Category — Woodland Garden

Well it was a busy day at the woodland garden. When I first arrived I was greeted by natures fall bounty!

As you can see there are a lot of leaves to be cleaned up but it is a necessary evil when you have a lot of trees on your property.

It is important to get the leaves up before the snow can pack then down. This will cause disease problems as well as provide places for garden pests to over winter.

The time spent now will make for a much easier cleanup in the spring and get your garden of to a great start!

Of course once you have cleaned all the leaves off there is another consideration . What do you do with all the leaves? Normally I would burn the leaves in the fire pit then spread the ashes around the property to help build the soil up but as I did not have enough time I moved them all to the front of the property so they could be picked up by the leaf vacumn offered by the association to property owners.

It was a pretty big task and took most of the day to get it clean. I do love the smell of burning leaves so next weekend when I go out to the woodland garden I will find some time to start a fire and burn what remaining leaves came off the trees this week.

The only other tasks left for bedding the woodland garden down for fall is to cut back all the perennials and clean the beds. I also have a few tulip bulbs left over which I want to plant as well and should have enough time for them to get settled in before the weather get too cold.

Even though the woodland garden is bedding down for the winter I will be very busy at the urban garden and should be doing some more post on that shortly.

In the means time I am getting all the road salt and calcium chloride in for the winter at the urban garden as well as getting all the snow removal equipment prepared and ready. So I will be around here a lot once things slow down a bit

Have A Great Week!

Well last week was a sort of bitter sweet day at the Woodland Garden. After a lot of work and pretty time consuming effort the little trailer in the woods re-build was finally complete.There are still some odds and ends of course to be completed some trim that needs to be painted a few shelves for the pantry but all and all it is complete.

Once we are finished with the tweaking I will share some photos with you.

After much wrangling and thought I finally decided that there was one task while very painful to me must be done. The Oak Tree that was at the front of the trailer needed to be removed. It had now become a safety hazard.

As You Can See It Is Very Close!

I know that it has had to come down for some time but I really hated to do it . It was very tall and impressive.

You Can See How High It Was Above The Trailer It Is The One Leaning Right!

There really was no good way to get it down. So I hired a Tree Service and they had to do it the old fashioned way. Two men stayed on the ground to work the ropes and one fellow went up to take her down!

Climbing To The Top To Start Taking Down The Tree!

One and a half hours latter the tree was down and what amazed me the most not even a leaf landed on the new roof.

After One And A Half Hours This Is What Was Left!

I counted the rings and found the tree to be 74 years old. It was rather sad as we have been losing Oak Trees To Oak Wilt Disease at the rate of 1100 trees a year at Woodhaven and they have no cure. But it really was a safety concern and could have had terrible results if not removed.

You Can See How Close The Trunk Was!

As you can see the tree was really become hazardous. If you look at the bottom right just below the deck board you can see that reddish brown spot. That spot was the trailer bumper and the tree was starting to push the trailer down the hill. Not a good way to wake up in the morning.

I will be looking for a new tree to replace the oak on the property this coming Spring. I will be sure not to plant it to close to the trailer.

Have A Great Week and Enjoy Some Fall Weather In Your Garden

It Has been a very quick Summer and now Fall is knocking at the door.The parking lot project has run long and now it should be completed Friday.

My Vacation was going to start Yesterday but now it has been bumped to next week.

And the reason the post have been a little sparse is that the roof replacement out at the woodland garden turned into a bit larger project.

After starting on the roof it became necessary to redo the exterior siding because some was damage due to leaking windows.

Well the next thing I knew the whole inside was gutted to studs! Out went the walls the bathroom tub and the kitchen sink and cabinets and stove and well everything including a new floor.

Not finished with the rebuilding but it should be completed by next Tuesday if all goes according to plan. Then it will be time to get down to some serious fishing, camp fires and general relaxing because after this vacation week Fall Frenzy will start.

The beds will need cleaning the perennials will be cut back and time to start preparing to plant the spring flowering bulbs. Not to mention preparing the lawnmower for storage, cleaning the garden tools, preparing the pond for winter, and rake leaves,rake leaves,rake leaves.

It has been such a quick summer with all the major projects I have been involved in. It seems as if time has slipped away this year. I know that a lot has been accomplished and that when I think about the parking lot project it really was a huge undertaking with all the elements involved. I am proud of the work and have some good memories but I really would have like to have had a bit more time to savor the planting and the garden as it was coming together.

Take some time and enjoy your garden it is the refreshing thing that soothes my week. If you don’t take time to savor some quiet time in your garden you are missing out on a chance to renew and replenish.

OK OK Here are some photos!

Replacing The Window

Started To Tear Off The Roof Might As Well Do The Siding

I Really Like The New Roof and Siding

Gutting The Insides Of The Trailer

As You can see a Lot of work but It will soon be done and then we will have a chance to enjoy the next few years with relative freedom from Trailer Maintenance tasks.

Oh Can’t Forget!

Here is our beautiful fall blooming Clematis on the entry trellis.

Our Fall Blooming Clematis Starts Her Show

Well what a great weekend to be a the woodland garden. The weather was perfect and we had a family cook out on Sunday.

My Mother-in-law and Father-in-law who have not been out to the woodland garden in almost 5 years came out and I believe that they were very impressed at the changes we have made. The last time they were there it was little more than what are in the shots from the trip down memory lane post. They have a place at shadow lakes and it is a beautiful cabin right on the lake in fact you can dive off their dock and be in 18 feet of water. So I really was happy that we could get them to come out and see what we have been doing with our place. And of course it is always nice just to get together and relax.

My wifes kids and the grandkids came out as well as her sister and brother-in-law and their children so it was a pretty good crowd. It was a great way to end a great weekend.

Lots of food and thank goodness we finished off all the beer cause it might be stale by next weekend.

The only ones who seemed a little annoyed were bully and peep but then again they are pretty much use to having the run of the place.

Bully and Peep A Little Disgruntled

I do truly believe that I am blessed to have such a wonderful place as the woodland garden. When I was younger I always had this vision of when I got older that I would end my days living on a house boat docked on the Mississippi River fishing for catfish and sitting in a rocker watching the traffic on the river. I guess when I was younger I must have read a bit to much Mark Twain and Hardy Boys books. But it was a pretty real idea for a lot of years. Now though I can not think of anyplace I have ever enjoyed being as much as the woodland garden. I hope I have many more years there.

Well enough of my musings I did want to make a point here. Even though this is about gardening I some times wander off the point.

The woodland garden is a very special place it is a garden Our Garden and all that we have put into it we receive back many times over I hope some of the pictures which I share will inspire you or at least give you an idea or two of your own.

I am working on some tutorials for propagation, lawn renovation, greenhouse growing and some other topics. I also am putting together a site about Garden Pebbles. Garden Pebbles are all the little pieces of a garden that make up the whole. Little pebbles that make a large pile and that fit nicely between the Rocks(major pieces like Trees and Hardscapes) here is an example

Here Is An Example Of A Pebble

A couple of annuals and a groundcover form a little splash of color in a large bed and when viewed separate form a little interesting spot to look at. A bunch of these little pebbles are great as fill ins in garden beds or small spaces.

Again I will expand upon this a little more in future posts.

Have a great Week and spend some time in your garden.

I was looking through some photos and I ran across a few photos of the property when we first got it 6 years ago. The images are not the best but hey I am a grounds keeper not a photographer. Anyways I thought it would be fun to take a look at the property as it was and as it is. So I have tried to match up as closely as I could then and now.

The Trailer That Was Original To The Property

A Bit Of A Change !

Here is a shot of the original fire pit area if you look closely at the trees you will be able to match the areas up pretty close. As you can see there was a lot of clearing to do back then.

The Original Fire Pit Area

Todays View Of That Fire Pit Area

In case you are wondering the very handsome and well groomed gentleman in the original photo is me enjoying some liquid refreshment as I chop and burn burn and chop.

Okay just one more shot an I will relieve you of the task of me strolling down Memory Lane.

This another view of the fire pit area.

Lots Of Clearing And Burning Of Brush

I Think It Was Worth The Effort

Well I thank you for strolling down Memory Lane at the woodland garden today with me. It is time for me to head off to the Urban Garden and oversee the instalation of an irrigation system at the Serenity Garden. The Good News This is Thursday! One more day before I head out to the Woodland Garden.

Try to get out in your garden this week.

Here is something I saw on a sign at the local nursery

“A Garden Is A Friend You Can Always Visit!”