Happy New Year 2008!

Robert and Rachel hiking in Colorado late Dec. 2007

I just had a reminder of the awe and the wonder of nature, as stepson Robert and I went to hike up the Denny Creek Trail in Colorado, of the beauty of the mountains, the beauty of the trees, the snow glistening and what it reminded me of is all seasons are beautiful.

Winter has a beauty of its own as the skeletal of the trees come alive, so when planning a garden or a landscape one has to keep in mind the shape of the trees, the shape of the shrubs, what they'll look like in the winter when the perennial flowers go dormant, when the shrubs have their buds sitting and waiting for the next season.

So remember winter, it's a forgotten season, but remember the beauty and the awesome skeletal look - the winterscape. At this point and time right now, being January 1st, it's time to start planning again for laying out a new garden or laying out the perimeters for a garden. So plan your garden with heights and textures that include the winter glory.

Late Fall 2007

Forgot to add this blog entry...!


Building the arbor in Door County

Well, the last week in Oct. we headed up to Door County, WI to create a little bit of landscape wonder. Put in an acre and a half of tall prairie - had 1700 plugs to plant. Did a 12'x12' arbor that you can sit and look out on to the prairie. We also put the plugs in for a short meadow and then started a woodland wonder.

Drove back home and did a small job in Stillman Valley, IL - did a courtyard - then turned back around and went back to Door County. The weather was nice up there - it was in the 40's and 50's which is great for putting in the plugs. They'll go dormant until springtime and then take off. We also over-seeded with 8000 sq.ft. in the prairie of seeding and about 4000 sq.ft. of over-seeding in the meadow. And the weather was okay... it was in the 30's in the morning but warm enough to work during the day.

Now back home, I'm putting my gardens to rest - mulching the leaves - giving them a nice bed - 2-3" of leaf compost, which is Mother Nature's way of fertilizing and taking care of the woodland plants - esp. around the amelanchiers and viburnums. The hydrangeas are appreciating the good thick bed of leaf mulch also since they need the nitrogen to keep their blooms.

We had an unfortunate accident in the pond. It looked like a wild critter - most likely a raccoon - had knocked a big rock in the pond which is approx. about a 3000 gal. pond, but they put a slice in the liner, so we're going to have to replace the liner and work on the waterfall. But, whatever I do I will try to keep it as natural as I can because the birds and the wildlife love to use it as a water source and I don't like the sterile ponds, so as much effort as it takes we will move the rocks and limestone to re-create as much as I can a natural pond for the birds and for the wildlife to enjoy - including our cats, who like to go out and take a drink and a sip.

As I put my beds to rest I will transplant and move things around if need be or create curves which makes maintenance and cleaning a whole lot easier. I will clean out the beds of any dead debris but try to keep it as natural as I can because the birds do need some of the dead wood just to create a home and live in.

It is nice to put the beds to rest and look forward to the renewal in the springtime. Trying to create my big shrub rugosa roses into an arch that I can walk through. Might take a little work to convince them which way to grow, but I will do my best. My arch out in front has grown over now as an entryway as I've arched living trees to create a living arch. So hoping to do the same with the roses. And going to go today and continue picking up leaves - should be getting near to the end of it soon.