After cleaning up after the giant snow storm, I returned to the garden to take in the sights once again. Being later in the day, and now that the storm had passed, the sun was finally out. As a result, I was able to see sights that were not evident early in the day.
Nature never ceases to amaze me.
いざ行かむ 雪見にころぶ 所まで
Let's go out
As I wait for the leaves to finish falling, and the cleanup to begin in full, I can't help but admire the beauty of the garden even as it transitions from fall to winter.
Even with "little sicky" having dropped all his leaves, the view is still remarkable.
Although it might be time to re-stain this Moon Window panel.
Making the last minute late-fall swing through a number of nurseries led me to purchase some new plants for the viewing garden redo. It's part of my obsession, but when I see nice shrubs on sale for 50% and 75% off, I can't resist.
I also needed to move several plants and shrubs to make way for the fence extension I have planned for the spring.
First I removed the two Yews that were there since 2017. I also dug up two daylily plants I had place here. I never really did much planning for this bed. Over the years I tried several trees, shrubs, and plants, but mostly it was trial and error and a place to dump plants I didn't know with what to do. Only with the planting of the large Scotch Pine Pom Pom (Pinus sylvestris) did I start to have an idea that this area could be improved. The fence plans now dictate some planning and investment. Hence the moving of the Spirea at the viewing area edge and the reworking of the bed edge, and the planting of a small Boxwood at the terminus
The late-fall planning was limited, however, buy what I could get on sale. I started on the right side of the Pine by planting a Blue Feathers Hinoki Cyprus (Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Blue Feathers') and a Crimson Cutie Barberry (Barberis thunbergii).
The Cypress will grow to about 4' in time, but I suspect it will be slow to grow. Additionally, I will be able to prune it and keep its shape and size under control easily. The Barberry is a non-invasive type and will grow to about 2' overall in time. I really like the color of Barberry and think this will break up a lot of the greens that are already here and add some interest and contrast.
On the left side of the Pine, I planted a Magic Carpet Spirea (Spiea japonica 'Walbuma').
This shrub will grow about 3-4' in diameter and likes full sun, of which it will get plenty in this area of the bed. I really like the russet tone its exhibiting at this time, which should make it pop in the fall next season. Again, I can easily control it shape and size over time.
There is a small narrow gap in the bed just to the left of the Spirea. I will have to decide what to do here next Spring. Just to the left of the gap, I placed the existing Mikawa yatsubusa Japanese Maple.
I had to dig it up and mover it a couple of feet to make room for other shrubs and to take advantage of filling in what would otherwise have been a larger gap. I hope the transplant takes, I would hate to lose this tree, it has been doing really well here since 2017 (it was moved once before in 2019).
On the the left of the Mikawa yatsubusa, I planted a Mellow Yellow Spirea (Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon').
I like the look of this Spirea because it resembles bamboo. It will get plenty of light here and should grow to about 4-5' in time and fill in this area just below the large shrubs. I will prune it to keep it under control.
I then trimmed the existing Rheingold Arborvitea (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’) that has sat in this bed since at least 2014. It has never done well here due to the poor soil. I decided to trim it into a decent shape then dig it up and move it closer to the Mellow Yellow Spirea. Doing so allows me to plant a Mr. Bolwing Ball Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Bobozam'), a shrub similar to the one across the garden at the entrance to the stroll garden.
Although this shrub is currently small, in time it will grow to a similar size as the existing shrub, helping to frame the view of the entire viewing garden.
It will take a long time, but perhaps I will live long enough to see it.
Given the poor soil of this entire bed, I made sure to amend the soil for each plant. I will do so again in the spring, just before mulching the entire bed. I also removed all of the bark chips I attempted here last year. They looked fine, but made it difficult to rake leaves in the fall.
So, it was a lot of work, but the bed is now ready for the fence.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
In order to make room for the fence extension next spring, I had to remove and transplant the two Japanese Yews I planted in the viewing garden bed area back in 2017.
I originally placed them here after they suffered deer damage along the Dragon's Spine area.
So, out they came, with now where to go. I was torn. They had to come out, it was late in the fall, and if they were going to survive, I had to get them back in the ground soon. I offered them to a neighbor, but that fell through. So, with no other location available on the property, I decided to plant them just on the other side of the Woodland Gate. Technically, this is off-property, but I am hoping the owner doesn't mind or care.
Weirdly, the Yews looked much bigger in this location than they did in the viewing garden area. It must be some sort of optical illusion. They are still wonky looking, but they definitely grew much bigger over the three years. However, they never fully recovered from the deer.
The problem now - the deer will come and eat them again. So, I covered them with a fine netting that should deter the deer. If they get to them, I really don't care. Worst case scenario is I just get rid of them. If they make it, then maybe they can stay a bit longer.
Fall has arrived in its full force with another year of color. As usual, the Maples are the highlight of this season.
So, another great season nears its end. Time to plan for spring.
Continuing my work on the stroll garden future fence line, I decided to purchase a late fall shrub, a Green Mountain Boxwood (Buxus x 'Green Mountain'). This late in the fall, stores have great sales on plants and shrubs, so I picked this plant up for 50% off. Its just the right size and I will let in grow some more but keep it shaped. These tend to grow slow, so keeping it under control will be easy.
I wanted this as a termination point for where the existing 4 x 4 wooden edging meets the stone edging that makes its way around the Spirea. I also need to keep it small so it doesn't grow into the planned fence over time.
I simply piled up the stones nearby (far end of the picture) where they can sit all winter. I plan to use them in the same location, so it seemed like a good idea - less moving around.
I was also able to retrieve 9 gallons of pea stone from this bed. It was used originally under the Black stones, but its has accumulated a lot of dirt over the years from debris. Once washed and clean, I can use it elsewhere. The bed is now nice and level and will settle over the winter months, making it much easier to work on when I start building the fence.
As fall moves along, I wanted to prep as much of the stroll garden area for when I extend the garden fece along the edge. I already moved the Black-eyed Susans elsewhere and removed the 6 x 6 timbers.
It was a lot more work than I had planned. First, I had to rake a lot of pea stone out of the way. I also had to dig out the large stones that were used as edging around this shrub. Then a new large hole had to be dug in front of it so that it could be shifted into its new location. The roots were solidly planted directly at the center bottom, so it was hard to get it to finally release and move.
Once loose, I just shifted it and reused the same soil that it had been in. I hope this doesn't prove to be a mistake. I should have amended the soil, but I forgot to plan ahead, so I went with lazy. In the spring I will fertilize to help it adjust.
While moving it, I had to place it close to one of the new stepping stones. As a result, there is more of an entry way into the stroll garden anchored by two large shrubs on either side. I actually like this better. It will help to separate these two areas of the garden into separate "rooms."
A very short but powerful storm passed through today. It rained hard for about 15 minutes, and was accompanied by a wind shear. The neighborhood was hit hard with lots of big trees down. We have had no power since it occurred.
Unfortunately, a good sized tree limb fell from the neighboring property and landed right on my garden fence.
As a result, an entire panel was destroyed, and I was bummed out.
Actually, the bamboo panel survived intact. It sort of bounced as the tree hit. This is probably why people in Asia have used bamboo for 5,000 year to build things. It's very durable.
The cedar parts of the fence will have to be replaced. The broken parts I can recycle for other uses. Thankfully, neither post was damaged, so the repairs should be easy, probably less than $100.
