My attempt at wildness (very long, many photos)

10 years ago

When it came to doing something with the North facing side of my house (my only shade area), I really had no idea what I wanted to do. There was a huge Honeysuckle bush which I hated, so I chopped it down and started to plant things as I came across them. Eventually the area grew to its present size of about 25 feet by 6 feet at its widest point. I had no plan. I only knew I kind of liked shade and native plants, so I figured I had to have some spot to grow them. At some point in time (years ago), I stopped fiddling with this garden and the plants and made a decision to just leave them be and let them do their own thing.

When I say this area receives no maintenance , I mean NONE. I don't water even in drought years, I never cut anything back in spring or fall, I don't tidy up, I don't thin or move things around, I've never fertilized. I rarely find a weed because there's no where for them to grow. In addition, this area is kind of my dumping ground for anything organic I don't want to put in the compost bin. Fallen tree branches, trimmings from shrubs, the extremely thorny and deadly canes from my climbing rose all get tossed in here. Somewhere in there are a couple of Christmas tree trunks. The last time I saw one, it was covered in moss with seedlings growing out of the rotting wood. In addition, he entire area gets buried in about 18 inches of leaves every fall from the yard raking. Come spring, everything manages to poke through. Eventually, all this "stuff" gets swallowed up by the garden.

Here's a list of everything (in no particular order) I've identified growing here :
Asarum canadense
Uvularia grandiflora
Anemone canadensis
Podophyllum pelatum
Sanguinaria canadensis
Aruncus dioicus
Smilacina racemosa
Mertensia virginica
Convallaria majalis 'Fortin's Giant'
Cimicifuga (unknown species)
Athyrium felix-femina
Arisaema triphyllum
Unkown violets (surprise, surprise)
Geranium macrorrhizum
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Anemone canadensis & Podophyllum peltatum fighting it out. It's hard to believe I started out with one tiny plant of each. The Podophyllum now covers about 7 feet of the area. The Anemone has woven its way throughout the garden. I may have to do something about the Podophyllum at some point in time, Lord, is that stuff aggressive! Despite it's almost weedy nature, the Anemone is quite lovely when it blooms in a few weeks with its single, white flowers.
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Believe it or not, there is an edging material the length of this garden
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Originally I used brick, but it looked too formal, so I replaced it with a informal stacking of logs, branches, twigs etc. This is the only section you can still see. The rest has been swallowed up by the plants and is slowing rotting away which is exactly what I wanted to accomplish.
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Cimicifuga, Aruncus and little bit of Uvularia and Smilacina. The Cimicifuga will tower about 6 feet tall when it blooms.
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Athyrium felix-femina
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Some of the rotting logs scattered throughout. The bare spot had a large stand of Dame's Rocket, but it seemed to have died out in last years drought. It will be interesting to see what takes its place. I haven't totally given up on the Dames Rocket, however. I bet there are some seedling in there somewhere, so maybe it will make an appearance again.
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Arisaema triphyllum. My original plant disappeared a long time ago. It wasn't until a few years later I noticed another colony had self sown in another part of the garden. Love how that happens!
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Arisaema triphyllum seedlings coming through the leaf litter.
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The decay process with wood always starts with moss.
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I realize I could make this garden better. It's too green and could benefit with some contrasting leaf colors and flowers other than white. I'm simply not motivated to do so. There's something very gratifying about having a garden area where I am simply an observer and not much of an active participant.

Kevin

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Comments (10)

susanzone5 (NY)
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That's wonderful and amazing that you don't get even a single weed in there. Why mess with it at all. Enjoy!
terrene
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I like your "wild" garden! It looks very green and lush especially for the north side of the house. The logs and leaf litter are great - I leave rotting logs and stumps in the back yard and of course lots of leaf littler. That is cool you have JITP seedlings! If the plants are propagating themselves you must be simulating their native environment to some extent.

I bet there's a toad and maybe a salamander or two living in there.
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molie
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Like the woods I used to love to play in/walk through as a child, it "belongs" to itself. Leave it alone and let it happen! I agree ---- don't do anything unless you find you can't get through the walkway or unless you find it affecting the house foundation.
Marie Tulin
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What, you don't have the energy to stop at your local big box store and pick up some pulmonaria and Japanese Painted Fern /Heck they may sell them outside a big supermarket.? Just pull out a couple of plants and stick in the new white spotted one. I bet you could get a neighborhood kid to do it for you for a dollar!
Oh yes, after the columbine get leafminers they look variagated with silver, too.
idabean
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
LOVE the idea of collecting natives all in one place and letting the area just figure itself out. It is a fascinating experiment. Looks like it makes it an actual no maintenance area that stays neat and manageable.
diggerdee zone 6 CT
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, Kevin, very nice. Please post some pictures of this border when something is blooming. I'd love to see it.

One concern - from someone who's been dealing with the issue for years - is the wood so close to the house. Aren't you concerned about carpenter ants or termites?

Dee
Marie Tulin
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm not sure I pushed my tongue into my cheek hard enough for it to show in my response. I, too, love what you and nature have created. I do agree with your observation that some white would work.
I say pull some polypodum while you can. It will keep picking up steam and dig its heels (roots) in and be the devil to get out from the other plants. I know that for a fact. When you have to take a sharp shovel to dislodge it, you'll affect the other plants because you'll pick a big piece of root matted soil with what looks like "one plant.".
idabean
rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks Kevin for this thread. I love seeing all the pictures and as Dee wrote for sure post back when things start to change in that "neck of the woods" i.e flowering.
rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It's too green and could benefit with some contrasting leaf colors and flowers other than white.

Kevin, when you have time you could put in some variegated Polygonatum to address leaf colour and a corydalis lutea and or a ligularia to get a yellow shade flower. (The ligularia would give a different foliage height to your garden which I find visually appealing).
aachenelf z5 Mpls
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the comments and responses.

Yes, I could add some other plants and the suggestions were good ones, but I'm still very content to not do anything. Maybe that notion will change with time, but so far the desire to do so hasn't hit me.

rouge said:
"Kevin, when you have time you could put in some variegated Polygonatum...."
Actually, there is a planting of that on the other side of the azalea which you can't see in the photo. I divided and moved a bunch of that last fall and only kept a limited amount. I threw away buckets of that stuff, so it's going to be a few years before my patch is large enough to divide again.

Dee - No, I'm not concerned about the carpenter ants. I had those years and years ago long before this garden was created and haven't had a problem since treating for them back then.

As to the possible problems with the Podophyllum, I admit that will be an interesting situation to deal with. I did dig some a few years ago and found that it comes out of the ground very easily, with a garden fork. I don't think I'll try to dig it out however. What I'll probably do is just cut sections of it down early in the spring and keep at it if it re-sprouts. If a plant can't photosynthesize because the leaves and stems are gone, it will eventually die. I had that problem with wild, white violets at one point in time and that technique worked on them.

Kevin

My attempt at wildness (very long, many photos)

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aachenelf z5 Mpls
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My attempt at wildness (very long, many photos)

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aachenelf z5 MplsOriginal Author

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