This year First Shade Day landed on May 6, 2021. If you are confused as to what First Shade Day is please read my first post on First Shade Day. I almost pulled the trigger on First Shade Day a week ago but the shade wasn’t quite deep enough.
It’s been a very odd year so far.
We started with a warm spell in early April that had me, and the plants, convinced it was going to be an early spring. For the most part, it has been, we escaped the typical heavy frost or snowstorm in early April.
The weather over the last few weeks has turned cooler and windier though I suppose that is typical for a New England spring. Expect the unexpected.
My nose has been telling me that the pollen this year is off the charts. My home is surrounded by Sugar Maple trees which have been dropping pollen like crazy. We had showers today and you can see the pollen gathering on the edge of the puddles.
I enjoy being around ponds, streams and rivers in Connecticut. I find them very calming. Below are some photos I’ve taken through the years.
I hope you enjoy them.
Bartlett Arboretum Stream Stamford CT
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago. Since this is a blog about landscaping I’ll point out that the yellow flowers closest to the camera are spicebush (Lindera benzoin). The Bartlett Arboretum is rarely crowded and a great place to collect your thoughts or learn about plants.
Halfway River Newtown CT
If you need a quiet place to think there is no better. Wear shoes with good tread, it’s a downhill walk to the river with some mud at the bottom. Halfway River Open Space Preserve has some traffic noise but the views are worth it.
Covered Bridge Southford Falls Southbury CT
Southford Falls is a fun park with a moderate climb to a fire tower. If you’re climbing to the fire tower the ‘easier’ climb is found by walking past the pavilion. Going over the covered bridge will get you to the fire tower but the middle of the hike is almost straight up. Here is the Southford Falls Trail Map.
Housatonic River Upper Paugussett State Forest Newtown CT
Every time I hike the Upper Paugussett State Forest I’m amazed at how far from civilization I feel while being so close to civilization. This park has an ‘easier’ trail through the middle with plenty of more, or less, challenging trails around the perimeter. The river you’re looking at is the Housatonic River.
Warner Pond Newtown CT
I tried to find the state forest this pond is in but had no luck. I did find Elia Kazan’s obituary which explains the piece of property. This view of the pond is gorgeous.
Lilypads Oxford CT
While driving down a small road in Oxford, CT I saw this view. I brought my camera the next day. Such a beautiful place.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the ponds, streams and rivers of Connecticut.
A couple of weeks ago I performed a spring seeding of my lawn and would like to share some spring seeding tips. My goal was to fill bare spots and overseed my dog’s run. Overseeding the run is most likely a waste of time but I had to give it a try.
I live in USDA Hardiness Zone 6 where we grow cool-season grass. In a nutshell, cool-season grass goes dormant in the winter when temperatures are cold and over the summer when temperatures are hot.
My goal is to complete spring overseeding as early as possible. Definitely before forsythia bloom. If there are a few warm days at the end of winter and the ground isn’t muddy I take advantage of the opportunity to overseed thin spots.
The ideal time to plant cool-season grass is late August to September when temperatures are cool and rainfall abundant. I don’t plant new lawns in the spring unless absolutely necessary. However, spring overseeding and filling bare spots is acceptable.
The first thing I did was run my Aerovator over the bare areas. If you don’t have an Aerovator you can rent an aerator or use a metal rake to roughen the soil. Grass seed wants to grow and if kept moist it will.
The Aerovator has solid tines, unlike an aerator’s hollow tines, which penetrate the soil and vibrate.
Again, you don’t need an Aerovator to do the job but once you see the results you’ll be amazed. The machine leaves the lawn spongy soft with holes that allow air, water, nutrients and seed to enter.
While the Aerovator is an aggressive machine, you can control the amount it disturbs the soil. However, if there is no grass cover, like my dog’s run, the results are very similar to using a tiller.
Once I aerovated the lawn I generously spread Lesco Shady Select Grass Seed. I have a lot of sugar maples that provide plenty of shade.
Most cool-season grass seed mixes contain bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass. If you have shade you want a seed mix with more fescue. The amount of fescue in this seed mix is off the charts! I can’t wait to see how it does.
When seeding I always go heavy. Clients like to see grass as soon as possible and I like to grow grass as thick as possible.
I used the back of a bamboo rake to incorporate the seed into the soil. While I know every tutorial ever written on planting grass says to do this I admit I often skip this step and the seed does wonderfully. Again, the secret to growing grass is to keep the seed moist.
Finally, I top-dressed the area with a light coating of compost. I would say the compost is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
I selected well-aged compost with little debris. I picked some debris out while shoveling the compost into the wheelbarrow.
Once finished composting I walked away and didn’t water once. It’s been a relatively warm, yet dry, spring and I’m happy to say after two and a half weeks there’s a green fuzz in the backyard. We did get a couple of rainstorms.
