Work, work work! My final project is almost complete

13 years ago

Lacking space for more conifer plants, I had been saving this slope for a mass planting of mostly tall/narrow conifers to give both my neighbor and myself more privacy(the images show my house, as he would see it from his driveway).

This remodel was no fun. Thick, and well established on this rocky/sandy slope was the noxious ground-spreading St. John's Wort. Spreading via underground runners, it's very tough to remove, spreads like wildfire and will probably be something I have to keep fighting for a number of years.

I did some poisoning of the St. John's Wort with a leaf-based herbicide last Autumn, the roots, shrubs and everything else pulled, hacked out and cleared this Spring.

Here are the before/after photos.

An overview. Note the finished landscaping from last Winter to the left.

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A few more shots and closeups.

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Phew, time to go lay in the hammock for a few months.

I'll post some pictures as I add new plants and everything begins to yawn over the next 3-4 weeks.

-Will

Comments (15)

dcsteg
13 years ago
Man you have been busy. It's that time of year.

Nice work. Comes natural for you...doesn't it.

Is that Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Gracefull Grace' 6th photo down?

Dave
firefightergardener
Original Author
13 years ago
The hard work sure doesn't come natural. It's clear one of human's survival mechanisms is to relax whenever possible. It took considerable mental effort to get out and do the physical labor involved. Each project does get a little easier and more streamlined though. I rather enjoy setting the rock for the plants.

The Pseudotsuga menziesii specimen is a cultivar without a name, a moderate weeper found and grafted by a nursery owner friend of mine. He's been lucky enough to find three such plants, with various states of weeping and color. This one has some nice hues of blue which is more evident in the newer growth.

Ironically, despite being surrounded by doug-fir here in the PNW, I've been unable to find a 'Graceful Grace' specimen larger then one gallon.

Hopefully this one turns out well.

-Will
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severnside
13 years ago
Superb!

What conifer is it in pic #5? Extreme left, centre, dark green & dense, got a white cane running across it. In other pictures but harder to pinpoint.

Btw, love the rock python in the same picture!
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
13 years ago
Nice work, Will. Talk about a good neighbor. Wish I saw that in my neighbor's yard when I pulled in my driveway.

tj
gardener365
13 years ago
It looks good/great Will. Getting those plants into the ground was the best thing you could have done & the laborious work is good for you and it makes you feel proud.

Thanks for the photos!

Dax
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
sooooo .. whats left.. just that grass you insist on by the front door???? .. lol ...

anyway... i am always stunned by your motivation ...

keep up God's work ....

ken
pcan
13 years ago
It looks wonderful!!! Heavy duty yard work like that is very hard work, but so rewarding when you are finished! The joy of sitting in a chair with a glass of wine, a beer or lemonade ;) looking out over a beautiful area (that you created by hand) is priceless.

I am always amazed at the beauty of the PNW. My father in law lives on the Wilson River in OR and I can't get over how green it is when we visit.

Those of us in the high desert have a shortage of green.
gardener365
13 years ago
Super I say again. Heya are those more Birch to match the big old birch or what are they?

Dax
sluice
13 years ago
Enjoy that hammock!
oakiris
13 years ago
Beautiful results as always. You deserve a nice long rest in the hammock and a plentiful supply of the beverage of your choice!

Holly
firefightergardener
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the compliments. Most my neighbors consider me a strange, if not productive neighbor though I'd wager they'll appreciate the work more in a decade.

severnside, I think that's Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead' you're referring to. The stick is actually staking up a groundcover type doug-fir.

Dax, the trees at the bottom are fruit trees my neighbor planted. They're going to add perennials and perhaps some shrubs in the lower section, which is technically their side of the lot. The rock wall acts as our seperator.

More pics in April/May.

-Will
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
Most my neighbors consider me a strange i asked what is left.. just the grass in front of the house???

ken
firefightergardener
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh hey sorry Ken and good morning! I do have grass left and at least this year it will stay. My island plants and the ones in the borders of the grass will no doubt eat some of it up. I did actually get rid of some of it along the side of the house and this gave way for a nice bed of miniatures and dwarves. I snuck about 15 plants into this area.

This
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to this...
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Next Autumn/Winter I will probably begin to look into removing all of my grass and replacing it with two sitting areas and a wrap-around path with steps along my front planting. It will be nice to not have to mow and this area is full sun so it should do great with some dwarf conifers and other small alpines.

I guess long-long term, I'll be underplanting doug-firs and larger conifers once they grow taller, I'll take out some of their lower limbs(as long as it won't misshape them too much) and get some plants in beneath them.

-Will
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
i did not figure you were snubbing me ... and thx for the reply ...

whats the yellow weeper on the corner of the house ...

and out back ... is the worked area.. approaching the property line.. or are you saying you will be able to limb up some of the older huge trees and work into them ...

i fear for the day that you run out of space ...

have you looked into a place where you can donate things.. ala chub harper.. every once in a while just getting rid of most of his collection and starting over ... aka the hidden lakes harper collection.. and one in iowa??? .. and i think somewhere else ...

ken
firefightergardener
Original Author
13 years ago
Ken, the yellow weeper is 'Boyko's Sundown'. Some are more golden then others, this one I hand picked because it had such great bright splotches. It also seemed fairly narrow which is good considering it's spot!

As for the property line, this is probably the best aspect of my piece of earth, it's both vague *and* heavily forested. I am next to a corner lot(their backyard extends to my left side yard) and there is a greenbelt behind me for about 150 yards. It has been designated native habitat by the county and thus without serious zoning changes can never be developed. Most of the large, existing trees on my property are huge already. There are hundreds of doug-firs exceeding 50' and many well over 100' tall with the only thing visible to the gardener or visitor are the elephant trunks shooting upwards. A few of my younger doug-firs out front are about 10-15 years old and still have limbs to the ground. These are what I mean I will slowly trim up, exposing new spaces for conifers that take some shade or part shade. Dougs grow like *crazy* here, so in 15-20 years I'll be surrounded skyward by plants exceeding 150' at which point the only problem will be trees dumping branches and needles in storms and the occasional large tree coming down(a scary thing indeed).

Long term, many of the plants that it becomes apparent will be much too big to stay will end up in the local botanical garden which I am helping to design. Almost 100 acres of space, over half undeveloped so there should be plenty of space for these trees to settle in for the long haul. We've worked out a nominal trade/price of about $5 cash/$10 trade per year per plant. Not a lot of money, but that's not the point anyways.

Finally, I *welcome* the day I run out of space. It'll be good on my back, budget and nice to know I have a 'complete' garden, with plants that are really nice to have around. Two or three years, I'd guess!

-Will

Work, work work! My final project is almost complete

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dcsteg

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Work, work work! My final project is almost complete

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