Top and left are the female 'Blue Rug' junipers, lower right is the supposedly male 'Andorra Compacta'. Normal bloom time for these is late May to early June. So I will keep an eye out.. |
I had an established planting of creeping juniper, Juniperus horizontalis, die back last
year. This may have been due to a number
of factors, but I think mostly the very wet weather causing the soil to stay
very moist for most of the year. While
many folks poo poo junipers as too common, they have their place. They are a durable, low-maintenance ground
cover for sunny, dryish locations. This
species is native to the northern third of the US and most of Canada. Their usefulness and adaptability has,
however, made them a staple in the landscape trade. One thing you don't see too often is berries
on these plants. Like other junipers,
creeping junipers have separate male and female plants. Ever since seeing cedar waxwings last year I
have been looking to have more bird berries on our property. To the extent that I could find gender information,
it seems that most creeping juniper cultivars are female, such as the very
popular 'Blue Rug' cultivar (aka 'Wiltonii').
Digging through the literature I found mention that the cultivars 'Bar
Harbor', 'Blue Horizon', 'Plumosa' and 'Andorra Compacta' are male (or at least
may be male). In addition to a bunch of
'Blue Rug' junipers I was able to get an 'Andorra Compacta' to serve as a
breeding partner. Now by having both male and female cultivars there is a
better probability that berries will be produce to help support the winter bird
population.
These large-flowered bellworts came into bloom just after our mid-season daffodils. |
In an area just outside our kitchen window we have a large, somewhat
wild perennial garden backed up by pine trees.
The shadier areas are dominated by several species of lamium and ground
ivy. I have had some success with
shade-tolerant goldenrods here, particularly blue-stemmed and zigzag
goldenrods. To introduce some more
natives to this area of potentially dry shade (assuming it will stop raining at
some point), I ordered a few large-flowered bellwort, Uvularia grandiflora, as bare root plants. We'll see how well these compete. They have done well so far, all of them
sprouted and bloomed this first year.
They say, planting trees is planning for the future, even one that I am not likely to see. I have been dismayed that some of the big old trees here are dying. Don't know if it's just their time or if there is something going on. Besides the loss of their biological function, many of these trees are on a slope where they are helping to hold the soil. Emerald Ash Borer is definitely one of the problems, causing a early death of many established ash trees. But we have lost some big oaks and black cherries as well. Besides these trees going away I am also actively targeting the invasive Alianthus trees and this is opening up the canopy even more. While natural succession is kicking in, this is slowed by the number of deer that eat the tree seedlings. I am more than a little concerned how many of these seedlings will reach maturity. So I am looking for some shade tolerant trees that I can put in and protect to help nature along.
I got these bare root American beech in the ground the day they arrived. |
In the woods right now there are a lot of new beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. These are quite shade tolerant, and seem to
be well adapted to our location. I found a source of bare root beech
trees in southern Virginia, Mid-Atlantic Natives, so I ordered a few to see how that works out. They were planted in early March and are just
leafing out now, a bit behind the established beeches. Beech are fairly slow growing trees, but will
mature to be dominant elements in the canopy.
These are the maple seedlings I gathered from around the property. These may include Red, Sugar, Silver and the hybrid Freeman maples. (Also one tulip tree in the mix.) |
Red maples, Acer rubrum,
are also quite shade tolerant but are much faster growing. I am looking to add a few of these to fill in
the gaps. Sugar maples are another
possibility. These are slower growing,
but better adapted to the near neutral soil pH we have here. (Based on the
natural distribution of trees here (Box elder, Hickories, American hornbeam and Tulip
tree) soil pH is probably running 6-7.5.)
My regular source of native trees, Stadler Nursery, is cutting back on
its supply of reforestation plants (I don't know why), so I decided to harvest
some of my own seedlings and nurse them along a little before planting them
out. I've got several species of maples
growing here, so at this point I can't say for sure what each of these
seedlings are. Tulip trees also do well
here and I've got lots of these seedlings too, so I could move those to some of
the more open areas in the woods.
Another area that I have been trying to bulk up with native
species is a slope that has been built up
with sandy clay and is dominated with Japanese stiltgrass, Japanese honeysuckle
and garlic mustard. I've been putting
divisions of wild bergamot, Monarda
fistulosa, and they are taking hold. I am focusing on shrubs that are
colonizers. These spread out by
underground shoots and should help stabilize the soil to erosion. This year I'm adding a Henry's Garnet
sweetspire, Itea virginica 'Henry's
Garnet', gray dogwood, Cornus racemosa,
and some bare root smooth sumac, Rhus
glabra. Unfortunately my deer do
like to munch on these so I need to stay on top of these with either fencing or
repellent sprays until they get established.
Since deer like to browse on my gray dogwood I put some fencing around this one right away. |
You can see that the leaf buds on this smooth sumac are about to pop. I should get some fencing around this one soon (in addition to the repellent spray). |
In my battle with Japanese stiltgrass, I am planting native species to help displace that invasive grass. One grass that does well in shadier locations is bottlebrush grass, Elymus hystrix. I started some from seed this winter and planted them out in early spring. These make take a year to get established, but should help fill in areas where the stiltgrass has been (is being) removed.
I started this bottlebrush grass from seed in February and planted it out in April. It may not get too big this year, but should form a dense clump next spring. |
Last year I put in a Red Sprite winterberry holly along a sloping
path. I already had a mate, the early
blooming Jim Dandy cultivar, Ilex
verticillata 'Jim Dandy'. To improve
berry availability for winter time birds I added another early blooming female
cultivar called Afterglow, Ilex
verticillata 'Afterglow'. This cultivar is also compact, like 'Red Sprite' and is supposed to be very dense with flowers and berries.
Also on the holly front, I put in some inkberries, Ilex glabra, in a shady location, near
an English walnut tree, last year. Of
the three cultivars I put in, Shamrock and Nigra did well, but the Densa
cultivar died. I don't know if it was
just the amount of shade or sensitivity to the juglone from the walnut. I replaced it with another Nigra cultivar this spring, so
we'll see if that one does better.