Woodland Garden Project

Progress Update October 2022

2022-10-23T18:01:00.000-04:00

We are in the chips!!!!

For over a decade, it seemed that for one reason or another (mostly deer), we were thwarted in moving forward with our woodland garden project. Since the tree fall of November last year, (which we initially thought a disaster but now see the blessings), circumstances have led us to believe that we are now in God's timing for working on the garden in earnest! Kimmy and I are very grateful and having a blast!

This past growing season we had marvelous success dividing and transplanting hundreds of hosta, the vast majority of the plants we purchased are doing great, a well timed rainy season and now, lots and lots of wood chips!

I never would have thought it possible that we would be able to mulch roughly an acre. This is some serious work (my watch tells me I had 900 active minutes last week), but Kimmy and I find it joyful. It turns out arborists are happy to bring you their wood chips for free, since it saves them time, fuel costs and disposal costs. Wood chips are awesome mulch, great for plants and we love the smell of the various trees from which it came, including cedar, pine, oak, maple, etc.

We never know when the next load might be coming, as we only receive chips when Pete's tree or Brittian tree happen to be working in the area, so we are doing our best to spread the mulch as soon after we receive it as we can. Amazingly, we are approximately half way though mulching our entire garden area!

With the growing season winding down, aside from continuing to spread wood chips, there may not be a huge amount to report until spring, but we will keep you posted! Until next time....

Fences and Tree Disaster

2022-07-31T14:41:00.000-04:00

To thwart the deer, hopefully once and for all, we had an aluminum fence professionally installed on 11/22/21. The fence encompasses all of our back yards, down into the woods. Once into the woods, we are still using the 4X4 posts, galvanized garden fence and deer fencing, which is much cheaper, and more easily repaired when the inevitable tree falls.

Then, just four days later, on 11/26/21, the day after Thanksgiving, a powerful wind started a domino effect.

The poplar tree closest, which is not even on our property, toppled three more and caused two more to lean badly. Fortunately, other than our homebrew fence in back, our new fence was spared any impact.

We contacted Tarry with Timberline tree company, who after inspecting our trees and a mishap during removal causing yet another tree to fall and a power surge to our good neighbors, wound up removing about a dozen trees!

Our plans for the right half of our woodland garden suddenly have been revised for many more sun loving plants!

Seriously, this unexpected metamorphosis of our back woods rocked our world for a while. We've had to rethink and revise, but we believe God has plans in this space for us and a slowly but surely, a new vision is emerging.

While my back may argue this next point, one good thing that came out of our tree disaster is wood chips. LOTS and LOTS of woodchips!!! We have been using them to create garden paths, which is really helping to visualize what we want to do.

2014-06-10T12:58:00.003-04:00

June 10, 2014 Update

We've made some progress on our woodland garden project. Here are a few of the highlights:

- We had a tree company come in and take down the poplar that was leaning against another poplar last fall. In the process, they had to take out another tree as well. We had planned for a bit more shade in that location, but we can always use the sun!

- We found rhododendrons for $6.88 and azaleas for $2.88 at Lowes. Not being able to pass up those prices, we bought about $200 worth of plants!

- Last fall, I took out some hosta by the road in our front garden and just threw them back in the woods.

They survived the winter, so we were able to start quite a few hosta in the woodland garden this spring.

- I took about 40 acuba cuttings and planted them along the edge of Chris and Sammy's portion.

- We got tired of the deer coming in and marauding our plants, so we put a chicken wire fence. It is temporary in nature and easily moved, but hopefully it will last long enough for our plants to get established. Here are a few pictures:

That's me, checking the perimeter.

We fenced in both our woods as well as Chris and Sammy's pie shaped adjoining piece. We've just started clearing the underbrush in their piece, but as these pictures show, we have a way to go:

And finally, here are a few shots of our plantings, just getting started:

We've got a long way to go, but a big part of the initial labor is done. Now it's just a matter of growing plants!

2013-08-18T17:32:00.002-04:00

Where Have We Been!?

Did I mention our woodland garden is a long term project? We'd love to be gardening all the time, but life finds a way of requiring other things. But, we haven't lost our dream or focus! Meanwhile, busy or not, the plants we've started keep growing, which is one of the beauties of gardening!

I'm happy to report that after a year, most of our bargain basement priced rhododendrons are doing well. We lost a few, mostly in areas where there is a lot of runoff from storms, so we are thinking that is the problem. Otherwise, most look really good. A few even bloomed this past spring!

We started some cuttings shortly after Independence Day in sand. Many had rooted, so yesterday, Kim and I planted them in some really nice topsoil that we have in our raised gardens:

Newly rooted cuttings are fragile, so we covered them with two layers of fiberglass screen:

We plan to cover them with plastic over the winter and then plant them out next spring.

Also today, our friend and neighbor brought us eight volunteer hydrangea that had come up at her Dad's, that we were thrilled to add to our garden space!

