Clematis ‘Henryi’ and ‘Nelly Moser’; unknown old single red peony, mixed columbine, unknown old yellow and blue iris. Purple Heuchera, variegated Asian grass, woodbine (Virginia Creeper). The Little (summer) kitchen south of the house.
A Classic garden Friday, Jan 31 2014
gardening and Landscapes and Modern Photos clematis, gardening, iris, photography 08:52
50 years apart Thursday, Jan 23 2014
gardening and Historic Photos and Landscapes and Modern Photos gardening 11:17
I couldn’t quite get the same photo angle, what I ought to do is go out and exactly retake some of the early photos. But it is interesting to look at these two photos. The first is from 1961, the second from 2011:
Moving from L to R: you can see two low branches of the Gingko in the upper left, since pruned out. Behind that is the white pine which came down in two pieces during the 1990’s; the garden area (mid left) appears to be largely an overgrown thicket, just off left-center midground is a young blue spruce, that never flourished in what was much too wet and shady an area. Directly behind it is a double trunk black cherry, removed in the mid 1990’s. The small garden path between the cherry and the hemlock is visible, this remains today. A particularly interesting tree is the small sapling in front of the hemlock. This is the leaning oak, it is an important piece of the landscape today, but is still an awkward looking tree because it does lean. However, it really is gangly in this photo. To the right of the hemlock is a pine that came down in the 1990’s (we lost several in that decade, self-thinning). The pillar has no euonymous bush on it. The fringe tree on the far right still remains.
Not quite the same photo: You can see where those low gingko branches were finally taken off, much later than they should have been (when it became apparent a fire truck would not be able to get in the drive). The garden and the area beyond the garden has regained a lot of structure. Those maples are actually in the previous photo, but because of the overgrowth (mostly Norway Maple saplings) you couldn’t see them. The hemlock on the right has not gotten much wider, though it has gotten taller; the thicket of dark shrubs to the hemlock’s left is where the black cherry was. The oak is the real change: all you can see is its trunk. In front of that is a young Norway spruce planted about 8 years ago.
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A bench at dusk Monday, Jan 20 2014
gardening and Modern Photos gardening, photography 09:35
Shasta daisies beyond, the cucumber magnolia is the frame.
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Tree pruning Saturday, Jan 18 2014
gardening and Trees gardening 13:40
I enjoy it. Well, most of the time. I enjoy the challenge of making the decision, that slow guessing game of what a cut here and now will do ten years from now. Some trees a pretty forgiving, apples for example, either because they grow fast or because they have plenty of dormant buds. Others are a challenge. Maples, for example, slow growing and unwilling to change direction. The saying measure twice, cut once? More like, look four times, check again, then cut. You can’t glue it back on. And while trees grow, an unwanted hole is still an unwanted hole.
The goal, in my view, is to end with a pruned tree that doesn’t look pruned. I think we did pretty well on the red maple next to the drive. It had to have a major branch taken off, being much too low and heading across the drive. And, of course, some other judicious pruning for balance. Just about every other year we have been limbing it up. Eventually it will have to branch off at about 25 feet to clear the house and drive as a fully mature tree. It is always better to cut the branches when they are smaller. In this case, the limb ought to have come off last year, honestly. You can see the scar, a four inch wide mark on the trunk, but that will heal within a year or two. What you don’t see is a hole or an unbalanced tree. Just a young red maple growing upwards with a nice open set of limbs. And the drive isn’t closed in either….much to the relief of the trucks I am sure!
Glory of the Morning Wednesday, Jan 15 2014
gardening and Modern Photos gardening, photography 09:29
Morning Glory ‘Grandpa Ott’s’
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The Rain in Spain Tuesday, Jan 14 2014
does anybody recall that song anymore? It’s from My Fair Lady and is a earworm par excellence.
Anyway, it is raining here when it ought to be snowing…. At least the ground is now completely thawed, which means aside from the MUD, the water table is benefiting. Lord knows we need it. The river is higher than I have seen it in three or four years. Still, if anyone goes off the driveway or tries to turn around at the top, I will do something unspeakable, the lawns are beyond fragile at this point.
I’d prefer snow, if only because my family members would like to try out their cross-country skies and snowshoes. It is very English of the weather though, I expect a daffodil to pop up at any moment. I never could get used to daffodils in February in Edinburgh!
Creak… Saturday, Jan 11 2014
gardening and Trees gardening, trees 09:22
Nothing makes one’s ears perk up as well as walking through the woods (in this case the Rabbit Hole’s stand of Norway Spruce/Pine/Maple) on a windless, warm day and hearing an ominous popping creak from high above. It might be the massive double trunk White Pine near the drive, it has several pieces of climbing Euonymous jammed in the crotch of the trunk and consequently it sometimes makes some very odd noises, even on a day with essentially no wind.* It might be an innocuous branch rubbing somewhere; it might be a tree reacting to the changing temperature. Or it might be gravity asserting itself. It is the sort of noise that is very hard to get a solid directional fix on, you’re doing well to pin it down to about 90 degrees.
You can’t go and visually inspect all those trees, not when there are well over a dozen Norway Spruces and Pines standing at between 80 and 110 feet in height. Besides in my experience, you can never tell. The White Pine on the North Lawn all those years ago was a lovely example: a perfectly fine, fully mature pine when I walked past on a day with light wind; fifteen minutes later and it had snapped like a toothpick. On the other hand, there is an ash that is busy defying physics: it has a spiral crack so large that a child could hide in the hollow of the trunk and on windy days you can see the crack shifting. It has been that way for about five years and two hurricanes.
If it is something…well, we will KNOW about it one of these days!
*even 5mph wind is enough to get a little bit of sway at the top, which is just enough to get it to rub.
Reminders Thursday, Jan 9 2014
Esperanza and gardening and Landscapes and Modern Photos gardening, photography 08:58
A reminder that last winter was no more kind than this year’s; and this was the result…
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Shhh… Wednesday, Jan 8 2014
We’re hibernating.
Actually, this wouldn’t be so bad if there was any snow on the ground. But there is no snow here. So the ground is working on freeze-drying, rather than just freezing.
I have to be impressed with the cellular mechanics of the broad-leaved evergreens (rhododendrons/azaleas). During the rain (and 55 F) last weekend the leaves were wide open and flat. In the deep freezes immediately before and after they are either limp and loosely curled (rhododendrons) and stiff and tightly curled (azaleas). It is an impressive bit of bio-mechanics. It would be interesting to see what exactly is happening on the cellular level. Do the leaves always curl in the same direction? I would think so…I am not, however, going to go out and look!
Pick one and stick with it Sunday, Jan 5 2014
My suggestion to the weather… Yesterday morning, we were down below zero. Today? Rain.
I think the seed catalogs are a much better form of entertainment than the outdoors! Of course, seed catalogs are probably even worse than clothing catalogs. You at least get the clothes that are advertised from the latter (even if you never can look like the model). With the seed catalog (or plant) you don’t get the lovely flower, you get the seed and then you have to figure out how to grow it. Actually, the tropical/flowering plant/tree ones are really the worst: the ad is always some decade plus plant, carefully grown, pruned, and photographed. The one you get? A two year cutting. We’re all dreamers!
Acair Fearann 