Blown Sideways

After two nice days we got two days of wind. Cold wind. Yesterday and today we were blown about. Temperatures were in the 30s until lunchtime, but then got up into the 40s and 50s in the afternoons --- but even at those temps the wind felt bitter and nasty.

I have to anchor these twig towers better, and then plant the trailing nasturtiums inside soon. They blow over every windy day, so I'll need a better way to keep them from toppling over.

Despite the cold, Jim and I went to Harken Stone in East Windsor and got another bluestone to add to the entrance of the arbor. Boy, they have every stone you could want. We got the exact size for $39 and braved the bitter wind this morning to install it.

Not as easy as I thought it would be! And leveling the one above it was worse. But we got it done. However, the creeping thyme that was so lush around the original two steps is now kaput. I thought I could save it, but it got trashed in the stone setting work.

So I ordered 25 more plugs from Whiteflower Farm and will replant the whole area and fill in the bare spots around the steps and on the berm at the top of the driveway too.  It is Thymus serpyllum 'Albus'.

Remember how pretty the thyme looked originally when it was strewn with rose petals and was blooming in June? That's what I want all over this area again, although the roses are now gone.

Remember this?
June 2009, when it was so lush and had spread so well. It bloomed forever.

Speaking of kaput -- I think the rosemary is as dead as a bag of hammers.

It always looks tired and brown by early spring, but this year every needle falls off when I barely touch a branch. The whole shrub feels like tinder.

Does this look dead to you?
Yeah, me too.

My wonderful winter hardy, beautiful rosemary did not make it this time. I will need to take it out. It did survive winters before, and I loved its mass and shape in this spot, but I was asking too much to have it carry on each winter.

I'm thinking of replacing it with a St. Johnswort. I'd like to try again with Hypericum frondosom 'Sunburst'.  Remember how nice it looked in Meadow's Edge a few years ago?

It had a real bushy rounded shape and blue green foliage. It won't give me the dark mass in winter anchoring this end of the garden, but in summer it will be nice and the flowers are showy.

I loved this St. Johnswort but it was too crowded behind the doublefile viburnum and got too much shade.
It was voles that did it in, though, in 2011.  I'd like to try it again.

There is so much to do outside. And pots to get ready and seeds to think about sowing outside soon, and on and on before all the plant shipments start to arrive. But I can't deal with the wind any more, so I'm staying indoors until it calms down and I'm not blown about so much.

Chevron Garden

Yesterday and today were beautiful days. The wind finally died, the temperatures were cool in the morning but up to 60 degrees in the afternoon, and there was sunshine. Oh my.

I spent both days outside edging, digging a new garden strip, edging some more, expanding garden areas, removing sod ... achy body!  Good feeling!

Here's the new strip Jim and I dug out. He helped me with it and it was hard work. It's a chevron shape that will be filled with Hemerocallis fulva, the common ditch lily. Just a narrow strip with tiger lilies in a row, angling out on either side of the birch tree.

You can't see the yellow blooms on the Cornus mas in front here. They are all over the little tree, but not visible yet.

I did not want the prettier, showier hybrid day lilies. This defines the back edge of our space, the meadow is beyond, and I wanted something natural to make the transition. Showy flowers are in the round bed in front. This chevron cradles the back arc of that garden and I really like it.

Plus I just love July's tiger lilies. They don't bloom long and the foliage is awful after, but they make me so happy. A pop of orange in early July in this far garden strip is what I want, then it can fade into the background for the rest of the summer.  The garden in front is the real show.

Common daylilies can spread rampantly. But we will be mowing on either side of this area and that should keep them in check.

I do like how it defines the back corner.

We will get a delivery of soil from Envirocycle on Tuesday - 3 yards - and we'll fill the strip.

I spent the rest of the days edging several gardens, fixing their shapes, expanding some areas, and you would not believe how much sod gets taken out with that work.

I dug several redtwig dogwood rooted runners today to give to Cheryl. It was not as easy as I thought it would be to find young runners that were easy to dig, but I got several dug and potted for her.

I added some lime to the clematises today. Buds are showing.

Now, late in the day the wind is kicking up again, but the light is beautiful, I can see progress on some of the harder digging tasks in the yard, I have a glass of wine, and my body is tired.
: )

I'm Pooped

Despite another day of bitter wind, I put on my parka, a hat and gloves and went outside to chop out edges of the gardens where we need to neaten up and where we also need to expand areas.