I mowed the woods twice this year, but it has been a while and the grass, which is easy to pull out, is currently going to town.

We just started some pachysandra cuttings in water, so we are hoping to get those rooted and use those, along with hosta, to keep the weeds down.

One hitch in the project is that last fall, Hurricane Sandy took down one poplar and the one you see leaning would fall, except that it is resting against another tree. There is no telling how this will play out!

We are going to need a LOT of plants, so we are researching additional ways to prorogate them ourselves whenever possible. There may even be some methods we can use over the winter (roses).

We also need to nail down a vision for the higher plants at the edge of the garden. We aren't sure what we want specifically, other than to provide year round privacy and be as attractive as possible. Suggestions are welcome!

Hopefully it won't be so long before the next update!

Take care,
Scott

2012-07-04T14:50:00.001-04:00

The Bones

Bones - they provide structure, strength, support and outline the substance. We'd be quivering masses of protoplasm without them!

Gardens of any size need bones too. Without them, they are random collections of plantings.

Our eyes, our minds look for pleasing lines of order. Even subconsciously, we try to process and group things, we look for sensible transitions, with just enough random and unexpected sprinkled in to keep it all interesting.

The bones of the garden are the large plantings, hardscapes such as walkways, water features and statuary. They define the paths that garden visitors follow, provide a backdrop for the smaller plantings, lead the eye and structure the presentation.

Our first impulse is to think of gardens in terms of vegetation, but gardens without bones, inviting pathways and hardscapes is like a picture without a frame. Gardens should lead you into areas and use bones to hide some, but reveal enough to tempt you to seek out the beauty awaiting you around the next corner. The hardscapes provide a pleasing outline, draw the eye and highlight the beauty of the plantings.

This is where we are - mapping out the bones of our garden. The decisions we make now will in time become pretty permanent, so we are taking our time and letting what we have to work with soak in. Some of our pathways may indeed eventually be cast in stone. While moving water features or transplanting rhododendrons that have been growing happily for a decade may be possible, it would be a big job, so we'd much rather make the right plans now instead!

First Bones Planted!

While we are in the very beginning stages of mapping out our plan, we will never pass up an opportunity! Our goals include taking our time, enjoying the process and creating our garden as inexpensively as possible.

In early June, Home Depot was clearing out their rhododendron inventory with a 50% off sale. Gallon pots were only $3.99 each, so before we had even finished clearing, we bought and planted 35 rhododendrons!

Rhododendrons are a great bones plant. They will grow large, so they will be a super backdrop to the smaller plantings in front, they are evergreen, they have beautiful spring blooms and they love the woodland shade. They have been in about a month now and so far all but one look great (and the one may come back)!

We planted these based on our original paths, so we will see if our updated design will require us to move any. At this size, if any need moving, that's fine.

Even though we have to plan out the bones of our garden before too much more gets planted, there is still lots to do! We may not know where everything will be planted, but we know we will need LOTS of hydrangea, azaleas, hosta, etc., etc.

We can either buy plants at the nursery or grow our own. Honestly, one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening for me is starting plants from cuttings. Kim and I lived in Delta PA on four acres in the 90s and we had a small nursery. I loved starting cuttings then and this is a great reason to resurrect that skill! In my next post I'll show you exactly how we start cuttings!

Thanks for reading. Please come back soon!

Take care,
Scott

2012-07-03T16:32:00.002-04:00

Clearing Begins!

In my last post, I shared what our half acre of woods looked like at the end of May and the wonderful vision the Tiekert's garden gave us as an example of what it can become. Now it's time to get to work, start clearing out the undergrowth and taking the steps to transform the vision into reality!

I use the term "work" loosely. Yes, this takes time and a whole lot more physical effort than my office job did, but I love it! It is a great mind clearer and calorie burner too! Singing birds, breeze in the trees and the sights, smells and sounds of nature are all rejuvenating!

The temperatures really started cranking up towards the end of June, well into the 90s, as we began the heavier work, but in the shade of the woods, most days, even sweltering ones, aren't bad. Sometimes we just worked outside in the mornings, which let me keep up with my software tasks in the afternoons. Once we got going, clearing only took about a week or so - much less time than I thought.

Here is a pictorial summary of our clearing activity these last two weeks:

I could not have moved some of these fallen trees without Brad's help!

I raked some paths so we could get around the property more easily and transport the debris. We originally thought these would be the permanent garden paths, but now that everything is clear, we have new ideas in mind.

With most of the larger limbs removed, the raking begins. Kim is hard at it!

We steadily worked from one side to the other until before we knew it....

I could look from one corner of the property, all the way to the other and still see Kim! That's her, the dot in the center, between the two trees.

With the exception of two big, fallen trunks that are larger than I can handle, as of this morning, 7/3/12, the entire half acre is completely clear, ready for digging features and planting!

I promised some words on bones, the defining plants and features on which our garden will be built, but this post got longer than I planned, so I will deliver on that tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Take care,
Scott

2012-07-02T11:39:00.003-04:00

Where We Are and Where We're Headed...

