Making my own Mulch

The last few days I've felt like I looked so silly out in the garden. I'm trying something new this year, and its very out of the box for me. See, normally, every fall I leave most of the garden in tact, blow and/or rake some leaves over the beds, and wait for a blanket of snow. Some years we put a layer of compost in over the beds, but not every fall. Winter lays heavy over the remnants of last years garden, and often creates some fun structural images, like the dead heads of Echinacea flowers with snow topping them like ice cream cones. I do this for several reasons. First, in a zone 4 garden you should never prune a rose after September 1st- and if I'm not out there pruning roses, I tend to not want to take cutters to anything else. Second, the seed heads of many flowers (including rose hips) feed the birds through fall and into winter- watch and you can see the finches hoping from flower to flower eating. Third, the natural progression of things has always resulted in fun reseeding, and I love that--- finding where Verbena Bonariensis, Nicotiana, Lamb's Ear, Rudbeckia, alyssum and Penstemon would like to grow the following year is an adventure- and helps create the natural look to the garden that I love. Also, I simply poop out on heavy garden chores by fall- I've got my mind on knitting, and baking. I let the garden sort of "be" and by spring I am watching the snow melt drip by drip so I can run out there and joyously clean up the garden. In years past I've gone through each bed, and clipped all the dead matter, loaded up loads and loads of wheel barrels full, and hauled it into the compost, or worse even to the city compost by the truck load. Suddenly, it occurs to me how silly this is. So much added work... for what? A clean bed for a few weeks this time of year before everything grows back over it again? All of the matter, if broken up small enough, will decompose no matter where I've put it.

This year I'm taking on the tedious task of clipping all of last years dead matter into smaller bits like mulch, with my hand pruners, and dropping it where it be. The result isn't a nicely manicured bed with the bags load of cedar mulch from the hardware store... instead its a natural, chaotic, quilt of many colors. The pale hollow stems of last years lilies and mallow, the seed heads of every imaginable shape and size, and decaying leaves of all hues, left to lay. So picture me, standing gingerly among the newly sprouting perennial tops, carefully avoiding the long wispy branches of roses that I have yet to hard prune, holding 5 feet of stem and chopping, clipping, cutting and occasionally breaking with my hands, pieces flying in every direction. Its awful silly. I'm sure the neighbors think- what on earth is she doing? Well naturally, I'm making my own mulch.

I'm almost done- finished about 75% of the beds, and plan on completing the rest in the next day or two. So much less work than hauling it all away, and I'm just sure its somehow a better choice. Eventually this spring I may top some of the roses and clematis with blanket of fresh compost from our pile.

Now if I can just hold tight while the plants cover it all up. I must resist the urge to go buy uniform cedar mulch. I have got to remind myself this is a better, more economically and eco-friendly option. After all, it won't be long before the lysimachia, ferns, and daylily foliage is all you see-- and the before the leafy perennials cover all of last years matter turned mulch, the tulips and daffodils will serve as a nice distraction.

Happy gardening!

The Dirt On My Garden

I recently did a post on my family blog about the "real" me. Following a trend in blogging where we seem to put our best foot forward, often presenting a false front of perfection to our blog readers, I thought such a topic would be applicable on the garden blog as well. Well, anyone who gardens knows, gardening ain't always pretty. In fact, it can be quite dirty, and downright messy. After a friend of mine asked to see the ugly side of the pretty pictures I am always posting, I ran right out, and had no trouble finding the DIRT.

We had a huge willow removed by the city this early spring... may have even been winter... a while ago. Remember that? Yeah, my husband still has these huge log pieces sitting in the driveway. Not neatly stacked or nuthin'. Just sitting there randomly, beside the crack garden. You know, the garden he's apparently growing in the crack between the driveway and the street (see bottom of the picture)? I also have about 30 hostas in a pile in front of our garage door. Anyone want some? I've been meaning to Craiglist them. I have already given plenty away, too.

See this mess below?

This is my black gold, or compost pile. This year I was too lazy to spread all of it over my flower beds. Theo tilled it for me several times, and instead of using it, I planted huge pumpkin plants in it. We'll see what I do if the pumpkins actually grow. I have only grown one tiny pumpkin successfully, ever, so the odds are not in my favor.

