Don't Be Spineless

A recent visitor asked why we referred to the Hosta bed along the back edge of the property as "The Dragon's Spine."

It started back in 2010 when we were still working on the Zen garden and needed to level off the back yard. Originally, I had no intention of extending the Zen garden, but over time the Asian themed garden has taken over almost the entire property.

Back in 2010 the "spine" extended all the way to the back corner. 

In 2018 the introduction of the Woodland Gate and pathway leading to the area behind the shed shortened the length of the spine. 

In 2024 I changed the peastone pathway near the gate to re-establish a bit of that missing piece of the spine.

The original idea was inspired by a visit to the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden's Chinese Scholar's Garden on Staten Island.

A wall was not an affordable option, hence the design of the bed edge.

Many visitors to Songni Yuan have trouble visualizing the dragon's spine. The property line had to be maintained as a straight line, hence no curves on the outer edge. Also, when standing before the bed at ground level the full extent of the design is not so easy to see. 

In fact, the best view of the Dragon's Spine is from a window on the second floor of the house.

Within Songni Yuan, the head of the dragon is symbolically represented by the gazebo, with the Zen garden being an extension from its mouth. The dragon's body, hence its spine, is represented by the undulating curves of the garden bed which were originally designed to become a bit smaller as it stretched to the far end of the property behind the shed.

The idea of the Dragon's Spine as a garden bed fulfills the ideal that garden features can metaphorically reflect important beliefs in East Asian cosmology – turtle, crane, sacred mountain, or dragon.

It did take many years, but I now feel that the Dragon's Spine has finally reached maturity and my desire to incorporate a dragon element into the garden.

Garden Art

Last summer my wife Catherine and I had visited Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania and we saw an example of flower art which we found to be beautiful and inspiring. 

Chanticleer Garden Feature

So, as part of this spring's open garden days at Songni Yuan, Catherine decided to create a similar feature.

The basin resting on the S-shaped bench made for a dramatic appearance when visitors first entered the Zen garden, and the basin, bench, and flowers complimented each other.

It looks beautiful. We will be sure to use this type of feature on future open days.

Mini Max

After filling a gap behind the Tsukubai water feature with a fern, I decided to do something similar with the large rock in front of the mini Zen garden along side the back porch.

The stone was placed in this location back in the summer of 2023 However, at the time I was concerned about the lack of plantings and the seemingly sterile look of all the hardscape stones and brick. Having used a  Ghost Painted Feen (Athyrium x 'Ghost') behind the Tuskubai I decided to try the same fern behind the large rock. 

These ferns can grow up to a maximum of 3' so I will need to keep an eye on it over time.

For now it looks great and does a good job of adding a plant element to the mini Zen garden.

Shady Kings

The Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) that was located in the inner corners of the fence gates, bot the Middle Gate needed to be replaced. 

 

2019

The plant on the right didn't recover, while the plant on the left partially survived. I will bucket the survivor and remove/discard the dead roots of the other one, plus a similar plant located at far edge of the East Gate. 

Early Spring 2025

Over the years these plants didn't do well in these locations due to too much shade. Even though bamboo preferred shade or dappled sunlight, these locations were often closed off to sunlight when the gates were open.

I have decided to plant these areas with Sun King Japanese Spikenard (Araliia cordata 'Sun King') which do well in shade. 

Updated Middle Gate 2025

These plants are relatively inexpensive and can grow large. On the other hand, they are easy to manage if the get too large.

Inner Middle Gate - Left

Inner Middle Gate - Right

Inner East Gate

They should fill these behind-the-gate voids well, while simultaneously adding a vibrant and interesting foliage to locations that are often overlooked.

Mind the Gap

After cleaning up the Dragon's Spine bed, and getting the water feature up and running, I noticed a few gaps in the bed directly behind the water feature.

2025

The problem stems from the failure of the bamboo which occupies then See-Through fence line to return this spring as expected. Much of the bamboo was lost over the winter, and the beds on both sides of the See-Through fence are thin, but not completely dead. What remains is coming back, but there are far few new shoots to make up for the thick bed that had been there before. 

2024

At best I can wait a couple years to see more bamboo return. 

However, the problem now is that the bamboo used to act as a great backdrop to the water feature, now, not so much. So I decided to plant a Ghost Painted Fern (Athyrium x 'Ghost') just behind the water spout and large rock as a way of creating a backdrop. 

If the bamboo returns in the future, I can always move the fern. In the meantime it may help fill the void.

Dragon Update

The Dragon Spine bed only needed a few adjustments this year. I did have to take steps to stop rabbits from eating some of the plants, especially the Stone Crop Sedum and Hosta (I did this by using wire baskets that can be removed on days in which the garden is open to the public).

The two Hosta 'Blue Angel' returned this year, but much larger than I had anticipated. In fact they had become so large that they looked out of place in the bed, much larger and taller than any of the other plants. So, I decided to remove them, and plant them elsewhere on the property. 

I bought a Halcyon Hosta (Hosta x tardiana 'Halcyon') to replace one of the Blue Angels, but rearranging the location of several others helped fill in the voids that were left behind.

Most of the Cora Bells that I had planted were is such a poor state that I decided to remove them - I have no luck with Cora Bells. They just never return as well as when they first go in. After years of trying to make them work, I have given up. Too bad, the variety and colors are great, but they are not a good financial investment.