It wasn't as bad as yesterday and by afternoon it was ok. Cold, blustery, in the low 40s, but ok. I expanded the area under the first birch, and edged the entire Birch Garden. It was four wheelbarrow carts of sod, dumped on the back hill.

So much more to do. Both of the other two birches need a lot of expansion to tie them to the Birch Garden area. And all the other gardens need edging.

I also took every last brown leaf off the witch hazels, by hand. They look so much better now!

Doesn't the Angelina sedum look spectacular? It's a bright, rich gold. This is its season.

It just pops from afar and brightens everything up. Both heaths have a smattering of pink flowers, but not much to look at yet. Maybe they will bloom more fully in a day?

The cornelian cherry in back has opened its bright yellow buds, but it's not quite full yet. You can't see any blooms from the house, but maybe in another day or two we will. The Dawn viburnum is opening too, but I detect no fragrance. The pink blossoms are not quite fully open.

I also fussed with adding a bluestone step at the entrance to the new arbor. I moved the one from the patio opening all the way over to the arbor (heavy lifting even using the hand cart!) but it was a different size and didn't work. We'll have to buy a new stone the same size as the other two. So then I carted the stone back to the patio and reset it. Ooomph.

Now I'm pooped. Really pooped. It was a full day of physical work in the cold wind. But it kept my mind off both boys' troubles --- my heart aches for both of them as they work out their relationships and deal with separations and lost loves.  sigh.

Cold Tears

Today is cold and windy, the kind of day where being outside makes your nose run and your eyes tear up. It was in the 20s overnight, and at midday in the 30s, with a bitter bite to the wind.

Chris from Bartlett came today. The problem with the funny crooked leader on the spruce in back is due to prior damage from white pine weevils. They affect the top branches of spruces, not just white pines. In fact, all of the spruces on the berm have top growth problems because of pine weevil damage.

He sprayed for it today, but the lingering effect is that the leader on these trees gets distorted and overtaken by side branches, which need to be pruned.

Jim and I can do some work with the pole pruner, but Chris carefully explained exactly how to subordinate all the side branches, and I think it is too much to try to do with a pole pruner. You need to be up on a ladder to see what needs doing. Not us.

So I e-mailed Mike to ask Bartlett to come out with their tall ladders and do the pruning.

Just walking around the yard with Chris my eyes were watering from the cold wind, and tears were running down my cheeks. Wow, it was cold out.

Too Early

It's too soon for this.

A tick, embedded on my upper stomach when I came in from working on the back hill today.

It has been in the 20s and 30s overnight, no higher, and the days have not often gotten into the high 50s. One of the advantages to scrabbling around in the underbrush in March and April is that you can work out there in the cold without worrying about ticks.

Right?

I had on socks, long sleeves, long pants, a tight fitting camisole under my shirt which was tucked into my pants. And yet the tick was on me, under the camisole. I found it in the shower. Of course I had to check everywhere, all over. This is way too early to be worrying about ticks.

I spent the morning weeding the Drive By Garden, hands and knees work, pulling by hand.  The globe onions I transplanted from the patio are peeking up.

Then I fertilized some of the trees on the back hill, especially the male American holly and the white pines, which were looking a little yellow.

Rain moved in this afternoon.

I put out the small glass hummingbird feeder to attract the early scouts. I got a larger one at Moscarillo's and will hang that as the season gets underway.

Much Has Been Done

Despite the cold drizzly start to Thursday, much has been accomplished in the past three days!

Thursday afternoon cleared off a little, and Friday and Saturday were cool, partly sunny days, in the 50s, perfect for work outside.

Jim helped prune the conifers that had too much growth up top, although we held off on the spruce with the crooked top branch, since it turned out that there are no other tall branches. That crooked one is the leader. I'll ask Bartlett about it.

I even turned the compost pile. Phew. Hard sweaty work, but the air was cool enough for it.

Perennials were cut back, carypopteris chopped back, lespedeza too. A lot of clean up, including the miscanthus grass at the corner of the garage and the three Northwind plumes at the back of Meadow's Edge.  Boy do I hate grass clean up in spring.

It all took the better part of two days to get most stuff cut back.

