Fall clean-up

Phewf, have not got to a lot of Fall gardening due to racing bikes but sprung for a new leaf blower/mulcher this w/e and blew all the leaves in the front yard into a pile. Then I mulched them and but them back on the borders as mulch. No more leaves and free mulch. I did this last year and it works great, the leaves decay over the year adding to the soil. When I blew any debris and new leaves off the beds, I could see the good quality of the soil.

Now i have to tackle the back yard which is currently covered in about 6" or leaves and is about 75'x75' - bit more of a project than the front. I'll do the same with the borders but most of them get mulched and blown to the back of the yard and then i use them throughout the following year to augment the garden and especially to build new beds as my soil is quite rooty in places and stony in others.

Fall nursery clearance

Taking the garden design class at Brooklyn Botanical Garden really helped me not splurge on plants this year. It really taught me to plan and think and make lists and sketch. Then, with the arrival of October, I realised that it was time to go and visit my local garden nursery to see what they had on sale and were trying to get rid of. Choice is not always great but I find it's an excellent way to stretch my gardening dollar.

First stop was Hollandia Nursery in Bethel, CT. There was slim pickings but I managed to get:

3 Monarda didyma Jacob Cline (HB)

6 Agastache Blue Fortune (I had to remove the bees from these before putting them in the car) (HB)

2 flats of 10 Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower) (HB)

2-3 Aster divericatus (white wood aster)

2 Heuchera "velvet night" (Coral Bells)

1 Aquilegia canadensis (Wild Columbine) (HB)

1 Aquilegia Ruby Port (HB)

1 Aquilegia (I forget the name) (HB)

This past weekend I hit up the local Agway - perenials and shrubs etc were 70% off. I admit I did go a little nutty but because I've spent most of the summer not buying but researching, planning and sketching, I was able to look through what they had on offer and buy things that I needed rather than things on a whim. So from Agway I got all the following 26 plants - some large well-established) for $100 (labelled prices added up to over $300)

2 large Nepeta subsellis 'Candy Cat'

2 large Nepeta faassenii Dropmore

2 Salvia sylvestris Blue Queen

2 large Salvia Endless Love (HB)

2 Deparia pycnosora (Big Brother Fern) (need to get the woodland area started)

1 Aster diveraticus (White Wood Aster)

1 mystery plant - I had no clue what Centaurea dealbata was other than I liked the leaf shape (it's a cornflower)

1 Oenothera fruticosa (Winter Primrose)

2 Heuchera Swirling Fantasy (Coral Bells)

1 Aruncus Misty Lace (Goatsbeard)

1 Solidago Sweety (dwarf goldenrod)

1 Veronica Darwin Blue (Speedwell) (HB)

4 Eupatorium dubium phantom (Dwarf Joe Pye Weed) (HB)

3 Aquilegia Nora Barlow (Columbine)

1 Aquilegia vulgaris Grandmother's Garden (Columbine)

I took Tuesday off work as Bob was home and while he worked I gardened and got the hummingbird garden (HB) established and structured, I moved the foxgloves that had self seeded in the wrong places around the yard and also moved and divided my Echinacea magnus (the 4ft high buggers) so there's some height at the back of the borders to. I'll take a pic shortly to show how its coming along. I also had plants for the partial shade perennial bed I am wanting to start in the back "garden" (euphemism).
I'd like to fill in some gaps I left in the HB garden with Salvia Coccinea, Lupinus perennis and also plant some Scarlet Runner Bean and Purple Hyacinth bean on the arbor in the front. I'll grow these guys from seed.

Humingbird garden

So it has begun. A south-facing area of the front garden has puzzled me for the longest time as to what to do with it. It is the area. When we viewed the house almost 4 years ago it looked like this - it's the area on the right hand side in front of the addition.


We very quickly ripped out the yew bushes and started over cutting back the depth of the border and enlarging the lawn. The depth of this one area made it hard to design. The hummingbird garden seemed to fall into place as I had also wanted to ring hte house with a 24" band of pea gravel for when we eventually have the siding replaced. I also had some very tall echinacea magnus (tall purple coneflower) hogging the front that had to be moved.


