Purple Paradise

As the month of May winds down, the Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans, 'Burgundy Glow') in the garden was bringing some much needed early color to the garden.

It has taken a couple of years after transplanting these plants from elsewhere in the garden to finally fill in the area in front of Buddha and near the Gazebo end of the garden's south side. 

The purple color looks fantastic. In another years time both areas should be completely filled in. At that point I can take clippings and starting adding elsewhere (I have to be careful to keep it in controllable areas so that it does not spread out of control. Also, if you look closely in the picture above, you will see a small Japanese Painted Fern growing at the base of the rock wall. This appeared on its own, blown in last season from an existing plant no doubt. I have decided to let it grow, along with several others that appeared elsewhere. If they get too big over time, I can always relocate.

Additions and Changes

As spring gets underway, despite the extreme changes in temperature, I added some new planting and made some long put-off changes.

I decided to add one more Variegated Japanese Forest Grass plant to the base of the lantern. I know that they will all grow to a much fuller size in the future, but in the meantime I added the fourth plant I purchased to the base to fill it in better for this season. I can relocate it later as all the plants continue to grow.

I was also concerned about the Variegated Stonecrop (Sedum 'Veriegatum') I had planted last year in the corner between these grasses and the spirea. So, I moved it closer to the door step and replaced it with part of the Happy Returns Daylily (Hemerocallis) I spit from within the garden - although these were originally dwarf lilies, over the years they have grown substantially. I moved one plant last year. This year I split them again, leaving half behind near their original location and moving the other half to this corner. I also reworked some of the stones in the garden around these daylillies and the Beatlemania Mophead Grass.

Additionally, I split some of the hosta in the garden that had become too full last year. I moved them to different locations throughout the garden.

I also added some flowering annuals in different locations - White New Guinea Impatiens, Yellow Tuberous Begonia, and Scarlet Dahlia. If I can keep the slugs away, they might add some much needed color.

A Foundation of Grass

As the Black Eyed Susan I planted at the base of the meter lantern began to appear, I remembered that I wanted to remove them. Last year I noticed that they did not flower as much as I would have liked. Also, every time I rolled out the garden hose, they would get crushed. 

So, I decided to pick up some Variegated Japanese Forest Grass to place in the location instead. Over time the grass should do a better job of covering over the base of the lantern box and the stones at the base. The Black Eyed Susan plants never really filled in as I had hoped. Initially, I purchased four grass plants, but I chose to plant only three. 

These grass plants have the potential of getting large over time, up to 24 inches in width. That should prove enough to fill the base, but it may take a year or two.

Moss Garden

...you had never dreamed of such green, 
such shades, such softness
velvet elegance in the dappled light of afternoon...
Jan Haag

It finally warmed up enough to start some early spring clean-up and planting. After raking up many twigs and branches that fell into the garden and across the property, I was able to get to work on transplanting moss.

Moss had been growing in my wife's vegetable garden since last fall, and also along the edge of the back yard where water drains from some sump-pump pipes. It was relatively easy to collect the moss and transplant it into the two beds within the stroll garden on the far side of the garage.

These two beds were created a couple years back when I reworked this area. At the time, I didn't have a lot of moss to fill in the two small beds. Instead, I just placed mulch there. I never liked the way the mulch looked and hoped that I would one day be able to plant some moss. After my trip to Japan last summer, I was motivated to make it happen - some of the moss gardens I saw in Japan were fantastic. 

I was hoping to develop a bit of that esthetic in my own garden. Unfortunately, I was dealing with two different types of moss - I am no expert, but clearly the moss from the vegetable garden was different. The color, texture, and shape were not the same as that from the backyard property line, an area that gets more shade. So, I used what I could from the vegetable garden moss to fill in the smaller of the two beds. 

I then used what was left to start the larger of the two beds. I then had to mix in the moss from the backyard to fill in most of the larger bed. However, I didn't have enough of either to complete the entire bed. About one-third of the bed remains unplanted.

I will need to look for an additional source, preferably local, perhaps from a neighbor. I can also try a moss-growing mixture that I can spray on to see if that encourages new growth.

Overall, I am happy with the look, especially the brighter moss from the backyard in the larger bed. I will continue to keep it moist with water to ensure it takes hold. I only hope that the beds don't get to too much sunlight. I don't want the moss to dry up and die. Only time will tell.

Melting Ice

Winter ice
melts into clear water;
clear is my heart
     Hyakka

Just one week ago I was posting a photo of the zen garden covered in Ice. Today I awoke to 40 degree weather and fog. I also found the garden filled with water after a heavy downpour of rain accompanied by thunder and lighting from the night before, and its still February! 

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful site.

