A new use for this old blog; a reference

So I haven’t really been keeping up with this blog and frankly I am not sure of its fate. Since I haven’t been updating it regularly like I once did, this blog has turned into more of a static website, and I think that is fine. I think the value of this blog lies in is utility as reference and as a resource to cover topics in depth, but after eight (!) or so years, I find many of the issues with native plants and wildlife gardening keep coming up, so rather than reposting an old article or updating a subject I have written before,  I am thinking about turning these posts into a book (though I have been threatening that for a while). 



When I started this blog in 2009, social media was really (at least to me) in its infancy.  Now, platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are a more useful tool for updates and news.  As a result, I post garden news and pictures on these platforms, ignoring this blog.  But I do think the in depth articles I have posted are a compliment to a nice Instagram photo.  Having said that, some of the most commonly requested topics are the following:

• How to remove a lawn
• How to build an urbanite path
• How to build a bee house (in 5 minutes!)
• How to build a brush pile (hint: it is easy!)
• Why not to use bird feeders
• Your garden as a bird feeder
• Bird house basics
• Honey bees suck (yes, you read that correctly)
• Pollinator (or whatever) garden
• Should I start my new garden by seeding (the answer is NO)?

In general, "why native plants are important" is always a common topic, and the subject of the whole blog!

I still post unique or timely things, like our Cat of the Year or SponCon projects, but day to day social media seems to suit the general needs of this one time blogger!

So, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook!

Garden project update: the list gets smaller

This is just a short update on the status of some garden projects.  I have finally completed two items that have been on my annual project list for a couple of years- one is making a new compost bin, and the other is pruning the white clematis (Clematis ligusticifolia) that grows on an arbor and trellis on the back of my shop (see above).

In the photo at the top of the post, now you can actually see the arbor and trellis on the back of the shop- prior to pruning, the clematis engulfed the whole thing.  Soon, it will all leaf out and probably grow back thicker than before, but for now, I can wallow in a little sense of accomplishment.  In that same photo, my wife is taking a break from compost sifting and admiring her compost station (see below).

Anyway, here is the list from earlier in the year, and the following items I have now completed:

• Make a three bin composter

I was so happy to get this off my project list that I wrote a post about it, and coincidentally, completing this project fell on International Compost Awareness Week!

• Prune the white clematis on the arbor behind the shop 

See photo at the top of the post.

• Install a nest box camera inside the nuthatch box

Good thing I did this, because this is where the chickadees are nesting this year.  Click here to watch the live, streaming video from inside their box.  The eggs (7) should start hatching anytime now!

• Move the apple tree to the north east corner of the vegetable garden so its gets more light and water.

In the photo below the apple tree (Honeycrisp, in case you were wondering) is now in front of the rain barrel on the left.  This location is next to the vegetable garden.

• Moving the apple tree will require relocating the rain barrel and path, then a little re-landscaping in the new and former location

The photo below shows the re-aligned urbanite path to accommodate the apple tree and the slightly different location of the rain barrel.  It is a subtle change, but moving the path over a couple of feet really changed the feel of this little spot.  I like it.

The following items from the list are still pending.  Number 1 below is in the works, so watch for a blog post when I complete that project.

1. Add a little fence or wall between the outdoor dining room and the hammock area. This is one of these problem areas, that I am always reworking. Maybe a little something in the way of hard-scaping will do the trick
2. Install power out to the greenhouse. This has been on my list for a few years, whether I write it down or not.
3. Add some more shrubs to the front of the house- I've been working on this for a couple of years and I think it is starting to come together.
4. Replace urbanite in front of the greenhouse and on the side yard that has settled too low. Replace it with larger chunks. It became painfully obvious last year that these low spots were too annoying to live with (it turns out, it was easier than I thought it would be to ignore this!)
5. Connect the urbanite path in the back all the way to the alley.
6. Continue my insect collection- this has been so amazing and rewarding. 

There is a lot more to do, and there will certainly be some unanticipated projects, and that's fine.  It is good to have goals and it is also good to revisit them and gauge progress.  Happy gardening!

Scenes from the Garden: mid-July

My blog is simply a garden journal, and though I write a lot of how to articles or post information on ecology and wildlife int he garden, at its most basic, it is a place to simply depict what is happening in the garden.  This post is just about capturing what's going on in the garden now.  

It is a showy time in the garden, but I do look forward to when the grasses cure, and things die back quite a bit, and reflect the dry hot summers.

 This is the time of the year when we have an abundance of flowers, and have to prune our showy fleabane (Erigeron speciousus), goldenrod species (Solidago spp.), bee balm (Monarda fisulosa), and others on a near daily basis, just to maintain our walking paths- especially after our summer thunderstorms.

