Tweaking the Sunken Garden

   The Sunken Garden is a small garden just south of the garage, about 50 feet by 25 feet.  It is about four feet lower than the narrow, level area extending from the garage.  From the front of the garage, five steps descend to the garden.
   The garden gets very little light in summer, and less and less each year.  In the 1970s, the area was mainly lawn.  As the trees grew larger, I had hostas in it.  In the 1980s, I planted two Euonymus alatus (Winged Euonymus, but incorrectly called Burning Bush) and one E. europaeus (European Euonymus).  By the early 1990s, even hostas failed.  I next planted pachysandra, which never did well, either (except for the raised terraces on the east end).  Finally, Lamiastrum galeobdolon (Yellow Archangel), a sure-fire deep-shade plant, failed as well.  So, about six years ago I started a moss garden on the far southern part.  Later, I started introducing Thalictrum dioicum (early Meadow Rue), which is doing fine.  It will take a couple of years before it fills in completely.
   Yesterday, I added three large log sections of a green ash tree I cut down recently (not because of the borer, incidentally) covering it with the moss Anomodon attenuatus.  I covered the moss with quarter-inch plastic mesh to aid in the attachment of the moss to the wood, which should take two to three months.  The bark already had moss growing on it, mainly Hygroamblystegium varium.

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