Beneath the Ice

Winter snows arrived
Water rests beneath the ice
Flowers dream of spring

After returning from my vacation in Florida, I was greeted by snow and ice in the the Zen garden. The temperature has been oddly warm and hence rain turned most of the snow into slush, only to freeze over the next day. As a result, an ice filled pond now fills the usually dry landscape garden bed. 

Fall Plantings

Today I visited a nearby garden center, Kulaks, and took advantage of the "cart sale." Essentially, I could buy a full cart of plants for $75. Given that they have large carts, the price seemed like a bargain. Needless to say, I crammed the cart full and ended up with 24 plants. They are all perennials, so this was a good investment.

I then had to decide where to put them. Most of the plants I purchased were shade tolerant. However, I also picked some sun plants with flowers as part of my plan to fill the area next to the bell and along the new fence with a small flower garden. Much of the Zen garden is too shady for bright flowing sun plants, so this may add a little color to the overall garden, especially since this fence/bell area gets a lot of sun.

I started out with a Ginko Craig Plantain Lily (Hosta x 'Ginko Craig'), as a Hosta, it actually likes shade so I will need to keep an eye on it. Just behind, I planted a Coreopsis 'Creme Brulee'. This variety has nice red flowers with a yellow center. I also planted two Dwarf Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) plants. These plants like part sun, but produce a nice purple flower in the fall. 

Further back I planted an Iron Butterfly Narrow-Leaf Ironweed (Verononia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly'). Full sun will produce nice flowers and attract butterflies. I also added a Sedum 'Autumn Fire' which should add some rich pink to bronze color to the area.

Just below the bell I planted a Moody Blues Mauve Speedwell. Its size is big enough to show some flowers but will not overwhelm the bell post.

Near the entry way to the garden from the backyard I decided to add a couple of ferns - Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). They are very close to the bricks, but should do well in this location. Again, I will need to make sure they do not get too much light. More importantly, I may need to relocate if they spread to much.

I still have a long way to go to get through all the new plants. 

My See-Through Fence

I finally finished the fence. I'm referring to it as a sukashigaki or "see through fence." This Japanese term  is used to describe a fence that demarcates a shift in garden areas. Now one clearly knows when they are in the Zen garden (Songni Yuan) or in the backyard. Although the backyard property line needs much work, I now feel like the Zen garden has been finalized in terms of its completed layout. Yes, there will always be much to do to maintain the garden, but the area has now been defined.

The fence completion took much longer than I anticipated. I completed the staining of the posts and rails a week ago. 

However, making the pickets was very time consuming. There were 31 total and I had to notch each one three times in order to overlap with the rails. I did so using my table saw, but with a single blade, I had to make numerous passes to clear out a single notch. I then had to sand, pre-drill, and stain each picket. Staining two coats took about six hours. 

Attaching the pickets was also difficult - my math had to be precise in order to ensure that the openings were all the same size. I also had to make sure that each picket was level and square. Eventually I devised a system that allowed me to complete each attachment as quickly as possible.

I also like the view from within the garden. Being able to see through to the backyard helps to make the garden more open. Additionally, the bell looks good with the fence behind it.

The last thing I did was to attach copper post caps to the tops of the main posts. They are shiny now, but like the ones elsewhere in the garden from earlier gate projects, they will patina in time. I purchased theses caps form the same place as I did in the past - The Metal Peddler. They were reasonably priced and well made.

The fence line also looks nice from inside them home.

Overall, I am very happy with the final outcome. It was a lot a work but I can now stand back and say "I made that."

Demarcation

I spent most of the weekend constructing a fence along the south side of the garden area. 

Over the last few years I have struggled with how to proceed. I always wanted to use plantings to demarcate the end of the garden and the beginning of the back yard. However, the grasses, including the clumping bamboo, never fully created a "fence line." I also didn't want to extend the existing fence style in this direction - towards the house and dinning room window.

More recently I considered a Yotsume-Gaki style fence. 

The idea of using bamboo seemed authentic and the open style appealed to me. I want to demarcate the garden, not seal it off from view. However, there was no local access to bamboo and shipping it was cost prohibitive. I always considered a cedar alternative, but locating small 2x2 cedar style pickets has proven difficult (I do not use treated lumber). However, two weeks ago I stumbled on an available supply.

My plan was simple - install 5 4x4s, cut 6 2x4s into rails, attach 30 2x2 pickets.

I spent one day with the posts and had them aligned and inserted by the end of the day.

The second day, today, I spent cutting rails and attaching them to the posts. 

I then cut the tops off the posts to keep the height of all the posts below the window of the house.

Next step, stain the posts and rails. I will then spend time during the next week notching the pickets, staining them, and attaching them to the rails. I am hopeful I can get this all done in the next two weeks before it starts to get too cold.