New photos

      I just downloaded to my computer of some new photos of the garden area just posted in the last few weeks.  Frankly, I forgot that I took them (I take a huge number of photos).  So, please pardon the repetition--but the new photos are better, I think.

Hosta hillside

 Note: I am having difficulty creating a new post, as Google tells me I am out of storage space.  This problem might take a while to solve, plus I will be out of state for a few days.  So, please accept my apology for the trouble.

This area of hostas was established about 25 years ago.  It is on a hill sloping both to the back of the lot (to the west) and to the right (or north).  The wall of railroad ties was just replaced this May.  The cobblestones at its base are sandstone.  I collected several thousand of them in 2009 at a factory site on the south side of Milwaukee, which was built in the 1880s.

     The first photo was mistakenly placed in the last post.  The last photo shows the area from the reverse view.

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On to the back

     These photos are from the far SW corner of the property, and following posts will move to the north.  At this point the lot is sloping uphill both to the west (towards the back) and to the north.  The back of the property is 150 wide, and the hill sloping north rises about 15 feet over that length.

     Note: the second photo is not supposed to be there, and I cannot find how to remove it for now.

     The first photo shows the entrance to the gardens in the back, and the second and third show the area where there are two small sunken gardens.  The fourth photo shows that area from the back of the lot looking in the opposite direction east southeast towards the house.  As it was taken in 2016, the lawn has been reduced considerably in 2019.

     The last photo shows where the path splits, with one part leading north.  Several rocks covered with moss are at that junction.

Southwest corner-Part 2

     In the previous post, a cobblestone path is shown that ends at a bark mulch path.  This post continues along that bark mulch path.  Photos 2-4 show a rock from a cave in Missouri into which I inserted some moss.  The moss continues to spread over the rock about an inch a year.

     The shed shown in the first photo is on my neighbor's property.

Southwest corner-Part 1

    This post is begins the tour of the large area beyond the back lawn.  It has several paths that lead from the southwest corner of the property to the northwest corner, climbing a hill that rises close to 20 feet.  It has several small gardens or features that surprise people touring for the first time, as none of them are visible from the house or patio.  Some of the paths are made with sandstone cobbles which were used as street pavers in the late 1800s.  

   

    

My wife loved cats.

   My dear wife, gone now three years (cancer), "planted" numerous cats (and other creatures) around my gardens to "help" me.  And, honestly, she often did as these photos of a cat or two will show.  The photos were taken between 2015 and 2020, though the spot is about 10-12 years old.  It all started with a thick piece of a log left over from another project in another part of the gardens.  Most of the moss appeared on its own.  I think it did a great job.  There are about five species of moss in the garden.  The small fern is Cystopteris fragilis (Fragile fern or Brittle bladderfern), a world-wide fern which spreads readily by spores and rhizomes.  The sixth photo shows a closeup of the dominant moss, Thuidium delicatulum and Thalictrum dioicum (Early meadow rue), a small native perennial that appears often in my gardens

   The first two photos were taken a few weeks ago, and it shows the approach to the "cat garden" that is positioned on the south border of the property, backed up by a stockade fence (replaced in May).

More of the back yard

   One of the most influential gardens I ever visited was Bellingrath Gardens, just south of Mobile, Alabama.  It has a large oval "great lawn" surrounded by shrubbery, backed up by large trees.  Both my front and back lawns reflect that design.  Quite unnatural--but striking and impactful.

   The first two photos, taken from the same location, show the before and after views of my remaking of the backyard last summer, and continuing this summer.  I reduced the size of the lawn by a third and added perennial beds around the smaller lawn.  In the second photo the Vinca minor has yet to fill in the foreground area.  The triangular bed on the left foreground was built last week, and it contains all tiny hostas.  

   The next two photos are views of the patio looking towards the house.  I only use begonias for annuals, and only one color, rose, plus white.  I gave up mixing colors and species many years ago.  I found it too busy and messy looking--like trying to look good wearing plaid pants and striped shirts.

   I designed the hanging light fixture way back in 1980, and I have three new fixtures in my gardens now.

   The next two photos show my favorite moss garden, built in 2016.  The wooden structure was designed by Leonardo da Vinci about 500 years ago.  I saw a larger version of it in a da Vinci museum in Venice, Italy.  I'll bet he never built one!  Very difficult to make, even with modern tools.

   The last photo is of one of the first moss gardens I built, around 2008.  Moss Acres, a commercial seller of moss in Pennsylvania, uses this photo in their magazine ads and on their Facebook page.