Goodbye Old Friend

A sad day in the garden. A major feature of the garden was removed this week. 

The large shrub at the eastern end of the garden was taken down. This shrub, which had become more tree-like, was actually a Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus). It was growing on the neighboring property and was part of what had become a hedge row. 

When we first moved into this house over 20 years ago, it was growing up against a garden shed. After the construction of the garage and the moving of the shed, the bush began to grow quickly, especially since it had more direct access to sunlight. 

Shrub, seen directly behind me pre-fence

Eventually, I built the fence, but the shrub continued to grow. At that point, I took control of the shrub and began to trim and shape it so that it conformed to the garden plan. Nine years later I had created a spectacular shrub/tree, one that I came to admire. 

Unfortunately, I did too good a job. Although shaped to compliment the fence, the canopy continued to grow. Not only did it grow in height, it also spread far across the fence line. At first it looked great, but more recently the canopy had become so large that it was beginning to produce too much shade over the west end of the garden above Buddha. Plants in the area were begging to show signs that they were not receiving enough sunlight. Even the Hosta were suffering.

Shrub, as seen overtopping the fence line behind gate

Although I had decided earlier this year that the shrub would have to go during the fall, it was the death of my neighbor that necessitated its departure. My neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had come to appreciate my garden and landscaping efforts. During the summer months, I would see him on almost a daily basis. If he saw me out working on the yard or garden he would come out and we would talk at length. When he passed away I was saddened. I had come to look forward to our chats. He was a good friend and neighbor. After his passing, his son gave my permission to remove the shrub/tree. Even so, I had been putting off the removal, not wanting to undo all the hard work and effort I had employed to foster such a beautiful specimen. 

This fall, the shrub was looking as good as ever as the color began to change.

Finally, the property going up for sale hastened the necesity to move forward. 

Now gone the garden seems different. With fall upon us and the leaves almost gone, its too difficult to see what the impact will be. Only spring will tell. I am hopeful that the remaining hedge row of Euonymus alatus can begin to fill in the void without crowding or over-topping the fence line. 

In the end I am sad over the losses of this season. However, I also realize that old friends never die, as long as the living keep them in their hearts and memories.

October Ablaze

Between October 21 and 25, the dwarf maples exploded with fall colors. 

This year the colors were very bright, especially compared to last year. 

We also had a small bit of snowfall which hastened the falling of the leaves. However, in the first few days the trees looked fantastic. By November 1 leaves were everywhere, but in the Moon Window my little sick dwarf maple was still hanging in there. The color looked good and I am hopeful that it might survive the transplant long term and eventually do well in this more shady location. In the meantime, the colors look wonderful when viewed through the window.

The Circle of Life

I decided to make a few major changes in the garden today, all of which stem from the need to do something to save the Red Select Japanese Maple (Acer palmate dissect 'Red Select') in the Stroll Garden area. 

This poor tree has been sickly ever since I planted him in the location along the neighbor's fence line. The soil is terrible, mostly sand, and in the midst of summer there was simply too much sunlight falling on the tree. It had started off the season with a good comeback after the following year, when I though it was about to die. However, it had suffered a great deal during late July and August of this year when the heat further reduced his foliage. It needed to be moved to a place with less direct sunlight. Problem is, I don't really have anywhere else to place it, or so I thought.

The other problem that was bothering me was the Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) I had planted behind the Moon Window. 

This bamboo has been there for years, and thrived in the shady area. I'm not sure why, but this bamboo never turned out the way I thought. Everything I read about it said that as a clumping Bamboo it can grow as high as 7-10 feet. That just never happened. I have other plants of the same variety elsewhere in the garden and they also did not grow tall. Instead, they grow out, more like a ground cover. 

It could be related to how I have maintained them. Each winter the shoots seem to die off and I cut them back in the early spring to make room for new shoots. They always fill back in and look great starting in late August/early September. However, they have never grown tall, at least not after the first couple of years when I first planted them. I don't know why this occurred.

Moon Window, 2011

Moon Window, 2014

Moon Window, 2016

So, my problem with the Bamboo behind the Moon Window (and off property) was that it never really filled in the view through the window. It did the first couple of seasons, but over the last few years it always left the view open to the wood lot behind - not very interesting to behold.

So, I decided to move the bamboo elsewhere and make way for the placement of the Japanese maple in its place. The more shady area will help the maple thrive. The soil here is also different than the sandy soil along the Stroll Garden area.

However, to begin, I had to find a place to relocate the bamboo. First, the plant had grown very wide over the years. As a result, I decided that I would have to split it into several plants. Given its size, this would prove difficult. I had to make sure that I saved enough of the root system for each of the shoots. I was able to split the plant into four sections - one large and three smaller sections.

I then plated the large section along the side of the garden shed on the other side the yard, near the vegetable garden. 

