soaphouse's Blog
soaphouse's posts about: green giant
Mar 22, 2008 | 6:08 PM PST
Tags: green giant , thuja , arborvitae , juniper , lorapedulum , creeping jenny , blueberry , solomon seal , viburnum , lilac , shade , autumn fern , honeysuckle , hyacinth , daffodil , double , phlox
The last couple of days have been full of wonderful spring gardening activities. We have had the most beautiful weather here lately! Highs around 70 and lows around 45, GORGEOUS! On Thursday afternoon, I had a chance to stop by home depot and check out their spring shipment. Most exciting was that I found 2 more green "giants" to replace the piddly little things from the mail order (which were starting to look like they may not make it). So, I picked those up and 3 creeping jenny plants which were such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up!
Of course, when I got home...I got to planting!
Here is a shot of the trio of green giants. I do hope they live up to their rapid growth rate I have heard so much about:
I can see them from the kitchen sink and it is nice to look out there and dream of what they may look like one day ;)
The creeping jennies went along the pathway in the back, by the nandinas:
I think they will look great mingling with the rocks and bottles too!
The next day (Friday), We had lunch with my mother and grandmother...4 generations of ladies all at one table! After a nice lunch, I got to dig up some goodies from my mom's yard. I got a nice sized clump of solomon's seal, which I have always wanted. They found a great home to the left of the newly planted camellia and will be a great addition to my shade garden in progress:
I also got 2 Viburnum Seedlings. One went just behind the existing one that is mature and the other went in the back of the azalea bed along side the newly planted lilacs. I wasn't able to get the best root system, so it will be interesting to see if they make it.
I have also been taking some time to really think about and make a list of things that are "missing" from my garden this spring and that I would like to have next spring:
More creeping phlox blooming
Add Hyacinth Bulbs in with Daffodil Plantings
Add Double Daffodils
More Crocus?
I saw some wonderful double hyacinths in the Van Bourgondein Catalog that I would like to add to the garden.
And, of course, amidst all the work, I had to take some time to have fun with my camera:
Clematis Armadii:
Spring Growth appearing on Autumn Fern:
New growth on Juniper:
Blueberry Bush:
Mardi Gras Honeysuckle (I think?)
Wax Mahonia Berries:
Lorapedulums:
Anyway....thanks for indulging my shutter bug!
Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Easter!
Mar 16, 2008 | 2:31 PM PST
Tags: green giant , thuja , arborvitae , oakleaf , hydrangea , lilac , azalea , creek , ivy , willow , mow , tornado
So if you read one of my previous posts, you know the saga of the green "giant". Well, i am still awaiting the 3rd one that mysteriously got left out of its bag...the 2 that were planted already are suffering a bit of transplant shock, but we have had enough rain lately that I still have hope for them. So, today I stopped by the local nursery (SO many temptations!!!!) and they had 3 gallon sizes of the green giant :) So, I picked one to plant in the spot reserved for the 3rd one:
The sticks that you see on either side of the tree represent the other ones that were ordered through the mail. It will be interesting to see and compare the growth of the different sizes...HAH!
The freshly planted weeping willows (from the same supplier) are looking great and getting all their new leaves:
I think it will be so pretty weeping over the creek side :)
Once I got my new tree planted, I set out to mow and edge the front yard. Looks so nice when that has been done. I also got some picts of more spring happenings:
Azalea buds bursting:
I must say I am learning to love my azaleas. They came with the house and would not have been what I chose, but the were in good condition so I left them. I have really started to put some more time and energy into the back beds and I am starting to form a nice shade bed with the azaleas as the foundation. Last year they didn't bloom (due to an extremely late frost that zapped all their buds) and the years before I did not pay much attention - other than to notice that they are various shads of pink. So, I have no idea their varieties or how big they are expected to get. This year...when they bloom, I plan on taking cuttings to the local nursery to have them tell me the varieties so that I can fully develop the design of the shade bed. Should be interesting and fun :)
The newly planted lilac buds are starting to open so I am looking forward to watching that. I have never grown a lilac before:
The oakleaf is budding out nicely as well. Year before last, we transplanted it from a very awkward spot close to the house and the following year, its form and shape was way out of wack, so I had to prune it and sacrifice some blooms, so this year it should be in its full glory :
I also transplanted some large pieces of variegated ivy to the shady side of the creek bank. Hopefully they will fill in and cascade nicely - providing a nice evergreen cover and weed suppression.
I would say, all in all, a great afternoon in the garden. I certainly feel blessed that I could spend my afternoon that way and not cleaning up rubble from the tornado that hit just south and north of us. Amazing that a tornado blew through downtown Atlanta. They say that has never happened before....first time for everything, I suppose.
