Where Have We Been!?
Did I mention our woodland garden is a long term project? We'd love to be gardening all the time, but life finds a way of requiring other things. But, we haven't lost our dream or focus! Meanwhile, busy or not, the plants we've started keep growing, which is one of the beauties of gardening!
I'm happy to report that after a year, most of our bargain basement priced rhododendrons are doing well. We lost a few, mostly in areas where there is a lot of runoff from storms, so we are thinking that is the problem. Otherwise, most look really good. A few even bloomed this past spring!
We started some cuttings shortly after Independence Day in sand. Many had rooted, so yesterday, Kim and I planted them in some really nice topsoil that we have in our raised gardens:
Newly rooted cuttings are fragile, so we covered them with two layers of fiberglass screen:
We plan to cover them with plastic over the winter and then plant them out next spring.
Also today, our friend and neighbor brought us eight volunteer hydrangea that had come up at her Dad's, that we were thrilled to add to our garden space!
I mowed the woods twice this year, but it has been a while and the grass, which is easy to pull out, is currently going to town.
We just started some pachysandra cuttings in water, so we are hoping to get those rooted and use those, along with hosta, to keep the weeds down.
One hitch in the project is that last fall, Hurricane Sandy took down one poplar and the one you see leaning would fall, except that it is resting against another tree. There is no telling how this will play out!
We are going to need a LOT of plants, so we are researching additional ways to prorogate them ourselves whenever possible. There may even be some methods we can use over the winter (roses).
We also need to nail down a vision for the higher plants at the edge of the garden. We aren't sure what we want specifically, other than to provide year round privacy and be as attractive as possible. Suggestions are welcome!
Hopefully it won't be so long before the next update!
Take care,
Scott
