I took a quick walk around the lower garden yesterday to snap some pics so I can study them. You get such a different perspective from pictures I think.
I've just started to clean up the outdoor sink area.
This is the bed where I removed a tree last year and dug out the trunk. It's still early so this bed should be entirely covered with green by the end of the month. It's the first full year for these new perennials and they are all doing well.
I've planted some new rhododendrons and blackberries on this hillside above the boulders. It's a challenge to keep them watered because the water rolls right off.
I've also been planting around the perimeter of the lower pond. I want to naturalize this area as much as possible so I am using a lot of native plants. I planted a lot of blood root but it has not appeared yet. Has anyone had any luck growing this? Any tips?
This is the first full year for this bed too and I am hoping it fills in nicely. I have always had a tendency to over plant so I am trying to show some restraint and wait for things to grow.
I lost a lot of my succulents over the winter. They were planted in this old copper birdbath and I moved it to my potting shed for winter. A few made it but most did not. I need to figure out how to overwinter them this year.
My maple trees are liking this early hot weather and have produced a sea of seeds that covers my patio. What a mess. What you don't see in magazine photos of outdoor areas is just how "outdoor" they really are! I am constantly cleaning.
The outdoor sink is not quite ready for summer yet.
This is the view from the breakfast kitchen door. It is wonderful to open the doors and windows and hear the creek and waterfalls.
This is one of my weeping katsura trees. The smell of katsura tree leaves is one of the fascinating features of
this deciduous, multi-trunked tree. The katsura tree is also called the
caramel tree due to the burnt sugar and cinnamon smells that the leaves emit twice daily. Some people describe the aroma of
katsura tree foliage as cotton candy.
I am desperately trying to fill in areas under trees that surround the patio. Roots suck up so much moisture that it is difficult to get things to grow so it is very important to pay attention to soil moisture in all of these areas.
The entrance to my raised bed garden is through these antique Argentinian cedar doors. I will show you this area tomorrow.
Comments
For watering the new plants, I'd save large plastic bottles (1/2-1 gallon milk jugs, 2 liter soda bottles, etc), or use buckets. Poke tiny holes in the bottom so water oozes out and set or partially bury them by the plants. That should give water time to sink in instead of running off like watering from a hose or water can. It will be ugly for a while. Once the plants are stablished, you should be able to remove them.
If you don't want to look at or deal with bottles or buckets, dig trenches or drill a few holes around the plants to give spots to for the water to sit instead of running off. Not right next to the plants, but out from them a bit to encourage the roots to go out. Not only would it look nicer than bottles or buckets, but they will continue to gather water until they fill over time.
I put Hostas in pots and set then on rocks under a tree where they never seemed to take root. It was attractive, so much so that people commented on how lush it looked. I was just trying to fill it in. There were only a few pots of hosta, but it worked for the look I wanted.