Here's a photo of the windows from an angle more like previous photos.
For now, I'm enjoying having my desk back and a great view of the chickadees, cardinals, and white throated sparrow at the birdfeeder right outside the window.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunroom update
Okay, after months of complaining, the inside of the sunroom is done. AND I have real steps all the way up to the front door (no more walking the plank across the mud hole)Yay!
Here's a photo of the windows from an angle more like previous photos.
It's a big room and I love it. This fall it will be filled with plants. The benches mentioned in an earlier post will occupy the spaces just below the windows. I'm looking forward to starting my vegetable plants from seeds for next spring!
For now, I'm enjoying having my desk back and a great view of the chickadees, cardinals, and white throated sparrow at the birdfeeder right outside the window.
Here's a photo of the windows from an angle more like previous photos.
For now, I'm enjoying having my desk back and a great view of the chickadees, cardinals, and white throated sparrow at the birdfeeder right outside the window.
Mystery plant
Fern relocation
I discovered last fall when we moved into this garden that a small brick patio near that beautiful dogwood tree was being invaded by ferns. The patio appeared to be overgrown by euonymus and ivy as well as covered by a couple of seasons of leaves. The patio looked very small and I wondered how far it extended beneath the advancing ground covers. So I decided to make a quick job of clearing it off.
It wasn't long before I ran into some strange knobs protruding from the spaces between the bricks. It was impossible to shovel more than a few inches of dirt and leaves off the bricks without hitting one. These "knobs" had green things that looked a little like curled up worms at their tops. I quickly realized that they were dormant ferns. And some of them were big! One was 8" tall. Since it was November and getting cold, I decided to remove only the ground covers and as much of the dirt as I could without harming the ferns. Then I used grass cuttings and mulched oak leaves to cover the ferns again for winter, creating an edging of wall block to keep the mulch from blowing away.
As I noticed the fiddleheads beginning to unfurl a few weeks ago, I decided they needed to move before they got too big. Here's how they looked as I removed the mulch and dirt. I'm still amazed at how far the colony had expanded under the patio. It gave me some insight into the type of soil these plants prefer.
My mom helped me pry the plants from their comfortable, but inconvenient, home. Using a long screwdriver and a small spade we leveraged the ferns from the sandy spaces between the bricks.
This photo shows how the ferns were connected. Their underground stems would turn to follow the gaps between the brick and produce new ferns every few inches. We tried to keep the groups intact as much as possible, but we often ended up breaking the stems to get just one out at a time.
We ended up with two boxes full of ferns. I never counted, but I think there were at least 2 dozen plants.
Here is the space at my mom's house that we planned to make the new home of the transplants. It's on the north side of a fence in a space that doesn't grow grass and often grows moss. Mom has covered the dirt with gravel, which I think will make the space even more appropriate for the ferns.
Here's the way they looked after planted; tiny, but still healthy. I'll post an updated photo soon, but Mom says they are 2 feet tall. She will enjoy their feathery fronds a lot more than her blank fence and I am glad to give them a comfortable home rather than see them in the compost pile.
And, lastly, here is my patio. It still needs some new sand and dirt to fill the gaps, but it's much bigger than before. I noticed last fall that moss was also growing between the bricks making a beautiful contrast with the red brick. I'll add that as I can to make a more solid pattern. The ferns are now at the edge of the patio and out into the surrounding garden space. They are, as my mom said, at least 2 feet tall now and very green. I'm so happy I found a home for the invading plants. They really are lovely.
It wasn't long before I ran into some strange knobs protruding from the spaces between the bricks. It was impossible to shovel more than a few inches of dirt and leaves off the bricks without hitting one. These "knobs" had green things that looked a little like curled up worms at their tops. I quickly realized that they were dormant ferns. And some of them were big! One was 8" tall. Since it was November and getting cold, I decided to remove only the ground covers and as much of the dirt as I could without harming the ferns. Then I used grass cuttings and mulched oak leaves to cover the ferns again for winter, creating an edging of wall block to keep the mulch from blowing away.
As I noticed the fiddleheads beginning to unfurl a few weeks ago, I decided they needed to move before they got too big. Here's how they looked as I removed the mulch and dirt. I'm still amazed at how far the colony had expanded under the patio. It gave me some insight into the type of soil these plants prefer.My mom helped me pry the plants from their comfortable, but inconvenient, home. Using a long screwdriver and a small spade we leveraged the ferns from the sandy spaces between the bricks.