I would have better results if I watered the new seed, and you will too, but it’s early enough that mother nature will do most of the work. Seeing the seedlings motivated me to start watering though it’s supposed to rain the next couple of days.
As you can see above seeding my dog’s run was an exercise in futility. However, if you use these spring seeding tips in your yard you’ll have great results.
How often do people call and say, “John, I want you to design an adequate landscape for me. It doesn’t matter the plants or materials you use. Make it look adequate.”
The short answer. Never.
When I meet clients I meet people who want to make their home more beautiful.
Clients want interest in all seasons. Clients want low maintenance. Clients want a functional landscape.
People want the best!
Never in my life has someone called and said, “I want an adequate landscape.”
It’s been an early spring. Weatherwise, we’re at least two weeks ahead of where we usually are this time of year.
I have posted a picture of this group of daffodil flowers previously after a spring freeze. However, I won’t get the opportunity this year. I’m more than ok with that.
Notice the deep edges on the beds, I edged the bed a couple of days ago. The lawn is greener than usual because of the warm weather.
This picture of daffodil flowers was taken on April 12, 2021.
Compare how unfrozen these daffodil flowers are to the recommended post below.
Last week I noticed a sure sign Spring is coming; Daffodils were poking through the snow where I had shoveled access for the oil delivery.
I admit, for me, January is one of the toughest months of the year. As a plant lover, I thrive on sunshine, and there is very little sunshine in January.
Luckily, by the time February rolls around the signs of spring returning start to show.
Signs of spring I’ve noticed over the years include:
Daffodils poking through the snow.
The sun shining later and brighter than in January.
Falling snow is fluffier yet more sticky.
The temperature rises to the mid 40’s more often.
Mud, and lots of it, where the snow has melted.
Birds singing more often, and a happier toon.
I start singing more often, and a happier toon.
These poor Daffodils were literally growing under a foot of snow, as you can see below.
I was watching a video on Myers-Briggs Personality Types today and learned that my type has an artistic side. Well duh! The speaker mentioned INFJ‘s often draw, paint or play an instrument. This left me feeling a bit perplexed.
I’ve never felt a desire to draw or paint. Yes, I took piano lessons for a while but it just wasn’t for me. So how is it that I’m a ‘creative‘?
I don’t see myself as a creative person. It goes back to when I was a child. Being creative was looked at as having some sort of terminal disease. Being an artist was an unacceptable career choice.
Today, yet again, I thought, “Where is your creativity? All you do is spread topsoil, dig holes, and spread mulch. Who can’t do that?”
Luckily, I caught myself before it spiraled out of control.
I don’t think I’ll ever find a way to communicate what I do effectively. There’s more to it than digging and mulching.
Designing, installing and maintaining landscapes is my form of self-expression.
I look at a space and figure out how to make it look best.
I’ve spent a lifetime learning about plants and observing how plants perform in landscapes. I’ll never stop learning.
Bloodroot growing on the edge of a road.
Trillium growing in the forest.
A beautiful stream with boulders flanked by hemlocks.
Part of the design process, for me, is to stare at a space and let my mind wander, almost subconsciously, and see what pops into it. My Myers-Briggs Type’s dominant function is intuition.
We had light snow today which left the backyard with some interesting patterns. In an effort to uncover tasty birdseed the birds left some interesting patterns in the back yard. Needless to say, I spread the seed around the backyard so everyone who visits has a chance to eat!
A couple of weeks ago I spotted a flower on one of my elephant ears, presently there are two flowers on all three of my elephant ears.
I’ve been growing these elephant ears for two years. They started as strangly plants I picked up on clearance at the grocery store and turned into green monsters.
I used a hand truck to bring the pots inside to overwinter. Near the end of winter, I almost abandoned the project because the plants weren’t looking good. I’m glad I didn’t. It’s such a pleasure to watch elephant ears grow.
Each plant is producing two blooms and then another leaf. The blooms are covered with wrapping when they emerge. On one of the plants, I had to carefully remove the covering and on another, I broke the flower thinking the covering was a stuck leaf.
The flowers aren’t showy but I’m thrilled to have them. To me the blooms are a sign of a happy elephant ear!
Besides the flowers and huge leaves, there’s another interesting thing about elephant ears. They literally dribble water from their leaves. In the picture below you can see the streams of water running down the leaf.
I water my elephant ears liberally once or twice a day. The wetter the soil, and hotter the temperature, the happier elephant ears are.
I’m looking forward to showing you elephant ear seeds if I get any. Meanwhile, if you recognize the species please let me know what I’ve got. There was no tag on the plants when I bought them but I knew they had to be elephant ears.