I also added two 'Goatee' Goat's beard (Aruncus), one each at the ends of the bed -- near the Tsukubia water feature:

The other between the two shrubs near the Woodland Gate (not visible in the picture below):

Brilliance

After completing a lot of the repairs and restorations following a rough start to spring, I can now start to work on some of the more simple plans I had for the garden this season. I've been filling some of the gaps within the stroll garden.

Between the Spirea and the Dogwood there was a significant gap that I filled with a 'Firefly Fuchsia' Yarrow (Achillea hybrid). 

This plant likes full sun, which it will get in this location, and it should produce some deep fuchsia pink flowers

I also wanted to fill in the area just behind Mrs. Krabappel near the fence. Given that the tree now shades this area, I opted for a Brilliance Autumn Fern Dryopteris crythrosora 'Billiance.' 

The color variation from this fern should add some differentiation and interest to this fence line.

Buddha Makes a Friend

Buddha looks perfect with the bugleweed in full purple bloom. 

So much so that Mr. Chippy decided to take advantage of the beauty to befriend Buddha. 

When I see such things is makes me glad that I built the garden.

Bargain Bonsai

We have had so much rain this May it has been almost impossible to do any gardening. Today the rain was so heavy that there was no working even with a raincoat on. Undeterred, I chose to work on transforming some damaged plants from the past into fake bonsai. To do so, I moved all my tools, dirt, and containers under the gazebo where I could stay out of the rain. It also allowed me to sit when needed and clip away.

In total, I created four new fake bonsai (note these are considered fake because I have not cutback the roots or modified the soil medium):

Autumn Moon Maple (Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon')

This Maple was bought back in 2022, and was damaged over the winter from a critter munching at its bark. Since then I have over wintered it in a secure raised bed and transplanted it each year into a new container. This year it recovered well and is now in a more appropriate, but temporary, ceramic pot. I intend to keep him small as time goes on.

Rheingold Arborvitae

Three two plants were created from remnants of two different plants that did not do well over several past winters. Last year I put them in containers and clipped away, but this year they have finally taken on some more unusual shapes. This time around I added some bonsai wire to try and shape them permanently. It will be interesting to see how well they do. Note: these are still planted in soil and I will remove them and over winter them again in an outdoor raised bed, the same as last year. Because I am not clipping back the entire root ball, and using basic soil instead of bonsai medium, I do not consider them official "bonsai."

Little Heath Pieris (Pieris japonica 'Little Heath')

Purchased in 2022, this plant resided near the East gate Cypress but failed to receive enough sunlight before I accidentally stepped on it and almost killed it. It has resided in a container ever since and more recently over wintered in a raised bed. last year I added some bonsai wire to see if I could shape it. This year its looking better, so a new larger bonsai pot was purchased to give it a new home for the season.

All of these plants looks pretty good and because I keep the root ball large and overwinter them outdoors, they will hopefully survive a bit longer. I find when I try to maintain indoor bonsai over winter I tend to kill them from neglect. perhaps this process will continue to work. On the other hand, I am sure I will step on future plants as well.

Bamboozled

For the second year in a row I am struggling with the Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) bed along the stroll garden. Each year the number of new shoots diminishes and the bed is failing to replace existing bamboo or bamboo that had to be cut back due to harsh winters. This last winter was particularly harsh with almost all of the bamboo throughout the garden having to be cut back.

I am not confident that the bamboo in the stroll garden will return to its once full and lush state.

Summer 2020 - lush and full

The bamboo used to do a good job of hiding the cinderblock foundation. That is no longer the case. So, it was time for its removal and replacement. 

Removing the bamboo was a difficult task given the length of the bed and the degree to which the bamboo roots are intertwined throughout the bed. A small hand saw was therefore necessary to remove all of the plantings.

I want to conceal the cinderblock foundation, but the bed is an odd curved shape - wide at the ends and narrow in the center due to the curve. As a result, I have to consider a replacement that can fit and grow into the narrowest portion of the bed. I decided upon Reblooming Mountain Hydrangea. This shrub is a dwarf Hydrangea that will only grow 2-3' wide/tall. 

The triangular areas at then ends accommodates additional plantings, including a Magical Garnet - Hydrangea (Macrophylla 'Kolmgarip') in the corner near the gate. Last year, I planted a Variegated Dwarf Cardinal Shrub (Weigela florida "variegated Nana'), in this same spot only to see its root ball eaten over the winter by a critter.

It will be separated by a  Sun King Japanese Spikenard (Araliia cordata 'Sun King') from the other Hydrangea, and an additional Sun king will mark the opposite end of the Hydrangea bed. 

I then added two Dwarf Weigela ('Verweig') shurbs at both ends of the stroll garden bed, one near the gate and the other near the Kasuga-dōrō style lamp at the entrance of the stroll garden. 

Together, these shrubs will help anchor the end points of the stroll garden bed. 

I also planted a  Frostkiss Penny's Pink Helleborus (Lenten Rose) at the base of the lantern.

An Astilbe Chinensis 'Purple Candles' Chinese Astilbe was also added just behind the large Bowling Ball Arborvitae to help fill in the space at the end of the bed (not pictured).

Overall, I am happy with the change and new look. I will have to keep an eye on the hydrangea growth over time.