The typical guy in many respects, I've developed the usual aversion to directions whenever the "figure it out as you go along" option presents itself. Still, while trial and error will be a big part of what's ahead, a woodland garden of the magnitude we envision will be a lifelong journey. Missteps in planning may not become obvious for half a decade. While the fun is in the journey, Lord willing, I want to be young enough to fully realize and enjoy the vision at the end!

Fortunately, my wife Kimberly knows quite a bit about gardening and has forgotten more than I've ever retained. But a half acre is a pretty big space and a woodland garden is completely new to us both, so we have a lot to figure out, draw out and plan!

We've been told to start with the "bones", the larger plantings like rhododendrons, that will act as a border for pathways and set off individual garden areas. The smaller plantings will fill in more quickly, so we have more options for experimentation there, but we've got to decide where our areas and pathways will be and what we will grow to define them.

To do any of that, we've first got to figure out what we have to work with. We need a clean slate!

Here are a few shots of how our future garden looked on 5/31/2012, before we started cleaning the blackboard. There are lots of weeds, briars, wood debris and undergrowth that we need to clear:

Kim in quiet meditation, contemplating the possibilities!

There are many places with quite a bit of undergrowth to clear!

And the best way to do it is to pull the weeds out by the roots wherever possible! That's me, Scott, showing off my best side.

The Vision!

On June 10, 2012, we were given a wonderful vision, literally, of what our garden could become! Kim and I took the Harford County private garden tour to benefit the American Cancer Society. We saw many beautiful gardens, but there was one in particular - the Tiekert woodland garden called Holly Oaks, that was just an amazing experience!

Everything was beautiful and perfect. They even had speakers hidden throughout their several acres of gardens playing soft classical music. I am still getting chills thinking about it!

It was also a wonderful witness. One of the first things Mrs. Tiekert said was that God is the creator and they were merely the caretakers.

These pictures don't come close to doing their garden justice, but they will give you some idea of the possibilities:

This garden was literally jaw dropping beautiful! It was soul moving! Just imagine what it would have looked like in the spring with the azaleas and rhododendrons in bloom! I have never enjoyed any garden, commercial or private, so much in my life.

Some folks are moved by art, some by music and others by nature. I'm moved by all three, but never more so than my experience at Holly Oaks!

The Tiekerts certainly raised the bar on our vision by a quantum leap! We'll see if one day we will attain what they have, but we can miss by a lot and still have something we will thoroughly enjoy and be very proud to show.

Next time I'll show you how our clearing is coming along and the first "bones" plants we've selected, so come back soon!

Take care,

Scott

2012-06-30T18:40:00.000-04:00

Welcome! What follows, Lord willing, will be a transformation!

My name is Scott, I live in Bel Air, MD with my wife Kim and I have two sons, Chris and Brad. If age matters, I've been blessed with 50 years of it so far in 2012, but I still feel (and often act) like a kid!

From the moment I realized that someone thought it was a good idea for me to trade 40 hours of my life every week for a paycheck, my dream, plan and prayer has been to be able to work from home doing work I enjoy.

Amazingly, after starting N3FJP Software in 1997, laying the foundation for Affirmatech Inc. in 2012 (more software products outside of Amateur Radio) and my eligibility for retirement as a Management Analyst (bean counter, personnel, report generator, supervisor) from my employer with 27 years of service this past February, I find my prayers have been wonderfully answered. It is even better than I hoped!

I'm working really hard on my software business now. That's fun and I love it! Still, I love the outdoors and nature too. If I sit in front of the PC too long, I have the uncontrollable urge to knock folks hats askew (my apologies to Herman Melville - not for knocking off his hat, but for borrowing his wonderful imagery from Moby Dick).

I needed a counterpoint to the cerebral stuff and I think I've found the perfect one in the project ahead - transforming our half acre of woods into a woodland garden! I love nature, I love the woods, I love hard work, I love the beauty and I love the challenge!

But it is more than just a garden transformation. It is, or I believe will be, a life transformation. We are just getting started, but I find immersing myself in the garden, or right now, just the dream of it, is already allowing me to reconnect with thoughts, feelings, connections, priorities and ambitions that I had to bury long ago, when I needed to live the role of an "office manager".

So, what I hope to share in the days, months and years ahead is a chronicle, not only of the details of our woodland transformation, but some personal transformation, reflection and growth as well! I hope that what we do here will inspire you to do some gardening too. I'll show you how we take cuttings and we will figure out together what plants grow and bloom best in deep shade. Maybe you will be able to use some of our ideas at your place?

But enough of the touchy feely! In my next post, we will get down to business! I'll talk more about where we are:

And where we are headed:

I'll detail the project ahead, the challenges, the excitement and share the vision of what Kim and I hope to create! I hope that you will have lots of fun following along and enjoy vicariously the creation of our woodland garden!

Thanks so much for reading. Please come back soon!

Scott