January 4, 2017 – Winter Landscape review

          Now that the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves, except for a few of the oaks, it is the time to stand back and assess your property with a critical eye. What isn’t working for you? What is working for you?        

Every year in January I stroll and pause at the four corners of my property armed with my sketch pad to make notes. My 1.52 acres is roughly a trapezoid with the shortest side at the street and the widest at the back property line along the invading kudzu lines.  It is an undulating piece of property and drops in elevation from the south/east to the north/west.  The property during the 1920s to 1940s was planted in cotton fields.  When the home was being constructed I gave specific direction to the [builders/soil movers] to not disrupt the existing crop contours, or if they had to, disrupt to a minimum and then blend back in the contours

          I can still picture myself with hands on my hips [my power stance] talking to the grading man who wanted to carve more than half of my land into a flat-as-a-flitter lot.  [I wasn’t having that.]  I wanted to keep the beauty of the undulating contours that waved softly across the property as it dropped in elevation.  I mostly succeeded with the drive way cut partly into one contour and a flat place for the house and patio and then the rest of the property sweeping away from the house in softened contours to the tree lined back property line.

          The second feature that attracted us to this parcel was the scattered row of Tulip [liriodendron] trees along the back property line.  They are magnificent trees.  Most so large I cannot reach around their trunks and touch my fingers.  Their spring blossoms attract the droning bees and in non-drought years their yellow gold foliage in fall is breathtaking.

          Some we consider ancient – as they are dropping huge limbs and one has been struck by lightning and is half down. [However, we delight in seeing and hearing wood peckers working on the rotting wood.] The tulip trees command the back property line and feed the soil with detritus for the birds and critters.  They were the original and only shade during the first few several years.

          I make notes and sketches of what I have – whether evergreen or not and especially note any flowering species.  Sort of a snap shot of the view from that particular point.   When the view doesn’t look welcoming, I make notes of additions or subtractions.

          This year on my stroll I notice that my winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, at the base of the Lombard at the front of the house needs to be hacked back to the ground.  It is overgrown and weedy looking.  It is number 1 on my list of to-dos.  It is a redeeming shrub as it blooms now through spring and the scent carries on the still wind and makes winter gardening a joy.  And, it is one of those shrubs that like to be hacked back for fresh growth.  I have experienced that they bounce back nicely and are not awkward looking for long after sheering. 

Below are pictures of shrub needing to be cut back, next one that shows fresh growth for summer and then the blossom.

         I also notice that the back property line along the tulip trees is in a tangled mess due to downed limbs from old trees and the rampant Kudzu vines.  The Kudzu vines have gotten ahead of me over the years and I need to set out empty large pots every 30 feet along that property line and then devote one day to cleaning up a 30 foot by 20 foot section.  [I have learned to pace myself instead of killing myself on the cleanup.] Every few years I have to do this in order to get the “forest stroll” path I desire.

          I notice that certain compost piles have melted down and I can plant a few interesting shrubs on my forest stroll area for the wildlife now.

          I also notice that the Eastern redbud, Cercis Canadensis, have sent up enough volunteers that have now grown to between 3 to 5 feet.  It is time for me to cull those and keep just enough so that the back property line isn’t crowded.

          In the spring I will eventually get that blast of hot pink/purple blooms from the Eastern redbuds which are small open branching trees with dark bark down the back property line. [It takes several years before the Eastern redbud will bloom and I believe my patience will be rewarded this year as many now look the right size to bloom.] Then in the Fall I will have the stunning yellow gold of the Sugar Maples.

          These notes I bring in from the chill and review and then plan my winter gardening chores.  The chores that will get me out of doors in the cold, much needed sunshine long before the valuable planting time needed for flower and vegetable gardens.

          I suggest you too, make a winter garden stroll.  Take a sketch pad and assess, and dream and make your winter gardening to-do list.