How about these badly damaged canna leaves? Japanese beetles are here, and they looooove cannas. I can't keep up with them when it comes to the cannas. They eat fast and deep.

The Japanese beetles are also eating the roses. They seem to love the David Austin rose "Brother Cadfael," the most. How heartbreaking is this?

Right about this time of year you will also find some of my less strong roses covered in diseases like black spot. I have a habit of going around picking up the yellow leaves, but that leaves the base of the roses bare and ugly, like this "Fragrant Cloud." I should add, not all roses look like this... just the weaker ones.

And my favorite ugly part of the garden? My yard waste bins. I have 4 of them full (not full to the top, but heavy to where they can still be moved) right now! Full with grass clippings and fallen branches and diseased rose foliage. I tend to put deadheaded perennial clippings into the dirt beside the plant, but those things I can't compost, for space or disease purposes, go in these bins.

All of this will be hauled back to the cities yard waste bin, but not before my husband lets them sit and stink up the yard for a while. The rain water has collected in there, and wow... the smell is terrible right now. My back will not allow me to do the hauling and dumping.

The last dirt on my garden? This blasted tree stump you see in the middle of our front yard. we found someone who will remove the stump and all roots for only $90, but we have not called him in yet. Makes sense that we would not put down new grass seed in the space until the stump is gone.

For now, we have a huge dead spot right in the center of the yard. Also, with the landscaping trim that has been in for years is very visible when the grass isn't growing there. I can't wait to have this all cleaned up!

Hope you enjoyed the my tour of the ugly aspects of the garden. I have to admit, the beauty of gardening is I have learned to embrace all the dirt. I love my yard waste bins, and my dead spot of grass. I love pulling weeds, and caring for my roses. I couldn't imagine gardening without them!

Happy gardening!

Jamie

Intercepted the pansy cart...

I can finally show you all my fountain, and the beautiful balls I have floating in it. Yipee-Yeah!

Bulbs and more...

This afternoon I stepped out to see how everything is progressing in the garden. I found my bleeding heart (red stems barely poking up) and some either lily or allium bulbs growing beside it healthily. This bleeding heart will bloom in less than a month, and you can be sure I'll show you pictures. :)

Lady's mantle, another late season find last summer.

The buds on my $3 apple tree are swelling, too.

"Morden Centennial' leaf buds are shooting out; still 2 months to bloom time.

Clematis leaf buds swelling open

I tucked this little "key holder" in an arbor; she fit snug between two slats of wood. She doesn't hold any keys, we are simply not that organized 'round here. LOL.

These bachelor's buttons leaves are so soft and fuzzy, already several inches high. I bought these so late in the season last year that I have never seen them bloom. Excited!

This might be the first tulip to open. Time will tell.

Geranium
I took the boys with me to get out of the house Friday; we ran about the nursery admiring the seedlings, and picking out a few variegated geraniums for my containers later this spring. I have coveted this pelgardini 'vancouver centennial' for some time, it was on my wish list until this week. I love how the leaves look like little maple leafs, and the foliage's red is bound to glow in a container garden this summer.

The other, pelgardini 'occold shield' just looked like fun. I can justify an expensive ($5) geranium b/c it won't die in my hands; I can keep in the house through winter and set it back in a container again the following year. I'll be back for more geraniums soon, and there are several coleus I HAVE to have also. I am really running out of room in my sunny windows, LOL.

Spring Containers

We were on our way to Walmart to get potting soil when I thought I'd drive past the Home Depot garden center in search of pansies. The garden associate was still wheeling the pansy cart out when I pulled up and began loading up our stroller. We shared a wide smile, and a sigh, "finally!" So far, having flowers just outside the front and back door has been like therapy. I am so happy every time I see them. Here are my first containers of the season. I threw in some snapdragons, groundcover phlox I'll transplant to the ground when I put in the summer container plants, a purple osteospurmum, rocky yellow violas, and a mix of pansies. Oh, and one of the blue balls that fell. Ta Da!

I tried to keep blue, purple, yellow and orange in this one...

