Water Feature

I tried taking a video of the water, but it was impossible; so here are a handful of sequence stills.

This began twenty years ago with a small galvanized "cow tank" to which I added a small pump and fountain, mostly for the birds. Over time rocks were stacked and plants were added. Now the tank is behind rocks and a row of hostas. The back half of the tank is under rocks and some creeping plants; the front of the top is an access to a pump and filter.  Eventually I think I can completely conceal the entire tank.

The pump pushes water  up the hill in a concealed pipe and enters the rock garden "spring" under a fairly large Creeping Yew.

 It flows out of the mini grotto, down a shallow stream birdbath ...

and spills over a tiny waterfall ....

... into a sunken pool, over a piece of petrified wood into a lower pool under the rocks and spills down into the tank.

- Gunnar

Lilies, Coneflowers, etc

Drop by; if we are out just walk down, find a bench and sit a spell - or if you are doing the lake walk, walk up through the weed garden. - Gunnar

Quick Garden Tour

First, a stroll down toward the lake - the assorted cone flowers and milkweeds in the Weed Garden are starting to kick-in.

Then back up to the perennial garden where a couple of days ago the first of the Asiatic hybrid lilies and Daylilies started blooming.

It is a beautiful morning, forecast to get up to about 90F with high humidity, this afternoon - the kind of conditions that can spawn evening thunderstorms and tornadoes. No problem, we can just batten down the hatches and strap in. The plants and trees cannot.  - Gunnar

June 2017

This is the first posting in this blog in a year or so. This is the time between Spring and Summer, the roses are starting and in a short time the lilies and daylilies will kick in. Since the last posting I cut the climbing roses down to a couple of feet so I could get at the tangle of weeds and ash trees that were growing in them. I had let it get away from me over the years and it was hard work - and prickly, spiny, and scratchy.

The view down the brick path is from the garden bench. Visitors have remarked, "I'll bet you sit there a lot with your morning coffee". Almost never; gardens are not like that, benches are mostly theoretically, something to put at the end of a path. When a gardener sits down all they see is the maintenance projects that MUST be done soon or the garden will become a jungle of weeds and brush within months. 

Below is the view from the archway through the butterfly garden path down to the lake.

Coming back up the path from the lake.

Below, the rock garden - the view from a future bench - currently just a chair and small table. The small area outside the Growlery seems to be a natural gathering space for guests and we are always trying to find enough chairs. 

Okay, now I have to go outside and work a little. 92F sunny and windier than south Texas today. Better pace myself. -  Gunnar

Growlery Garden: Late June 2016

This posting is as much for me as it is for you - just so I don't forget what I need to do.

First a shot of the front garden walk to the new mailbox. 

Below, the old stone steps down to the Growlery Garden. They are real ankle busters, so I may put a fence, a false gate, at the top to force people down the other entrance so I don't get my ass sued.

This view toward the lake was taken a week ago. The roses on the fence and the peonies are about gone now. This is a good year to cut them back to a couple of feet tall and gain control of the bramble jungle again.

 I am less and less obsessed with flowers and more with foliage color. But if I am going to have flowers, make it worthwhile - big gross peonies, hardy climbing roses with clematis crawling through them, a handful of small irises, and a shitload of modern daylilies. Well, I guess that is a lot of flowers.

What kind of obsessive person would try to match the color of the plants to the pots? Me.  I bought the Coleus in the terra cotta pots because I thought they would look good - not flashy like most Coleus, just kinda ....pot-like. Honestly, I like them, but I'm not certain I like them with the other blue-greenness.  They are portable I suppose. 

The Krossa Regal hostas in the pale green glazed pots are the plants I overwintered and then forgot in the basement. They seem to have shaken off my lapse of memory pretty well. I actually fertilized them. My soil is pretty good so I do not fertilize the plants other than a very occasional top dressing if I need to get rid of compost. Personally, except for a things that are going to live in pots, I think that feeding perennials artificial fertilizer is vastly overrated, mostly by the garden supply people. Too much fertilizer will result in a abundant of soft foliage and fewer flowers - in my opinion. My garden was originally half of a tennis court (the neighbors own the other half). The soil was a little sketchy when I started 25 or 30 years ago. I dug in sand for drainage and when I divide and move plants maybe throw a little compost in the hole if I remember to. Some years I chop up the oak leaves in the Fall and cover the garden with them. Oak leaves are supposed too acid. Maybe. Seems to work for me. 

More pots, one on either side of the birdbath with the same dark blue glaze. Of course by now they have disappeared under the plants. Lorna bought the Dusty Miller plants on sale the other day, less than five bucks for two 4-packs. Next year the brick edge and the base of the birdbath will be buried under a silvery plant cloud. Also I am going to move another Husker Red penstemon (the white cloud on  the left) to the right side to balance it. I am obviously not one for rigid formality, but I like balance, especially across walkways. The plants do not have to be the same variety, but they should carry the same visual weight. 

Looks like it'll be another beautiful day. Be well - Gunnar