Hello there! We are now moved into our new home and adjusting to life in the country. I thought I'd update you all on a few things going on in the new Tiger Way Gardens. Looking out my front windows I see my beautiful front yard that consists mainly of dirt at the moment, but if you look further you will see the orchard; which has green grass; and you might even spot the chicken coop in the orchard.
We acquired three Rhode Island Red chickens a few months ago and they are really the best! Who says chickens are not smart? These gals are great and pretty smart too. They know exactly where there food is located and beg for it each time I visit the coop. I can't trick them by giving them anything less than the good stuff because they know the difference between cracked corn and mealworms just by sight. They follow me around looking for those handouts and they are just a delight. Not to mention my three eggs each day. I really have only one complaint about these gals and their intelligence. That one complaint is that if they ever feel like they are 'taken', they simply give up, squat down and let whatever will happen-happen. I think they should fight a bit but that's just my thoughts. To help keep the gals safe from predators we have their coop located in our fenced orchard area. The fence is quite a large and effective electric fence. The electric fence is six feet high and has seven strands which is all electrified with a a DC fence charger helped along by a solar trickle charger. It was always our intent to place the chickens inside of the orchard since we knew we had to fence the orchard in order to protect it from marauding deer. So, in a sense, we kill two birds with one stone by putting the chickens in this area.
Looking through to the chicken coop area we can see the strands of the wire and the cabinet that houses the electric fence equipment. Lately I have been feeling good about my gals and have decided I would try letting them free roam in the orchard area. I knew I could pretty much keep them safe from ground based marauders but was not too sure about hawks. So far so good as the chickens have all remained safe and intact-that's a really good thing. When my hens are out and about they really focus on only one thing-eating. Since they associate me with food they seem to love me by following me around-even when they are inside the electric fence and I am outside of the fence. Mr. Fix-it and I were wondering what would happen if one of the chickens happened to run into the electric fence and I recently found out. The electric fence puts out about 7000 volts so it is powerful enough to stop predators as well as deer. You would think it would stop chickens too but not so. When I recently ventured close to the fence and the girls one of them decided to come and visit me. As soon as she stepped on the bottom wire she zoomed through the fence to my side really fast. Lightening speed fast. Right when I was about to panic about her being outside of the 'safe' area she actually zoomed right back through the electric fence! I was relieved that she was not injured by the electricity, and doubly relieved she went back to her safe place. What a smart gal! Chicken brained not!
In other going ons at the farm we are working on a new dog ramp. One of our dogs has hip problems and while we don't have too many steps going into the house, any steps can be tough on a living being with hip problems. Hopefully I'll finish up this ramp soon. Right now the dogs are running around on their own with only a wireless fence collar keeping them close to the house.
To the right of the dog ramp and dog pen area is our new koi pond. You might remember the postings I did a few years ago on my koi pond in Tiger Gardens. I can hardly believe that pond is nearly two three years old now. It has been such a joy to me and the grandchildren love it so much I desired to have one in the new house. Our backhoe digger dug this pond while he was doing backhoe work (thanks Mike!) and he did an excellent job. The pond was dug exactly 40" from the high side of the backyard and has a few plant shelf ledges. This pond is about four times bigger than my previous pond and has really been a bear to get going. You might remember I hand dug my last pond and put it together slowly over a period of weeks. This pond has been dug for several months now and while it is getting closer to being completed, it is still not finished. There seems to be one setback after another. Here we are trying to level up the lower side of the pond so that we can begin the rock process. At this point in the process most of the rocks are in place with exception of the small waterfall, and the liner is pretty much set the way I'd like it. We had planned to finish everything by Thanksgiving weekend but I failed to order enough tubing to complete the plumbing. Once that tubing comes in I'll finish that up and rock the waterfall and turn her on! Wish me luck in getting it going soon.
