In the Spotlight

I have been seriously considering installing electric lighting into the garden. This summer I've purchased several cheap plastic solar lamps to see what the possibilities are. 

I started with one lamp just for Buddha.

I then purchased some more to try in different locations.

So far they seem to work o.k. The color is an issue. Some are bright white LED, while others a softer (cheaper product) yellow. Actually, I will need to find a local contractor who is good at this sort of thing. My plan is to come up with a design this summer while garden is in full bloom, then try to implement and install it in the spring of next year. I might even opt for lamps that change colors, but that will probably be more expensive.

Time for a Move

This summer I had several shrubs that were in need of moving or relocation. Although my Hosta growing along the walkway between the house and garage had been doing well and had grown to significant size, I was never really happy with them. They were great for cutting back in the winter and having somewhere to dump snow, but they never really hid the foundation wall the way I would have liked. 

Given that I have had better luck with planting Spirea at the far end of the walkway, I decided to move an existing Spirea from the front of my property to the location along the pathway wall. This Spirea was a once dying plant who I save as a small and sick fellow. He too was being crowded out elsewhere, so this seemed like the best course of action - he survives and thrives, I get to cover the foundation.

 

In a couple of years he will fill in and I will be able to shape him and he will look as good as all the other nearby Spirea. For now, he looks a little sick from the transplant.

Additionally, the plants along the back wall of the garage were starting to crowd each other out. I decided to move two of the plants, the Mugo Pine and the Rheingold Arborvitea (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’). If you look at the background of the picture below (behind the lilies), you will see how crowded they had become:

The Pine had become a bit too large for this area and was constantly under attack from insects in the early spring. His time had come and he was donated to a neighbor, along with the original Hosta that had been located along the pathway. The Arborvitae had been moved once before and a large section of its rear had died off. Moving it to its new location would allow me to re-arrange it and give it space to grow.

Goodbye Hosta

Hello Arborvitae

Overall, the area looks good. In a year or two it will fill in very nicely and I will be able to shape and control all of these shrubs on an annual basis.

In the meantime, I have to rethink what to do with the space along the back wall. The Spiraea thunbergil 'Mt Fuji' on the left will now have more room to expand now that the Pine is gone. The Forest Grass on the right will also have room to expand. The Gaunyin statue is now visible once again. While I am waiting for the existing plants to fill in (could take a year), I will plant some smaller temporary plants, most likely ferns, to fill in the gaps.

 

Spring Back

Last year I planted some Sky Pencil Holly on either side of the garden entrance in the hopes of filling in the inner gate area. I have not had much luck with this location. Over the winter one of the plants completely died, the other half survived. 

I dug both out, disposed of one, and cleaned  up the surviver and transplanted him behind my garden shed in the work area. He might recover over time, but we will have to wait and see.

As replacements, I decided to remove some of the Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) that I had planted behind the shed as remnants a couple years ago. 

 

The small pieces of the original plant did well and grew to a size that was good enough to use in the Zen garden. Given that these plants do not like direct sun and prefer shade, I thought they might do well as borders to the gate, especially given the limited amount of light that hits that area.

I will have to wait and see how the do. Hopefully they will take root and thrive.

July Aglow

Experienced a late day summer storm today. As soon as the rain stopped, the setting sun cast an unusual orange glow across the garden. I thought I would share the images - the garden doesn't always look like this.

Even Buddha was impressed.

 

The glow appeared all throughout the garden.

 

Barking up the Wrong Tree

I started working on the first bed within the Stroll Garden, nearest the driveway. It had become over gown, many of the flowering plans I planted last year did not return, and it looked a mess.

The soil here is awful, mostly sand, gavel, and pea stone - it used to be a parking area for a camper. Although I have tried over the last few years to fix it, I have not had much luck. 

At this point I am not willing to remove the soil and replace it with new soil - way out of my budget and it would be a summer long project. Instead, I decided to remove some Hosta, move plants around, split some of the day lilies, and add large bark chips instead of mulch. 

Every fall the mulch gets blown or raked away from this location, so I'm hoping the bark chips will last longer. They are the same as the ones I placed along the garage side of the stroll garden back in June. 

In addition, I added some of the Super Blue Liriope (Liriope mascara 'Super Blue') along the edge. I was able to harvest enough to get started by taking clippings from the existing edge of the bed along the garage wall. 

 

In a couple of years it should resemble the edge growth at the other end of the garden helping to link the two separate parts of the Stroll Garden.

The Light of My Life

Now that the gazebo update was complete, I wanted to add some finishing touches.