Even though our garden does not get any irrigation, it provides a wealth of flowers for wildlife, and cut flowers for the house.

 Inside the vegetable garden, structures like raised beds, arbors, and benches are prominent.  The vegetables are a focal point, too!

  My next garden project is to make another grape arbor to cover and shade the garden bench (below).

Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and monarchs butterflies are in the news a lot these days, especially encouraging people to plant milkweed species in their garden for monarch conservation.  In the right location this is great and effective, and I think every garden deserves a native milkweed or 20.  Here, in western Montana, we are too far east and too far west for monarch butterflies (except the rare stray).  I love our native milkweed (A. speciosa), and the benefits of this plant and its beauty, are not limited to monarchs.

Our hammock finally succumbed to weather this year after eight years of being exposed to too much weather. It was a cotton hammock- I gave it to my wife as a present for our second anniversary (cotton is the traditional gift).  This year (our ninth anniversary) pottery is the traditional gift.  I have to think about that one.

I have a new hammock on its way- a more weather resistant one, made from recycled pop bottles.

2011 Garden Projects update

At the beginning of the year, I didn't think I had too many projects planned  for the garden, but I took a little time to write down a list of things to do, and I posted it here.  This is why I have a blog- it is my garden journal and it is a place to keep track of everything I'd otherwise scribble somewhere or forget to write down about the garden.


I planted some mountain ash (Sorbus scopulina), to replace the decadent aspen (Populus tremulodes)- and I even planted another one this weekend to replace an aspen that died suddenly last weekend in front of the hammock stand (below).  I have come to think of aspen as short-lived perennials, and that is fine.  Aspen bring so much wildlife- including wildlife that eat and kill them to the garden, that it is a fair trade (click here for more information).  Plus, we actually have more aspen in the garden now than when we started- they are just in different places, and they are always coming up in new areas.

I rearranged some plants in the front prairie, including getting rid of a green rabbit brush (Ericameria viscidiflora) and added a few Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii) close to the house.  In case you are wondering, the green rabbitbrush is now living at the Native Plant Garden at 8th and Grant.  Trust me.  It is fine.

I made a "cut-off" trail in front of the onion/ garlic bed (it is kind of obscured by the plants from this vew). The area near the grill shed is kind of a congested area in the garden and by adding this new trail/ path, people will be able to flow better. 

And along the way on the list, I added more things- a "green" or "living" roof for the grill shed, I started an insect collection to learn about and document all the insects in the garden (more on this soon), I removed the overhead garage door to the shop and replaced it with French doors (below), and I did some landscaping around the new space the French doors provide.

Adding the French doors to the shop was a fun little project and one I wished I had done a long time ago.  The doors add so much light and usable space in the shop.  Plus, they just look better.  I got all the materials for this at Home ReSource (a building materials re-use center, and my favorite place in the world to shop).

Green roof update
I didn't realize how much the green roof had grown, until I looked back on the post and slideshow from this spring. In general it is doing really well.  It is starting to fill in, and weeding has not been an issue.  I watered it for the first time yesterday (I planted it on April 24, but it was a very cool, wet spring).  Now that the weather has dried out and it has gotten hot (Sorry Susan, I know this mid-80's weather is not hot) or, perhaps, the weather has gotten more seasonal, I might water it once/ week through the summer. Here are some pictures showing the progress.

The picture below was taken right after planting, and as you can see, since then it has really filled in.

Below is a view looking down on the green roof.  It looks like a little prairie- just as planned.  All the plants are native to the Missoula area and include: Prairie June grass (Koeleria macrantha), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Rosy pussytoes (Anntenaria rosea), Cutleaf daisy (Erigeron compositus), Lanceleaf  stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum), and  Elkhorn clarkia (Clarkia pulchella).  Click here for information about the green roof, including why I chose these plants.

To see the changes on the roof- here are a few pictures:  
Before- the old metal roof.

After I installed the green roof.

After some growing- it has really changed a lot.  A little tip- for garden projects, always take your "before" pictures in late winter, and your "after" pictures in the summer!

I made great progress on the list, but I still need to make that 3 bin composter for my wife, our compost management supervisor. But a new project has come up- another grape arbor.  There is always something to do, and a place to write it down.

How to build an urbanite path

Paths are very important features in the landscape. Paths guide visitors but also guide the eye. As a result, they are very strong design elements that must be considered in landscape and garden planning.

As with any path, the more uniform and straight the path is the easier it is to navigate. Knowing how the path will be used is essential.

