These asters volunteered to spring up in between the branches of alder. Glad they made the cut when I brought the weed whacker through this area. When they’re little they can be difficult to pick out and identify, along with everything else that grows next to the pond.
Now that their leaves have dropped, the “Heritage” river birches are showing off their beautiful bark. We planted these in 2012, if I remember correctly. They sit right over where some of the densest knotweed rhizomes were.
In the foreground is viburnum, bayberry, sweetfern and a dogwood. The dogwood and two of its buddies have had their roots pruned in anticipation of being transplanted next spring.
A branch of a small (about 12′ tall) tree, a volunteer on the north (rocky) side of the pond. We think it may be a winterberry holly.
This may not look like much, but it’s important. The plants immediately bordering the pond (dogwoods, pussy willows, elm) remain unmowed for the winter. A strip that contained some wildflowers (milkweeds, asters, daisies, goldenrods, etc.) yet also some invasives (mainly field bindweed, or mile-a-minute) benefits from being mowed.
Next to the pond is an unmown “buffer” strip. This time of year it presents interesting colors of pollinator-friendly asters, native daisies, grasses, goldenrod, ferns, cattails, Virginia creeper vines that have turned partially red, and myriad others. Hopefully we’ve gotten out a majority of the errant and invasive docks, loosestrife and phragmites.
We planted several plants inkberries and this one’s the happiest. I love how the bluish tint of the lambs’ ears picks up on the water and the blue sky. The lambs’ ears are not native, however, they’ve been a huge help to fill in spots and prevent erosion on the dry, sandy slope where the junipers haven’t had a chance to fill in yet. To their right, upslope, is a patch of highbush blueberries.
The larger trees are mostly Eastern Red Cedar, white pine, quaking aspen, ash, chokecherry, elm and birch. In the middle ground are viburnum, magnolia, redbud, juniper and red twig dogwoods, and at left, willows and false spiraea. On the right, a burgundy-colored ninebark shrub was planted last fall. We’re also letting the staghorn sumac come up here because it’s great at stabilizing the slope. The alliums and irises are blooming.
We use wood chips on the pathway only; they don’t work for the slope, because they just get washed away. Note the wood chip pile beyond the pond. You can never have too many wood chips! For the steep slope, we try to use a combination of compost and mulch that has fragments that kind of hook into each other, so it won’t simply slide down.
Just for the sake of comparison, here’s what it looked like 6 years ago, in May of 2011, when it was overrun by knotweed and phragmites (and multiflora rose, bittersweet and buckthorn):
The pond is at its high water mark on a misty day. Beyond the pond, on the left, is an area I’ve been planting a native corridor for wildlife cover. Formerly, it was full of invasives, along with an old fence, shack and sunken backhoe. Quite improved now, from a human perspective also!
Just for jollies, here’s what it looked like 6 years ago, in May of 2011:
One morning we woke up to find an otter swimming in the pond!