New Plants Around Utility Boxes

I'm no stranger to hiding utility boxes with plants to not only make it more attractive but also make it easier to mow around. Before I did this utility box landscaping my neighbor said he was coming out with scissors to cut the grass in between the power box and internet box in the front yard. 

Here is an After photo from October

At our old house, I had a great utility box combination of feather reedgrass, coneflower, iris, and asters. I wanted to try something a little different here because all of those plants die to the ground in the winter and only do a good job hiding the utility boxes for 7 months out of the year. So I wanted to do something evergreen this time but I didn't want to have to wait years for it to grow either. 

My compromise was to plant one emerald green arborvitae in the front that will eventually get 4 feet wide and hide most of the boxes from the front view, but in the meantime I wanted to hide the boxes from the side so I used one of my favorite ornamental grasses 'Northwind' switchgrass. 

I also got a few drought tolerant flowers called Gaillardia aristata 'Spintop Copper Sun' that won't really get tall enough to hide anything but they are blooming like crazy and don't need a lot of water. 

I started by rounding up the grass in the shape of the bed using a hose as a guide for the shape. I waited about a week for the grass to fully die and added a very thick layer of mulch. I called 811 before the dig to mark the utility lines, but since my mulch was so thick I actually didn't even dig into the ground I just pushed the mulch aside, added topsoil and the plants are all planted above the clay soil in nice mounded topsoil and surrounded by mulch. 

I don't have anything in the back yet and I'd still like to add some coneflower, but for now at least I don't have to mow between the boxes and it looks a little better. The plants are so small that they aren't completely hiding anything really, not yet anyway. 

Frozen Fog Frosted Tips

November has some cool frozen fog, which left my Northwind switchgrass with crystal white frosted tips. I was hoping they would jingle in the breeze, but no such luck. Nevertheless, they look very cool. The stems don't have any frost on them at all, but the dried seeds up top gathered tiny droplets of condensation in the fog that froze into a thin white layer of frost that contrasts with the dry yellow stems.

I was looking forward to seeing the yellow dry grass contrasting against white snow, but we've already had one snowfall and it's already starting to make the grass fall over. I don't think it's going to stay upright all winter - but I don't want to cut it down yet because it looks nice and blocks the storm drain cover.

And It Was All Yellow...

I have that Coldplay song Yellow stuck in my head as I look at all my plants turning yellow and ugly and getting ready for winter. Yuck. I'm fine with my plants in winter, especially looking forward to my Northwind switch grass contrasting against the snow - but the slow transition is not so great. Most of my plants don't have a good fall color, at least this year. It's all sort of yellow brown.

Ruby Falls weeping redbud -  Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’

Hosta 'Sum and Substance'

Annabelle hydrangea

River birch

Northwind switch grass - Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'

Liriope muscari 'Variegata'

My fall yard leaves something to be desired...

Expanding Mulch Beds

As my ornamental grasses get bigger, the little mulch beds under them look smaller and smaller. I think the beds need to be expanded so that the ornamental grasses don't hang over the lawn. A nice mulch apron out in front looks good, and also helps raise the bed up above the lawn. If the mulch is too low, it collects grass clippings and looks crappy, so I'm going for higher pillowy mulch.

This bed of Northwind switch grass looked nice enough when they were just tiny stumps from divisions, but now that they are getting bigger the slim bed just wasn't sufficient. 

I cut an outline with a spade and rolled up the sod. Even after a year, there was still a clean divide between the sod layer and the clay slab below

I filled in the trench left from the sod removal with some topsoil (a step I didn't do last time)

Then I mulched on top and created an angled lip along the front edge to give the bed a raised fluffy look

In the other corner of the backyard I have my Hardy Pampas Grass and a huge rock (and 3 spare rocks that I guess are just becoming part of that corner permanently unless I can figure out what to do with them). I eventually want to put something else around the bottom of the pampas grass but I'm not sure what. I also wanted to raise the bed up a little because it is a magnet for grass clippings being lower than the actual lawn itself.

Removed some sod and added more topsoil to raise the bed a bit. It's the low spot of the yard and fills with grass clippings whenever I mow near it. I'm also tired of mowing around the rock, so now the rock is a feature instead of a big thing on the edge of the bed. 

What should I put around the base of the pampas grass? Something full sun that can take some damp soil every now and then.

Erianthus ravennae 'Hardy Pampas Grass' Waking Up!

It looks like my Erianthus ravennae 'Hardy Pampas Grass' is finally showing signs of life. I didn't notice at first because the brown dry blades were all cut the same length when I gave it a winter buzz cut - and then suddenly some of the brown blades were getting taller (with no sign of any green shoots). Then I noticed green actually pushing the brown up and out of an old dry stalk.

Erianthus ravennae 'Hardy Pampas Grass' first new growth of the season

Erianthus ravennae 'Hardy Pampas Grass' finally waking up

This Hardy Pampas Grass has a looooong way to go if it's going to reach 8 to 14 feet tall by the end of summer!

In other news, my 'Northwind' switchgrass got majorly flooded when we had a sudden torrential thunderstorm with downpour. This grass is a winner, so I'm sure it will be fine.

Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' Switch Grass going for a swim

This black erosion barrier is an eye sore but it's keeping the mud out of our storm drain until everyone else's yard gets grass

It's Alive! Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' Switch Grass

Whew! I'm very relieved that my Northwind switchgrass [Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'] is showing signs of life, meaning it survived the winter. I posted earlier about the different types of ornamental grasses in my yard, and how not all of them were awake because there are 'cool' and 'warm' season grasses. Northwind is a warm season grass, and is just barely showing signs of waking up this last week of April.

I transplanted and divided this grass into thirds last October. I got the plant on sale because it was late in the year, and I'm hoping to get 3 for the price of one!

The middle plant has just 1 tiny green shoot emerging - just barely alive, but that's all I need for it to come back and eventually turn into a whimsical 7 foot tall grassy screen.

Which Ornamental Grasses Wake Up in April?

I guess I didn't realize it, but I've collected a pretty good variety of ornamental grasses in under 1 year at my house. I have Hardy Pampas Grass, Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass, Northwind Switchgrass, and Blue Fescue. Two of these so far are showing signs of life and two are not at this point in April.

I was starting to get worried because I got most of these in the fall. Then I read this article and it jogged my memory about cool season and warm season grasses - that explains it! Cool season grasses emerge early in spring, grow rapidly, and fruit sooner. Warm season grasses, not surprisingly, emerge later and keep growing and fruiting into the fall.

The article even says "Don’t be alarmed and think they’ve died off during the winter. Many warm season ornamental grasses don’t get going until after the spring bulbs have faded." Whew! Because my warm season grasses aren't even thinking about waking up at this point!

My cool season grasses are Karl Foerster and Blue Fescue, and my warm season grasses are Hardy Pampas Grass and Northwind Switchgrass.

Feather Reed Grass 'Karl Foerster' Calamagrostis acutiflora - April 4, 2015

Blue Fescue - Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' April 5, 2015 - I transplanted this from my shaded side yard and divided it. It's barely hanging on. It lasted all winter with really no chance to root in, so hopefully it grows quickly.

I love the look of Blue Fescue, it's so tempting to just go to Lowe's and buy another one that's already-amazing looking and fully-grown. I'm left with these brown stubs, and some seedlings that I'm waiting until no chance of frost to put outside. All this time waiting just to save $7...

Moving on to the warm season grasses, there's not really much to talk about - they're just dried husks at this point. I really would think they were dead if I hadn't read that article.

 Hardy Pampas Grass - Erianthus ravennae, April 5, 2015

 Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' Switch Grass - April 5, 2015