So the first step was digging out the gravel buffer and putting in the edging.


Then I laid landscape fabric and topped with gravel. I recently did my fall visit to local nurseries to see what they were clearing out so I've had lots to plant both here and elsewhere but I'll cover that in another post. Oh and I added a half barrel and liner so there will be a wee pond for them which also breaks up the area into more manageable borders.

Hummingbirds

I had been thinking more about my magic encounter with the hummingbird and started researching plants for them as I have an area of the garden that I have not really known what to do with. So I drew up lists (like you do) and acquainted myself with all the top hummingbird attractors. I also noticed that the landscaping at work had large areas of lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower). I did not look for h-birds though.
About a week later I was walking to the cafe when I noticed that the landscapers had ripped out all the lobelia and put in 'Mums. Still I made no connection until I saw two women by the door, staring at the ground and then staring up. There were two hummingbirds on the ground by the door. One was dead and one was just sitting there. They thought they were baby birds that had fallen out of a nest. It was clear that they were RT Hummingbirds. I picked the dead one up and the other one flew off. Poor buggers suddenly had their mega-lobelia buffet disappear just like that.
The next day I went to the cafe and there was another dead h-bird lying in the same spot (the picture above). They really do weigh literally nothing - amazing to see them up close (in the photo you can actually see the long tongue sticking out to the left.

Now totally resolved to build a hummingbird garden.

Hmmm ...

Can't get the hummingbird that I saw at Earth Tone Natives off my mind. It was stunning. A female Ruby-Throated I think. I would love to do a small hummingbird garden but am concerned with the low fragrance of flowers they like that the deer would just eat their way through them all.

Productive weekend

Good stuff. Yesterday I got all my projects done so that I could start the project that I intended to be doing!
- Rotated my compost stackers and transferred the finished compost to the new compost corral - might be my best crop this year!
- Then I could restack the stackers and move the side compost pile into the stackers in my effort to tidy, reorganize and plant the side yard.
- Then I dug up my raspberries and blackberries from the side yard to move to the other side yard (too much shade, planted them there when I knew nothing about gardening).
- Cut the grass on the other side of the house really short so that it was easy to dig and plant the berry bushes.
- Cut back the existing blackberry bush, so that is all sorted, all my berry bushes are together in one spot in the sun.
- I kept 6 raspberry divisions back so that I can take them to "Skippy's Garden" Plant/Seed swap, Oct 3rd.
- Laid brick down on part of the side yard border and assembled "The Earth Machine" compost bin that I got at reduced cost through the town of Ridgefield, CT. This bin will be for kitchen compost so it's right by the side door. Have not personally composted food waste, only garden waste, will be interesting to see how it goes.

In the veg plot, noticed that the carrots are coming up, the zuccini is trying to stage a post-mildew comeback with new fruits and the eggplant has flowers again. So far they have all fallen off so, after a quick google, I have been out with a paintbrush trying to ensure that they get pollinated.

Today I treated myself to a trip to Earth Tone Natives, a garden nursery that sells only natives, based in Woodbury, CT. Much better to visit and see what they have in person. Unbelievable amount of bees and insects on the plants. I also heard a fast whirring and looked over in time to see a hummingbird. As if to say "why, yes, I am a hummingbird" he flew over and sat on a branch right by me. Very beautiful and shiny and TINY! I don;'t think I have seen one before, closest thing in the UK was a kingfisher.
Got some great plant ideas at Earth Tone Natives - for the deep shade of the side yard: wood iris, jack in the pulpit, variegated solomon's seal, and 2 others I forget were top of the list for there. I don't think I need a huge amount of stuff down there, just enough to make it productive for insects etc, make it attractive to me and functional.

the rear porch platform ...

