What have you done today in the Garden?

The sweetgum trees in this area have spiny seed balls in the fall. I don't think I have any on my place, but others have them. Their leaves are bright red this time of year.

I never get as far as pruning my wisteria vines. There are so many of them.

It was pouring rain most of the day, so I worked indoors. Leaves can wait a few more days. I would like to sleep some more, but I have a few more things to do this evening before going to bed.

 

Pineapple express is bringing rain all day. Mostly staying inside.

The two female ducks have been fighting and quacking loudly for three days now. They bite each other a lot. I wonder why? It gets pretty dramatic. If they hate each other, the yard is big enough they could just stay apart.

Why is a female duck called a hen, and a female chicken is called a hen, but a male duck is called a drake and a male chicken is called a rooster?

One of the white leghorn hens died yesterday. She was old and hadn't laid eggs for a couple of years. Her sister is still producing. I wonder why the difference?

Yesterday, helper burned the giant pile of brush, blackberry brambles, fig prunings, and other burnable sticks. I wish there was a good, inexpensive, electric chipper so they could just be mulch or compost. I had one once, never worked well. The alternative is load up the truck and drive 30 miles to the yard waste depot, which is a lot of gasoline and some $$$$. And I would have many truckloads.

Next I can start pruning apple trees. I'll remove the deer fences and prune lower branches, leaving mostly branches above deer height. Then the area will be mow-able with riding mower, much easier and neater.

 

Birds usually fight over their pecking order, mates or nests... No idea on the naming of male chickens and ducks. I think a male goose is a gander?

I wish chipper shredders were more afordable also. I could put a large one to work often. I am thankful that the electric company gave me two loads of chips last spring. I am putting them around as quick as I can.

One online person says you can get loads of chips free from tree service companies. I have not tried that yet, but after I get my current chips all put around, I may start calling different companies about getting more.

I hope to get out and do raking on sunday. I will use those in my veggie garden and flower beds. I will put the chips around the same. We had heavy rains yesterday, and really needed that rain.

 

I had a tree cut last year, it was hitting the neighbor's house, my garage and shading my gardens. So the landlord (aka my son) said they could trim it. I told them if it just got trimmed they'd need to do it again in a couple years. So why not just take it out. So they did. I was at work when they cut it but they came back a week or so and ground the stump out. I was home that day and when I saw them cleaning up the stump bits I went out and asked them for it. It helped a little around my gardens but not as much as if I'd been home for the whole tree.

 

I shelled a bag of dried green bean pods, about 150 seeds for next year's garden.

 

Nothing today it's been too cold and frosty.

 

Today tried to organize all the garden beds thruout the garden for winter interest. The herbaecous plants are now in dormancy with a few perennials left showing various shades of browns, reds, russet and yellows. I delay removing everything until very late winter or very early spring. I leave a few perennials along side the evergreen trees and shrubs to add interest, movement and textures.

Eventually everything is removed as needed. Anything that has no visual winter interest that are flattened from the rain and small spent annuals removed. Now that the fall leaves are all contained the garden beds all have the visual value and quality for a 4 seasons garden as designed.

This was my original universal theme design for this garden from the first time I got out the graph paper . The intension was to design a 4 Season Garden from the beginning. This time of year the many evergreen trees and shrubs of many colors of the rainbow are now the star of the show. Including some beautiful winter colors of a few dried perennials. The colors are changing rapidly now colder temps, until the snows come in winter. The snow covered garden will turn many shades of grey, blues and whites without a hint of any other colors looming in the background.

In most boarders I have gradually been encouraging as many plants as possible that have good winter value to be included with the evergreens. Any plant where the foliage changes into fall colors of gold ,reds, oranges to the amazing flaming reds of the small dwarf maples to the larger leafed maples has a fiery glow at sunset that light up the shy.

The temperature have really cooled down to reveal the hydrangeas with their big flowery heads of beige, pinks, reds, and blues. Also the ornamental grasses are a billowy form that adds movement in the garden , sways in the breeze and generally holds its own place never sends out roots or travels . They stay in one place as the clump grows larger yearly then I will split them in spring to plant in another place.

