SHADE GARDEN

Welcome to Peru, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Morocco and Serbia.  That makes  63 countries!





In my yard, I am slowly losing sunlight because of  my maturing trees.  It has been a struggle growing grass the past few years, lots of shade, not a lot of moisture.  3 large pine trees sit in a triangular pattern so the pine needles can act as mulch as they fall.  I have not raked them up in about 3 years.

So I gave up last year and decided to reduce my lawn size by turning this area into a shade garden.  I took small areas and covered them with newspaper and/or large pieces of cardboard when available.  I then threw leaves, grass clippings, mulch, and  pine needles on top of the cardboard to cover it.  This helped to kill the remaining grass so it wouldn't grow through the mulch.



The newer area I started working on still had grass breaking through.  My husband and I bought some artwork this year and saved the HUGE cardboard boxes they came in.

Grass still poking through

Large pieces of cardboard

I have been slowly adding small shrubs, trees and perennials as I run across them.  I did plant about 4 or 5 native ferns last fall, but the bunnies must have eaten them to the ground so severely they could not recover.  I also lost a small dogwood tree. And the Bayberry and hydrangea are oddly shaped due to bunny pruning.

Rabbit damage on small dogwood tree - RIP

In the older part of the garden I have a hemlock tree, a young Paw Paw tree, pee wee hydrangea (native), and a bayberry.

bayberry is the strange shrub on the left.

pee wee hydrangea

For plants:  hosta, columbine, painted fern, helleborus, wood aster, and a mystery plant bought from a sale  table at a local nursery for 50% off.

Japanese painted fern

 Since the rabbits decimated all the ferns I planted,  I was shocked to see this fern emerge in the middle of the garden, far away from where they were planted.

mystery fern

wood aster - another rabbit favorite

Hellebore

Hosta

Below is Aguilegia canadensis a native columbine.  It will reseed and spread.  This is the end blossom this year.

Native Columbine

On the other side of the fence is the same shade, but I have plants in an old raised bed that used to hold vegetables about 20 years ago when there was sun.

Astilbe

Black Cohosh - Racemosa

Heuchera - Coral Bells

Dicentrra - Bleeding Heart

Spicebush - lindera benzoin

Above is the Spicebush - the host plant of the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly.  The larva has the appearance of large eyes to scare off predators.  I will be checking for these caterpillars this summer.





Below is the Virginia Creeper.  The leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall.  The berries are an important food source for birds in the winter.

Virginia Creeper

Weighing down cardboard with mulch

I will be picking up some mulch this week to finish covering up the cardboard.  Next fall, all the leaves not mowed will be thrown onto this garden.

My neighbors must think I am nuts!

MULCH

Welcome to Israel and India!  16 countries so far. I am bewildered and thrilled.





Time to mulch!  Actually had to water beds as the temp is  high and getting higher everyday.  Had a huge wind storm come through and drop some large branches into the tomato bed.  Knocked over 2 of the bamboo supports, but the plants are fine.

I am going to head up early tomorrow or the next day to harvest lettuce, chard, strawberries, parsley and possibly peek under the soil to see what the potatoes are up to.  Hoping for rain tonight.

Went into the barn and took a large wheelbarrow of loose straw and spread it around the tomatoes and potatoes.  Mulching helps keep the soil from drying out.  It also keeps the germination of weeds down.  If there is no light hitting the soil, a lot of weed seeds will stay weed seeds.  I use mulch that will decompose and actually help the soil in the future.   Untreated grass clippings are excellent.  They add nitrogen to the soil as they break down.  Straw is my favorite because it is free for me and easy to get to and very light weight.   The texture of the soil a year after it is laid down is beautiful - dark and crumbly.

Onions are ready to bloom.

I skipped last week's entry.  I took an weekend trip with the husband to Virginia.  Wanted to go to the beach but realized It may be senior week for some school districts.  Did senior week once when I was 17, don't need to be there in that environment again. ever.







So, we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.  Beautiful.  We skipped the house tour, saw it last year.  The gardens are an inspiration.  Of course they have a team of people to maintain the gardens now.  In Jefferson's time,  he had slaves to tend to the garden, but was known to spend a lot of time in the dirt ( when he was home.)  The garden did provide a lot of food for the plantation, but also it was a huge science experiment.  Jefferson kept detailed records of plantings and would plant several varieties of vegetables and flowers for testing purposes.

The native garden took a hit with the storm as well.  Lost my phlox.   Replaced it and added a little support for the next storm.  The new phlox is "Miss Lingard."  White with a nice fragrance.  Saw it at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County last year.

 Coreopsis  is blooming, attracting bugs.

Today, spent the day with family.  What a blessing.

Had a hard winter, but we are starting to recover from a shocking loss.

everyone on the porch!

Day before snow

I have 2 days a week to work outside in the garden.  Tomorrow we are expecting 1-3 inches of snow, so today  I  worked on the pathways in the raised beds.  I had a lot of crabgrass in my mulch last year that I want a better handle on this time around.

We had a lot of large pieces of cardboard left over from some work my husband has done in his office.  This I hope will stop the grass from settling in.  My expectation is that the cardboard will kill what is underneath and any seeds that sprout in the mulch won't take hold too tightly on top.

I do like mulch instead of  weed block or plastic.  It is just a preference. Any would be fine.

I had an audience while I worked today.  A lazy day in the sun for Wes' cows.

The garlic is doing well.  I had to remove Brooklyn's present from the bed before I took the picture. (the remains of a deer skull.)  Yuk.

The strawberries from last year look good.

The seeds are doing very well.  A lot have germinated almost overnight!



Spent most of the morning with Master Gardeners in our Demonstration Garden.  We are renovating and planning to add more native plants to our section in the next year.  I then went to an urban community garden in Frederick City.  The organizer arranged for a Master Gardener to be available for advice if they have any questions.


I was very impressed with the work they have done in such a short time.  I think her vision is very exciting.  She lives in Frederick city and has converted her yard into a garden with raised beds.  A couple are elevated for people who are disabled or have a hard time getting down on the ground.

They have a plan to fill up her back yard with multiple raised beds with trellises, and plans are being made to install a 1000 gallon rain barrel.


I hope they invite me back.  This will be a very interesting garden.   It amazes me that she has more trouble with wildlife in the city than I have in the country!