I’m taking a brief break at posting about our trip to Japan to review this year’s garden. Enjoy.
I hate winter. I know, I know. I shouldn’t hate a season. We need winter, we need the cycle of death and rebirth. But I can moan and groan about it. I don’t like it when it snows too much, or when it’s too cold. I don’t like it when it’s too dry, and we don’t have enough snow to fill our dams and reservoirs when snow melts away. I worry if we have too dry a winter that it will lead to a nasty, wildfire season. It seems I’m not happy with whatever happens in Winter. It helps to dream about Spring. I don’t think it’s too early to think about the garden.
What worked this year?
I was nervous about taking out my front lawn and turning it into a pollinator garden. Thanks to the Garden in a Box program offered by Resource Central I was able to order my plants, and work off a pre planned garden. (I didn’t follow it, because I had some shady areas that I hadn’t factored in.) It worked beautifully, and I would highly recommend this program. So looking back on it, yes, it did exceed my expectations.
What didn’t work?
We bought a metal edging for our front garden, and installed it as best we could. I think that’s why it just didn’t work. We didn’t install it correctly. (A combo of not having the right equipment, and skill to put it in. Now, it’s buckling and it just doesn’t look good.)
What I would like to do next year is redo the edging. Perhaps put in brick pavers to have a sturdier barrier. I know that I will need to dig a trench to lay they pavers, and I’m not looking forward to that. (The soil is hard clay.) I will also have to transplant some plants that have grown too close to the edge. I am holding my breath to see how the current metal edging holds up until spring. Winter means snow, and snow clearing of both the sidewalk and driveway.
What did well?
I don’t have a green thumb. I’m not a natural at this. I either over water or under water. Plants should be scared of me. That is why I’m delighted when things grow, in spite of me. For the front garden the Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera), Blue Pitcher Sage (Salvia azurea), Sunset Hyssop (Agastache rupestris), Missouri Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpo), and Bigelow’s Tansyaster (Machaeranthera bigelovii) did well.
I was pleased with the grasses (Blue Grama Grass, and Little Bluestem Grass) but am worried at how well they will come back in the spring.
In the backyard, I have a Sunset Hyssop who came roaring back, as well as a row of sedums, and then an Aster, which suddenly decided to burst into flower. (Astonishing really, because I’d thought I’d killed it.)
I did have a nice crop of Milkweed, this year, and did manage to see some pollinators and a caterpiller feeding on them. Disappointingly, I didn’t see any Monarch butterflies. Not this year. What a shame.
What didn’t do well?
There were some newly planted plants that didn’t seem to take off in the front garden. They do say that the gardens take about 3 years to establish, so, I guess I’ll wait for next year to see what comes back. (I like surprises.) Some plants, like the Gayfeather (Liatris punctata) likes sandy, alkaline soils that are well drained. These plants abandoned all hope. The soil is wrong for them. And I think they needed more than I could give them (in skill and location.)
I also think I underestimated some of the shady parts of my yard. I think I need to study it more closely and plant plants that like the amount of shade and sun they actually get, and not what I think they get.
