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Nope, not yet. I think that after such a hard winter, that it will be interesting to see what kind of plant damage due to the unusually cold winter has occurred, as usually the full scope of plant damage usually doesn’t become completely visible until late winter or early spring. I will be starting a thread on the topic of plant damage or outright plant deaths due to the harsh winter that many east of the Rockies have experienced, I will post a thread on this in a month or two
I am worried about my clump of agapanthus. The leaves are totally wilted from frost. I am not sure, but I think the leaves have always remained green all winter, until now. The clump would be very expensive to replace.
Location: at the foothills of the cascades, washington
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Finally completed constructing the new greenhouse. Ordered a bunch of veggie seeds and have planted some veggies/greens in raised beds in the greenhouse. Tilled a new plot in the yard for some flower seeds which I've sown and the flower bed in front of house. Pruned all the raspberry/grape vines. Weeded the base of all our blueberry plants we put in, clearing the encroaching salal/blackberry vines. Started a new compost bin. And digging some holes for wooden posts that will be an arbor for jasmine vines. And been gathering stones for mortar stone walls once the weather warms up/dries up. All this past week I can't wait for spring any longer....i'm going nuts lol
Finally completed constructing the new greenhouse. Ordered a bunch of veggie seeds and have planted some veggies/greens in raised beds in the greenhouse. Tilled a new plot in the yard for some flower seeds which I've sown and the flower bed in front of house. Pruned all the raspberry/grape vines. Weeded the base of all our blueberry plants we put in, clearing the encroaching salal/blackberry vines. Started a new compost bin. And digging some holes for wooden posts that will be an arbor for jasmine vines. And been gathering stones for mortar stone walls once the weather warms up/dries up. All this past week I can't wait for spring any longer....i'm going nuts lol
Wow, I don’t blame you for being eager. Lots of fun ahead.
I've been compiling my grow list today. I'm planting fewer tomato plants. I had about 40 last year. Mostly because I was testing varieties to find what I liked. I had 21 varieties last year, and 6 made the cut to be planted this year. I'm going to add a few new varieties to that and should end up with 16 plants total. Should be much more manageable. Last year, I brought my excess to the Farmers Market (I make soap too, so I'm already going anyway), so this year, I'm going to expand to a few other veggies and bring them too. Also going to invest in a chest freezer so we can enjoy the bounty all winter and into the next spring.
My sister and I moved into this house around Thanksgiving 2015, and the first summer we were pretty busy with stuff with the house itself.
The landscaping consisted of an ash tree in the front yard which is pretty healthy and tall, another ash tree on the side of the house, which I had cut back due to the branches scraping both my house and the next-door neighbor's. There was also a small Norwegian Maple tree in the backyard which was already dying when we moved in, and finally gave up the ghost last summer. Plus your standard, ordinary bush in the front yard.
When the Norwegian maple died, I had it replaced with an Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, and despite my fears that the weird winter we had this year might harm it, I'm seeing significant new growth, so I'm happy.
My sister planted a rosebush and mint in the backyard. She had tons of potted annuals as well, and she's planning to do that again.
My house faces north, and what I'm looking at doing in the front yard is planting Golden Columbine in the rock bed that surrounds the walkway to the house, and Blue Columbine around the ash tree. After having done some reading on both, it appears ash will tolerate the disturbance, so long as I keep the Blue Columbine 12 inches away from the trunk, and space it well away from the roots initially. And Blue Columbines do well in a lot of shade, which will happen with them being under such a large tree. This way the yard will get a more 'naturalized' look. I've been having the trees and the lawn treated with nutrients like clockwork ever since I moved in, and the ash trees get preventative maintenance for emerald ash borer, and everything's looking healthy, so hopefully all this helps in my plans for flowers!
My first thought whenever I plant something is making sure it's not toxic to dogs, given that I have one. So I have to check those lists first and foremost.
I'm also trying for stuff that encourages bees, birds, and butterflies (the aforementioned Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry covers all three, as will the Columbines.)
Whenever possible, I'm looking for what's either 1.) Native to Colorado (again, the Columbines), or 2.) Isn't considered invasive and adapts well to Colorado's climate (the Serviceberry genus is all over North American, the one I had planted is a cultivated hybrid.) If nothing else, I try to find plants/trees/shrubs that all have the same/similar watering requirements, so I don't drown one and drought up another.
The nice thing is even with all that criteria, there's a lot to choose from. It does get crazy sometimes when I see something that I think would be pretty, only to realize it needs more sun than it'd get in a certain area, or it spreads like crazy, or some such, but I figure this will help keep everything well-balanced if I match them up now.
I am so excited for spring!
I'm eagerly waiting 'til I can plant the Columbines.
My sister and I moved into this house around Thanksgiving 2015, and the first summer we were pretty busy with stuff with the house itself.
