What to do with cleared woodland patch? Woodland wildflower garden?
mdgoodw
last year
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Woodland weed patch...suggestions?
Comments (15)I'm trying the newspaper layers (6-8 pages thick) topped with a thick layer of the free wood chippings I get from our city compost site. This is a SW corner of my yard where arborists cleared some trash trees/shrubs out between the lilac hedge and a small grove of conifers. There was a leggy honeysuckle and even leggier spirea left in the gap both of which I hard pruned to hopefully rejuvenate them. And I'd like to eventually get a couple of other things in there to flesh it out. I've always liked weeding - especially where the weeds are big and having them gone is really noticeable. I use a short handled spade, dig down and lever out the weeds. It is labor intensive, but once into it, you'd be suprised how much ground you can clear. Once I got out the major weeds in this corner, I scuffle hoed up the little weedlings and will see if the newspaper and wood chips suppress them for good. It looks nice anyway! I would think for layering to be successful, you should at least cut down the big weeds as close to ground level as possible - good green additions to a compost pile....See MoreWildflowers emerging in newly cleaned-up woodland
Comments (9)I'm gonna make an off topic suggestion here. Try planting a native shrub rose. I planted this cute little rose a couple of years back, Virginia's rose. Sometimes called 'Pasture rose.' Scientific name Rosa virginiana. Planted it in honor of a dearly departed friend and mentor named Virginia. Oh, I guess maybe sometimes the plant goes by Virginia rose. Anyway, you can only find it at native plant nursuries. Here's the main point though. That THING grew into a huge, sprawling, behemouth of a thorny BEAST! I had it planted along a fence and it was threatening to take over my entire yard and my neighbor's garden. I live in a tight urban area, this was the wrong plant for that space. It was a beast to get rid of it too. I gave some of the runners to the local arboretum. Anyway, it's native, it's gorgeous when in bloom, it's hardy (I'm still finding runners) can stand the hot, soil-limited conditions of my yard. I would plant this in a heartbeat if I wanted a thorny hedge for a large property. You can get it at Edge of the Woods Native Plant nursery, which is maybe an hour or so drive from you. Worth a trip if you are a plant lover. They have a fabulous selection and are so nice at helping you choose the right plants. They're right off 22 west/ 309 north in Orefield. Go to www.edgeofthewoodsnursery.com and check it out. Call first to see if they have the plant. There are also other native, fast growing, imposing hedge plant selections. Go to the Web site and call them or e-mail and ask for help. Louise and Sue are very good people to work with and fabulously knowledgable on this subject (deer hedges and anything having to do with landscaping issues). I have NO affiliation with them other than I have bought from them for years and know that they are quite a presence here in the Lehigh Valley. Here is a link that might be useful: Edge of the Woods Nursery...See Moreclearing a bit of woodland
Comments (9)Leaves will rot. You may think a couple of feet is there, but I found that a spot where I used to dump fall leaves (for about 10 years), when I wanted to plant hostas in there, the leaves were only a few inches thick and the soil was wonderful. Over the years I probably dumped 10' of leaves in there, couple feet at a time. They turn to that wonderful, woodsy soil that grows beautful wildflowers. I cleaned out a small patch of woods over a space of 15 years or so, a little at a time, cutting out catbriar, wild blackberries, all kinds of saplings and a thick growth of honeysuckle. I hauled away the brush, cleaned out rusty car parts, glass, and broken skeet targets, and planted wildflowers, ferns, hostas, dogwoods, Japanese maples, redbuds, viburnums, and lots of other shade grden plants. I made paths, built brush-wood and gabion fences, stacked a brush pile for the wild critters, a small pond in the hole where a big tree fell, a dry creek; and I'm still working on it! It isn't an easy job or one you can do in a year or so, but I love my little woods now! Sandy...See MoreWoodland Gardening-Help needed for beginner
Comments (3)Hi. What a coincidence: I just joined GardenWeb because I'm making a shade garden myself at the back of my yard, due to start this weekend. It's not quite as big as yours - 60' x 200' is A LOT of garden! With ash, hickory, walnut? Sounds wonderful. I have a large lot myself, but the shady area is only a small portion of land at the back that has several large ash and maple trees that make some very deep shade in the summer. We've been in the house since January before last, and our previous owner wasn't a gardener either. I've already done some research on shade gardens, and here's what I've come up with. First of all, do some planning. Are you interested in flowers, or leaf textures? Most shade plants don't flower nearly as well as full sun plants. Overall, I'm