The Shade Garden awaiting repairs and changes

Like it or not, I’ve been given the challenge of renovating our shade garden. Some changes were inevitable. I knew that. But little did I realize just how many changes were in store!

Our tiny village has finally installed a municipal sewage system and every house and business is being hooked into it. This past week, it was our turn.

Down came the board fence and gate. We were told the contractor would be here on Friday so I had planned to remove plants growing along the path of the sewer mains on Thursday evening. Upon returning home from work on Wednesday I discovered the contractor in the process of digging up our side yard. So of course I had to go straight to work removing the plants I wanted to save. When that task was completed, I headed indoors for the longed for cup of tea I hadn’t had yet. No sooner did I get the pot of tea made, when a knock on the door brought the news that more plants had to come out. Back to the digging!

To make a long story short, two thirds of the plants were removed, the grass torn up, and a pile of soil spanning the width of the shady side yard sits waiting to be levelled. Some plants are gone for good. Some damaged to the point where a lot of TLC is required to help them recover.

On the plus side, the weeds are gone, some of the perennials have been divided giving me more plants, the bed has been widened and more soil has been added to it.

Yesterday morning, the mosquitoes and I re-planted the shade garden without much thought as to placement of the plants.  I did consider height, width and foliage colours before plopping the plants in the ground, but so great was my desire to avoid becoming a banquet for every mosquito in the village, form and texture became unimportant. Talk about off the cuff landscape design!

It will be interesting to see which plants will survive the rough treatment they experienced and how the garden looks once things have settled. No doubt this fall will see a great deal of tweaking in the shade garden. Probably next spring will bring even more tweaking,

The front yard is also a mess, but not nearly as bad as the shade garden in the side yard. Some lavender plants were damaged, the back sides of the variegated willow standards were shorn off and the small lawn has been made smaller thanks to more mounds of dirt that trace the path of the sewer pipes to the road. The front garden should be fairly easy to restore, and the willows, being willows will come back quickly.

On that note, I’m off to join the mosquitoes and continue the garden repairs.

The Shade Garden 2007

This small village of ours is about to enter the twentieth (yes, twentieth!) century! So long septic systems and hello sewer system! After years of planning, and construction, the municipal sewage system will is nearing completion. Now that homeowners have recovered from the shock of the rather hefty bill we each now owe the Municipality, we get to hand over more cash for the privilege of hooking up to the system and disabling our septic systems. I say privilege, but truth be know, property owners are not being given a choice. Hook up or be hooked up! I’m not complaining, not in the least. I for one am happy to be saying farewell to septic systems and drainage ditches that are ripe with the smell of raw waste. But (you had to know there would be a “but”), what distresses me more than the cost is that fact that my shade garden is about to be severely damaged! Ouch!

This weekend has been spent clearing the area for the sewer hook up. Unfortunately, that area is right through the middle of the shade garden and across the front garden. Damages to the front garden I can live with. It was brutalized last year when we had a new roof installed. Knowing the sewers were coming in, we didn’t bother fixing it. As for the front walkway that has to be removed to accommodate the sewer hook up, well, I think I should send a thank you note to the Municipality. That path has been an eyesore for years, and this is just the impetus we needed to reposition it and plant grass seed and shrubs where the walkway is now.

But the shade garden! That is breaking my heart! Today we removed the solid board fence and gate that protected the shade plants from the late afternoon sun and provided much needed privacy to the back garden. We also cut back to ground level the silver leaf dogwood that stood beside the gate. Being a dogwood, it will begin growing again shortly, and by this time next year, you’ll never even know it was levelled.

Next weekend, I must begin digging up all the plants that are in the way of the sewer lines being installed later this month. Ferns, hostas, Solomon’s seal, Jack-in-the pulpit, astible, aquelgia, violets, tradescantia and more, will all be uprooted and put into pots until the fall. That is the easy part. The difficult part will be finding a place with enough shade to protect them throughout our hot, sunny summer. And where they will not be in the direct line of fire from the feral felines and free-roaming Fido’s our village is (in)famous for.

When moving a garden, either temporarily or to a new property, there are things that can be done to insure success:

• Dig a large soil ball so there are enough roots to support the plant while it’s in its pot

• Select a pot size that is just big enough to acommodate the root ball. Too small a pot and the roots will wind around the pot. Too big and the plant will send out far too many new roots.

• Use a good quality, sterilized potting mix. Do not use garden soil which may contain insects and/or diseases. The plants may not have the strength to fend them off after being uprooted.

• Fertilize with a water soluble transplant fertilizer (10-52-10). This fertilizer targets the root systems of plants, making them stronger so they recover more quickly from their move.

• Cut back the foliage by at least one third so the plant will be able to sustain itself more easily.

• Keep the newly potted plants watered! They will be in shock after being dug up, which stresses the plants. Don’t add to the problem by forgetting to water them.

• Try to hold over the potted plants in the same light conditions as they were originally growing in.

• Protect the plants from the drying effects of the wind