The landscaping consisted of an ash tree in the front yard which is pretty healthy and tall, another ash tree on the side of the house, which I had cut back due to the branches scraping both my house and the next-door neighbor's. There was also a small Norwegian Maple tree in the backyard which was already dying when we moved in, and finally gave up the ghost last summer. Plus your standard, ordinary bush in the front yard.
When the Norwegian maple died, I had it replaced with an Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, and despite my fears that the weird winter we had this year might harm it, I'm seeing significant new growth, so I'm happy.
My sister planted a rosebush and mint in the backyard. She had tons of potted annuals as well, and she's planning to do that again.
My house faces north, and what I'm looking at doing in the front yard is planting Golden Columbine in the rock bed that surrounds the walkway to the house, and Blue Columbine around the ash tree. After having done some reading on both, it appears ash will tolerate the disturbance, so long as I keep the Blue Columbine 12 inches away from the trunk, and space it well away from the roots initially. And Blue Columbines do well in a lot of shade, which will happen with them being under such a large tree. This way the yard will get a more 'naturalized' look. I've been having the trees and the lawn treated with nutrients like clockwork ever since I moved in, and the ash trees get preventative maintenance for emerald ash borer, and everything's looking healthy, so hopefully all this helps in my plans for flowers!
My first thought whenever I plant something is making sure it's not toxic to dogs, given that I have one. So I have to check those lists first and foremost.
I'm also trying for stuff that encourages bees, birds, and butterflies (the aforementioned Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry covers all three, as will the Columbines.)
Whenever possible, I'm looking for what's either 1.) Native to Colorado (again, the Columbines), or 2.) Isn't considered invasive and adapts well to Colorado's climate (the Serviceberry genus is all over North American, the one I had planted is a cultivated hybrid.) If nothing else, I try to find plants/trees/shrubs that all have the same/similar watering requirements, so I don't drown one and drought up another.
The nice thing is even with all that criteria, there's a lot to choose from. It does get crazy sometimes when I see something that I think would be pretty, only to realize it needs more sun than it'd get in a certain area, or it spreads like crazy, or some such, but I figure this will help keep everything well-balanced if I match them up now.
I am so excited for spring!
I'm eagerly waiting 'til I can plant the Columbines.
I just wanted to say that as a Tree Steward, I commend you for having preventive maintenance for your ash trees. Great job!
We’ve decided to give our front landscaping some needed attention this spring....rip out what isn’t working and keep it very low maintenance. We’ll probably install gutters on the front of the house so our mulch will stop washing away, and an irrigation system in the beds.
Instead of trying to experiment, we’ll stick to the evergreen shrubs that we know will thrive on neglect, like the Hollies and boxwoods.
At one end, I’m trying to decide between a snowball viburnum and a camellia. Every fiber of my being wants to order plants online, but I’m trying to make myself wait until I can see the plants in person.
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At one end, I’m trying to decide between a snowball viburnum and a camellia. Every fiber of my being wants to order plants online, but I’m trying to make myself wait until I can see the plants in person.
What a lovely thread! Well I'm ordering plants online because I need big quantitites and I've been disappointed and delayed by the options in stores for the past couple of years. I'm also focusing on some more hedges and got lots more hollies that work in my yard. I love my box, but I'm afraid of boxwood blight, so I'm mixing it up a little bit.
Even though we have had unusually HOT and dry springs for the last two years... ... my plans are to continue adding evergreens in Spring and deciduous things in Fall. So this spring, I'm adding more hollies, azaleas and COLD HARDY gardenias! My yard has noise and privacy challenges AND some a**holes built a giant McMansion across the street that looks RIGHT INTO one of the previously private parts of my yard. Its plant or move.
I'm also adding some DEVILWOOD...AKA Osmanthus Americanus this Spring. This is evergreen, and I've never seen it in a nursery, so I got them online. Excited because I can't grow fragrant Tea Olive this far north (killed two of them)...and DW are NATIVE and adaptable supposedly to a range of conditions.
I have LOTS of WEEDS to get rid of in my veggie garden....and I'm hoping we get more days this winter so I can do that while the ground is soft. I already ordered my SEEDS!!! I TRIED to be conservative, but I got a few more packs than I'm sure I need. Looking forward to the EARLY tomatoes because you all know what DISASTERS I had trying to start seeds inside.
I'm SICK SICK SICK of winter and I can't WAIT til spring. Happy Tuesday Y'all.
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I can't wait for spring any longer....i'm going nuts lol
... my plans are to continue adding evergreens in Spring and deciduous things in Fall. So this spring, I'm adding more hollies, azaleas and COLD HARDY gardenias! My yard has noise and privacy challenges AND some a**holes built a giant McMansion across the street that looks RIGHT INTO one of the previously private parts of my yard. Its plant or move.