Monday, April 19, 2010
A few more spring flowers in my garden - some native - some not
Over the last few weeks several trees have begun flowering. In addition to the pretty, but diseased, purple leaf plum there are two other woody plants blooming.
One is this lovely quince. I never really liked quince with its thorns and thick, overgrown messy shape. But having several growing in the hedgerow between my yard and the street behind me has given me a new appreciation for them. These bushes were some of the first to leaf out this spring. The ones I have are approximately 9 feet tall and at least as wide. They form a nearly solid screen when leafed out. And now that I can get close to a quince it's easy to appreciate their beautiful blossoms. Their color and shape reminds me of Asian paintings. For some reason I didn't cut any to enjoy indoors. I'll have to remember to do that next year.
Another tree that's flowering is a cherry tree. It's bark alone is beautiful; dark and shiny with horizontal streaks. I remember last September that the leaves were small and sparse. I did some reading and think this is a sweet cherry. I base that on Mark (Bob and Judy's son) telling me that there used to be another one near this one that died. Since then he says there hasn't been any fruit. Sour cherries are self-pollinating. Sweet cherries are not. I also browsed photos of cherry blossoms and this one looks more like the wild cherry, Prunus avium. Not only is it airy and pretty, but it fills the garden with a light, clean, vanilla fragrance.
Here's a close-up of the blooms.
And last but certainly not least is the dogwood tree. Always beautiful, but until now, never in my own garden. I've seen the blooms on this tree for several years now from the other side of the hedgerow. It's even more beautiful up close. Every window you pass on the north side of the house has a view of the tree. I catch myself stopping and standing to soak in the sight. Then, of course, I totally forget what I was doing. But still it makes me happy.
This photo only shows a small part of the tree. It's really just a huge cloud of blinding white tiers of flowers. The tree is probably 18-20 feet tall.
Just for fun, here's a picture of my husband, Jerry, and my step-dad, Pete. They're working to install the second large rain barrel/tank. This one will be hidden beneath a huge forsythia on the northwest corner of the house.
Beneath their feet and tucked in every corner around the edges of the garden and amongst the faded daffodils and tulips are tons of white and purple violets. These little lawn weeds are bringing cheerful color to the leaf litter that remains in the wild spaces in my garden.
I learn more about the genius of the gardener who lived here before me every week it seems. It's humbling and exciting - and I've only been here since September!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
My purple leaf plum is infected with perennial canker
Sadly, one of the trees in my yard appears to be diseased. I noticed some dead branches last fall in the purple leaf plum and made a mental note to look more closely in the spring when the garden beneath it wouldn't be so overgrown. In spite of the disease, the tree's flowers this spring were lovely.
The purple leaf plum is in the backyard garden space that I've enjoyed from the kitchen window. The pink blooms were very pretty and nicely offset by the new purple leaves.
The tree is approximately 18' tall and it dominates the west corner of the garden in the backyard. The sparse grass and moss in it's shadow hint at this tree's age. Judy and Bob, the previous owners of my garden, must have planted it long ago. I know it provided them with many moments gazing through the kitchen window at the cloud of pink and burgundy it gives us in the spring. I'm thankful for this one spring's worth.
A few weeks ago I cleaned out some of the dead branches thinking the extra air circulation would benefit the tree. It was then that I got a close look at the strange swollen areas on the small branches and huge gashes in the bark on the large branches and trunk.
I did a search on the web for diseases common to plum trees and found two could cause this. At first I thought it was a fungal disease called black knot. But, black knot was described as having swollen fruiting bodies that grow about this time of year, and I saw no evidence of those. The other possibility is perennial canker. That's what I think this is.
Perennial canker forms dark sunken cankers along the limbs and subsequent cycles of healing scar tissue and expansion of the fungus cause the infected tissue to crack, dry out and blacken. Over time the infected branches become girdled, lose vigor, and die. Given the amount of blackened cracking bark I see throughout the tree, I don't hold out much hope that this tree has long to live.
My plan right now is to severely cut back and clean out the most infected parts. As I said, I think there's little hope that will save it. But, if I can enjoy another spring gazing at this pretty tree out the kitchen window, I'll count myself lucky - again.
The tree is approximately 18' tall and it dominates the west corner of the garden in the backyard. The sparse grass and moss in it's shadow hint at this tree's age. Judy and Bob, the previous owners of my garden, must have planted it long ago. I know it provided them with many moments gazing through the kitchen window at the cloud of pink and burgundy it gives us in the spring. I'm thankful for this one spring's worth.
