Some new garden beginnings.

Hi folks. Sorry I have been very busy of late without much time to visit my favorite tree/shrub forum on line.

I thought that perhaps people might be interested in a collection of pics of my new garden in its first year that I posted on (that other forum/site that had a mass exodus of woody plant people from a few years ago....). I do still find the perennials forum there pretty active and useful, and I still e-know (and in-person know) a lot of the posters. I don't have the time or energy to upload all the photos on this web site too, but maybe I can just post the links here and people can look if they are interested.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0218060829768.html?50 (the primary post with the most pics)

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0112462010663.html?52 ( a few pics of the woodland garden)


Maybe one teaser picture here -- a view of the back garden, with Cedrus deodora 'Karl Fuchs' at the center. In Michigan? Yeah right, how long has it been there, and we'll see if it is there after a few more years and a real zone 5 winter. So far it has been through 2 winters but the low has been only -5F. It IS very protected here from the N and west. And it still looks pretty great after a few fairly cold weeks here. We'll see.....

Wow, David. Do you sleep?? Sounds like a mega project, though. I'm sure you're shooting for minimal maintenance, but even that will be lots of work. I'll donate some B vitamins for you! What is the lavender clematis in the third photo of the first link? Good luck with the rest. My back hurts just browsing the photos!

Victor

My gosh David. Breathtaking doesn't even begin to describe what you've created. What a beautiful place to sit and be at peace with ones self.

That clematis is Marmori. One of the relatively new clematis from Poland I think. More of a pinky-mauve than lavendar. I am a big clematis fan -- my old garden had 40-50. None of them are really established at the new place yet but I have high hopes. Planted a lot last year, and moved about 30, some of which were lost from neglect. Ordered 30 more for this spring.

Yes, this is indeed quite a project. My main interest in doing all this was that the site is very high quality, unlike any residential building site I have ever seen around here. The 4-5 acres of old growth woods has wonderful natives -- black, red, and white oaks, various hickories, some very large black cherries, red maple, tulip tree,pagoda and flowering dogwoods, spicebush everywhere, carpinus, amelanchier, plus tons of good native herbaceous plants. Invasives are rare. Plus 2 acres of sun and woodland esge great for planting lots of woody ornamentals. Mostly, it gave me an opportunity to have a garden with both great native woody plants and loads of room to plant ornamental woody plants. Lots of the hardscape work and larger tree and shrub planting has been done. So now comes the 'infill'.....My style of plant-rich gardening could never be described as 'minimal maintenance'. Though I am definitely looking at this with an eye to what is possible to maintain without having a staff of gardeners (since it is just me and Jim...).

I too have become quite a clematis fan and have Marmori on order this year. Sounds like you lucked out with a once in a lifetime opportunity. Great that you already have lots of the big stuff already done. Good luck with the rest - wish I could come and help!

Victor

David, is that Eupatorium 'Chocolate' in one of the photos? I've had a major problem with it self-seeding all over my garden. Been doing my best the past two years of getting rid of every last one. Hope it's better behaved for you.

Yes, there is a drift of this plant in the 'pastel border'. I have heard other people complain about seeding, but so far it has not been a problem. We'll see about this year. It was never a problem in my old garden either

Victor,

That one is a major re-seeder. It is a native in these parts and is something the deer don't touch. Consequently, our open woodlands here are garlic mustard in the spring and a carpet of C. rugosum in the summer. It is very pretty, but obviously an indicator of an eco-system way out of whack due to deer populations. On the bright side, it does pull easily and Roundup is effective on it as well.

David, I am very impressed with all you have accomplished in one year. Absolutley amazing. Digging, balling, transporting, and replanting all the B&B from old garden alone must have been exhausting (and time consuming). I am very impressed with your hardscapes as well. Beautiful. I can imagine, also, the importation and inclusion of yards and yards of soil amendments. Just think what another year will do for all those growing perennials!

Just curious, did you lose any of your dug B&B, or did it all make it? What time of year was the great migration?

Scott

The woodies were mostly moved in fall. They were moved over into a big holding bed till the followingJune. Many of those plants were then moved into a permanent planting place in June, though some not till later in that summer and some not till last spring.

I had a local crew, Scott, do the heavy digging and B&B. Though I have moved loads of shrubs, I do not have the time or experience or equipment to do that. They came for 2 days and dug, B & B, and moved and heeled in the plants on the truck you saw. I also had 2 trees moved with a spade, the big Cedrus and a persian parrotia which was easily accessible in the old place and quite large. Both of those were moved in October. Worth the money I spent on this, though I had doubts at first. But I would have paid 5 times the moving costs to buy the plants I moved -- if I could have possibly found them in the sizes that they were.

