Fall '16 Garden Highlights

Fall is a weird time in the garden. A bunch of stuff turns gross and yellow (I'm looking at you hostas!) and other stuff actually looks better than before - or at least stands out more than it did before. Take this inconspicuous scotch moss for example. It was minding its own business under the hydrangea and now BAM it's stealing the show!

Scotch moss in fall

Next, take this Little Henry sweetspire - known for it's fall color - I can see why! Also, my Japanese Andromeda is doing something. Are those red buds, or is it trying to flower? These things are supposed to be evergreen, but we'll see if it makes it through the winter. I don't think it likes my clay soil one bit.

Next up, a combination of blue tones with this dianthus next to my dwarf lavender. The lavender was a hit last winter and kept an interesting ghost blue color all year. I'm wondering if dianthus will do the same or if it will die back.

Dianthus Lavender Lace next to dwarf lavender (appropriate)

Expensive But Long-Awaited New Additions

I think I've had black mondo grass on my wish list since I first created a wish list. And I've been wanting a Japanese forest grass for just as long, but got one last year for free from my dad - only to have it shredded by rabbits and barely alive. I'm tired of waiting around for it to take off, I just want a nice big one now!

Since Chris and I saved money buying a modest couch and love seat instead of a huge sectional, he treated me to a trip to Allisonville Nursery to look around. They had an entire cart of black mondo grass and Japanese forest grass together! Perfect marketing combo.

I was shocked how expensive they were! $16.99 for each of the pots below, total after tax was $56.

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' (black mondo grass) and Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold' (Japanese forest grass)

I suppose I got a little more bang for my buck with the black mondo grass because each pot had one main clump and 2 baby clumps in it - connected to the main clump with an underground rhizome but with its own substantial set of roots. I teased them apart and planted them each separately.

Since the black mondo grass was so expensive, I wanted to give it the best possible chance to survive - especially since I am right on the border of its winter hardiness. I ended up planting it in a variety of places on 2 different sides of my house. I also paired it with plants I already had in place that were brighter, like my creeping Jenny and Scotch moss.

Black mondo grass paired with Creeping Jenny - Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' - or Gold Moneywort

Black mondo grass and Scotch moss (Sagina subulata 'Aurea')

I forgot I haven't blogged about my creeping Jenny yet - that was actually a bargain because I found it on the sale table at Lowe's for $1, so that offsets the price a little haha! I didn't realize until just now how many of these things have GOLD in their name. Anything gold pairs with black mondo grass, we have 'All Gold' Japanese forest grass, both the creeping Jenny and Scotch moss have variety names 'Aurea'. According to Wikipedia: Aurea is a Latin female name meaning "golden."

Giving this tiny clump a go as a rock garden accent. I think it will hate the clay soil, but it's worth a shot.

Raising the Wet Shade Bed

This weekend I took on one of the big projects I had planned for the summer (even though it's still winter technically!). I tried my best to guesstimate how many bags of mulch and soil it would take to raise my wet shade bed up a few inches to get the plants out of the water. My neighbor's main rain spout drains right into the side yard that has a flat grade that, combined with the clay soil, is prone to soggyness.

I knew I would have to dig up most or all of the plants in the side yard and add soil beneath them, or try to pile mulch on top hoping the roots would migrate up and still let the plant come through without smothering it. Can you mulch over hostas? I guess we'll find out.

Friday after work I started moving plants and adding soil beneath plants. I thought it was going to rain all day Saturday so I worked until it was dark. I actually put a couple plants in when I couldn't see that well - I guess we'll see what comes up!

This was my mulch and dirt plan, but I under estimated by A LOT and ended up needing 5 bags of mulch and 11 bags of soil just for the side yard (right) where I originally guessed only 6 bags of soil and 3 bags of mulch. Yikes! Raising the earth for the entire side of the house was a bigger job than I thought! It's not just about dusting to make the mulch darker, it was about adding mass and height.

I moved some hostas up by adding dirt underneath them and re-planting them. And for others, I just piled about 3 inches of mulch on top of them. I'm hoping the roots will migrate up and when the eyes emerge they will keep going until they break through.

In general, the plants were a little more dormant than I anticipated. I was expecting to see hostas eyes getting ready to emerge, but they were just big masses of roots. It was hard to tell exactly where they would pop up. Some might be too close to my new additions.

