Spring Cleanup

It has been a tough winter for getting out and working in the yard. Last snow was again on April 15th. Friends gardens have definitely suffered. Fortunately the worst damage was to a lone mahonia in the back yard. ‘Charity’ lost the bulk of it’s branches and sort of looks like a clipped poodle at the moment. It wasn’t exactly my favorite plant, sort of a payoff from the landscaping company for not being able to find the ‘Arthur Menzies’ I wanted. (which, by the way, lost a few branches but otherwise held up very well)

The sole damage was self induced. @#$! is all I can say. I put too much iron sulfate on the creeping thyme while attempting to kill the moss. I killed everything. Instead of trying to repair the bed this year, I’m going to put down newspaper mulch to keep the weeds down, and then next spring bring in a power rake to clean up the debris. I’ll bring in some new topsoil and then replant the creeping thyme. It will be ugly this year, but I can then tend to the rest of the yard which needs some serious clean up.

BUILD A RAIN GARDEN

Free workshops throughout Seattle and King County

Please join Stewardship Partners and WSU Extension for a hands-on classroom workshop on rain garden design and construction. Several classes are scheduled throughout King County and the Seattle Metro area beginning January 22nd in Bellevue.

A rain garden consists of native trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses planted in composted-amended soils in a shallow depression and strategically placed to effectively capture rainwater and slowly infiltrate it into the ground. Rain gardens work like native forests by capturing and infiltrating stormwater from rooftops, driveways, and other hard surfaces. Rain gardens reduce localized flooding; help recharge groundwater aquifers; provide beneficial wildlife habitat; and filter oil, grease and toxic materials before they can pollute local waterways.

Workshop participants will receive a rain garden handbook and other useful materials. They will also be invited to participate in several full scale rain garden installation workshops scheduled later in the spring and summer.

Classes are from 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Thursday, January 22: Bellevue, Bellevue City Hall
Thursday, February 12: Carnation, Carnation City Hall
Tuesday, March 3: Renton, Renton Technical College
Tuesday, March 17: Downtown Seattle, Seattle Aquarium,
Thursday, March 26: Seattle Tilth in Wallingford
Thursday, April 23: South Seattle, NW Environmental Education Center
Workshops are free and registration is required. Participants will be sent site-assessment instructions in advance to help maximize their learning at the workshops.

Visit www.stewardshippartners.org for more rain garden information.

Midwinter Clean-up

There was a short break in the winter storms, which means here that it’s in the low 40’s, usually with broken clouds.  The unusually heavy snowfall is nearly all melted except for a few spots on the north side of the house. I ducked out for about an hour to whack back some clematis that is overwhelming the roses, and put down some iron sulfate on the creeping thyme. I meant to put out the iron sulfate BEFORE it snowed, but I wasn’t quite on the ball. The moss certainly waited for me.

The daphne odora has some serious frost damage, but only to the leaves. The chinese witchhazel ‘Pallida’ has some buds just starting to open. The mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’ looks fine, but the flowers did not do well with the cold weather. There are still some blooms yet to open but I don’t know whether there will be much fruit this year.

And the weeds didn’t seem to mind the low temps at all. Oh well…

Salvage event

This just arrived. Local salvage events on December 6 and December 13.

See http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/pdf/December2008salvage.pdf for more information.

Watching for my first Anna’s Hummingbird

The Mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’ is blooming.  I spotted a single bud open on November 18th, but now there are enough flowers to attrach the hummingbirds. What a great plant. I should have blooms well into late February. The heather ‘Kramer’s Rote’ is just starting to show buds too. The yellow/purple combo is great, and once the berries start forming the purple/purple is equally attractive.

I took a stroll in the yard yesterday. The neighbors snag finally gave way and fell in my yard. I’m tempted to leave the bulk of it to promote a more natural woodland ecosystem. A couple of the Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ (dogwood) lost a twig or two, and one of the Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ (redbud) has two broken branches. Everything else looks unscathed.

The hellebores are starting to show their buds and the moss is definitely taking over.  Time to apply some iron sulfate and lime to the creeping thyme.  Otherwise I let the moss do what it wants.

I was at a friend’s house yesterday, and I thought he had just trimmed his lawn. He laughed, and said I wasn’t used to seeing grass, it stops growing in the winter. It has been awhile since I’ve had a grass lawn. I haven’t missed it at all.

Shishigashira

Timo and I stopped by Whitney Gardens on our way to Aberdeen. Timo ‘popped the question’; “do you still want one of those japanese maples?” I knew exactly what he meant. We had seen their mature Shishigashira that spring and were wowed. The tree was covered in tiny crinkled leaves. Later research showed that the fall color was also spectacular. It was on my wish list. We ran in, picked a nice looking sapling and continued down the road.  I have just the spot for it!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

I’m adding a note to myself to schedule time to go again in the spring to see the rhodies in bloom as well as a trip in the fall to see all their maples turning.

Check out a photo here:

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/attachment.php?s=7427377321047576c96a969dadde9ef6&attachmentid=40560&d=1210401862

Sunny November Day

Note I didn’t say days. It is a gorgeous and calm day. I saw some Beauty Berries along the street in Seattle today. Lovely purple. I wonder why I don’t see more of these shrubs around.

Rains are supposed to start back in tomorrow.

Another PNW fall day

Rain is letting up for now. There are still leaves on about half the trees.

I still need to post the pictures from when I went to the arboretum a couple weeks ago. Next year I want to make firm plans to go to Whitney Gardens on the penninsula when the maples turn. They have so many unusual japanese maples.

Last dry day before the big rains

 

The needles and leaves (particularly from the big leaf maples) are getting out of hand. Today is supposed to be the last dry day before the rains start. I used the blower to push the leaves over to mulch the mahonia and rhodies. The mahonia anthers are about 6″ long and the heather has just started to bloom. I expect the mahonia to be in bloom by the end of the month.

 

The cedars smell so good right now.

Preen is your friend

My wild and crazy garden is in need of some serious work. I’ve been making progress, but sad to say there are way more weeds blooming than I would like.

This calls for serious action. My strategy is to scope out an area, quickly pull up all the weeds at least waist high and get them out of the way. Then I put on my trusty gel knee pads (best money I’ve ever spent), get on my hands and knees, and pull up everything else. I use my hori-hori knife to get the deep rooted plants like dandelions. I call it my Garden Ginsu. I’ve spray painted mine flourescent pink so I don’t lose it. I still can’t figure out what happened to the first one I had.

Then, once I finish the section, I go back over it with a light sprinkle of Preen. I was reluctant at first, but one application of Preen is good for the entire season. It significantly reduces the weeding, which leaves more time for more interesting gardening activiites.