I have been at it for the last two weeks. I’m talking like, psychotic. Long sweaty stretches of moving plants, weeding, cutting back and cutting ties with plants (some that required a chainsaw) that had seen better days. Also, short dashes of five- minute weeding sprints between work meetings, ten-minute watering’s before the work day kicked off and three minutes hyper dashes spent moving a Joe Pye Weed a few inches to the left and a boxwood a foot forward because my OCD won’t subside until it’s done. If any increment of time was found, it was spent outside.
The motivation? Simple answer: panic. Panic is the motivator in all aspects of my life. With the garden, it was panic that things were getting away from me and soon I’d throw in the towel and give up like I’d done the previous few years. Not this time. I’ve come too far to not see this through to the point where I’ve envisioned it going for the better part of two decades.
The routine:
Open garage door while shoving a protein bar down my throat.
Slip on boots, hoping no snakes, mice or spiders found their way inside. Boots never tied. Time saved too vital.
Pull on nitrile gloves, fully aware poison ivy juices still reside on the palm and fingers.
Grab orange Home Depot bucket, chuck trowel and pruners inside.
Grab spade and twirl to show I meant business.
Head outside and wait for the inspiration to wash over me.
Kick ass.
I should also add that we’re expecting rain every day for the next week or so and that provided additional inspiration to get as much done as possible, physical well being be damned. I snapped the photo below to try and capture the impending bad weather which is really awesome weather as I can’t wait to sit back and watch every plant drink the H2O while I revel in my accomplishments.
The funny thing is I feel like I’ve done so much and transformed the garden for the better, but the common eye wouldn’t notice a thing. I imagine my wife thinking, “You’ve been working out there for hours on end and honestly, I see little difference.” She’d never say it as she’s too kind and knows I’d never recover, but I know she’s thinking it.
For example, this is the view at the end of the driveway. I’ve mentioned previously that I didn’t like how the “legs” of the Baptisia were exposed. Well a few weeks later and the Baptisia exploded; legs for days. For whatever reason, I had planted three here a few years back where there was really only room for one. I wonder how I can be so dumb after all of these years gardening.
As you probably know, moving a Baptisia is impossible. The taproot digs way freaking deep. So instead of taking on that herculean task, I … gulp … cut them all to the ground now that they’ve finished blooming. It killed me but I couldn’t take it any longer. The results:
I added a bunch of new annuals at the front, exposed three grasses that had been buried by the aggressive Baptisias and even found a white coneflower that had been growing inside one of the Baptisia plants. I also dug up a Clethra that had suckered badly and was half dead. That gave me room to add a Smokebush I had sitting in a container on my deck. Here, I hope it will be sheltered from the deer and thrive.
I’ll deal with the long term ramifications of the Baptisia at another time.
This one had me hot and bothered for a few years. Another example of not thinking long term when I constructed the vignette. Zebra grasses, IMHO, are fine as specimen plantings but are too much when grouped together. Here I had planted three when they were tiny plugs and they took off overnight. I hated how they looked.
So out went two, as did my back on multiple occasions, and we ended up with this:
Five mountain mints and a Little Bluestem ‘Chameleon’ in its place. This is going to kick so much ass when done and after the plants have been established. I can’t wait to share with you all.
BTW, the two zebra grasses I moved … here’s what I discovered to my horror a few days ago.
Might want to stay on top of the watering next time wanna-be-master-gardener.
Quick aside: I’m obsessed with all type of Mountain Mint. I’m still not sure what this one is, but it spreads freely all over my garden and I let it do whatever it wants. An absolute critter magnet and tough SOB.
I went hog wild on the annuals and right back to what I had planted last year in the pic below. I can’t get enough of the verbena and love how they look with a bluish grass (in this case a Panicum ‘Cloud Nine’) behind them. While I planted six of these, there were three others in the same area after seeding from last year’s plants. The gorgeous purple gift that keeps on giving.
There’s a lot going on here but I’ll spare you all the details. I moved around the Meadowsweet for maximum viewing pleasure and to ideally, to layer the garden bed appropriately by height. I like, so far.
Two notes:
- The window all the way to the right is the window I stare out of 8 hours a day while working from home. Because of that, this is the section of garden that is the most critiqued.
- The container in the lower right is a grass gifted from my brother-in-law who lives down the street. Aren’t I a lucky dude?
In:
- Annuals that should spill on to the sidewalk. I can’t remember the name because I’m annual clueless.
Out:
- Three Liatris that never thrived in this partial sun spot.
- Four Speedwell that had seen better days – RIP
- A variegated Northern Sea Oats that had become no longer variegated and seeded like a mutha f’er.
And here’s where the Liatris was relocated to a full sun spot.
I should also add that the Liatris blooms reached towards the sun in their old spot and that drove me insane. I need them to be more upright. Hopefully no problem, no more.
Also, forgot to RIP the variegated NSO. Look how pretty she looks in this photo.
