Rain Garden Revisited

In February, it seems that winter will never end. I was organizing photos and came across a bunch of the yard. It was heartening to see the lushness of spring and summer and be reminded that the world will take on more shades of green.

In early spring, the rain garden isn't much to look at, but the fountain draws in birds like crazy. That white PVC is the power cord and it will soon be covered in leafy lushness. We have nesting blue jays, robins, and cardinals that call the yard home. The robins especially love a pool party and nest in the lilac tree overlooking the fountain.

By June, the China Snow Pekin lilac (Syringa pekinensis 'Morton') is in full glorious bloom and perfumes the entire block. Although it may sucker like crazy, it's now two stories tall and probably will keep going. It provides shelter for birds and blooms when few other trees are putting on a show. That's a Rivers purple beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii') which I simply adore for the fact that it's emphatically purrrrrple!

In July, the rain garden really kicks into gear as it is planted mostly in natives and of those, many prairie species. It's a butterfly magnet and if you click on the photo, you'll see an Eastern tiger swallowtail deeply enjoying the liatris. This is when we are lured to the little patio to watch the garden literally buzz with insect life.The prairie plants keep on dazzling well into September, so we are a nice pollinator pit stop, too.

This is a functioning rain garden. It is about 10 x 12 feet and it holds about a quarter of the roof volume. It keeps that side of the basement dry and percolates in mere hours. We are spoiled with deep black loamy clay soil that drains, so I didn't have to do any amending when we dug this. Beneficial and beautiful!

Ice Storm Interlude

This week's ice storm gave the yard a platinum finish of crystal. Already a slippery, stormy, memory, the ice does create some garden magic.

 The little bluestem is finally bowed, but not broken.

My little Pusch Norway spruce shrub was nicely gilded. This little darling only grows an inch or two a year. I love it's spring cones that are lipstick purple.

This Lespedeza sp. continues to delight in September when it is covered in hot pink pea-like flowers. The ice gives its winter shagginess new elegance. Like Buddleia, it gets cut to the ground each spring, fountaining up six feet each year.

The front yard with redbud and the inimitable hackberry in the parkway. That huge tree let fly volleys of ice all night, but didn't drop a limb!

Meticulous Mummifying of Trees

These are fairly mature Freeman-type maple trees. I bet they have bark fissures under there.

Things that make a horticulturist go 'hmmmmm' are many and varied. This, however, was a new one for me. Out on a lunch date with a good friend, we turned down this lovely suburban lane. I understand, even recommend, wrapping thin barked trees for winter protection. I like the brown paper tree wrap, but you can go this fancy with the burlap. Why wrap trees in winter?

1). Protect thin bark from sun scald which may cause cracks in the bark to form. On bright, sunny winter days, bark can warm up enough to stimulate cellular activity. Once the sun goes down and temperatures plummet, those cells freeze and die. You'll often see vertical cracks or fissures on the south or west sides of young maple trees, particularly the Freeman types. Tree wrap helps keep the temperatures at the bark from fluctuating as much.

2). Protect tree bark from animal grazing from rabbits or voles. Hungry critters will dine on thin tree bark when they run out of other options. They can be particularly fond of fruit trees or fruit bearing trees like apples, crabapples, and serviceberries. I fence my tender trees, shrubs, and roses in winter to keep the bunnies from grazing. Rabbits have preferences, so don't be afraid to ask when you purchase woody plants if they are favored by the bunnies. Tree wrap acts as a barrier between rodent and bark, which is why you want to go all the way down to the soil level.

In these photos, however, are a bunch of mature trees with nice thick insulating bark. They aren't species that rabbits favor and besides, they've got mature corky bark, not thin, delicate, tasty bark. Someone has done a very elegant job of wrapping these trees, but it is utterly unnecessary. Plus, they are located in an old suburb and have large, mature trees around them, minimizing the chances of sun scald on those maples. As we continued driving down this particular street, trees were wrapped like this over and over again with newly planted trees ignored. So bizarre. Such a waste of time and money. At least they weren't volcano mulched.

This is an ash tree. The tree wrap doesn't go down far enough and is utterly pointless on this type of tree. I hope they are treating it for emerald ash borer.

(Thanks, Jen, for putting up with my swearing and taking the photos! Check out her new business - dayhouse coworking)