Mar 2, 2008 | 4:52 PM PST
Tags: daffodil , hellebore , green giant , thuja , arborvitae , blue spruce , weeping willow , creek , erosion , crocus , sedum , shamrock , fescue sod
I've had a great week in the garden! Spring just keeps on springing and I have enjoyed watching it unfold in my garden :) On Thursday, the order that I had placed on-line for the "bones" of the creek plantings arrived. I ordered everything from Direct Gardening (which I had heard bad things about, but for the price...I thought it was worth taking a chance) I ordered 3 Green Giant Arborvitaes, 2 Weeping Willows and 1 Colorado Blue Spruce. The total order was barely $30, so I pretty much expected the worse, but thought it was worth a try. Needless to say, when I received the order, I literally stood in my kitchen, laughing out loud as I unpacked the wee plants! The "Green Giants" looked like twigs with a few roots. More like the jolly green giant. HAH! But, I thought...for the price and considering they are supposed to grow like 3-5 feet a year, I will just take my chances. What's even funnier is that they were packaged in vacuum sealed plastic bags. My order did include 3 of those baggies for the green giants...but, only 2 had plants! So, I called the customer service # and they were quite nice (to my surprise) so, hopefully I will receive that 3rd arborvitae :) Funny thing is that those were the most expensive out of the order and they were the smallest...the willows (which were $1 a piece) were the largest. The colorado Blue Spruce was a fairly decent size too. The order also included some freebie bulbs labeled shamrock and exotica. These were about the size of raisins, so I plopped them in the ground by my irises in the back and we will see what happens :) On Saturday I got around to planting the goodies...
The green "giants" found a home on the back creek bank to hopefully create a nice privacy screen:
I topped with a good dressing of compost and marked it with a stake, so hopefully he will have a fighting chance!
Here is a pict of one of the willows, planted on creek bank to help prevent erosion:
The Colorado Blue Spruce found a home where we took out the maple earlier this winter...I have great hopes for this guy:
On Friday I had a great day helping my mom in her garden. She is a landscape designer, so she always has some wonderful project up her sleeve...on Friday, I helped her lay some fescue sod in a pathway. I had never worked with sod before, so it was fun to learn how to do that...and talk about instant gratification! Of course, she let me take some divisions of things in her garden too. I came home with a great bunch of hellebore seedlings, 2 autumn ferns, and a huge clump of sedum autumn joy! Love those freebies :) I got them planted around on Saturday also:
Hellebore
s landed amongst the liriope in front of the azalea bed with the other variety of hellebores. Will be very pretty when they grow up to start blooming:
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The autumn ferns went under the fig tree with 4 other autumn ferns I transplanted from under my redbud (they were not getting along well with the vinca) I know the fig will give them a nice shady home come spring:
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And, when they grow up all nice a fluffy...they will help hide all the utility nonsense! I am still thinking about where to put the sedums...
This Sunday afternoon, I just did a couple of odds and ends: some weeding, moved 2 artemesias from a shady spot to one where they will get more sun, and leveled out some ground in the back of the azalea bed ( the former owner of this house, used to dump his house plant soil in a mound back there). I also took a few minutes to take some pictures of the early spring bloomers:
Minia
ture Daffodils:
Larger Daffodils planted under redbud in the front yard. I love the white...just brightens up that spot perfectly:
The
Georgia Blue Bells are full of blooms and such a wonderful blue color:
And, the first crocus has shown itself:
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In the next few days, my husband will be working on the rest of the chicken wire surrounds for the veggie beds...planting time will be here before I know it :)!!!
Oh, and on a side note...turns out the "owl" in my previous post was actually a hawk! My mom noticed from the picture and then it was confirmed again when we saw him again this weekend! Guess we will have to come up with a name for him too :)
Jan 24, 2008 | 2:41 PM PST
Tags: creek , clean , vines , privet , arbor , green giant , weeping willow
Its been a great couple of days in the garden! Yesterday, I spent the entire afternoon after I got off of work, working on the creek. It was very satisfying as I was finally able to venture to the other side of the creek! I thought that would never happen. Especially when you look at where all this started:
In case you are wondering where the creek is in that shot...its to the left of the fence, under all the brush! Its very encouraging to look back at this to see how far I have come. Sometimes it seems like I will never finish this, but when I look at how far I have come, I know I will! Here are some current shots of the creek:
This afternoon I worked on getting the brush to the curb. The hardest part of this was that all of the brush had to travel over the creek and then over the fence then through the gate, then all the way to the curb! I was very thankful for my galoshes. Needless to say, Privet is now a very bad word in my world! I was online the other day browsing nurseries and one had gallon privet for sale for $19.95!!! I could make a fortune, just sell what I am ripping out :) Why can't something amazing be invasive...like peonies or something! But, I digress...
I did place another plant order for the "bones" of this project:
3 Green Giant Arborvities (for a fast growing evergreen screen on the other side of the creek at our property line.)- 2 Weeping Willows (one for each bank side to help with erosion)
- 1 Colorado Blue Spruce (which is actually for the area in the back where we took out the maple)
I also found a lot of volunteer wax mahonias back there that I will transplant so that they can thrive and be enjoyed. Also, one nandina that I will dig up for a container in the front yard. And, some nice woodland ferns that I uncovered and will hopefully do better now that they are not crowded by privet! Gotta love free plant suprises :)
Its just so exciting to see this all coming together!
On another note, my arbor came in the mail last night and I got it all assembled and installed:
On the left side, I planted a honeysuckle vine of some sort that was passed down from my mother. I am not sure of the variety. It is desiduous and had really neat seed pods in the fall that hang down. On the right side of this arbor, I plan to put out miniature gourd vine seeds. I think if this works...it will be really cool to see the gourds hanging down through the arbor!
YEAH!