I did a search on the web for diseases common to plum trees and found two could cause this. At first I thought it was a fungal disease called black knot. But, black knot was described as having swollen fruiting bodies that grow about this time of year, and I saw no evidence of those. The other possibility is perennial canker. That's what I think this is.
Perennial canker forms dark sunken cankers along the limbs and subsequent cycles of healing scar tissue and expansion of the fungus cause the infected tissue to crack, dry out and blacken. Over time the infected branches become girdled, lose vigor, and die. Given the amount of blackened cracking bark I see throughout the tree, I don't hold out much hope that this tree has long to live.
My plan right now is to severely cut back and clean out the most infected parts. As I said, I think there's little hope that will save it. But, if I can enjoy another spring gazing at this pretty tree out the kitchen window, I'll count myself lucky - again.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
My big rain barrel isn't so big after all
A few months ago I decided we have the perfect spot for a rain barrel. The downspout on the northeast corner of our house emptied beneath the steps from our deck. An additional deck will be built at that corner of the house, so a rain barrel in this spot will be hidden. And that gave me the idea of having several rain barrels linked together. Then my husband Jerry suggested using one of those white 250 gallon tanks that have a metal cage around them. What a great idea! That ought to take all spring to fill up. So he bought the tank and I started digging.
Here's a photo of the space we wanted to use. It's pretty much a mess. Whenever it rains water collects at the bottom of the steps. And the brick retaining wall is falling apart. After measuring the area, I figured that with a little digging the large tank would fit perfectly. The tank measures approximately 4' tall, 4' long and 3' wide. It comes equipped with a large opening in the top and a 2" ball valve at the bottom. I decided to position the tank so that the valve at the bottom of the tank would be accessible when standing by the retaining wall at the bottom of the steps.
So my first task is removing the crumbling brick.
In this photo taken last fall when we moved in, you can see there are several hostas that grow in this space, hiding a lot of the problems. They were beautiful. So before I did anything else I removed the hostas from under the deck stairs and set them aside for replanting later.
I used a small sledge hammer to break up the brick. I dumped the broken bricks and mortar in the space that has yet to be back-filled around the foundation of the sunroom, and I salvaged all bricks that weren't broken.
I decided to use red Windsor wall block to rebuild the retaining wall. After removing the bricks I found a small concrete footing that I couldn't remove. So I decided to place the blocks just outside the concrete footing. To accommodate the little lip on the bottom of the wall block, I cut a channel in the blacktop of our driveway. Using a masonary bit, I drilled holes about 3/8" deep. Then with masonary chisel and hammer I chipped out the channel. Once that was done stacking the blocks was easy. But it took me a whole weekend.
To make a space for the tank to sit just west of the stairs, I needed to dig into the dirt along the north wall of the house. I wanted to make sure the tank was level. So the next weekend I build an additional retaining wall and created a gravel floor where the tank could sit.
And, voilá! With Jerry giving me a hand to move the tank in place, the rain barrel was installed. We cut the downspout to end about a foot above the top of the tank. We attached a flexible, expandable downspout we bought at Home Depot to the downspout to direct water to the opening in the top of the tank. A 12"X12" piece of window screen was placed over the opening to catch leaves. It was attached with a large gear-drive hose clamp and the flexible downspout was attached with a wire.
The best part was the drenching downpour we had the following morning. We got about 2" of rain that day. It only took about 30 minutes to fill the tank to over flowing. That's 250 gallons in half an hour! So I guess it wasn't going to take the entire spring to fill it up after all. Jerry and I quickly decided that we could probably use two more. Luckily there won't be any retaining walls to rebuild where we install the other two :-)
Oh, and today Jerry, again being the fabulously handy guy he is, installed fittings and a spigot to which I connected my garden hose. And I watered for free! Of course, it's different than the pressurized water from my house - a lot slower. But it works and it's free, did I say that?
So my first task is removing the crumbling brick.
I used a small sledge hammer to break up the brick. I dumped the broken bricks and mortar in the space that has yet to be back-filled around the foundation of the sunroom, and I salvaged all bricks that weren't broken.
I decided to use red Windsor wall block to rebuild the retaining wall. After removing the bricks I found a small concrete footing that I couldn't remove. So I decided to place the blocks just outside the concrete footing. To accommodate the little lip on the bottom of the wall block, I cut a channel in the blacktop of our driveway. Using a masonary bit, I drilled holes about 3/8" deep. Then with masonary chisel and hammer I chipped out the channel. Once that was done stacking the blocks was easy. But it took me a whole weekend.