The house has a large rear screened-in porch: at least 15' x 28'. However it was rendered mostly unusable by the previous owners. This was mainly because to cover a set of basement (access/egress) stairs they had built a 10'x10' platform which occupied the center of the porch rendering almost all of the surrounding space non-functional.
Here's how it looked on the day of viewing:









The space on the far side of the platform didn't get used because of this abomination:









Clearly intended to be "a fountain", and I use that term generously, it was a pile of rubble held together with cement and various colours of paint. I intended to demolish it soon after moving in, this got moved up the list when my cats decided it was the biggest cat litter tray they had ever found! When I took the sledge hammer to it, I couldn't believe how much stone came out of that pile. It was cathartic however and I got to use a cement mixer and heave 80lb bags of ready mix, surely any girls idea of fun.

But I digress. So you saw how it was before. I had looked up under the platform from the basement (the door leaks water in when it rains, has to be coming from under the ground). The porch had originally just been dirt and then they had poured a concrete slab and not really squared off the edges so the lip to place a door was not the greatest.
I decided last weekend that enough was enough and it was the weekend when the platform had to go. Plan was to take the platform apart, look at the situation and use the lumber from the platform to make a door.

Halfway through taking it apart it looked like this:









The platform was built "sturdily". 10ft 2'x6's every 16 on center gave me more lumber than I knew what to do with. I had wanted to do a hatch door with a continuous hinge mounted into the concrete but I didn't like the state of the the cement and decided on a drop-in door. Two actually, to keep them reasonable to lift.
I lucked out as the drop from the "floor" level of the concrete to the usable part of the lip was approx 6". Looked like I could get away with reusing the 2"x6"s. So I built a frame with 2x6s and topped it with the plywood that had been part of the floor of the platform.

About 3/4s of the way through it looked like this:









So far, so good and going smoothly. Just had to cut in some recessed handles ($4 each from HD or Lowes), add some rubber feet (2-pack for 78c x 4) and then paint them. I chose to paint with some texture as the porch can collect some moisture. Paint: $11.98 for a quart of exterior satin latex and $4.98 for some sand/texture (quartz). The quartz makes the paint into slurry so after a coat of primer, I just managed to get one coat and a touch up out of a quart!

Looks pretty good, me thinks and totally opens up the whole porch area, just need to arrange the furniture:


So much water had leaked into the stairwell that the sill in the door well had almost totally rotted away over the 58 years since the house was built. The previous (also the original) owner's approach was to slap on cement and make cement dams, really to no avail. Extending the downspouts away from the house and installing a 28' run of gutter on the back of the porch roof helped immensely. So I lifted the remnants of the sill out and then dug out some perfect humus to reveal a nice 5-3/4"-wide channel. So new on the project list is installing a new sill, looks like "2"x 5-3/4" will do it. Just wondering how to customize it for run off - don't want the runoff to just trickle underneath the sill as before, would rather ti was encouraged to run towards a near by drain to the sump pump.
More chores but all good progress and finally getting to use the WHOLE of the porch is very exciting (and relaxing). The porch has really had an upgrade this summer with the platform removed and the screened walls painted and installed with new screening.

Can't get to the real project ...

The "Work Bench"







So one of the projects for this weekend was to blitz the side yard. Disheveled and untidy, I wanted to move some plants, clean it up and install a compost bin for kitchen waste. First of all it got delayed as with the great weather I decided to take advantage and paint the garage door.
Then as ever I realized that to move the berry bushes out of the side yard (too shady) I needed to make room where I intended to plant them which meant I had to trim two huge bushes. So trimmed those bushes yesterday evening (still not sure what they are - an Ilex of some type I presume, maybe needing a male/female as have green berries and I've never seen them develop).
Then to be able to move the compost heap from the sideyard I needed to sort out my compost area. I use homemade compost stackers - I made them out of some barn board that the previous owners had installed in the wall of one bedroom(!). However, I wanted to keep the stackers for making compost (and accommodate the sideyard compost heap) and needed an area to store my finished compost.
So seeing as last week I dismantled the totally dysfunctional 10' x 9' platform that the previous owners had installed on the rear screened in porch, I had more 2"x6"s than anyone would ever need. Not treated but perfect to make a compost corral. So this morning I put the miter saw out on the bench we made from part of the 90ft oak and made up a nice compost corral. I only paid for 6 joist holders (< $4) and that way I can take it apart and move it if needed.
Then this evening I bagged up the cuttings from trimming the bushes and I think now, next weekend, I am ready to tackle the side yard!

