A Whole Oak Forest in my Front Yard

I don't think I ever cut the grass in the front yard last year - simply never got around to it, and it stayed mostly green and never got very tall. When fall came, I never really got around to raking, either. The neglect may have been a contributing factor to my incipient oak forest.

Most of the broadleaf plants you see in what passes for lawn are oaks. Mostly white oaks.  There is an ancient white oak just out of the frame to the right, and the whole yard is shaded by it.

Here's what it looks like close up:

I imagine that one pass of the mower will do these trees in for good. I don't need an actual oak tree anywhere I plan to cut. There are several volunteer oaks, both white and red, and a few hickories of different species as well, that I am letting go in the garden.

I could be in for a rough patch if the mower does not eliminate the trees - there could be a need to mow more than once a year to keep this in some semblance of lawn.

Blooming Now

Green-and-gold, blue star (Amsonia), maple leaf viburnum, columbine, phloxes galore (moss, woodland, and stolinifera), geraniums, pussytoes, fringe tree, Carolina allspice, golden groundsel, jacob's ladder, celandine poppies, Carolina silverbell, clemstis, rhododendron, rosemary, tulips, azaleas, buttercups, and dandelions.

This is just what I can see while sitting in my car in the rain.

Won't be cutting the overgrown grass anytime soon.

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My Confused Ash Tree

Several years ago (maybe nine?) I planted a white ash in front of my house. My local landscaper got it for me and helped me plant it in the hole I dug.

I like the shape of the ash and I like its fall color. I picked the species based on having seen it on some field trips around here and then researching it in books. I wanted something locally native but not necessarily common.

Here's the odd thing: I don't think my tree is from around here. My tree is the last to leaf out of any tree in my yard, and always the first to change color and lose its leaves in the fall. It's only just now breaking buds and has tiny leaves. A couple of days ago I was even wondering if it was still alive. I worry every year, even though I know its odd timing.

This tree must have parents raised at a different latitude from here. Bud break must be more driven by day length than temperature, so it waits until its genes say it is safe to open up.

One more oddity. The form of the tree naturally is to have a strong central leader, one straight trunk from which side branches arch off gracefully. But in 2004 the 17 year cicadas ate the main top leader. It actually stalled the upward growth of the tree for at least two years, while it tried to decide which of several side branches to use as the main one. Finally, the one on the left is the clear winner and it has resumed shooting skyward.

I love having such a small garden that I know the personality and history of almost every plant and corner of it.


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Blooming Now: Clematis

I made the trellis out of fake wood about four years ago. I designed it to use "golden rectangles" in several places. It's one of my favorite projects I've carried out from start to finish. I think of it as a bit of refined bling for the front of the house.

It's behind a silver maple and quite shady. The clematis has climbed up into the light.

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Note to Self

Looks like the cherry laurel is a victim of The Big Snow, or the salt that followed it on the road.



I think it would take four plants to fill in this year. I'm thinking a grass, another indigo, another moss phlox and --? That may be enough.
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Coolest Owl Ever!

I've been hearing this guy since March in the evenings. ("Who cooks for you?")  He finally came in the daytime. He is SO BIG I saw him out of the corner of my eye in the maple across the street.  I went out to see, and had time to go back in and grab the camera.  I got both the front and backlit versions.

He is a barred owl - and as big as a small dog. Bigger than most raccoons.

Getting Rid of Old Mistakes

About five years ago, I had one concept for the side garden that including growing trumpet creeper up my Norway spruce.  All the books said not to plant it in a small yard, but I was planting it in a very difficult place to grow up a forty year old tree. The vine grew but did not flourish, did not climb, and did not bloom. Sadly, the spruce died a couple of years later, and I had it and its companion tree removed.

For another two years I thought about what to do with that suddenly sunny side yard, during which time the trumpet creeper started to thrive, but never to bloom.  I had a substantial tuteur for it to climb on, and I was pretty good at keeping it cut back and not allowing it to sucker at all.

The vine and a banana tree in October 2008 - a much more innocent time.

Finally the concept for the side grew clear in my mind. It does not include a massive non-flowering vine. I have planted several small trees along there, the kind that would be overwhelmed by this vine. I dug down and got a lot of the roots of the vine out, but I knew I did not have it all. All last summer, the vine continued to sprout, and I continued to dig down and pull out pieces of the roots. Big pieces, a couple of inches in diameter, found a foot or more down. I knew I was barely holding my own against this plant that wants to be big.

I noticed its first sprouts yesterday.  Today I got out the roundup.  I ruthlessly sprayed its tender shoots, just two inches tall. My hope is the poison travels back to the root and kills it dead, making it unnecessary for me to continue digging it out.  If the roundup will ever work, now is the time while the shoots are tender and the plant is relying on the food built up in the roots.  Wish me luck.

Spring Vignettes

It has been so warm that every single day things are changing radically. I am doing practically no work, just enjoying the fruits from having been busy in previous years.

Carolina Silverbell

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Afternoon Backlight

I designed this front edge to benefit from the afternoon sun.







Golden groundsel surrounding feral artglass.

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Spring is Bustin' Out All Over

Things move along too fast for me to keep up with them.

Snap

A microcosm - a few valiant tulips surviving in a once lovely bed now every which way.




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Vignettes from the beginning of April

Not so much the blooms as the sprouts.

Why do I want to get rid of these?

Vinca minor was in my yard before I got here, and as I've reduced the English ivy it has had a major resurgence.



It is one of the earliest things to bloom in the yard, hardy in dry shade under evergreens, and unbelievably charming when it blooms. So why am I battling it?Clearly, the reason I am not winning the battle is my ambivalence.

This really symbolizes where I am in the native plant issue. Ambivalent. This stuff is pretty. It is also sterile in terms of its wildlife value. It does not support insect or animal populations to any significant degree. It is aggressive and pops up unexpectedly all over my yard. It outcompetes and smothers native spring plants with more significant wildlife value.

But it's lovely to look at right now. We had it at my house in Ann Arbor- one of the first plants I learned the name of. So there is a pause in my battle- but it's not a truce because it is spreading while I regard it with an indulgent smile.

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