This spot is relatively shady and protected from direct sunlight. The remaining sections I dispersed behind the shed, two along the new fence, and one just at the corner of the back of the shed. 

I had an additional small bamboo plant I had moved into a bucket a couple weeks back that I also placed at the opposite end of the shed near the gate.

These plants will get a bit more sunlight here, especially late in the day. I'm a bit worried about this because these plants prefer shade in the afternoon, and I am doing the exact opposite. Problem is, I have no where else to plant them at this time. If they seem to be doing poorly in the future, I can move them once again.

Now that the Bamboo was moved, I was free to place the Japanese maple in the location behind the Moon Window. 

It will be off property, but I can only hope the neighbor doesn't mind. To date, he does not appear to show any interest in what I do along the fence. If anything, this might prove to be an improvement from his view.

If the Maple survives the move, it may have a chance to thrive here. Given that it already has very little foliage, I might be able to shape it to be more like a Bonzai than a Maple. I will not cut any of the existing stems or limbs at this time. I will wait until next year, giving it a chance to get established, before I clean him up. 

It's shape does provide more interest in the window, but I will need to be careful over time to ensure it grows away from the fence and window. Given its stem structure and the position in which I planted it, that should prove to be easy.

All I can do now is cross my fingers and hope that all this transplanting goes well. I will discover the outcome next spring. Next, I have to find a solution for the spot where the maple once stood in the Stroll Garden.

More Mulch

Had some left over mulch from the mulch used to improve the bed alongside the Stroll Garden, so I used it to fix up some of the plants throughout the garden.

I have been concerned that some of the plants are not doing well because they are planted in the midst of peastone. I wanted to create small mulch circles around them (some older plants, some newer ones) so that they would benefit from the decaying matter on top.

The two dwarf Azaleas along side the inner front gate entrance are a good example. The leaf color has been off all year, and they have grown in a very sparse way. Most likely this is a combination of not enough sunlight and poor soil quality.

Currently, the peastone is not helping the soil around the plants to become nutrient rich. I also do not want to depend too heavily on fertilizers for these plants, so the mulch should go a long way to help. 

It also looks nicer as well. The trick will be to keep the surrounding peastone out of the mulch beds.

Covered with Moss

May my lord's life endure
A thousand generations,
Eight thousand generations,
Until a pebble
Becomes a boulder
Covered with moss.
- Kimigayo, Japanese National Anthem

I've been working on the small moss islands in the Stroll Garden all summer (see April 17 post). 

The small island was planted with moss from my wife's vegetable garden. 

I am not sure what type of moss this is, but it was dark and clumpy. It was also not very pleasing to the eye. 

The larger island was planted with a combination of moss I had harvest from the edge of the garden near the wood lot and some left over moss from the vegetable garden. They did not go well together. Also, I didn't have enough to complete the entire bed, so I waited all summer for moss to grow elsewhere so that I could transplant it into the final 30% that was left unplanted. 

spring, 2016

I am not sure why, probably a combination of increased shade and daily watering, but the Zen garden is beginning to produce large quantities of moss throughout. I don't mind this so much, but I don't want it to take over completely. As a result, I had plenty of moss that I could extract and relocate to the larger Island.

First, I removed the moss that had been planted from the vegetable garden. Doing so allowed me to plant a similar variety of moss in its place. This moss is more green and bright, especially when wet.

I now have the bed completely filled. There is a bit of difference with some areas in terms of color and texture, and indication I am mixing different varieties of moss. However, it definitely looks better than the previous mix.

Most of this moss survived through the hot and dry summer, so I am hopeful that it will remain intact and healthy following the winter into next season. 

Perhaps in the future I can harvest enough to transform the smaller island, but for now, I like the look of the different moss.

Iron Butterfly

The Butterfly Narrow-Leaf Ironweed (Verononia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly') I planted last fall began to bloom over the last week. The plant had been growing steadily all summer, but the purple flowers that have now bloomed have added some very nice interest to the garden.

This area along the see through fence has really turned out nice. having a sunny spot in the garden with colorful flowers finally has helped to add something other than green to the garden.

Fall Mulch

After finishing the work on the curved bed alongside the stroll garden it needed to be covered with a layer of mulch. I don't like to mulch in the early fall unless necessary. In this case, I thought it was best to give the plants a bit of protection before we head into the winter. There is still plenty of time for weeds to take root, so the mulch will go a long way to keep weeds from getting a foothold. It should also help to retain some moister as the plants establish their roots.

I am very pleased with how the bed has turned out and remain hopeful that these plantings will work. We will see how things look in the spring.

The only drawback is that the cinder block foundation is even more exposed than before. I had always hoped to just hide the foundation with plants. However, it may be time to consider having the foundation covered with a more appealing stone.