get as much out as possible. It’s hard work!

photo of phragmites again — North side of pond, dead phragmites stalks and some green ones that dare to still be alive.

photo of progress — Later that day. Making some progress.

photo of frog — This frog kept me company.

Inspiration from Canterbury

Through happy circumstances, we ended up in England twice within one year!

photo of willow — You could tell that some old willows had been pollarded for years.

photo of pollard — Looking up from deep within a willow, at a thick, pollarded branch