I'm also going to have to get used to the idea of my plants touching at some point. So far everything is so small and spread out. Hopefully with this bed getting raised I won't have to move as much around next year. I just want to let stuff grow in and get settled for a season. It still looks very young and new and it will be a few years before it has a full lush feel to it - but you have to start somewhere!

Nice clean bed lines, and those Scotch Moss really pop!

It's hard to tell just how raised the bed is from the photos. It actually has quite a steep include on the side, and I'm hoping the hostas come out and help hold in the mulch. I really like it! The raised look makes the yard feel more expensive, especially when everything is so flat in Indiana.

I also mulched under the air conditioning unit. I had originally put the rocks under there back when I didn't have a side bed at all. When I put in the side bed last year, I kept the rocks but over time realized how it broke up the flow of the line. I took most of the rocks and put them other places in the yard, but then I covered up a good amount - a nasty surprise for the next home owner? I can just picture them trying to plant in the mulch and being annoyed to find rocks. But for now it's not a big deal, I think it will actually help keep the AC from sinking over time, and help keep my ostrich fern from sending up runners under the unit. Plus it looks so nice and makes a clean line finally.

No more rocks under the air conditioner

Hard to tell by the picture, but the bed is raised about 5 inches, it makes the yard look more expensive for some reason.

Finally, I moved one of the Royal Candles to the back yard in full sun, which I think it prefers. I can test between the two to see which does better. All I know is that last year they did NOT like getting soggy all summer in a very rainy June.

That wet spot is the Royal Candles moved from the side yard.

New Shade Additions: Scotch Moss, Rhododendron, and Pieris

It's technically winter, but I was an early bird at Lowe's this weekend snatching up some early arrival plants with sort of an impromptu purchase. I was picking up bags of mulch and dirt to raise the wet side shade bed, and I saw some shade plants I wanted to add. Usually I research the plants I get and put them on my wish list, but this time I just read the tag and went with it. I've been looking for plants that add more year-round form to the bed so it doesn't completely die back to bare ground in winter. I've also been looking for something to hide the air conditioner view from the street (before I just had hostas in front of it).

So without further ado, I present my new wet shade side additions:

Emerald Green Arborvitae - Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green' - Okay this one isn't that special, it didn't make the blog post headline, but it was a new purchase. Only $20, about the same size as the one in my backyard. I'm giving it plenty of room to grow in to its new location blocking the AC unit, and raised up a few inches out of the soggy clay soil. I added manure and topsoil to backfill the hole a few inches to plant it high. I'm hoping it gets enough sun to stay alive and slowly grow into a nice 12 foot tall tree - these guys usually prefer full sun. There's plenty of ambient light and 2 hours of direct sun a day here, so not exactly the deep shade.

Scotch Moss - Sagina subulata 'Aurea' - Saw this for less than $3 per pot and grabbed it for the shade side. I've been wanting a moss, or moss looking plant, ever since I moved in. I've tried growing a moss rock, and I've tried slow growing Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains'. I'm hoping this neon green Scotch Moss adds some bright interest and hopefully grows enough for divisions - then I can plan more dramatic and larger ground cover areas for it.

Rhododendron 'Ramapo' - This dwarf, small leaf, and supposedly less fussy rhododendron will make a nice (possibly evergreen) addition to the wet side yard. It likes moist soil, but not completely wet. I think a raised bed on the damp side is a nice compromise. The only setback is that this guy likes acid soil, so I'll have to further amend the alkaline clay soil. I added topsoil and manure, but I think I'll sprinkle some peat moss around the base to add some acid.

Rhododendron 'Ramapo' gets to be about 2 feet wide and tall

Japanese Andromeda - Pieris japonica 'Passion' - Lily-of-the-Valley - this plant goes by many names, and let's face it, I bought it because it had the word Andromeda in it. It's also a nice blooming shrub that tolerates shade, so that's a win. It will also add some structure to my side yard in winter so everything doesn't die down completely to the ground. Similar to the rhododendron, it likes acid soil so I'll have to sprinkle in some peat moss. I planted it up high and dry on a raised bed in a wet side yard, so it should get the best of both - access to moisture when it wants it, but without wet feet.

These plants, especially the acid lovers, are going to require some TLC this spring and summer, but hopefully will up my shade garden game to a whole new level!