Happy Birthday ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hughcasey!
Jun. 13th, 2006 09:08 amMany happy returns of the day!
Jun. 13th, 2006
Happy Birthday
Jun. 13th, 2006 09:08 amAutumn Planting Planning
Jun. 13th, 2006 10:05 amPut in my ForestFarm order for October.
Since the foundation area has to grow for a couple years before the ground covers are added in (some variety to the two species of native ferns, and maybe something to act as a living mulch; possibly some bulbs to supplement, and maybe a few different varieties of hosta,) the focus will be (mostly) on the front yard.
The meadow will be officially started. I've spread some seeds around it before - with only the shasta daisies making an appearance of note - but the sandmound itself needs be seeded with native forbs and grasses. Most of that will come from Prairie Moon Nursery - I've got a list of some 40 species that I'll be getting in there, with size ranging from 3" to 72" and a mapping for how those will spread out.
ForestFarm has already contributed a Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' to the area - zebra grass is not native, but it is a tall ornamental, and, when joined by two more this fall, will screen off the large concrete cover for the septic system from the front porch view.
I'll also be getting some Xerophyllum tenax - beargrass, a native of the northwest - to plant on the corner of the mound and Spruce Alley/Chestnut Grove. The picture on Wikipedia will give some idea of the aeffect I'm trying to achieve. I'll be starting with six plants, mixed in with the grasses, but expect them to spread over that corner.
That corner - or just beyond it, really - will also get a Clethra alnifolia. Summersweet is a native shrub - there's a bridge over a marshy/dry stream near Rachel's school that is decorated on both sides of the road by an abundance of Clethra, so this is a native plant. I'm going to see how this does regarding the deer - if they don't mow it down, I'm going to use some more along Stone Stream and the banks of the Rachel River. Hopefully those spots won't get two dried out, because this plant likes moisture; when those areas are wet, it should thrive and help reduce the runoff.
In that same general area, along Stone Stream in Chestnut Grove, I'm going to try a Podophyllum peltatum, or Mayapple. The developers had cleared and attempted to seed grass in the Grove - the electrical lines run through the area, which, I suspect, was the motivation. The area is fairly well shaded, though, and I gave up on attempting to force it to be lawn. There are a few mossy patches and some blueberries starting to take hold, but it's mostly scruffy grass and splotches of exposed soil - this area needs a few plantings to help it out. The Mayapple will work as a ground cover, and provide some food for animals (although everything but the fruit is poisonous - which might help keep deer from sampling it.)
Three Asiminia triloba - paw paws - will populate the Grove itself, which is probably in need of a name change. The two Chinese chestnuts that I planted there during the first fall at the house are kept neatly trimmed by the deer, and are unlikely to do well there; the paw paw, however, are smaller trees that are native to the area, provide a custard-like fruit, and, most of all, really enjoy filtered light.
I also ordered another katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), this one intended to go down on Bank Island. I'll have to take precautions, as the chipmunks (I think...) have made short work of the roots of at least three trees there.
Since the foundation area has to grow for a couple years before the ground covers are added in (some variety to the two species of native ferns, and maybe something to act as a living mulch; possibly some bulbs to supplement, and maybe a few different varieties of hosta,) the focus will be (mostly) on the front yard.
The meadow will be officially started. I've spread some seeds around it before - with only the shasta daisies making an appearance of note - but the sandmound itself needs be seeded with native forbs and grasses. Most of that will come from Prairie Moon Nursery - I've got a list of some 40 species that I'll be getting in there, with size ranging from 3" to 72" and a mapping for how those will spread out.
ForestFarm has already contributed a Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' to the area - zebra grass is not native, but it is a tall ornamental, and, when joined by two more this fall, will screen off the large concrete cover for the septic system from the front porch view.
I'll also be getting some Xerophyllum tenax - beargrass, a native of the northwest - to plant on the corner of the mound and Spruce Alley/Chestnut Grove. The picture on Wikipedia will give some idea of the aeffect I'm trying to achieve. I'll be starting with six plants, mixed in with the grasses, but expect them to spread over that corner.
That corner - or just beyond it, really - will also get a Clethra alnifolia. Summersweet is a native shrub - there's a bridge over a marshy/dry stream near Rachel's school that is decorated on both sides of the road by an abundance of Clethra, so this is a native plant. I'm going to see how this does regarding the deer - if they don't mow it down, I'm going to use some more along Stone Stream and the banks of the Rachel River. Hopefully those spots won't get two dried out, because this plant likes moisture; when those areas are wet, it should thrive and help reduce the runoff.
In that same general area, along Stone Stream in Chestnut Grove, I'm going to try a Podophyllum peltatum, or Mayapple. The developers had cleared and attempted to seed grass in the Grove - the electrical lines run through the area, which, I suspect, was the motivation. The area is fairly well shaded, though, and I gave up on attempting to force it to be lawn. There are a few mossy patches and some blueberries starting to take hold, but it's mostly scruffy grass and splotches of exposed soil - this area needs a few plantings to help it out. The Mayapple will work as a ground cover, and provide some food for animals (although everything but the fruit is poisonous - which might help keep deer from sampling it.)
Three Asiminia triloba - paw paws - will populate the Grove itself, which is probably in need of a name change. The two Chinese chestnuts that I planted there during the first fall at the house are kept neatly trimmed by the deer, and are unlikely to do well there; the paw paw, however, are smaller trees that are native to the area, provide a custard-like fruit, and, most of all, really enjoy filtered light.
I also ordered another katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), this one intended to go down on Bank Island. I'll have to take precautions, as the chipmunks (I think...) have made short work of the roots of at least three trees there.
