Moving the Yew

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. 

I only placed them in the viewing area out of necessity - I had nowhere else to put them and they looked pretty bad. Even though they continued to grow, they never really filled in and continued to look wonky.

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.

The Miracle of Fall

Fall has arrived in its full force with another year of color. As usual, the Maples are the highlight of this season.

 

This is my favorite view of the season.

This year I ventured to take a photo from a vantage point one doesn't usually see.

Even after the harsh pruning of this summer, the Maple in the Dragon's Spine continues to look fantastic. 

Since the Astilbe are all relatively new plantings, I am not going to cut them back and instead them the ride out the winter and clean them up in the spring. Better to let them have every chance to fully establish themselves.

So, another great season nears its end. Time to plan for spring.

Boxed In

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.

Once in, it was time to move the Mexican Black Stones out of the original channel and prep that bed area for fence posts. 

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.

Moving Time

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 time to tackle moving the large Spirea at the transition point between the stroll garden, and the viewing garden. It took years to grow, but this year it was finally looking nice and full sized. It also flowered really well. 

I suspect the slow growing duration had a lot to do with the poor soil. Regardless, it was originally planted with the neighbor's white fence in mind. The new fence I plan to install requires that I move it forward at least two feet. So, with shovel in hand, I dug it up and moved it.

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."

I also took this opportunity to cut back some of the Super Blue Liriope (Liriope mascara 'Super Blue') that was growing into the False Cyprus shrub. I used the remnants along the edge of the viewing garden to fill in the gaps where it didn't take after transplanting some of the same Super Blue Liriope a couple years back.

The stone edging and transplanted Spirea look fine, but the bed looks awful and will need some of work next spring, but the more I can get done now, the less I will have to do in the spring.

Garden Crasher

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.

I will leave the replacement until next spring when I start the fence extension project. I will just do it all at once.

Bamboo Thinning

I waited all summer to tackle this task. I knew that the bamboo along side the garden shed was getting too large.

It was starting to interfere with another grass plant I have near that location, and the Boxwood on the other side. So, I decided to thin out the plant and use the cuttings elsewhere. 

My neighbors and I both have vegetable gardens along side the fence that we jointly installed. The fence is an open aluminum style fence, and as a result, my neighbor has to see my behind-the-shed garden work area. Wanting to help hide the view for them, I decided to transplant the bamboo cuttings to the fence line.

 

To do so, I had to install two 6 x6 wooden beams on either side of the bed to help limit the spread of the bamboo (They are being recycled from the fence line in the stroll garden as I prepare to change that area next year with a new fence). The Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) I have is very slow growing and easy to control, but it will spread if not contained. The 6 x6 timbers, buried halfway, should help keep the rhizomes in place so that they don't spread into the neighbors garden or my work area. 

In time it will fill in more, but it will take a couple years. At that time I can thin this out and find a new location to plants some bamboo.

In the meantime, the bamboo by the shed looks nicer, but it too will continue to grow, and I will have to repeat this process in a few years.