Then Jim and I assembled and put up the arbor at the entrance to the gravel garden, without any dispute. : )

I moved the dwarf spruce to the right side (it had been right next to the Star magnolia, not a good place as the magnolia gets bigger).

I will need to get another bluestone to make three steps into the gate area. I dug up all the thyme around the area, added more fill and raised the topmost stone up, and then replanted the thyme. I also used some of it to replace browning patches along the top of the driveway. Dying thyme has been a problem along there.

And I have a kiwi vine on order to put on the left side of the arbor, to climb over the arch.

The whole thing is horribly flimsy. It's just wobbly aluminum, inexpensive and lightweight. If I decide I like the look, and if the kiwi vine takes off and drapes well over the arch, I may consider getting a sturdy natural wood arbor and gate, and have it installed. For now, we'll see how this does.

Picture it all, if you will, in summer, in this very spot - - -

I dug out a lot of the edge on the back side of the border on the left to expand the width a little, and will put in a styrax there, just to the left of the first twig tuteur. That will shade (someday) the front part of the gravel sitting area.

Plans (and Conifers) Gone Awry

Despite the predictions of cool, clear weather for the next three days, and my plans to get so much clean-up and pruning and even digging done during that window of time, the weather has gone awry.

I woke up ready to go, put on some clean(ish) garden pants and waited for the temperature to get up out of the mid 30s.  By mid morning it had started to drizzle. Pffft.

Know what else seems awry? A couple conifers have odd growth up top.

The rightmost spruce on the berm needs a lop:

It's funny how it mirrors the slant of the ancient white birch across the street:

One of the Austrian pines needs some shaping on both the left and right sides toward the top:

This is the tree that I want to grow a clematis up this year.

The skies seem to be clearing, but it is still only 39 degrees now at lunch time. If the rain holds off after lunch I can still do some work out there, dressed for the chill.  Jim will need to help me with the extension lopper.

Get Ready for 3 Days in the Garden!

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and lunch with a friend, but after that, starting on Thursday the weather looks good for being out in the yard all day long getting stuff done. For three days!

Then Sunday is Easter, so I'll be sore and tired and ready to take a day off to visit family, eat, and rest.

The nights will be above freezing, and the days cool and breezy. Some drying out should start to occur, although there is still snow that needs to melt in places.  I'm ready for three solid days outside.

ThuMar 28

50^°

34^°

AM Clouds / PM Sun

CHANCE OF RAIN:

20%

 

WIND:

N at 11 mph

Details

FriMar 29

51^°

36^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NW at 6 mph

Details

SatMar 30

52^°

35^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NW at 7 mph

Details

Entanglements

Cold at night, in the low 20s, and the ground is frozen. But today there was sun, the afternoon got into the 40s, and there was only a moderate breeze. Some exposed areas were snow free. Where the top inches have melted it is incredibly squishy, though.

But I went out today and it felt good.

I took all the mesh and plastic trunk protectors off the trees on the back hill and in the yard. You'd think that would be a quick job, but it took quite a while.

I spent time on the back hill cutting down multiflora rose and bittersweet. So much of it. I wanted to brush each cut stem with Brush B Gone, but really it's impossible. In the tangle of woody vines and weeds and other debris up there, I can't get to the stems.

I just lopped off what I could, took the vines down from the upper branches and moved on to the next entanglement.

I cut my hands badly on some thorns, lost a glove on the hill, got hot and sweaty in the chill air, and wound up with burrs all over me.  A good day.

I saw that one of the black gums planted back there was incredibly root girdled. There were visible tightly coiled roots around the small stem, and I could see how distorted the trunk was becoming.

This is the tree, in fall 2011. It's nestled between some maples at the bottom of the hill, and it has not grown much.

I thought that was because Nyssa sylvatica is a slow grower, but this little tree is stunted, totally root strangled.

You wouldn't believe how girdled the top layer of roots was. I should have gotten a photo. I cut away what I could, lopping off quite a few tightly wrapped roots, at least the ones I could see at soil level. I hope I have saved it.

Even with all the entangled vines, the cold ground, and wet conditions, it felt good to be doing chores out in the chilly sun today.

Still

Still the cold persists.

It is still in the 20s at night and the ground remains frozen. Snow has melted in some areas, but still, it's wintry and white out there. And windy today.

Yet this little iris wants me to know there is hope.



Oh, and taxes got done today.