going with differnt textures myself, trying for a calm, quiet, cool place to relax, very natural, almost wild, away from the summer sun. I'm concentrating on native shade plants, stuff like monkshood, solomon's seal, cardinal flower, celandine poppy and maidenhair fern because these usually do better than other non-native species, they are more drought tolerant, and less invasive. Also, I'm leaving a downed tree along the west edge of the wooded area because it fell in such a way as to make a natural barrier between the shade garden and my kids' playset, and a beautifully curved bench to sit on as well, just the right height and width. I just finished cutting off all of the branches and the tops, leaving only the trunk. The stump is almost eight feet tall, so I've planted morning glory all around the base, so it will cover the stump with a mass of leaves and flowers this summer. At the end of the year I'll decide whether or not to leave the stump. You do need to ammend the soil. Everything I've read on the subject says that most shade plants need good loose soil with plenty of leaf mold and humus, good mulch and a fair amount of moisture too - the trees soak up huge amounts of water. But, you only need to ammend in the area that you are planting in. Some basic long-release fertilizer should do the trick, followed by mulching after the plants are in. Also, pay attention to the soil's acidity. Some shade/ part shade shrubs, like rhodedendrons and azaelias, need acidic soil. From the sound of it, you already should have a fair amount of leaves, sticks and stuff that you can use as mulch. I have a fairly large area (for me!) that I'm dealing with, and I'm going to do it in sections: dig it up, ammend the soil, design a scheme for that particular section, plant and mulch before moving on to the next one. I think that this will mot only not kill me within the first week (!), it will also mean that different sections of the shade garden will have different plants and shrubs, and therefore different textures, colors and "feel", for lack of a better word. Also it'll be more natural, I hope. I'm going to put a flagstone path around the outer edge of the wooded area, with a sun and partial shade perennial border in between, and the paths under the trees will all be wood mulch, so its quiet when people walk there. I'm going to plant things like yarrow and mint along the edges of the border path and let them grow so that when you walk, you bruise their leaves with your feet and get that beautiful herb kind of scent. Then, between the border and the shade garden I'm going to plant a line evergreens, probably juniper, so that the shade garden is more enclosed, kind of secret. It should have the effect of making the shade garden quieter, and greener, and the evergreens will make a good backdrop for the plants and shrubs on both sides of the edge border. Also (phew!), My wife wants to have either a large patio or a small gazebo under the trees as well. So far I'm leaning towards a patio of natural stone, to keep the 'wild' character under the trees, as it were. One of the ideas I also had is to plant early bulbs, crocuses, daffodils and maybe tulips under the trees. These all bloom before most trees leaf in the spring, so leaf shade is not a problem for them. This should give me a lovely splash of color under the trees, for a month or so before the native plants take off. I'll be planting these in the fall, so I'll have to carefully mark the areas that I want them in, once I've planted the other plants and shrubs. Getting a chipper would be a good idea if you have a lot of branches. Or, if you aren't too fussy about having a compost heap (like me!) you could layer the sticks in a bin with grass clippings and leaves instead, wait a year, turning it over once a month or so, giving it a sprinkle once in a while, and you'll have some great compost/mulch the spring after. You should save all your dead leaves and grass clippings for compost and mulch too. Rotten stumps make good mulch as well. I've got a huge old stump of a willow tree at the east edge of my yard, a real eyesore, almost four feet high and as wide across, but it just comes away in my hands, so I spread it on my bulb bed down the side of the house. I've got so much that I'm going to use it in my shade garden too. In terms of shade plants to use, try this: go to google and search for "shade plants". There are a number of nurseries around the country that specialize in them, and some of them have shade garden packs that give you several different plants, and suggestions for arranging them. Prices of these packs range from $500.00 to $200.00. In terms of ground cover, I have ground ivy that's been established for years. The stuff is very tough, grows quickly, has nice shiny, sculpted leaves and pretty purple flowers in the spring, but it's horribly invasive, chocking out everything. It's taken over almost a third of my lawn, and it'll be years before I can get it all out. Again, you probably want to go with something local. Can you tell that I LOVE gardening? Hope this helps!...See Moremdgoodw
last year
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