Blue, green and yellow spreading junipers on the slope put all worries about erosion in the past. Any area they haven’t filled in yet, lambs’ ears are temporarily doing the job. Behind them, highbush blueberries are also loving the sunny slope. On the right is the red maple, on the left, a willow (perhaps a Bebb willow, not sure). In the back are dappled willow and Juniperus virginiana (eastern redcedar).
Tag: juniper
West Side
New additions to the west side, just about all are evergreens. Chamaecyparis pisifera (golden mop false cypress) is the only non-native among bayberry, Eastern redcedar, and white pine.
Preventing Erosion
Beautiful little bluestem and Indian grasses wave in the wind, while junipers also prevent runoff. The darker color is normal for junipers this time of year. The lambs ears are simply doing a great job filling in any blank spots, fewer each year.
Cedar-Apple Rust
Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae again. These are the things that later turn bright orange in the spring rain and cause red spots on apples and crabapples. Though it does not appear to harm the junipers, I cut hundreds of these things out of our Eastern redcedars (Juniperus virginiana), as many as I could reach.
The Former Knotweed Area
It’s just unbelievable that this area was once the thickest area of the densest, deepest and most monstrous Japanese knotweed rhizomes I’ve ever seen, over 8′ tall. You could not walk through it or see through it.
Now, it’s planted with a grove of Betula nigra (river birch) and one Ulmus americana (Princeton elm). The cedar, juniper and pines in the background are very happy also. Walker’s Low catmint loves the sunny slope. My favorite, though, is the Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), in the foreground. Years ago, I scattered seed in this area, and it’s still coming up.
I don’t think of common milkweed as a weed at all. It’s beautiful, it has great architecture and its scent is heavenly. It does great things for insects (hence birds also) and butterflies. Last year when we had a resident groundhog family, the young shoots were their favorite food. Once we had milkweed coming up, the groundhogs left our salvias alone!
Inkberry – Ilex glabra
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.
Slope is Stabilizing
Low-growing junipers, highbush blueberries, ajugas and willows help prevent erosion on this steep slope. We let last year’s seed heads remain on the little bluestem grasses. In the center, a highly-pruned red maple starts to leaf out along with red-twig dogwood, right. Between them, closer to the pond are alders and viburnums.