2 YEAR MOVE - rose of sharon

Some landscaping requires longer term planning, in this particular case a two year move but three or more years before the desired look could be achieved.
Good thing perennial gardeners have patience.

Both a blue and pink Rose of Sharon graced our back yard in Toronto, and while they looked lovely apart, when the Dogwood in the back left corner passed, I bet that they would look even lovelier if I could get their pastel blooms mingling together.

That fall I started a sort of rejuvenation pruning and cut back the Rose of Sharon by one third, I let it grow in the same place for one year before cutting it back again by one third the following fall, then finally transplanting it.

The space left by the Rose of Sharon seen above was quickly filled in by transplanting some of the yellow Rudbeckias closer to the fence. I also pruned back the lower limbs of the Japanese Maple, letting more light to the understory.

They say that shrubs are the skeletons of the garden and if so, apparently I like mine 'bear bones'. To me it felt a bit cramped before, even though I like a full garden.

The Blue Rose of Sharon looked comfortable in its new home, however I moved away and will never be able to know for certain if it got enough light and intertwined with its pink sister. 

Hopefully I did enough to help it along:

- I pruned back branches above it (from our neighbour's tree) quite extensively to give it more light, 

- I pruned it substantially to lessen the overall foliage the roots would need to support post-transplant

- I used a root-stimulating fertilizer post-transplant and kept it well watered

Perhaps I will just have a peak over the fence next time I am visiting Toronto in the summer...

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Sharing with Outdoor Wednesday

HARD WORK AND A LITTLE PATIENCE - iris

photo: David Driscoll

 Three years ago I dug up the Iris due to an infestation of Iris borers, cut off the dead parts, washed them and transplanted them with much more space compared how crowded they were when I started. The pinks were already there and I brought in the purples to tone them down given how I feel about pink flowers.  They did not bloom that much the next year and after a little research I learned that it takes them a while to get back to their full glory after being moved.

I rely on my old Toronto neighbours to keep me up to date on how my old garden is progressing and thankfully they have shared this photo with me that clearly demonstrates that I just needed to be patient.  The Iris are back and better than ever before. 

Much better in fact.

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Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos & Fertilizer Friday

I PROBABLY SHOULD NOT ADMIT IT, BUT...

In a previous post I shared this pic of how overgrown the backyard to our Cabbagetown place was when we first moved in.

Initially I thought our neighbour's garage was too big and overshadowed the gardens. Friends quickly pointed out that if gave us a great degree of privacy, and they were right. I grew an overnight appreciation for it but I never thought it looked quite right. I wanted to plant something growing up it but I was timid about asking the neighbours who we otherwise had never had any contact with.

Then a "For Sale" sign went up! The house quickly sold and sat empty for a very short while. I probably should not admit it, but I struck while the house was empty. I figured new neighbours would not know how long a vine had been there, if they ever noticed at all.

In more recent years I have been good about getting my neighbours permission when required and it has worked out well but since on this occasion I was chickening out I was especially careful to not cause any damage. I used a simple threadlike landscaping netting and simple thumb tacks to secure it.  

Who could have a problem with thumbs tacks?

In the three years since, the Silver Lace vine has grown rapidly and pretty well covered up the garage. It does not bloom much because of the shade from the massive Norway Maple but that is fine, it was meant to cover up the garage and it is doing its job splendidly.

I wonder if you all engage with your neighbours about your gardening every time you should, or if am I alone in my naughtiness?

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Sharing with Outdoor Wednesday

THE STRIP

Between our Cabbagetown home's sidewalk and our neighbour's sat a small strip of grass, know simply as "the strip".  Once I had my own small garden more-or-less under control my eyes began to wander and I eyed it greedily. 

July 2007

I was pretty sure that my friendly neighbour had mentioned that he did not like having to mow it and so I screwed up my courage and asked if they would mind if I took it over. "No problem, go right ahead."

After all, you don't' get if you don't ask.

April 2010

In the first year, aside from removing all of the grass, I added sprigs of transplanted Periwinkle from Periwinkle Hill and  "Snow Crocus", which I believe are more accurately Species Crocus, the earlier, smaller bloomers.  

Aside from the colourful spring show, the rest of the year it struggled and I worried my neighbours regretted trusting the strip into my care.  At the same time, I had confidence that I would change this hard-to-water island in a sea-of-concrete into a to a continuously-blooming, gorgeous specimen of a small-space garden given enough time... 

 April 2011

 The following year I added more Periwinkle and purple Giant Crocus. 

I was caught unawares by the size difference between species and giant Crocus. I was disappointed with the slight stature of the early-bloomers. You might correctly point out that the giant Crocus are called "giant" crocus and not 'normal' Crocus, thus I should have expected them to be much larger than other Crocus, but to me (and I suspect many other admirers) they had always just been 'normal' Crocus, naming conventions aside.

I added additional Crocus on both sides of the garden to tie them together, as if the bulbs had naturalized right across or underneath that unforgiving freeway.

May 2013

The following year I added  Windflowers which I thought would bloom after the Periwinkle and extend the blooming season but they blessed the neighbourhood with their very beautiful and strikingly similar shade of purple at the same time.  

We had warm weather early last year that threw bloom times off in general; I will have to check in with my ex neighbours to ask if they bloom concurrently or consecutively this year.

July 2013

When the Windflowers were done blooming I added white Impatiens to fill in the gaps and add some elegant colour for the rest of the summer.  I generally do not plant annuals, but this is such a prominent space that until I knew what I wanted there long term I had to take some short term measures.

And now I have moved, so I never had to make the tough choice between something small and well behaved that could easily be stepped across or something taller and bushier that might even spill into the sidewalks dramatically increasing their separation. A beautifully blooming fence of sorts.

 South facing, it is the brightest space in the garden and despite the touch of class the white adds I planned to replace them for the chance to play with more brightly blooming sun-loving perennials.

How tall would you go, to Rudbeckia heights, or taller? 

The taller, the more dramatic, but you would not want them flopping over after a heavy rain, wetting a smart suit on the short walk to the car. In fact I was always digging up Coneflower seedlings that had managed to fly across the walk and make a home in the strip, for fear they would quickly get too big. 

 What would your suggestion be for late summer colour amongst the Periwinkle?

BACK YARD CITY GARDEN

Let's take a photo-journey back through time.

FALL 2006

Tonight's post was going to be a long review of my journey over the last six years with my Cabbagetown back garden.  Looking at these before-and-after pics for the first time in six years has been a great trip down memory lane and shone a light on just how much the yard has changed.  

And I take pride in that.

I always told anyone who asked that I pretty much used what was here when I started, and while that is true to a degree, I have also moved everything but the largest trees and shrubs, put in a patio, pruned everything (back when I started and now what remains all twice that size again) and added a plethora of fresh plant material. 

I would love for the previous owners to see it and hear what they think.  After all, what was with the donught of grass around the centre garden in such a small space?  Awkward for entertaining and no place for a family with two young dogs in my opinion.

SPRING 2012    (Ta Da!)

You can recognize a few standouts like the Japanese Maple and Solomon's Seal, but  it looks more like a new garden than I imagined until I looked at these pics side by side.

Green(s) and white are my basic palette and are repeated in the Hostas, a couple of other perennials and the Impatiens I throw it the few gaps in the Periwinkle until it really takes over in a few years.

A giant Norway Maple  (boo, invasive species) single-handedly determines that this is most definitely a shade garden. 

More about the back yard another day, for now, good night and good gardening.

FRONT CITY GARDEN

Time to start talking about the city, after all, I can't spend all of my time at the cottage no matter how much I would like to.  Coming back to the city has some perks and one of them is the warmer climate, from zone 4 to 6 and a chance to grow some different plants.

2007

Not a great pic, but the only one I have from before we moved in.  Herbs growing in the front are long gone (though the mint took a few years of persistent pulling).  Despite Cabbagetown's heritage of using front yards for food crops, I just don't trust people to keep their pets out, so flowers it is.

Also removed (and given to a friend) is a Blue Fescue that would really have needed multiples to have impact, and may not have been getting enough sun since it was a haven for slugs in the dead grasses at its base. Good riddance slug hotel.

Back left of the photo you can see a really tall Asiatic lily.  I added more but have lost them all to the red lily beetle.  Right now there is no room there anyway since the Euonymus has grown and I still battle the beetle with my Tiger lilies way at the back past the Hydrangeas.  You can see a few Iris drooping over the side.  I took  my cue from them by divided them, added some others and moving them to the front.

APRIL 2010

The front garden measures only 15'x10', but let me tell you I'm using every inch of it, and have even expanded to the strip between us and the neighbouring sidewalk.  My neighbours didn't like mowing it and I saw an opportunity for expansion. Though it is small, The Strip will get its own post later since I keep adding new things to it each year.

'Also moved's include a Holly from front to back yard because it was crammed between the Barberry and the Euonymus (I can't believe it ever fit there!) and a Hydrangea from back to front yard to make the appearance of one big Hydrangea between the two evergreens. 

Spring 2010

For some reason a die off of the Periwinkle, but it is tough and and coming back nicely this year.  Bulbs you'll find are of course daffodils, lots of grape hyacinth and some tulips.  I am generally not a planter of tulips (if I go to the trouble, I want them to come back year after year, after year), but I really like these Rembrandt Tulips due to their blended colours.
Since this was taken I also added both Snow and Giant Crocus - I'll have to get a photo of them next year.  There are a few Snow Drops from the previous owner that I plan to add to this fall.


May 2012


You can see that the Spirea has been banished to the cottage (it just didn't feel right to have such a large shrub at the front) and has been replaced with Iris which I had to dig up last year anyway when I investigated why there were so few blooms and found this nasty pest.  I dug em all up, cut off the rotten chunks, rinsed and replanted.

Though not too many blooms this year they look healthy so I am going to assume they are fine and recuperating and will bloom more next year. I am ever hopeful.

Something I am proud of is the Clematis growing up the weeping cedar on the right.  I planted one beneath each of the evergreens last year and this one is a success, the other not.  I think the conical evergreen is too dense and it did not get enough sun, but I will add a second one to this tree.  I just love the effect of having gorgeous big purple blooms on my evergreen!

When we moved in there was a single Blue Hosta at the base of the tree and one of the first things I did was to divide it in three.  Now I have the three in a nice "U" shape around the tree, each of them as big or bigger than the original 6 years later.

Last year I planted the English Ivy at the base of the Thornless Honeylocust.  It feels practically tropical to me to have vines growing up trees, but I have to admit I am a bit torn given I have read it is considered invasive, though commonly used in my neighbourhood.  Every space has to be considered in a small garden and 'up' just made sense.  Once it is more established I will likely grow some Morning Glory that will be able to use it to pull themselves up.  I know they reseed like crazy, but they are so pretty I can't help myself.

An innovation I am pleased with this year is how I added violets to the periwinkle when I had some extras.  I love periwinkle.  Looks great when it blooms and has great foliage the rest of the time, but you have to admit that the blooms from the violets don't hurt.  It is like having an ever-blooming periwinkle (in yellows and oranges) since you cannot see the violet's foliage.  And who knows, maybe they will self-seed and live on harmoniously together for all time.  We shall see.

The hardy geranium doesn't have brilliant flowers, but it does have some, spreads quickly and its foliage stays green and healthy for a long time.  I got a cutting from this plant from a friend of my sister in Victoria and last week took some to my mother's in Winnipeg.  This plant is getting around!  Check out how little there was in the 2010 photo (with the tulips).  At the rate it grows I'll have to find other places for it soon. 

That won't be a problem though, it is where a little Guerrilla gardening comes in!