Pansy 'Delta Pure Light Blue'

Pansy 'Delta Premium Watercolors Mix' with creeping phlox 'emerald blue' in the background.

Osteospermum

This old wheel barrel was in our shed when we moved in. The house is 114 plus years, and this thing works like it is, too. I now have a garden cart I don't tip over, and this guy is acting as a planter. Last this year I'm seeing elephant ears, coleus, lysimachia, but right now, pansies, ground phlox, violas, and snapdragons, all yellow, purple, and red.

'Rocky Yellow' Viola

Pansy "Delta Light Lavendar'

Creeping phlox 'purple beauty' will eventually be stuck in the ground.

Spring Vegetable Bed, more.

I used the fraction of the veggie bed we were able to till up to plant some seeds this Saturday. I put in short row of super sugar snap peas, purple-top white globe turnips, watermelon radishes, and salad giant radishes. I weeded, and thinned the german chamomile coming up everywhere (note to self, don't let this one go to seed!). I also plucked up a clematis growing in the veggie bed, and placed it by the blue ball arbor. I moved a few of the perrenial herbs to make room for the rest of the tilling, and summer crops. I let my boys dig and roll in the untilled dirt and compost to their heart's content. I'm a cool mom. Last, I moved the hyacinths I forced in the dining room out the ground. I was able to see where this spring's existing bulbs are, and place the hyacinths accordingly. Happiness. Doesn't look like much yet, but this will be a fine "before" picture in the coming months.

Doesn't look like much yet, eh?

A chive, started from seed in the late part of summer, add some of the only color in the edible bed right now. I have never seen it bloom.

Dividing Perennials

Sunday I pushed the shovel into the dirt to heave two giant perennials out for division. I have read you should divide your perennials every 3 years to keep them flourishing, promote blooms, and control size if desired. I regularly divide plants for propogation purposes, as I'm contstantly removing grass and making a new places for plants. I divide my phlox, hostas, sedum, coral bells, and rudbekia. This spring there were two perrenials I really needed to divide: a massive Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and a Purple Coneflower Echinacea 'magnus' who failed to bloom well last year. I hoisted the giant plants from the ground and took my shovel to them and when I was through I had 28 smaller, but still good sized, plants. Yes, I said 28! FROM TWO. Wild, eh? Like magic.

These photos aren't much to look at, but I like to keep records, and some folks may not understand what I'm saying. The clump of sticks to the left of this picture is another Sedum AJ that is only half the size of the one I chopped up. Yeah, the one I divided was massive, perhaps 3 feet in diameter? I'm bad with math, but it was a biggun!

Here is one of the divisions, stuck in the ground in it's new home.

Five or six more divisions up in the front bed.

One tiny coneflower division. See the little red bud on the stick? New leaves a comin'.

Each new division has roots and new growth of its own, just FYI. I stuck most of the new plants in the ground in bare spots. I made plans for both varieties in the front flower bed. I need to wait until more plants surface before I can assess where the rest of the divisions will go. For now, I stuck the remainging divisions in pots on the back porch. I may have to bring them in next week if the temps dip like they say they might. But in a month or less I should have a place to put them. Meanwhile, I obssess over it, by drawing pictures and pouring over gardening images. Sigh.

Compost

For my birthday I gave myself a gift that keeps on giving: a table-top compost bin. I found it at World Market. I've been tossing my coffee grounds, banana peels, strawberry leaves, eggshells, and such in there. Sunday I emptied it for the first time, and when it landed in the compst pile and the wind blew the scent up I began dry heaving all over the backyard. LOL. What a sight I must have been. Then, I got over it, and began to turn my pile. Under the top layer of grass clippings, sod chunks, worms and plant debri I tossed in the pile last fall I found rich back compost. I could have danced. I did talk outloud about how cool I am. I do that in the garden all the time. I spread the compost over the rear perennial border and turned the remaining pile to create more soon, I hope. Compost is truly magical. I'll spare you the pictures of the pile, this time.

Meanwhile Indoors

You can see my seedlings and summer bulb plants are coming along nicely in the greenhouse, LOL, I mean dining room.

A peony and hosta 'elegans' growing, growing, growing...

Happy dirt digging to you all.