I removed a ton of poison ivy all over the garden and paid for it with a rash on every appendage. I haven’t addressed it here yet. It’s comingled with almost all of my Catmint and I need to make a call soon. Eradicate it all and start fresh? Or try to save the catmint and keep the poison ivy at bay?
To be continued …
I love these Carex. Hold on one second.
Pause, pause, pause.
I’m back. Ran to the garage to find the tag and can’t locate it. Inexcusable. Not sure of the name but I will find it and let you know ASAP. They do claim to deal with full sun and if that claims holds true, I’ll be loading up on it as a groundcover all over the garden.
Have an awesome weekend my friends.
First and foremost, how I love, love, love your writing and how much joy it brings me, this one especially! I can see an image of you zig zagging through the garden like a maniac trying to get everything done and now it looks like a masterpiece! Everything looks great! Kudos!
Now that we’re getting all this rain, maybe you can relax and enjoy all your hard work:)
Lisa from MD
Thanks so much Lisa! We did get some decent rain but still snuck out in between breaks. The obsession hasn’t died down.
Love the honesty about the need to move a plant a few inches. I relate. Check out pycnsnthemum muticum, too. Best variety yet.
Will def check out muticum, don’t understand why these aren’t more popular?
Absolutely stunning garden.
Thank you Linda!
Looks beautiful John!!!
1) Yes, you are the only one who plants too many too close together…after years and years of gardening…ha ha ha ha ha. If there was”garden jail” sentence for that, then be sure to wave hi to me in the cell!
2) Update us if that does the trick on your baptisia please. That’s always one plant that in a few years I’m like “blame it on selective label reading” (aka W = 48″-60″) at time of purchase.
3) Just be happy that it’s modern times and your doctor can give you a cream for PI that will get rid of it in a few days. Circa 1970 all we had was Oatmeal Bath and Calamine lotion (not sure it wasn’t rebranded Pepto Bismal).
4) Might be Carex oshimensis ‘Feather Falls’? I’ve been trying a lot of the different native Carex here in Kansas City.
5) Release the the Kraken. Japanese Beetles emerged this week. Ugh.
6) Anyone else have stuff bloom way early this year? I mean like a month or 6 weeks kind of early? Joe Pye, Ironweed, and all buttonbushes are like that for me right now. Weird.
JB – it is ‘Feather Falls’, found more at the nursery today and didn’t realize it’s only up to zone 7 and I’m zone 6. Ugh.
Your posts make me laugh because all the mistakes you’ve made and keep making I’ve been making similar mistakes for 55 years! You’d think by 75 I would have learned, so take note, it won’t get better. But what’s better than putzing in the garden, cheaper than therapy. And that verbena, I have loved that plant forever. It is magical winding through other plants and bringing the bees to my garden.
Amen Dianne! Here’s to never correcting our mistakes. That seems boring.
Just returned from the Colorado Springs garden tour. Every single Gardner spoke about how they’ve had to thin, rip out, and re-design. But man, it was worth it. Nice job .
Thanks Keith. The work never ends but we love it, right?
YES! Everything bloomed early. And then we had hail. Why doesn’t hail damage my weeds?
It looks like ALL my perennials need to be divided. This is the year for working extra hard. Biggest job is prioritizing what to do first.
I enjoy reading your blog very much. You get it! Non gardening folks don’t.
The weeds always escape, don’t they? Thanks for the kind words.
John, have you ever used Panicum “Shenandoah”? It’s so completely erect, and I’m having trouble incorporating it into a design. I know you’re a grass guy, and I’d like to know if you’ve done anything with it.
I don’t have Shenandoah, I think. Although I have a few unidentified Panicums and one or more may be Shenandoah. Now I need to confirm. Will let you know.
Thanks for the laughs and great garden info. I have a greatly reduced garden area due to personal decrepitude but you remind me of myself back in the day. Even now, I find it impossible to sit in the garden and enjoy the view. There is always a weed that needs yanking, seed heads requiring pinching or plants begging for a good whacking.
I have never once relaxed and I’ve given up trying. But tweaking is so much fun and provides immediate gratification, until it doesn’t.
Hi John
This piece found its way into my FB feed and I’m delighted that the FB algorithm did so.
I was with you in spirit right from your start .
How satisfying to discover how beautiful your garden has grown given the original obstacles of deer and soil conditions.
Hope you are proud of your accomplishments. Just so you know I too am an OC Gardiner and I understand what you do.
Also I’d forgotten how beautifully you write..
There was an option on my screen just before I began to read that quickly disappeared offering to subscribe to your blog. Kindly post a link.
Allan
Thanks so much Allan! Long time no speak. I’ll post a link in the next post for sign-up. Hope all is well with you and your family?
Thank you for the great story telling. I do not feel like such a gardening loser anymore….lol…. All joking aside. Just keep at it. Nothing better and more peaceful for the mind than creating something special out of nothing.
You nailed it Domenic! Let’s never stop failing.