Horstmann's Silberlocke

 

Such a beautiful tree!  A bit late for planting evergreens, so I am making sure it gets watered every couple of days until the ground freezes.

Sunshine!

 

Planted birch trees on the west and north sides of the pond. Finished up planting a few perennials. Still have some bulbs to plant and general garden cleanup to do and it looks like the weather will cooperate this weekend so that I can get it done!

More planting around pond

Added a couple of dogwoods that I moved from the front garden, where they were blocking the sprinkler, to the area near the waterfall.

Planting

 

Hard to see here, but I've started planting around the pond. I have added some Siberian iris, a couple of dwarf blue willows, some Russian sage, goldenrod, marsh marigolds, daylilies. I hope the marsh marigolds make it through the winter. When I was a little girl, I spotted some yellow flowers blooming and asked my dad to go and pick them for me. What I didn't know is they were in a swamp and my dad would get all wet and come back to the truck without any flowers.

Top of the Waterfall

 

Found a cool mossy branch in the woods to add to the stream.

Finished pond

 

The pond is complete - now to start planting!

Making progress....

Pond plants added

 

Some sweet flag variegated iris and other pond plants have been added to the bog area.

Clear waters

 

The pond water is really clear this morning. Crew coming to finish things up today.

Skimmer

 

The design of these skimmers makes them more nature-friendly. They are two pieces that fit together, preventing frogs from getting sucked in. The water is clearing nicely. I had a big flock of robins around the pond this morning and one of them even decided to jump in and take a bath, even though it is a pretty chilly day.

Boulder edging

 

It is beginning to look like a pond - the edges are rimmed in rock. Jake at Aqua Eden used smaller boulders so that when I begin to plant, I can remove some of them and let the plants go right to the edge of the pond. That will help it look more natural.

Adding boulders

 

Some boulders and more pipes!

Adding Water

The pond is getting filled with water - and I couldn't help noticing early this morning that the water looked a bit turquoise - just like the abandoned mining pits that fill with water in northern Minnesota. So cool!

Boulders

I love rocks, so getting a semi-load of boulders delivered was pretty exciting!

Bog Area

The pipes are going in for the bog area. Bogs help filter the water - this area will be planted with water-loving plants.

Pond liner

The liner is in and the retaining wall block is being installed. Our soil is sand - the retaining wall block locks together and is easier to build with.

Pond digging

 

Step 1 - get rid of the sod. Step 2 - dig the hole.  Aqua Eden http://aquaeden.com/ is doing the installation.

Before....

 

So excited, as this big blank back yard is going to be dug up and a pond installed. The work is starting today. This is something I have been planning for years - just can't wait to see the change. There are seven birch trees waiting to be planted on the west and north sides of the pond, plans for woodland plantings underneath them, new paths to go around it, as well as a fence for safety.

White pines for screening

Added three white pines between the tree line and the road at the back of our property.  The grass is taller than they are now, but white pines grow pretty quickly, which is one of the reasons I chose them. Eventually, they will help to block the noise and the sight of cars on the road.

Front Border in spring

This border is so colorful, with the blues of the evergreens, the purple smoke bush and the gold mound spireas.  It looks good throughout the season.

Treasure Peony

 

My itoh peony - Takara, which means treasure. Lots of blooms this year!

Prairie moon peony

Pretty combination

I love this combination of Lady's Mantle & iris.  It would be even prettier if the Lady's Mantle was in bloom, as its flowers are a bright lime green.  This is the first year these irises have bloomed - I am not sure what other colors there will be!  (The rhizomes came from a friend's garden :)

New shovel

My son & daughter-in-law bought me a shovel for Christmas.  It is a Sneeboer ladies garden spade, made in the Netherlands and it is fantastic!  Easily cuts through turf and although the blade has a bit of a curve, it still works well for edging.  I just LOVE it!

Azalea

My azaleas are blooming! I planted three of them & this one is in full bloom & the other two are just a bit behind.  I need to figure out how to prune them, as they are pretty lanky.  I know the best time to prune them is right after they bloom.

Sound and Sight Barrier

At the back of our lot is a bit of forest - big old oak trees, some poplar and service berry. This row of austrian pine was planted in front of it and I added a few spruce.  I want to block the busy street, and started adding shrubs to this area, but as they are deciduous, they don't block the view in the spring, fall and winter.  So I will be taking them out, adding evergreen shrubs and then planting the deciduous shrubs in front of the evergreens.  The austrian pines are planted at the top of a slight rise - so I need to make sure that what I add will be draught tolerant, as the sprinkler system doesn't really soak this area too well.  I also plan to add some white pines between the forest and the road.  Not sure when this will get done, but this was a problem I have been puzzling over for a while and I am hoping this is the solution! 

I will need to be sure to add a variety of colors - perhaps some gold-colored evergreens and some lime green (maybe a smoke bush?) to contrast with the dark greens. I also want to add some tall grasses for movement.  

Cimcifuga and Columbine

When I planted this bed, I added this Brunette Cimcifuga (Bugbane) and this lime green columbine popped up along side it - it must have been a stow-away in the pot with the cimcifuga.  I have just left it, as columbines are short-lived, and I think the cimcifuga won't be bothered too much by it.  Funny thing is, I planted one of these columbines in a different spot and did it come back? No, of course not.  Just another reminder of who is really in control (mother nature!).

Garden Helper - Not!

Hey, you are squashing one of my pinks!

The word for the year - Patience

A week ago, I was thinking that very few of my roses had made it through the winter.  I did lose a couple, but most of them are sending up leaves from the roots.  Our winter wasn't all that cold and we had good snow cover, so I am not sure why there was so much die-back on the branches.  My favorite, Bright Eyes, isn't looking good (no buds or green), but I haven't given up on them (I have two in the middle of the west border) just yet.

The rose garden is cleaned up and ready for a few annuals and a replacement rose or two.  Then a thick cover of cocoa bean mulch to keep the weeds down (I wish!).

Fothergilla

This Mt. Airy fothergilla really put out a lot of blooms this spring.  This shrub is beautiful in fall, too, as the leaves turn shades of red, orange and yellow.  

 

Redbud

My redbud really looked great this spring! 

Maple Trees in New Homes

Moving these maple trees has been on my to-do list for a while!  I wanted to get them into new spots before they leafed out and managed to get that done.  One of them was so large we had a difficult time moving it and had to put it in a spot  that wasn't too far into the woods.  I hope they do well!

To do list for 2013

It has been a cold, snowy spring and I am way behind in my gardening tasks.  Here are some things I want to get done this year:

• Take out the two blue bird asters from the front west border. Also take the baby tiger eye sumacs out.
• Re-work the front east border, taking out the mums and spirea and replace them with something different.
• Create a new bed in the back with the perennials bought last fall (overwintered by burying the pots!)
• Pond?  I got one estimate that was way too expensive.... Get two more estimates. 
• Create a bed for new plants that are on trial.  I have put too many plants in my gardens without knowing their habits and some of them have been very invasive.  Anything that spreads by creeping roots is NOT going to have a place in the front beds - with our sandy soil, they go crazy.