Paths in a garden can be composed of many different surfaces depending on the aesthetic and intended use. Paths can be formal (wide and uniformly surfaced, like poured concrete), or casual, (small and uneven, like stepping stones). For a garden setting, varying the texture, size and construction of paths can be a useful tool. By varying width, straightness, evenness you can guide visitors through the yard, at different speeds. In a garden it might be important to move slowly and interact with your surroundings, whereas a sidewalk, uniformity, transportation, and safety are important.
In our front yard, the urbanite path is the only way to our front door, so it is a wide, gracious, level (relatively), and easily negotiated path (constructed following the steps outlined below). In contrast, in our sideyard (see above) and backyard, in areas that receives less traffic, the paths are narrower, more uneven, and are less formal. In keeping with the casualness, we placed soil between the concrete to allow yarrow (Achillea millefolium), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), and hairy golden aster (Heterotheca villosa) to grow, which we then mow or transplant. This has not been super successful, but not bad either.

Building an "urbanite" path
I resisted using the term “urbanite” for a long time, it seemed kind of trendy and pretentious, instead I like to call it broken concrete, but, alas, I have given in since that is what everyone is calling it now.

Anyway, I digress. It is pretty simple to make an urbanite path and it follows many of the same procedures as any sort of paver path. Since the procedures are the same, and covered in more depth and better in a variety of sources from landscaping books, to online sites, I am not going into too much detail about how to lay a path, but rather considerations for using urbanite and using paths in garden settings.

The real benefit with urbanite is that is it typically free, and is a great use for old unwanted concrete. The key lies, as in most things, in the preparation.

Considerations:

• Determine how the path will be used
  (e.g., high traffic, formal, main approach to the house or a secondary path)
• Aesthetic
• Use the largest pieces tat you can. But since they are really heavy- you might want to have someone help, and consider using a hand truck or furniture dollies to move the big pieces around or even a compact utility loader (see below)
• Major pieces should be no smaller than two square feet
• It takes a lot of urbanite for a path, so don’t underestimate the quantity
• Use 4-6” thick concrete- it is good balance between mass and ease of use, anything thinner is probably too weak, anything thicker may be too heavy
• Consider adding a curve or two (see these tips).
  

Where to get urbanite?
Check Craigslist, free classifieds and look around your town for sidewalk replacement projects. Contractors may be able to deliver it to you free of charge or for a slight fee (it will be worth it, if they can deliver it). In many places contractors have to pay for disposal. In Missoula many contractors grind it up or pay to have it ground for road base mix- this is a great use for the material.

What if you have some urbanite on the hoof?
If you already have some concrete you’d like to break up and re-use, I use a sledge, but you can also rent a jackhammer (electric are lighter and easier to use, gas and pneumatic are beasts). If you do rent a power jackhammer, my advice to you is let the hammer do the work- guide it and go with it. It will beat you up. If you use a sledgehammer, you have to do the work, but it is a great stress relief. In any case, regardless of the method you use, wear hearing and eye protection.

If the concrete does not have re-bar or wire mesh, it will be pretty easy to break up. If your concrete does have wire mesh or re-bar, fade back and punt. If it has reinforcement, the problem is that the chunks will be large and unmanageable- you could rent a Bobcat or compact utility loader (these are a lot of fun and it might be worth it to rent one for the heck of it, and just move stuff around, because you can). Again, I digress.

I don’t know of an easy way to tell before you get into it, but typically if is is an old sidewalk, say older than 50 years, it will probably not have reinforcement. If you are unsure call concrete cutting contractors in your area for advice- they will know.

As far as preparation, roughly mark out the path- a garden hose is nice tool for for this. And mark it with spray marking paint. A typical path should be 4’ wide, but less frequently used paths can be as narrow as you like, but try to keep them wider than 1.5’.

How to prepare the site and install an urbanite path
Dig down to a depth that will give you the concrete thickness, +1” sand, and 4-8” of compacted gravel base (using 3/4 minus or road mix). If it is over well-drained soil, or if it is not in a area that is frost prone you can get away with a lesser amount of compacted gravel.
Once you have dug down to the depth, install landscape fabric to keep weeds out and to keep the gravel from working its way into the ground. Also, add edging to the sides of the path to keep the urbanite path from shifting and to keep lawn (if applicable) out of the path. You can either use lawn edging first or specially designed brick or paver edging you can install after the project is complete. Adding edging in advance of the gravel base makes screeding a lot easier and it will provide a constant edge and level line for the project.

The next step is to add the gravel base. Add gravel in 2-3 in lifts, that is, a few inches thick at a time, and compact it, and add another few inches until you have reached the depth of concrete thickness + 1” sand. Screed the gravel to get it roughly level (Finally leveling will be done with the sand and the individual concrete pieces). Set in approximately 1” of sand, and screed again.