I did lose a few plants, but most survived fine and never even looked like they missed a beat. The advantage of having real pros do it. The biggest problem with losing plants was in the aftercare. I built the house but then did not even live there for the next 9 months (that's the "other" story...divorce, life eruption, etc.).. So the plants suffered from a hot dry summer, little supplemental water, no "shadow of the gardener" -- the most important thing of all. The holding bed by the end of that subsequent summer had weeds 8' tall (it was partly constucted out of too fresh horse manure). Though it is amazing to see how the dogwoods that were native in the holding bed area have bloomed PRODIGIOUSLY since the manure was added to the holding bed around them. Soil here is acid sand, very different from most of the alkaline clay in this area. The holding bed became the big front bed with the hose marking the path in one of the pics, and the big Cedrus libanii.

And yes, lots of topsoil was brought in. 300 yards, to be exact. Not including a few truckloads of municipal compost that I have brought over in my truck, in planting some other plants.

And not includiing 125 yards of ground pine bark compost/mulch that I have to spread this spring. Or 50 yards of woodchips. It is nice to have property big enough that you can have 100 yard piles of mulch laying around.

Yes, in a garden of this size on sandy soil, the quantities of organic materials needed, do get....... well, let's say..... "rathuh lahge..."

This message was edited Feb 13, 2007 4:17 PM

David, Stupendous! Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing the pics. Just great.

Wow, stunning!!! When can I move in? I'll bring my 40 fruit trees too!

Did I see a pink Viburnum in one of your photo's?

Christie

You know David that being a MSU Spartan I could move to Ann Arbor if I got that garden. Wow loved the woodland. Love the understory, the pergola, and the spectacular fall look into your woodland. Thank you.

David5311, A year late to this, but I just stumbled across this thread looking for Viburnums. I got more eye candy than I could ever imagine. I am beyond pleased to have seen your Ann Arbor garden and woodlands. Never in my years of visiting there as a child would I think that some home and garden as spectacular and sensitive as yours could be created there. I have fond memories of my Grandfather's modest house out near the Huron River on Honey Brook and his magical and wonderful woods along the river and brook. I got my passion from gardening from him, but unfortunately, I received barely enough to fill but one of your fingers, albeit the pinkie one. I so wished my Mom had kept some of his land, especially now that I see what you have done. Not that I could have done anything remotely like what you have brought to your property. Stunning!

I read that you are putting up a deer fence. We have part of our property fenced and the difference in what we can now grow is remarkable. The rabbits are now the big battle, as they chew through the DF and feast. You mentioned that your house had been featured in a showcase in 2005. Are pictures available of the interior too? Thanks for the privileged of seeing the garden and home that you and your partner have so deliciously created. Kudos and awe.

Now back to my search for information about Viburnum opulus 'Park Harvest' and Viburnum pragense 'Decker' which I ordered yesterday to add my beloved group of Viburnums, but now from your text, I realize I need to add Hamamelis too! Thank again. Patti

bbrookrd:

You will probably need to dmail david5311, as he is not a current subscriber. He is a fine fellow whom I've met, and generous in providing good plant information.

As far as Viburnum information, I can provide some related to 'Decker'. This selection of Viburnum x pragense (which is a hybrid derived from the cross V. rhytidophyllum x V. utile) was made by Decker Nursery (Groveport, OH) for lustrous dark green leaves and supposed increased hardiness. You can find this information in texts, or maybe contact the nursery at http://deckersnursery.com/ and ask for the plant history.

I have this plant, as well as "run of the mill" Prague viburnum. You'd be hard pressed to not call them the same. Viburnum x pragense has grown and prospered here in central KY. I'd rate it the very best of the larger evergreen viburnums for the Ohio River valley region, where we have quite a few to choose from. It has the glossiest leaves, narrower and finer in texture than the big oafish leatherleaf and hybrid leatherleaf types. It has a haystack (broad taller than wide oval outline) habit, flowers heavily and has attractive fruit if there are cross-pollinator species nearby. Vigor it does not lack.

In my experiences since the mid 1980s, this species has weathered temperatures in the mid -20s ºF (-28.8ºC) and grown fine the following season. That temperature range rendered it deciduous to the snowline, but had no dieback of woody growth.

As far as V. opulus clones, I know not. That species does poorly here as a rule.