In some ways my gardens looks best during the fall season. The maples and various yellows, oranges, reds and mix of colorful evergreens really pop. Instead of colorful flowers, in fall these plants show off their bright fall colors, and textures against the evergreen backdrop of Leland cypress, Doug fir, hemlocks , cryptomeria’s and Spanish pines and many huge exposed tree trunks of browns and mixed textural patterns for winter display only.

The sedum is still looking good with its big fleshy blue-green leaves and wide flat deep wine colorful spent flower heads . These are next to a clump of Miscanthus decorative grass. About 5’ tall and variegated called Porcupine grass, with light feathery heads are a nice winter focal point. Another good texture combination with the asters mixed with pee gee hydrangeas of bright pink tipped flower heads and heathers across the bottom front . The heathers bloom in purple, pink and white adding color across the length of the flower bed in spring til fall. Then they line the foot of the flower beds covered in green tiny leaves all winter for additional interesting texture.

Sometimes there are some lucky combinations and I try to emphasize the value of each one during winter. Some plant combinations are simple designs to form a vignette. Many accent special combos that look good and also to give greater weight to an area that has been successful which helps the eye travel thru the ups and downs of the garden without a single break the the structure of the garden. Combinations are only a part of the garden structure. Planting various plants help keep the borders cohesive and harmonious while mixing together different elements, plant varieties and materials in preparation for the ‘Winter Garden’ scene…. which in this case is over 6 months out of the growing season.

Six months of winter why the winter design was so important to be included in the main structure for the garden.
I planned the garden from the very beginning to have a mix of evergreen shrubs and trees. Some flowering other cones and others interesting textures to keep winter interest alive throughout the winter months.

 

That made for interesting reading, Pac.
There are a few things to think about there.

 

Too cold to do anything today, except feed the birds and squirrels. They were waiting for me when I went out at 10.00.am. The forecast says rain for today, although it's dry at the moment and rain for the next five days!

 

What not to do in the garden

 

Far too wet to do anything today, other than feed the birds and squirrels.
We've a flock of about a dozen sparrows that frequent the feeder under the azaleas next to the patio.
This area I screened off as there's an (unoccupied at present) hedgehog house in there. There's wire mesh around it that only birds the size of blackbirds or smaller can get through. The sparrows, if disturbed, fly up through the azaleas as a flock. As you can see (here in May) it's quite dense, but they manage to fly through it.

 

This is why I wasn't in the garden today.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/atmospher...st-coast-floods-heavy-rain/story?id=105386483

I've been thinking about building an ark. It might take some time to collect all of the animals, especially kangaroos and platypuses. May Mel will help me round up the bears?

 

Yeap… Huge storm hittin here big time, just when I get the whole place all the garden's, pastures, barn and outbuildings in tip top shape an ‘Atmospheric River ‘ storm hits. These names for storms sound sooo threatening. They really … really are scary . We have already had flooding down stream and can’t get out by vehicle. We are socked in for the time being, maybe it’s time to saddle up the boys and put on our slickers and head into town via short cut - as the birds fly - . The only way to get down the hill by horse at this time.

Won’t be the first time I’ve had to put the horses to work. They are like lil heaters to sit on… it’s the darn drivers on the road. Really tick me off try to intimidate us …they are so incredibly stupid as horses have the right of way once we get out of the hills onto roads. Vehicles run us over like the bike peops. I have reported a few to the sheriff who has horses and happens to be my friend and neighbor. He will look up the license plate and send them a ticket I am good at taking iPhone pics when dangerous drivers put us in harms way.

 

Goodness gracious!

 

Wow that was a fast response Sjoerd.. you must be sittin on your phone. I know you guys have had some really scary storms winds and flooding too. Stay safe my friend. This winter will be a doozy.

I have been touring countries in Europe and countries in the upper northern Hemisphere on you tube looking thru all the different cities all decked out for the Holidays. Shops , restaurants, and fun places to see.

The back pasture is now a pond. Rain gear out for the kids. And it’s coming down in buckets…@3:30 pm it so dark I need a flashlight to feed the horses.
“Sometimes your the windshield…”Sometimes your the bug”.