Now the fun begins.
Start by setting the concrete chunks next to the path and roughly layout the path in 3-4’ sections. Set the large pieces first and fill in with smaller ones. Spend some time selecting pieces, and have fun with this part. You might have to fine-tune some pieces, and this is easily done with a 2- 3 lb. drilling hammer (also called a fist maul or little sledge hammer), and a cold chisel or brick chisel. For breaking larger pieces, use a 6 lb. sledge. I like a 6 lb. sledge because it is a good balance between precision (small hammer) and mass (big hammer).
Set a few pieces and make any final adjustments by adding or subtracting sand. A rubber mallet is very useful for setting the chunks of concrete. Check the individual pieces for level and make sure they align with one another. Take your time here.
Once all the pieces are installed, spread about ½ inch of sand over the entire walkway and sweep it into the cracks, add more sand and walk on it for a few days and reapply sand as necessary. If you are working with a large area, use a plate compactor to vibrate and set the concrete in the sand and to work the sand into the cracks. In any case, the pieces will shift slightly and sand will fill any voids. After a few days, sweep off the remaining sand and enjoy your project.
Urbanite paths can be a formal or informal (rustic) as you would like or as it suits the rest of your landscape and your personal aesthetic. The thing to keep in mind is that urbanite is just a paving material, and site preparation and planning are essential.

Front Yard Mini Makeover

Here is a brief update of a project I completed earlier this spring- a small makeover to our front yard prairie, and a couple of pictures of what is flowering now (above is sticky geranium, Geranium viscosissimum, this is easy to grow, and quick to flower- unlike the species pictured at the end of the post) .

I moved the front path (taking my own advice), added a hill, and added some interpretive signs. The whole point was to correct some design shortcomings and embrace the public-ness of our front yard. This project was also a great opportunity to eradicate some weeds that have been difficult to control (Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis , in particular), by digging up a couple of big sections.

All the plants we installed in the new area came from other places in our yard. I have a lot of fun digging up plants from our yard that are volunteers in the cracks in the sidewalk and other places, growing them in our nursery for a couple of weeks and planting them elsewhere int he yard. Most of these plants can from the area that our greenhouse now occupies.

Below is a picture of death camas (Zigadenus venenosus), a pretty severe sounding name. I hear it is not really deadly, but it will just make you sick, but I am not going to try it. It is a really neat little plant, and looks a lot like a tiny bear grass (Xerophyllum tenax). It is really easy to grow (provided you can get the bulbs). We initially got ours from some plant salvages (plants we rescued from a development in Missoula), but since them, they have seeded well and we have a lot of volunteers.

As far as design elements, our front path has always annoyed me- a straight line leading right to the door. Similar to the back yard, I broke up the concrete and rearranged it to a curving and wider, more inviting path.

Adding the hill added topography and some visual interest, and also helped to obscure the front entrance a little. This hill also provides a nice place to showcase 30 or so bitterroots (Lewisia rediviva) that I transplanted from our backyard when I dug up plants to install the greenhouse.

Below is a (I think- my wife might correct me) silky lupine (Lupinus sericeus), and in the background is arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). Both are easy to grow, but as I mentioned here you need patience 4-7 years before that flower, and don't try to transplant them- their taproots are huge!
Since our front yard is a marked departure from the typical turf grass monoculture and token specimen trees so familiar to the urban/ suburban landscape, the addition of interpretive signs helps to explain what our landscape goals are. In the past, we have had signs that identify plants and signify this as a backyard wildlife habitat, but these new signs go one step further and explain Missoula prairies, wildlife gardening and why we do not have a lawn.
Below are two pictures of our front yard prairie, the top one is before (May 2005) and the bottom one is after (May 2009) this little makeover project. Not a huge change, but I think it is substantially better. I really enjoy small changes and rearranging elements in the landscape.

Avoid straight lines, a simple design tip

Here is an example of a simple design element having a pretty big impact. The photo on top shows the concrete walkway going straight from the house to the garage, bisecting the yard. The problem with a straight path is that your eye follows a straight line really quickly and moves automatically to the end, ignoring everything along the way. This path originally went back to the alley making the problem even more exaggerated, but we removed it a few years before these photos were taken.

By changing the straight path to a simple curve you can add a lot more depth and even a little intrigue. Below it is the same concrete path broken, and rearranged, in a slight curve. The final photo show the landscape a couple of years later, after some plants matured.

It is amazing how simple it is, but how much it adds to the landscape. Plus, supposedly evil spirits will have a harder time getting to your house.