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Plants grow... it's exciting to watch it happen, but I have to admit there are times when I wish I could freeze frame them. For example, the conifer bed next to my birch walk... about three years ago they were the perfect size.... they were surrounded by plantings of bulbs and groundcovers... everything was ideally proportioned and I was pleased with the area. It didn't stay that way however, and that's why things got to a point where something had to be done.
In the pictures below from 1989, the plantings were new because we had purchased a couple acres of farm field a year or two before. I laid out a gentle curve and planted four clumps of whitespire birches which had recently been developed by The University of Wisconsin. These were advertised to be resistant to the bronze birch borer which causes the death of the tops of birch trees, generally when grown in adverse conditions. Birch like reasonably cool temperatures in the summer and want a fair amount of moisture.
I planted three hughes junipers around the base of each birch clump, and eventually bedded out the area between the clumps. Tulips were planted one year on Thanksgiving day, and the next spring a couple of different varieties of vinca minor ground cover were added. The area was pleasing for a number of years as seen in these two photos from the early 90's.
Several years later, I decided to plant a bed of conifers. I included two of the more common blue spruce varieties and four moerheim blue spruce which have wonderful color and are somewhat uncommon in the trade, as the basis for the design. I terraced an area of about 25 x 40 feet, by adding my own compost to a depth of two and a half feet and tilling it in deeply to the existing soil. A number of dwarf conifers were also installed. For several years things were happily growing as the compost is very rich in nutrients. About a year and a half ago, I got the sense that the landscape was getting overgrown and the area under the birches was looking especially unkempt.
As you can see in the photo below, the birch walk was becoming quite shady, and to my thinking, a bit claustrophobic. I removed all the vinca minor and bulbs by hand, as well as the acer negundo 'kelly's gold' which has the chartreuse foliage behind the first birch on the left, This tree was quite labor intensive as it needed copsing every spring.
I planted grass around all the clumps except the front one in the picture above, where I left the junipers. Initially my concept was to make this area a 'destination' with only one entrance. That changed when we decided to build a small barn. The junipers will now be the end of a rock garden that will extend from the new building.
Basically this area has now become a shade garden with many varieties of hostas as well as ferns and other woodland plants. As you can see in the photos below, the evergreens are skirted by hostas and the far end becomes a larger hosta bed with a fence added for definition. A few perennials stand sentinel at the entrance to the birch area, including a very mature crambe cordifolia or sea kale that blooms in June. The new hosta beds are shaded by the birches and an aesculus carnea 'briottii' or red horse chestnut. They echo the hosta beds on the opposite side of the path next to the hypertuffa fence, which are shaded by a good sized variegated maple and a large white pine. There is room for, and now exists, a good sized collection of hosta varieties in the overall area.
And lastly... a picture of that new 'barn' that I've wanted for the past 25 years! I was going to build it myself, but I've been having some problems with my heart meds and low BP, and didn't want to risk overdoing. We ended up going with a Morton building and couldn't be more pleased with it. I anxiously await next summer when I want to add rock gardens around it. It seems like a lot of areas in our gardens have needed that 'updating' in the past year or so... I really don't mind at all.... change is a part of all living things. I really do love the opportunities it affords. I'll update a couple more recent changes to the gardens in upcoming posts. It looks like we're in for some pretty good snow today... it goes well with the red barn! Take care, Larry
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