Other going ons in Tiger Way Gardens include: starting the vegetable garden (outlined in block and backfilled but waiting on beds to be made), the completion of the iris beds along the outside edge of the vegetable garden, staining the concrete in the garage and on the front and back porches, moving and sorting things from the old house, and trying to get ready for the holidays. Here's hoping everything is going well for you all....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
Starting a new journey in my life is a thrilling but a bit scary too. I hope I'll be able to keep you all up to date with it as we go along through the home build process and make our dream of living in the country a reality. One way I can share it is through gardening-of course! And through the land as well. The major change between our current land where we live and our new land besides the size, 59+ acres compared to one acre, is the fact that our new home will be built in a field. There are really no big trees in this field. In my current home the house is surrounded by trees and I love it! The current garden has been designed to work with the available light that does filter through the trees. I won't say it is totally a shade garden but it is primarily a shade garden. Now we will be moving to a large field with no shade trees and I am concerned about that. The good news is that there are shady areas on the new property. Our pond is a short walk through the field. Once you leave the field you enter a beautiful forest which leads down to the pond area. This pond is quite large and completely surrounded by trees. It is rare to find a pond in my part of Tennessee that is surrounded by trees. We are thrilled but will probably do a bit of thinning of the trees. The good news is that I have a good location to move a great majority of my garden to-prior to even building the house. I can picture hellebores, hydrangeas, hostas, merrybells, wildflowers, pulmonarias, ferns, and other woodland plants from my current garden moving into this location-once I get the path in place. A big job but I am up for the task because I know that this area will not be disturbed by the build of the home. The rest of the story is waiting to be written as far as the vegetable and perennial borders.
I would love to immediately put in the perennial and vegetable garden. I have even completed a garden design for the vegetable garden so I am ready. What I am not ready to do though is to definitively site the gardens. Building a house will mean installing a well and a septic system. Not only that but house building in general is pretty darn messy and traumatic to land. Patience is not something I have a lot of when I have to accomplish such a big task of moving my gardens. I plan to take every single thing I possibly can. Okay, maybe not everything. There is a lot I will leave but I do plan to take all perennials, most bulbs, and my specimen trees and shrubs that I can easily dig up. All hydrangeas will most likely go. I hate to leave Tiger Gardens bare and without its pretty clothes of plants, but honestly, with 282 trees and shrubs just in the front yard (according to my landscape diagram I finally completed) I don't think the yard will be too bare even with a lot of plants moving. Actually, I look at it as more of the fact that I am thinning out the landscape and making room for growth for whomever buys our home when we are ready to sell it. It might be sad if a gardener moved in here and realized so many plants were moved once they saw the landscape design, but honestly, what are the odds a gardener would move into this house? In my experience gardeners are pretty much made slowly. Buying a home with all these gardens would be overwhelming to even the most experienced gardener. Pretty soon weeds would take over and the garden would soon be mowed down. I can see it already. So, in order to avoid that disaster I will move as much as I can and hope the new home buyer never sees this blog. Or perhaps it might help them? Who knows.
Our pond on the land has lots frog eggs. How exciting is that? Surely that will help assuage my impending feelings of loss once I start deconstructing the garden in earnest? Can you see them in the above picture?
The shoreline of the pond has lots of moss growing along it. I have no idea what else is growing there but I am sure I will be pleasantly surprised as the season changes from winter to spring. I can hardly wait! This area is somewhat rocky and full of roots but I suspect I'll be able to fit in some woodland plants.
One thing is for sure about our move, Mr. Fix-it is mighty happy. He can't wait to start fishing! With lots of frog eggs I would suspect there should be some fish here too. Still, even if there aren't I don't think that smile will ever leave Mr. Fix-it's face now that we are....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
It's peony time in Tiger Gardens! My most favorite flower of all is the peony. The smell, the look, the touch, and the memories all make the peony a keeper. Doesn't the above peony remind you of a cupcake covered with frothy white frosting? It does me so that might be a part of my liking too!
Rhododendrons make good companions for peonies. This one
is 'Nova Zembla' a very old variety. It is a red rhododendron and is not
far from the pond in the dry shade of a Red Cedar and oaks.
The pond is crystal clear now and giving us a great deal of pleasure. I think the plants and the UV light made all the difference with the clarity of the water. I am rinsing the filters every other day or so but things have finally worked themselves out in the pond-after three months!
Has anyone seen the movie Gone with the Wind? Remember petticoats under the dresses? Without the petticoats the dresses just would not be the same. Those petticoats had lots and lots of layers to give them their fullness; which of course led to the uniqueness of those full flowing gowns worn in the 1800s. It is the same with gardens. Layering in a garden gives the garden not only its fullness but its character and uniqueness.
I use the above photograph to talk about layers in a garden. One thing my garden has is lots and lots of layers. The layers here actually start below ground with the bulbs and go to great heights with the climax species of oaks and hickories. In between these two layers you will find perennials, annuals, vines, shrubs, sub shrubs, small trees and all sorts of garden ornamentation. It is my firmest belief layers make a garden.
Layering in a garden can work not only in my natural
styled border and island gardens but also in the minimalist modern
garden to a parterre garden to a formally trained garden. The trick is
to know what to put in each layer to obtain the effect. There is one
caveat though as with anything. Gardens are not static and even with a
good design gardens will change and layers may need to be adjusted. But
it is not a difficult concept at all.
Can
you see the layers here in the above picture? The green grass with a
border garden on the left, straight ahead is a Coral Bark Japanese maple
underplanted with hostas, hydrangeas, and groundcovers such as brunnera
and ginger. Through the gate there is another garden with a focal point
of a crabapple underplanted with azaleas and perennials and a few
shrubs such as the bright spireas you can see because the sun is hitting
it. Looking further into the garden you may see the red foliage of more
Japanese maples and shrubs and perennials. Layers make it happen in the
garden. The garden style does not matter when layering.
A fellow pond enthusiast had to close her very large pond. The local pond society sent out a bulletin saying the woman had lots of koi for only $1 each. Since the pond had a leak and the pump was broken it was vital to get the koi out fairly quickly. Naomi and I went over and we each came home with three large koi a piece. I also bought some more rocks for the garden. The above poor picture shows two of the new koi with one of the baby koi under them. The baby koi are growing fast but have not changed colors. It's okay, they are fine just the way they are. The other large koi we got from the pond is a gray koi. The two orange ones are the leaders and are quite aggressive when it comes to eating and socializing with us. The water is really not dirty like it appears but the liner has a green film on it which gives the water a tinted appearance. Additionally it is hard to photograph things underwater!
Here is a picture of the whole pond showing how clear the water is. Even this pond has layers in it. The bottom of the pond gives the pond depth that you can see, the water reflects light and movement, the rocks provide a great border and the surrounding lawn and gardens add to the "I've been here forever look" that I seek in my gardens.
The pond is finally clear all the way to the bottom. We are enjoying our new koi so very much! They always want food which is nice for interactions. I shall prepare a post on the koi and pond soon but I have no idea when. Normally I prepare posts a long time in advance but lately I have not been doing this. I have been very busy with a lot going on and there just does not seem to be enough hours in the day for everything including blogging. My son is set to graduate soon, we have company coming, and I also have an out of town trip scheduled to meet with other garden bloggers in North Carolina this month. Wow! I honestly can't wait until May is over.
Back to the garden and layers. Why am I talking about layers? Well this Saturday starting at 9:00 am I'll be downtown at the Green Thumb Festival giving a presentation on Layers in the Garden. It is a fun presentation I love doing and hope you all will join me! My presentation is scheduled for 9:00 am in the Education Tent located at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Madison Street in Clarksville but the festival actually starts at 8:00 am. In addition to presentations there will be booths set up where various vendors will be selling garden related wares, the Montgomery County Master Gardeners will be selling plants, there will be various give a ways, and tons of activities for children. This annual event that is now in its third year is a great time for all! See you there.
My cat is a sweet little thing in the garden. My morning routine is to walk the front gardens on my way to get my newspapers from the front lawn. Orkin kitty follows me along begging for attention. She is my resident pest control but the chipmunks here have gotten so out of control she cannot keep up. I have been trapping at a rate of one per day for the last week. As one is captured I can hear more squeaking in the background. They drive me nuts. The dogs are going berserk in the back yard chasing them down as well. I have one dog who is successful in catching and killing the rodents. The problem is all dogs go after them and the gardens are literally trampled beyond the point of recovery. I will have to work on that problem if I am to have any gardens left for the garden tour in June.
