Dirt Therapy

I've long admired pebble mosaics but never had the confidence to build one myself. Michael is more adventurous in these matters and was eager to take it on. The grass on the south tip of green strip in the Pan garden always looked bad after the winter months and I suspect the ground there is wetter. After we edged the borders with stones, I had an idea of replacing the tip of the grassy area with a pebble mosaic. First, Michael hand selected some river rocks (from Yard N' Garden Land , of course). First the base was created by digging down about 4-5 inches and filling in with a layer of paver gravel and a layer of sand A layer of mortar mix was added on the top layer and smoothed out.  Misting is an important step and must be continually done as the pebbles are applied. I drew the design out on paper and Michael watched a YouTube video and learned that drawing out the design with a stick would be helpful. Of course, doing it several times may be required to get what you want. M...

As part of the Hardy Plant Society's Open Gardens program , our garden will be open on the following dates. If you are not a member of HPSO (and I encourage you to do so!), contact me personally for an appointment. Sunday, May 29 - 10-4 Sunday, June 5 - 10-4 Saturday, June 11 - 10-4 (part of the West Clark County Mini Tour consisting of five additional gardens in the area)

This is the first Bloom Day post I've done this year. We are having a very late Spring. The weather has been cold and wet with a record amount of rain in April and I'm thinking that the same will happen in May. I am not going to complain about that. It is difficult to anticipate the best dates for open garden days and such. I've tentatively scheduled an open day on the last Sunday of May but I'm thinking now that I should move the date back. We shall see. I view the blooming of the pink dogwood as the start of spring here in our garden. This dogwood was the largest tree here when we moved in. It is a beauty although for the past two years - including this one - the blooms are heavier towards the bottom and sparse at the top. I have no idea what causes this and have failed to find an answer either on the Internet or asking around. If anyone knows why this happens, I'd be interested to know. Dogwood - heavy blooms at the bottom but thin at the top The peony buds are o...

 'Amagi Shigure' I counted 15 Japanese maples on my plant inventory sheet although there is at least one that I do not remember planting and haven't seen it lately. Several of our maples, purchased from East Fork Nursery a few years ago, are in pots. They are doing well which is a relief. Growing trees in pots in not something I normally do. The new spring growth is very pretty.  'Shaina' - I've been eating my words about this one. I hate the way it looks in winter when its dead leaves cling to the tree. I tried everything (including using the leaf blower) to dislodge them with no luck. But look at it now! And it is growing rather fast. To Shaina's right is Acer palmatum ‘Murasaki Kiyohime’ which was already here when we moved in. We prune it on it constantly as it wants to keep getting higher although most stats say that it reaches 3-4' tall. Of course it wants to do more than that. ‘Murasaki Kiyohime’ 'Ruby Stars' 'Japanese Princess' ...

A blog post I wrote for work and I'm sharing it here - It seems like every day we get questions about plants for narrow spaces. This might be a tight area between buildings, between a sidewalk and the house, or maybe along a garage wall or fence. Choosing an inappropriate plant for such a situation will surely bring troubles down the road. There are a number of selections for this situation and hybridizers continue to introduce new plants every year. Here are a few selections to help you make the best decision.   Rose of Sharon 'Purple Pillar' or 'White Pillar' (Hibiscus syriacus) - This old-fashioned shrub is easy to grow and once it starts blooming in mid to late summer, the blooms continue to come until frost. A member of the hibiscus family, older varieties can attain very hefty sizes. However, newer introductions like 'Purple Pillar' (pictured) and 'White Pillar' (white flowers) provide a columnar effect. You can expect plants to grow 10' f...

A long overdue project is in the bag. I've always thought that the Pan Garden (the small garden right off the deck and the very first area I created in this garden) would look better with a rock edging. For years, we've put up with the heavy plastic edging and while it does keep the grass from creeping into the beds, it doesn't stay in place that well and stone looks so much better.  Before - After -  Michael is to be credited with this - he did virtually all the work. I transported the pavers from the truck to the garden and helped dispose of the soil he removed. Here he is hard at work -  We have more of the plastic edging around the front pathway and borders that I would eventually like to replace. I really love the rusty steel edging but I'm still not sure where one buys it. I do have some leads that I have not followed up on. Another day! Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy