Changing old beds to new.

I when I moved here 8 years ago spent 2 years cleaning up the site preparing the garden bed locations. Well the first bed I made was done with the spectacular Creston Top Soil famous here in the flathead valley for its consistancy. Well I should have gone to the Creston area and looked at what was there because what I recieved was NOT AT ALL TOPSOIL and certainly not from Creston. So I planted over it and every thing did poorly. Now 5 years later it is time to fix it. Yester day I dug up all the plants and got them out of the bed. Then I got all of lasts years Compost pile and put it on top ready to rototill in to the clay sand mixture sent to me as topsoil. That is Kip supervising my labor.

This message was edited Apr 13, 2006 10:05 PM

After rototilling I started placing the plants beginning with the centerpiece Jap. Bloodgood Maples X2 and then placing the Burr Oak that I got as a seedling on the Missouri River where Lewis and Clark camped. Well I was reluctant to dig it up because it has grown a lot the last 2 years and when I removed it I broke a primary root. Oh dear I should have left it alone. But the plan was to raise the soil level another 8" and the oak would not have made it. That is the problem when ever you dig up plants you never know. Funny though I thought that oaks had tap roots and this one didn't. It had 5 large lateral roots. The next key placement was a large french lilac that is a georgeous round ball of purple fragrance. then it was just planning the 21 variable Spireas to weave their way around the bed. This is a photo after the soil was ready

Please note all of the pine needles are evident because this is an acidic bed and I add a lot of peat moss, pine needles, and chipped pine and fir cones to the compost mix. This is a way I keep the soil acidic for a long time. The pine needle is usually about 6 to 8 yrs before it is soil so it gives the worms a fast rise to the surface.
This photo is one of the finished photos. I shows the Spirea weaving its way around the center pieces of the bed. there are Gold Flame, Goldmound , Peppermint stick, Little Princess, Anthony Waterer and Meadow Sweet. With the central areas of the open bed to be planted with this years favorite pereineal. Cimicufuga Ramosa, and Simplex. These tall pieces will be set to the back of the spireas and in front of the Bloodgoods to understory the Maples. In the very front of the openings will be a combination of Asters in complementary colors for the late summer color.

Last another angle of the bed. It only took 1 day to fix something that had been bothering me for 5 years. If the Burr Oak doesn't make it I will cry. It is my child that I have been waiting to grow up. This is the French Lilac that is so beautiful. It stays this size rather easily. I just prune it after flowering this summer. Because it is below the grass I can place such a big specimen up front. You walk by and can easily see over it to the Spireas behind it.

Yo Steve when can I expect you to dig up my beds????

I had to do this it was my worst bed and was not producing. Now it will and I can't wait. The best thing is that I only have to buy a large Viburnum for the back of the bed. Any Ideas? I really want a double file Vib. but they are one zone up from me. bummer.

Your energy never ceases to amaze me!!!

So treat it like one of your maples......if my Dad could keep a Japanese Tree Peony alive here for 5 winters surely you could wrap your Viburnum??? Now I gotta go figure out what it is. ;)

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1471/index.html Is it another Maple? We have one that is normally grown 2 zones above mine but it is in the most protected corner of the yard (right next to a shed). Really bad winters (like the last 3 where we've hit -52 F) it dies back to just lower than the shed roof.

This message was edited Apr 13, 2006 11:06 PM

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/64167/index.html this is it and I want it. It can't be wrapped because it gets 10' tall and 20' wide. But I want it!!!! The branching is very lateral and the bracts are lined up in rows. The picture here doesn't do it. I'll look for a good one on the internet. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2474/index.html this one is better.

This message was edited Apr 13, 2006 11:14 PM

This message was edited Apr 13, 2006 11:15 PM

Sooooooooo how protected will it be??? ;)

I think it will work. DG says that it will take -26F. But none of the nurseries have it here. I talked to the ones in the know and they say it would work if the person knows what they are doing. Well I took that as a challenge. Of course I do. I just pitty the poor Doublefile I get and it perishes. It is in shade, under established fir tree, protected from the north and west where out storms come from. My Jap maples haven't done well but I think that is the soil and its now fixed. I'm off to a nursery in seattle to get me one. In a month when I work there.
Hey I want a tree Peony too. What kind did your dad have.?

This message was edited Apr 13, 2006 11:26 PM

No idea but here are the ones in the PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php?search_text=Japanese+Tree+Peony&images_prefs=both&Search=Search