Change is in the Air
I’ve been out all during September collecting seeds for those annuals I like to start in the house next spring, and this year I’m trying to separate out one particular color of Impatiens that I like very much. It’s a completely unique combination of red, coral and a nifty spatter pattern of white thrown in. Has to be seen to be truly appreciated. I’m thinking next year I’ll plant those impatiens in the boxes on the edge of the deck- it’s gotten too shady there for the geraniums and Star zinnias I usually plant.
As my yard grows shadier now year by year as my young shade trees mature, some changes will have to be made. Some things will be taken care of this fall, like removing the daylilies that aren’t blooming well any more- the Apricot and rhododendrons are shading them out. They will be going home with a gardening friend of mine, and I’m sure will be very happy there. A couple of trees I’ve allowed to sprout up in the ‘Hell Strip’ in front of my house, one a small oak, the other one that Bradford Pear I mentioned last June, will have to be moved. If I allow either to get much bigger- it will be tough to move them- right now they are under four feet and their trunks are still pretty thin. They’ll be going to my parent’s condo, where all of the ash trees along their fence line have been taken out. I also have a small white pine I nursed back from near death- a give-away that almost didn’t make it home- that needs to move a few feet away from it’s current spot under the Japanese Maple.
The area behind my garage has gotten shadier as well. I used to be able to grow vegies back there- it was pretty sunny, but in recent years my neighbors have allowed weed trees to grow up in their fences, just out of my reach, and those trees are shading out my crops. My own mature red maple provides the rest of the shade. This winter I will have to think about something interesting to do back there. A Secret Garden maybe? Hosta nursery? Woodland wildflowers? There is already a small oval pathway with raised beds on the sides and in the middle, might be nice to do something wild, and add a small seat somewhere, and a small tree, or arbor. That will be something to plan over the long winter, perhaps do some of the plant moving this fall.
Some changes are sad, such as when a favorite tree dies or is blown down by winds. Around 9 years ago, two mature trees in my yard were blown down by strong winds- turning my deeply shaded back yard into a mostly sunny one. I happily installed a lovely butterfly garden where there was once shade, including some future shade trees. It will be a few years yet before they mature to provide much shade- but they are getting there.
My yard is getting shadier, but other’s gardens are getting sunnier, due to the amount of ash trees dying out. A previously shady spot is perhaps way too sunny now to grow those shade tolerant annuals and perennials that used to thrive under the lovely boughs of an ash. Such is the problem my parents face as the lovely 100 year old ash that shaded their deck at the lake is taken down. Guess who gets to design the new sunnier garden? I’m sure I have some plants here that would like to be in a sunnier spot. I have all winter to think about it!
I hope you were able to really look at your garden as it grew this summer, took some notes and thought about ways to improve things, add things, or just change things around. Maybe your garden is much sunnier than it used to be, or like mine- getting steadily shadier. That’s one of the things I love most about gardening- changes! Mostly the changes are natural ones- the seasons, the cycle of life, progress- but it is also lots of fun to make some changes yourself- to grow as a gardener, to help another gardener grow by sharing both what you know and what you have grown. Fall is a great time to move things around, take things out and share them with somebody else.
See you in the garden!
Ellen Leigh
http://ellensgarden.blogspot.com
