Hydreangea Blue

The Reblooming Mountain Hydrangea that was planted along the stroll garden is really adding a pop of color to the garden. I did not expect such a dramatic change. 

Apparently with some changes to the pH one can change the color of the flowers. For instance, for blue or purple blooms, one can lower the pH to be acidic (5.5 or below) by adding aluminum sulfate of sulfur. 

I didn't take any steps to make this happen. The sandy soil we have, along with the mulch covering seem to already have an acidic nature.

If I want pink or red blooms, I can raise the pH to be alkaline (6.5 or above) by adding lime. However making such changes could take some time. Honestly, I like the blue-purple look and hope to keep theses colors consistent over time.

The Stroll Garden looks fantastic and I am very happy with the new look.

Bulging Boxwood

I planted two Korean Dwarf Boxwood (Buxus sinica var. insularis 'Nana') at the front and back corners of the house way back in 2009.  

At the time I had no idea what I was doing. It never occurred to me that these plants would get large. The shrub should not have grown more than 40 - 48." However, after 16 years the one remaining shrub near the front corner has grown very large. The other shrub, at the back of the house was removed to make way for the Meter Lantern Box.

Korean Boxwood 2016

The 2025 winter was a bit rough on the shrub, so I cleaned out the dead wood and removed many of the dying leaves. For many years there was only peastone at the base. This year I decided to clean up the area below the shrub and remove the peastone and create a shallow mulch bed.

It looks cleaner and I am hoping the mulch will retain some helpful moister for the plant.

I am concerned about its growth. If it gets any bigger it will make passing through to the Middle Gate difficult. Currently, the garden sign is no longer visible from the walkway, driveway, and street. At some point I will need to make a decision about scaling back and replanting this location.

For now, I will continue to enjoy the beauty of the shrub.

The Great Savanna

After creating protective cages for the Variegated Japanese Forest Grass in the stroll garden, I finally got around to making some adjustments to the plants.

First, I removed any badly damaged plants that had been eaten by rabbits (bucketed for some loving care). Then I shifted the plants around that were still in good shape. With a gap in between each of these, I then installed 10 newly purchased plants to help fill in the bed

The change is a vast improvement and creates the look I was hoping to have with the design of this bed.

This is the second year this has happened, but I am hopeful that the new protective cages will put a stop to any early rabbit munching next spring.

Note: I am a little concerned about these plantings over time. These grasses can produce a thick and difficult-to-extract rootball which may become to large for such a narrow bed. The grass will find its way under, and out of, the 6 x 6 timbers if I am not careful - more to follow in the future..

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, including 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.