It's Alive!
Oct. 14th, 2005 10:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellyssianTomorrow the meadow will take the first steps - which is, I should note, a very difficult and somewhat alarming thing for a plot of land to do - tomorrow morning. Actually, it will really become more of a heath than a meadow, but I suppose a heath can be considered a meadow of a sort. And, like all proper heaths, it will be sporting a variety of heathers, that is Calluna vulgaris, in the flavors of 'Spring Cream', 'County Wicklow', 'Tib', 'Dark Beauty', 'Corbett's Red', 'Else Frye', 'Robert Chapman', and 'Mrs R.H. Gray.' Unlike some of the more common heaths, this one will also be planted with a small quantity of - surprise as it may be - heath. Specifically Erica carnea 'December Red', 'Myretown Ruby', and 'Pink Spangles', as well as Erica darleyensis 'Ghost Hills.'
forestfarm not only took care of me price-wise (saving me much money), they also included the 'Dark Beauty' as well as a second each of 'County Wicklow' and 'Tib' - for which I need to let them know, as the plants have been great, the packaging is the best I've come across (and I used to package non-plant things professionally many moons ago), and the service is also excellent.
The plants will go into the ground in a spiral pattern, which, in the absence of the garden hose we used to lay out the pattern, will look relatively random and natural. Of course, we ordered 11 plants and the pattern calls for twelve (either the center or the very next position is to be occupied by a decent sized rock), so I'm not clear on how we'll work in the extra three heathers. After looking at them - and they're all beautiful, healthy specimens - I might rearrange from my planned pattern. We'll probably set them out next to the rock & stake marking the spot, and then shuffle them until satisfied. Likely that a bunch of the marker rocks will remain in the area, as will the native plants that were scheming to turn the green and pleasant grass into a meadow all on their own initiative.
Will also be planting a katsura - Cercidiphyllum japonicum. It's fairly sizable already, with a decent branching structure. My original plan was to use it to replace the willow that was struggling at the upper edge of Chestnut Grove, but I might put it a little further from the house. I do want it somewhat nearby the porch, as a "feature" of the tree is that, in autumn, the leaves smell like caramel or, by some report, like cotton candy.
forestfarm not only took care of me price-wise (saving me much money), they also included the 'Dark Beauty' as well as a second each of 'County Wicklow' and 'Tib' - for which I need to let them know, as the plants have been great, the packaging is the best I've come across (and I used to package non-plant things professionally many moons ago), and the service is also excellent.
The plants will go into the ground in a spiral pattern, which, in the absence of the garden hose we used to lay out the pattern, will look relatively random and natural. Of course, we ordered 11 plants and the pattern calls for twelve (either the center or the very next position is to be occupied by a decent sized rock), so I'm not clear on how we'll work in the extra three heathers. After looking at them - and they're all beautiful, healthy specimens - I might rearrange from my planned pattern. We'll probably set them out next to the rock & stake marking the spot, and then shuffle them until satisfied. Likely that a bunch of the marker rocks will remain in the area, as will the native plants that were scheming to turn the green and pleasant grass into a meadow all on their own initiative.
Will also be planting a katsura - Cercidiphyllum japonicum. It's fairly sizable already, with a decent branching structure. My original plan was to use it to replace the willow that was struggling at the upper edge of Chestnut Grove, but I might put it a little further from the house. I do want it somewhat nearby the porch, as a "feature" of the tree is that, in autumn, the leaves smell like caramel or, by some report, like cotton candy.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:37 pm (UTC)The heath sounds wonderful!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-15 03:56 pm (UTC)Although I'll still by some things at other places - particularly a small yearly order to support ArborDay.org and another just to get large quantities of certain things (I'll be trying Musser Forests for that in the spring) - I'm aiming more and more of my purchasing power, such as it is, towards forestfarm.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-16 01:50 pm (UTC)And I've gotten Musser's catalogs, but haven't yet ordered from them.