Here are more peonies for you though you may be getting tired of them by now. I pick a bunch each day or two for inside of the house. If you only pick a single flower for bouquets I think it should be a peony.
And since we seem to have a lot of critters in this post I thought I'd share our baby bluebirds. They are very close to leaving the nest. I stay away from this birdhouse since I know the babies are so large. Mr. Fix-it was able to run some more of the underground wire around this rather large garden where these birds reside so the dogs also stay away from the babies. I am hoping all of the babies will make a successful transition. It does not always happen that they do but I will keep checking on them....
in the garden....
See you tomorrow at the Habitat ReStore and Green Thumb Festival.
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
Whoever said ponds are 'easy' must not have a pond! While my pond had been fairly clear it recently became very muddy and black. The culprit was not algae but mud. We had a fellow pond enthusiast (who you'll meet Friday) visit us and he said I needed to clean the filters every few hours to get rid of the mud. Great idea! Cleaning the filters was working for a while then I went out of town for a quick sec and when I came back the pond was blacker and browner than ever. Throw in a few rain storms and I had a mess.
Really the only solution was to drain the pond completely, vacuum out all of the debris, then refill the pond. I'm happy to say all was accomplished in one day and the fish did not suffer any trauma in their move. It's very hard to catch koi but once the pond was lowered adequately we were successful and we now have a clean pond. The problem with my pond and mud was not so much runoff (although I haven't completely ruled that cause out) but with the muddy rocks and the plants that I used to build the pond. I underestimated the effect of all the fine silt that clogged up everything and made it impossible to see the bottom of the pond. I am hoping I don't have to clean and drain the pond again but if so, at least now I know how to do it to keep that mud OUT.....
in the garden.....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
You may recall my post this past Friday where I showed you my pond. That post also talked about a few problems with the pond that have since been rectified. Like all things you do for the first time you might not get them right and that was the case with the pond. My main problem was the edging and how to hide the pond liner. Initially I had built a mound on the edge of the pond over which I ran the liner then tucked the liner in a trench on the back side of the mound. The top of the mound was above the water level so the liner was able to be seen when the pond was filled with water. Enter the new way I have now edged the pond. I removed the rocks and the mound then dug out a flat trench about 18" all around the pond. I think this is what the professionals call the coping shelf. The bottom of the trench was level or a bit below the projected level of the water based on lining up a level with the water depth on the skimmer box. I laid the liner flat in the trench, than stacked rocks on the liner and folded the back side of the liner up alongside the rocks. I then hid the excess liner with more rocks and backfilled. It is not a perfect solution but I think a workable solution. You can no longer see the liner with the pond full.
The next problem was with the way the water was running off from the waterfall rock and bouncing on the back rock wall. The water was leaking out of the pond so Mr. Fix-it had to rework the waterfall rocks and wonders of wonders, he actually found black waterfall foam in Home Depot!! This was a boon to our endeavors as it enabled us to finally fix the pond and refill it with water late last night. I had ordered some waterfall foam online but it's not like it is an instant gratification thing. I am still waiting for that can to arrive. We have found you need several cans of black waterfall foam in order to really do a waterfall up water tight and the stuff really works! The waterfall foam held the rocks together well and has sealed up gaps in the rocks where water might leak--at least as far as we can tell for now.
We have a floodlight shining on the pond and it really looks nice in the evening. The garden along side the left side of the pond is now backfilled and planted with moss phlox. I also had the opportunity to divide my horsetail rush and native irises. There are two pots of the irises and one pot of the horsetail in the above pot. When I divided the pot from the bathtub garden I disturbed a frog sleeping in the pot. I was not certain if any frogs would hibernate in the bathtub pond but now I know. I hope it finds a new spot to burrow in for the rest of the winter. Soon the two koi from my bathtub pond will be moved into this pond. It is not a moment too soon either as the koi have really really grown. I don't normally see the koi because they are still rather dark colored (but their colors are coming in) and rather shy but when I removed the pot full of horsetail rush I had a good opportunity to see them....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