I also found a few extra pieces of barn board and made up one more compost stacker to augment the "stack".


The New Compost Corral (foreground) with compost stackers from scrap wood in background








Where the wood for the compost stackers came from (!) (Piece of paper behind these boards said installed 1971.)

Contrast

Before (day of viewing)









After
First good painting weekend of the summer so the bland green garage door of the previous owner's had to go. Primer Friday night (the last panel by headlamp), 2 coats of exterior satin latex Saturday, final coat Sunday a.m. The "no contrast anywhere" style of decor of the previous owner's has driven me crazy. Green lawn blended into green bushes, blended into green siding, blended into green trees. Slowly we are creating a bit of contrast. New siding in the next couple of years hopefully. (Oh and we changed the dirt to grass (it's green, I know, goes against the anti-green thing.)

Learning ...

This year was my first growing veggies other than having a couple tomato plants around. Thanks to the weather I have learned more in this one season than I ever imagined. Having found a strategy for late blight on the tomato plants, colorado potato beetle on the eggplant and slugs everywhere, I now notice that the zuccini is getting mildew. "They" (the internet) say to spray with a 9:1 water to milk solution. I've done this once and they almost look worse (why spray wet on a mildew problem?) so last night I did what I always do with plant problems, I pruned back all the mildewy stalks and leaves. Not sure if this is good zuccini care but it opened up the bushes and so maybe they will get better air circulation.
Found a wierd looking thing on the eggplant which finally has flowers. Crushed it. Also found a ladybird on the eggplant in the raised bed. Congratulated myself.
Not exactly sure when to pick the corn, it is slow coming on due to lack of hot days, tassles were brown but cobs were a little small so need to leave them til tassels totally shrivelled. Plenty more cobs to come.

Fortunately the annuals that I grew from seed are doing great: zinnias, gomphrena and lavender. I love the gomphrena.

Garden blitz

Was away this w/e but took Monday off to drive back from The Shore so squeezed in a much-needed, 3-hour blitz on the garden. Very satisfying: mowed back (mid-setting) and front lawn (highest setting). Trimmed edges. Weeded. Swept. Picked beans and tomatoes ready for harvest. Checked zuccinis (one ready but left on bush) and corn (needs aday or two more). Offered encouragement to eggplant (first real flower - very exciting!). Replaced bricks in patio that we removed to paint/re-do porch screen. Re-installed rain barrel that we moved to do porch screening.
Then I pored over Johnny's Seeds catalog, BBG's Fragrant Design book and sketched out a new design for the front garden in front of the FR window.
Then yesterday and today i ached like crazy!

Veggies

Harvested the first zuccini this morning. They have come out of nowhere, I kept staring at the zuccini flowers wondering where hte zuccinis developed and all of a sudden I have zuccinis. Beans need picking and I have 2 ears of corn coming in. Still managing to get cherry tomatoes off the majorly pruned blighted tomatoes. This is my first year growing veggies - I get such a kick to pick something that I have grown. Crops are not great but I think the rainy summer has a alot to do with that.

Also found this booger on the tomatoes - a parasitized Tobacco Hornworm, I believe. Combo of fascinating and horrible.

DigginFood Recipe & Seed Swap PtII

I got to pick the first beans from the seeds I received through the DigginFood Recipe and Seed swap. I didn't intend to grow beans in this my first year of veggie grpowing but have found them to be one of the most satisfying and rewarding crops because they grow so fast. Funny thing was I couldn't make out one direction on the recipe: "add a handful of your favorite ?", Bob finally deciphered it as "nut". Der. they were yummy. Bob likes them raw straight from the bush.

