Sunday, November 29, 2009

Mulching Leaves

We have a heavily wooded lot and could easily produce 100 large bags of leaves for the curbside each Autumn, but instead we mulch and compost and this is working out great for us. Below is an illustrated demostration of the process we follow for getting a wonderful organic end-product.

Step 1:
Rake leaves into piles and mow with a mulching lawnmower, then place these mowed-over leaves in a big pile.


Step 2:
Mow over the big pile again and again, until the pile is reduced by 90%.


Step 3:
With the leaves now chopped until fine-textured, gather and use to mulch garden beds & borders, or place in your compost pile.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Garden Art

All Spring and Summer, I longed to liven up my Garden with some tasteful Art & Sculptures, but affordable non-kitsch options alluded me. And now, while out shopping on "Black Friday", I came across these at Marshalls/HomeGoods for an irresistible price! They were $29.99 a piece, and well worth it as they are sturdy and unique with good craftsmanship. I'll be excited to see these out in the Garden come Spring!


Sunday, November 22, 2009

10 Arbor Day Trees

I was very excited to receive 10 Tree Seedlings after becoming a member of the Arbor Day Foundation, they arrived yesterday and were planted this morning! Hopefully, they will be ready for transplanting to their permanent location in about 2-3 years. Since we bought our home earlier this year, we've planted 4 trees (3 Eastern Redbud 'Forest Pansy', 1 Flowering Dogwood 'Cherokee Brave'), and definitely I'd like to plant at least a few more. I *LOVE* trees, and they are so great for the environment!



10 Arbor Day Trees
2 Sargent Crabapples
2 White Flowering Dogwoods
2 Eastern Redbuds
2 Goldenraintrees
2 Washington Hawthorns
+ 1 Crapemyrtle Shrub

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Camellia Sasanqua 'Kanjiro'

This Japanese Beauty, Camellia Sasanqua 'Kanjiro', is providing a very welcome display of Late Fall Blooms. It really brightens a drab corner of my backyard, and once these evergreen shrubs reach their full spread of 8 to 10 ft. tall and wide, they will perform the wonderful task of screening our home from the neighbors. I do have some concerns that the spot where I planted them may prove to be far too shady for next season's buds to form, but I'm really hoping the situation will work out because I cannot imagine a Garden without Camellias.



Sunday, November 15, 2009

Look Close...what do you see?


While sitting in my car at the Post Office yesterday, waiting for my husband to mail a package, something caught my eye! Nestled in the lovely Abelia Shrub, was a graceful Praying Mantis, and I was totally captivated.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Exquisite and Elegant


Thriller: Purple Fountain Grass
Filler: Garden Mum (pink, faded to white)
Spiller: Viola 'Sorbet Citrus Mix'

**Updated Front-Entry Fall Container in early-October.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Coneflower Solution

I have a beautiful Japanese Maple in the middle of one of my front foundation beds, and one thing I discovered during the 2009 growing season is that there's a tad too much shade behind the Maple to grow Full-Sun plants. The Salvia May Night got kind of floppy back there. And so, I moved them forward in early October, and that left me with the problem of trying to figure out what exactly to plant in the shady parts towards the back of bed. Last night, I discovered that Echinacea Magnus can indeed take Part-Sun/Part-Shade conditions, which is exactly how to describe the space in question. And so, I will give it a try come Spring 2010, and below is a synopsis of what it kinda sorta should look like.

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