To make a space for the tank to sit just west of the stairs, I needed to dig into the dirt along the north wall of the house. I wanted to make sure the tank was level. So the next weekend I build an additional retaining wall and created a gravel floor where the tank could sit.
The best part was the drenching downpour we had the following morning. We got about 2" of rain that day. It only took about 30 minutes to fill the tank to over flowing. That's 250 gallons in half an hour! So I guess it wasn't going to take the entire spring to fill it up after all. Jerry and I quickly decided that we could probably use two more. Luckily there won't be any retaining walls to rebuild where we install the other two :-)
Oh, and today Jerry, again being the fabulously handy guy he is, installed fittings and a spigot to which I connected my garden hose. And I watered for free! Of course, it's different than the pressurized water from my house - a lot slower. But it works and it's free, did I say that?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The beginning for the vegetable garden
My previous experience with vegetable gardens has been more fun than productive. Over the years I've incorporated vegetables into my landscape in any space that looked likely to grow them, never knowing anything about what I was doing other then the information that came with the plant. My son, now 13, planted a garden with me in our first home when he was nearly 2 years old. We had a great time growing mint because it smelled good, butternut squash, and tomatoes. The mint spread everywhere. The tomatoes were unremarkable. In fact, I don't remember even one of them. But the squash was a huge success. It was so easy to grow and fun to watch. On top of all that the squash was delicious!
I've tried out a lot of different things just for fun and to find out whether they were easy or tasted good. If they grew, great! If they didn't, that was okay too. If they were pretty, I remembered to try that one again.
Here at my new house I have a real garden space, totally unlike the terraced small spaces I've carved out of my past yards. I haven't measured, but this space seems huge and it has a gentle slope. Neighbors have told me that Bob and Judy, the previous owners, had a great vegetable garden that was very productive while they were both in good health. When I moved in it was just a flat mowed space. It hadn't been planted or tilled in years. Here's a photo from last fall. You can just make out the somewhat square flat space.
Just before our last snowfall I rented a tiller and began thinking about how to make the space into a vegetable garden I can use. I decided to leave a grass path approximately 4 feet wide down the middle with narrow tilled garden plots on either side. Each of the narrow plots is separated by a 1 foot wide path that will be mulched for walking. My intention when I tilled was to roughly turn under the grass before things began growing in earnest, giving the weather some time to work moisture and nutrients into the tilled spaces. Here's how it looked after I tilled.
The day after I did my work we got over 8 inches of snow which was perfect for my plan. The snow melted away in about 3 days, slowly watering in the rough soil. There's a lot to do before I can plant anything and that's a good thing. As I mentioned, I'm not used to so much space. So I'll be working with my step-dad to figure out what to plant. Of course, I will have to plant butternut squash and also the other successes I've encountered over the years like Swiss chard and collard greens, tomatoes, green beans, and peppers. There is also a trellis on the west side of the garden made of two halves of an iron wagon wheel that I think will be perfect for berries. I've already planted two blueberry bushes I brought from my old house. They are just north and west of the trellis. My raspberry canes were too large to move, but I will certainly plant more. Some of my most relaxing times last summer were evenings after work spent picking berries with Skylr and often one of his friends. I loved the quiet time exploring the canes to find the ripest, sweetest ones.
I'm excited to get started breaking up the soil and working in some compost. Since this space is about 3 times as much space as I'm used to, I'll give myself a couple of weekends to ready the space for plants and seeds. I think I have that much time before we are frost-free here.
Maybe I can get my not-so-little-anymore son to help. It'll be a lot different than having a two-year-old help. He's bigger than me now. As much as he complains about being asked to help (he's a teenager, of course he complains), there's no mistaking the pride he takes in letting friends and relatives know what he's done and showing off the "fruits" of his labors. And I think he likes the time with me at least as much as I like the time with him. The truth is there's nothing I'm more thankful for these days than time like that. :-)
Happy Easter!
I've tried out a lot of different things just for fun and to find out whether they were easy or tasted good. If they grew, great! If they didn't, that was okay too. If they were pretty, I remembered to try that one again.
Here at my new house I have a real garden space, totally unlike the terraced small spaces I've carved out of my past yards. I haven't measured, but this space seems huge and it has a gentle slope. Neighbors have told me that Bob and Judy, the previous owners, had a great vegetable garden that was very productive while they were both in good health. When I moved in it was just a flat mowed space. It hadn't been planted or tilled in years. Here's a photo from last fall. You can just make out the somewhat square flat space.
The day after I did my work we got over 8 inches of snow which was perfect for my plan. The snow melted away in about 3 days, slowly watering in the rough soil. There's a lot to do before I can plant anything and that's a good thing. As I mentioned, I'm not used to so much space. So I'll be working with my step-dad to figure out what to plant. Of course, I will have to plant butternut squash and also the other successes I've encountered over the years like Swiss chard and collard greens, tomatoes, green beans, and peppers. There is also a trellis on the west side of the garden made of two halves of an iron wagon wheel that I think will be perfect for berries. I've already planted two blueberry bushes I brought from my old house. They are just north and west of the trellis. My raspberry canes were too large to move, but I will certainly plant more. Some of my most relaxing times last summer were evenings after work spent picking berries with Skylr and often one of his friends. I loved the quiet time exploring the canes to find the ripest, sweetest ones.
I'm excited to get started breaking up the soil and working in some compost. Since this space is about 3 times as much space as I'm used to, I'll give myself a couple of weekends to ready the space for plants and seeds. I think I have that much time before we are frost-free here.
Maybe I can get my not-so-little-anymore son to help. It'll be a lot different than having a two-year-old help. He's bigger than me now. As much as he complains about being asked to help (he's a teenager, of course he complains), there's no mistaking the pride he takes in letting friends and relatives know what he's done and showing off the "fruits" of his labors. And I think he likes the time with me at least as much as I like the time with him. The truth is there's nothing I'm more thankful for these days than time like that. :-)
Happy Easter!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Daffodils - my new garden has tons!
We've had a few days of warm sunny weather here. Overnight it seemed like the forsythia exploded. There is yellow everywhere. But even better are the daffodils. My yard is full of them and there are several varieties. These photos show the 4 different kinds I've seen so far.
These were the first to open.
These opened next. And they are very fragrant.
Then these are planted in front of the house and opened a few days after the others.
Yesterday these pretty ones opened. The petals are much whiter than the others. It rained today just before I photographed them. That made for a pretty picture. The flowers are smaller. The American Daffodil Society describes a division on their website called Poeticus. I think that's what these are. Or perhaps it's a small-cupped variety. Check it out and see what you think. The website was a great reference for someone like me who has no idea what's planted in my yard.
In addition to the daffodils and the forsythia I have grape hyacinth just beginning to bloom. The previous gardener was smart to plant them at the beginning of the walk that leads to the front door. You can see from the photo that there are many, many more blooms just waiting to open. What a perfect spot for them. This fall I'll move a few of the daffodils close to these to provide a little contrast in next spring's display.
Needless to say, I love this time of year. It's especially fun in the new garden I've come to own. Bob and Judy, who built this home, raised their family here, and stayed until they died, obviously loved the garden, too. I feel so fortunate, like they've given me a gift. Wouldn't it be great if somehow they know I'm grateful? These thankful thoughts are sure to add good vibes to the world, the cosmos, heaven, this garden. I hope Bob and Judy get them, too :-)
Happy spring!
These were the first to open.
These opened next. And they are very fragrant.
Then these are planted in front of the house and opened a few days after the others.
Yesterday these pretty ones opened. The petals are much whiter than the others. It rained today just before I photographed them. That made for a pretty picture. The flowers are smaller. The American Daffodil Society describes a division on their website called Poeticus. I think that's what these are. Or perhaps it's a small-cupped variety. Check it out and see what you think. The website was a great reference for someone like me who has no idea what's planted in my yard.
In addition to the daffodils and the forsythia I have grape hyacinth just beginning to bloom. The previous gardener was smart to plant them at the beginning of the walk that leads to the front door. You can see from the photo that there are many, many more blooms just waiting to open. What a perfect spot for them. This fall I'll move a few of the daffodils close to these to provide a little contrast in next spring's display.
Needless to say, I love this time of year. It's especially fun in the new garden I've come to own. Bob and Judy, who built this home, raised their family here, and stayed until they died, obviously loved the garden, too. I feel so fortunate, like they've given me a gift. Wouldn't it be great if somehow they know I'm grateful? These thankful thoughts are sure to add good vibes to the world, the cosmos, heaven, this garden. I hope Bob and Judy get them, too :-)
Happy spring!
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