DigginFood Recipe & Seed Swap PtII

I got to pick the first beans from the seeds I received through the DigginFood Recipe and Seed Swap. I didn't intend to grow beans in this my first year of veggie grpowing but have found them to be one of the most satisfying and rewarding crops because they grow so fast.



Funny thing was I couldn't make out one direction on the recipe: "add a handful of your favorite ?", Bob finally deciphered it as "nut". Der. they were yummy. Bob likes them raw straight from the bush.

Zinnias

Even though it's been a strange summer for gardening due to all the rain, the zinnias have recently started blooming like crazy to catch up. I always thought that annuals were a waste of time but these have been very satisfying to grow from seed. Plus I love the bee in the shot.

Zinnias

Even though it's been a strange summer for gardening due to all the rain, the zinnias have recently started blooming like crazy to catch up. I always thought that annuals were a waste of time but these have been very satisfying to grow from seed. Plus I love the bee in the shot.

Yr 4 - Day 166?: Reviving the porch

Bob, splining machine!











Before (day of viewing Winter '05/'06)


After

So ... it's not all about the garden, believe it or not. Summer project has been to repaint and rescreen the rear porch. Bob and I sanded, replaced rotten parts, primed, painted, installed ScreenTite track system, installed screening using roller and spline. thought we might have to buy a new door but the old one is looking quite splendid with new paint and having vacuumed the screen panels. The ScreenTite system is fab. Large areas are definitely a 2-person job especially if the width you are screening is close to the width of your roll of screen.

We have the other half of hte porch to do and are being thwarted/interrupted by CT's summer of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Colorado Potato Beetle

Hmmm ... so my most successful seedlings this spring were my eggplants. I had so many that I gave away many in 2s and 3s to friends. I was late getting mine in the ground due to all the rain we had in June and they have struggled/been eaten/looked fairly pathetic since plating out.
Recently they have staged a comeback and have begun to look hearty, robust and flourishing. I was giving them a little TLC and weeding at the weekend when I happened to notice insect eggs under one of the leaves. Then I saw a beetle on a leaf that looked like an unshelled sunflower seed. Looked it up on bugguide.net and found out that it's a Colorado Potato beetle and the eggs were likely it's eggs. They favor plants in the nightshade family - potato, eggplant etc, lay eggs under the leaves which then hatch and devour the plant. Yikes!
I killed the beetle and eggs and went and did another check this morning to check for any more. So far so good.

Does this count as garden? Hmmm?

Before









After

We have started on renovating the screened in porch using a fab product called Screentite. Of course we have to sand, TSP, prime, paint and THEN we get to install the ScreenTite track but it is childs play compared to stapling and all that malarkey.

Eyed Click Beetle

While gardening this weekend, a large beetle landed at my feet. It was one of those beetles that you look at and think "my god, I bet that could devour my house and all of my plants". It was about 2" long, slim (rather than a fat stocky beetle) black with white speckles and two large white rings on it's front end.
I took a photo, trapped it under a flower pot, finished my gardening and went inside to try and ID it. I had it under the flower pot on the front step when I thought "if this beetle is just might eat my house maybe I should put him and the flowerpot at the end of the driveway" at least that way he'd have to walk a long way to get to my house.

This was a perfect example of the power of the internet: I googled "black beetle white circles" and found a reference to "Eyed beetle". Then I googled that and got to a great bug ID site: (http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740) and ID'd it as an Eyed Click Beetle. Then I did a little more poking around and found http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-2-9-1296,00.html. They said the following:

"But the larvae of eyed click beetles tend to leave gardens and lawns alone, preferring instead to prey on the larvae of wood borers (pests that you definitely don't want in your yard). So the next time you see one of these guys, rest assured that it won't harm you or your plants, and let it go along on its merry way."

So I went back outside and released it. I did find one other beetle in the garden this weekend with an orange rear proboscis/willy thing! which I still need to ID. This guy: