Xeriscape additions

This is what i added in the fall:

• 3 x Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
• 2 x Green Coneflower (Rudbeckia nitida or Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbstonne' or 'Autumn Sun')
• 4 x Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln')

Quite a bit of change...

The front yard is also coming along. The first several steps have come together and I find it more enjoyable to spend time out there now - less randomness and confusion... 

Before: early june with hodge podge garden...

After: early october with new Green Earth EcoTurf grass, two anchor gardens and some remaining shrubs that will be moved in the spring...

yellow potentilla from original garden, with two white potentilla added. They are surrounded by an unidentified perennial in this triangular anchor garden...

all the creeping euonymus or wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) that was growing around the garden, has been moved to the opposite corner along the driveway. It is accompanied by an Emerald 'n' Gold Euonymus Shrub. This area will get the most winter damage from snow and salt so we will see if it survives. I also just found out that wintercreeper is highly invasive in the USA and possibly Canada - it may need to come out next year!

the xeriscape garden has filled in nicely, but I am waiting until next year when it explodes in size (maybe the following year for the grasses). I extended this garden all the way to fence and added more perennials and grasses...

Before: early july, just before planting grasses and perennials...

After: early october as the grasses have gone to seed and the perennials have started to brown off...

overall the view from the house is a lot more simplified and calmer...

Now in fall harvest colours!

another one of the grandparents garden usurped by my more utilitarian and low maintenance ideas. The virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) on the right has finally decided to climb the garage - the one on the left started to climb two years ago! The staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) that one of my dogs decide to chop down 2 years ago is back, and at 12 feet tall, provides a lot of shade already for the patio...

I have decided to keep the sedum 'Autumn Joy' as they are drought tolerant and give much needed winter interest. The recently pruned climbing roses still need to go... 

after thinning the honeysuckle hedge on the lawn side of the "secret garden", I decided to plant periwinkle to continue the growth on the other side of the neighbours fence. The grass has also been extended to that point using Green Earth EcoTurf seed... 

the purple coneflowers, black eyed susans and goldenrod are finally winding down, and the leaves of the sugar maples behind our property are starting to litter the ground...

I decided to clear a large swath of the honeysuckle hedge to make way for more perennial gardens next year. I also moved some of the staghorn sumac runners to go along the back fence to help shade out the forest of invasive buckthorns on my neighbour's property...

the virginia creeper is mingling well with the wayward perenials that I kept from the front garden exodus. I call this the "Misfit Garden"...

the view from the recently cleared area. The sugar maple and white oak saplings are going to have to go next spring! It wont be long until the burning bush and virginia creeper turn their scarlet red...

these cuttings from the virginia creeper rooted well and I have planted them at the base of a tall honeysuckle along the fence. Eventually the native creeper and sumac will hopefully choke out the invasive buckthorn! At least these equally aggressive species combo will give the buckthorn a run for its money...

the large brush pile remains as a winter hide for various fauna but next year this area will hopefully become more "private" - either a wooden fence or a cedar hedge (thats not MY shed)...

This yard is looking mighty different than when we first moved in four years ago!

Autumn begins...

falling leaves

the house comes

out of the wood

-  jim kacian

cool days and cool nights bring the growing season to the end of it's glory...

In other news, a cruel twist of fate has made it so the pictures of the garden's progress since july have disappeared into the 'ether'. Sorry folks, apparently august and september didn't exist in my garden ... 

Meanwhile at the back end...

The backyard garden is coming along nicely...

purple coneflowers, goldenrod (Solidago canadensis), and black eyed susans among forsythia ('Northern Gold'), burning bush (Euonymus alatus) and rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), as well as an unidentified tall shrub. A sugar maple sapling already @ 8ft tall has got me thinking that I might want to move it before it becomes a problem. The backdrop is very large honeysuckle hedge...

these tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris) are nestled in between two Diabolo Ninebarks (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo'), but they are not getting enough sun - I will move them next spring, and replace them with more Diabolos moved from the front garden...

Xeriscape Garden Haiku...

Careful choice of plants

Suited to a dry landscape

Saves our resources

I began to think about my new garden as an experiment for native, drought tolerant planting. I wanted a garden with colour, with texture, and an overall bold presence. Most importantly I wanted a garden that needed little maintenance and little watering! The backdrop will be native and ornamental grasses, and these will be surrounded by native perennials, or similar cultivars...

this triangular bed will be the new xeriscape garden. The skyrocket juniper will stay for now as will the japanese barberry and euonymus at the back...

after removing the last of the wayward perennials from this section, the new grasses and perennials were spaced out and planted! I was able to save and move some purple coneflowers to this location...

Xeriscape Garden Plants:

• 5 x Big Blue Stem (Andropogon gerardii)
• 1 x Red Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum 'Hanse Herms')
• 2 x Tall Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum 'Strictum')
• 3 x Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster')
• 9 x Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’)
• 8 x Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)

The ground was so dry at this point in July that I had to water the soil for over an hour to get it moist enough for planting. I also watered the large Silver Maple that overshadows the entire front lawn - I hope that amount of shade wont be a problem for this xeriscape garden!

Simplify...

I begin with my first project: turning the front yard into a more manageable space. The extensive gardens that came with the house had become quite unruly due to inattention over the last 4 years...


In order to simplify the chaos, drastic measures had to be employed!!!

this is the front garden in early June - a hodge-podge of perennials and shrubs that were once tended by a retired couple (wife's grandparents). Notice the several large invasive Buckthorn, and even a Black Cherry sapling that I had left to flourish due to ignorance and denial...

over the next month, we prepared for these drastic measures, and after giving as many perennials away to friends and family, the garden still looked full! By this time in July, everything was looking quite dry during the mini-drought we had here...

my wife and I decided that as much as possible along the front should be turned into grass in order to simply the landscape. A lot of shrubs and perennials still had to be moved or destroyed!

this area is to become my xeriscape garden, with native grasses and drought tolerant perennials...

Friends of Chilligo planting...

The third annual Friends of Chilligo tree planting was a success, albeit a smaller turn up than previous years, but we got the job done...  

thanks to the Friends of Chilligo, Grand River Conservation Authority, and the City of Cambridge - City Green

About the Conservation Area:

Owned and managed by the Grand River Conservation Authority, the Chilligo Conservation Area is often overlooked greenspace located within the city of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

The land sits adjacent to the Speed River and is comprised primarily of deciduousCarolinian forest, grassy meadows, and thick marshlands. Ellis Creek also flows through Chilligo, where along its banks you will find flourishing Cedar trees and abundant riparian life. For a sampling of Chilligo’s beauty and biodiversity, please visit our Gallery Page.

About the Friends of Chilligo:

The Friends of Chilligo is a not-for-profit group formed in 2007 in response to environmental damage that was being caused by a handful of individuals illegally using motorized vehicles within the conservation area. See the At Risk page for more information.

Mission Statement:

The Friends of Chilligo are dedicated to the protection of the Chilligo Conservation Area, by encouraging community stewardship and promoting ecologically responsible use of the land.

It all starts here...

Here we go, yet another blog to put my thoughts out into the digital world!