Putting in electricity is a long way off (just can't afford it). nevertheless, I could pursue a cheaper alternative - battery bowered fairy-lights. I was able to find a product on line that was water proof, battery operated with a remote, and 40' in length - perfect for a 10 x 10 gazebo. After picking up some plastic clips at the hardware store, I easily installed the lights. 

 

They look great. they do not give off enough light to illuminate the entire area, but they are just neat to have on at night.

I also came across a Japanese style lantern while walking through a Marshal's Department Store. 

Its made of wood and has a solar powered light made of fairy-lights. It was on sale, but the Japanese asthetic is what hooked me. After picking up a chain and hook from the hardware store, I was able to easily hang it in the gazebo.

 

Post Plants

Before finishing the gazebo, I wanted to plant some shade friendly plantings near the footings in an attempt to hide the post footings.

Once the weed fabric was laid over the pre-dug holes, I then purchased the plants I planned to use. Each post would get two Japanese Painted Ferns (Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum') and one Heartleaf Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack frost').

 

I also purchased a Soft Touch Japanese Holly (Ilex crenate 'Soft Touch') to place directly in front of the post at the forward center part of the gazebo. I wanted to provide some interest with plans and hide that post footing that was the first thing seen when entering the patio area. 

On either side I decide to plant two dwarf lilies that had been planted on either side of the Dwarf Korean Fir located on the north side bed of the garden. They were no longer "dwarf" and were crowding out the Fir. So, I transplanted them to either side of the Holly. 

The Holly will not get too large, no more than 2-3' tall and wide. The lilies look beat up after the transplant, but next years should look better.

The Ferns and Brunnera look good and in time should grow enough to hide the posts.

However, I realized planting these here was a mistake - they would be obscured by the mosquito netting that would go up. Better if I left no plants here. I'm now thinking of pulling them and using them elsewhere.

In the meantime, the rest of the pea stone was laid, fire table returned, outdoor carpet replaced, and furniture washed and returned to its proper place. 

 

I then installed the mosquito netting, and with that the building and maintenance of the patio was done.

Gazebo Rebuild

Last year I had to take down the old gazebo because it was old and dangerous. Through the summer of 2018 there was no gazebo at all, mostly due to my lack of time to build the new one, and my ignorance on how to proceed. Over the winter I watched lots of videos and finally decided how to get started. I would dig post holes, add cement footings and attach the new gazebo.

Keep in mind, building the gazebo started May 17. I didn't finish everything related to the gazebo and patio area until July 4. Rather than make numerous postings, I decided to limi th number of gazebo relate posts.

Needless to say, it wasn't that simple. The Gazebo, a Palmero 300 Gazebo, is 10 x 10 and the same footprint as the previous gazebo. This was the best Gazebo I could find with a solid roof that could sustain winter snow and not get excessively hot. Most gazebos with aluminum roofs get hot, this one has polycarbonate roof panels that are strong and allow diffused light to pass through, but no UV. It can take a snow load of 20 lbs/ft squared. For little snows, I will be o.k., bigger ones will mean I get out the snow rake - just part of life in the Northeast. What I won't have to do is take down, rebuild, or replace a cloth canopy. Life should be a bit easier. 

Note: this was a challenge to build - it requires two people, but I somehow managed by myself with some creative use of my Little Giant ladder (super sturdy).

 

Once I had the basic frame up, I had to dig post holes. This should have been easy enough. With some help from Pythagorus I made sure the posts were properly squared - I also used the post/frame to make sure the holes were properly aligned. Once I broke through the gravel bed, there was nothing but sand underneath. However, I was surprised by how much dirt was generated by the holes.

 

The one problem I faced was with a single post hole - back left near the fence. For some reason I kept hitting lots of chunks of cement, and they kept getting bigger the deeper I went. Must have been a smashed up old patio or dry well. It took a very long time to get it all out before I could put in the cement post.

I then poured the cement and waited a week before I continued with attaching the gazebo posts.

 

Next step was to attach the roof panels. This turned out to be remarkably easy. Did it alone with no problem. Panels are strong but super light.

I then had to find a use for all that dirt. Years ago when I laid this patio with crushed gravel, I sloped it away from the house. However, at the back right corner the slope was overly dramatic (at that time I ran out of crushed stone, so it was never very level. So, I removed all the pea stone for the entire 12 x 21 area (no easy task), dug up the crushed gravel to get back to dirt in the right quadrant, then moved the dirt in and tamped it down, replaced the gravel and tamped it down repeatedly (no machine, all by hand).

 

I then dug holes in order to place some plantings around the posts (later I regretted this move because I forgot I was adding mosquito netting).

I then placed super duty industrial strength weed fabric before replacing the peat stone - should last a long time.