MOVING MOSS

The Fall , for me, is the best time to establish a moss garden. As the temperature drops the mists and moisture rise from the ground. Leaves falling cover bare earth spots where you harvest.  Above was the mossy " slippery when wet " state of a stone path. So it was time to clean, restore and harvest the moss for a new moss pathway. Resident toads have found their winter hibernating homes in other places in the garden so I'm hoping they stay burrowed while I scrape and clean the stone surface. 

I have somewhat of a moss farm right in front of my house.  After 4-5 years a 40' long stone path and terrace on the North East side of the house is over 1/2 covered in moss. This will be the fourth harvesting of moss from this area  in the 20 years since the stone walk and terrace were built. 

A trusty spatula easily lifted the moss that was placed in alternate upside down stacks in a flat cart for transporting to its new location. 

Out came the brush broom and a combination of bleach and an enzyme cleaner.  

The sudsy mix looked like a waterfall. It stayed on the surface for an hour. I did this twice while I laid the new moss path. 

I raked away the mulch and debris down to the parent soil where I wanted the path;  watered the heck out of the path to make  a cushy sometimes muddy base.

Then I began placing the moss pieces. Once the path was full of moss I watered again and foot tamped it down. I always love this part. Besides being finished with bending over I feel like a kid again with no cares in the would except sloshing about in a puddle. I was careful not to kick the moss out of place as I sloshed all over it.  

The path looks a little lumpy but the moss will knit into place by springtime. 

WARNING: If you are in a healthy woodland filled with creatures of the night .... Protect the moss with a wire mesh of some type pinned over the moss so the those little brats don't tear it up trying to find bugs and grubs for their midnight snack. 

Three hours later I had a new moss path and a safe and cleaned stone walk. (Somewhat sterile looking, I admit) but, I won't have to wait long for the moss to re-cover the path again. 

What better reason to clean off a stone path than to have company coming to visit. I don't want to take any chances if them slipping and falling.  Isn't that when we get our houses the cleanest? No more ROCKS SLIPPERY WHEN WET!!!

CACOPHONY OF COLOR AND TEXTURE AS AUTUMN ARRIVES

I remember trying to learn that last layer of knowledge about the fall color of plants to incorporate into my landscape plans and struggling to keep spring, summer, fall and winter in my mind for each plant.  I now think that just about any fall color mixture is what Mother Nature intended. Fall color is here for such a short while, so focusing on leaf texture, plant shape and size plays more of a roll when final choices are made. Above are the leaves of our native Dogwood and Redbud embracing a jaunty Yellowwood reaching for the sun. 

In my gardens in the woodland I like it better to be utterly surprised and enthralled when the magic of the coloring leaves visits the senses every year.  I walked under the Sassafras on the upper right of the picture and didn't even notice it until I was turned around coming back on the same path. I love how it dangles above the big Canna Banana leaves in the foreground. 

If it's possible to back light a particularly vibrant fall leaf, go for it.  But, don't fret if you can't always do what the design books tell you. Here huge Paw Paw leaves face the southern sun opening in the trees. 

I took a turn around the woodland two days ago and saw colors I had forgotten about. I think the light of the sky was just right for me to see these beauties in my woods and at the edges dancing to the gentle southeastern breezes that bring such pleasurable weather to North Carolina in October. Starting from the driveway I was drawn toward the 4 year old Acer 'Bihou' shining against an evergreen background and the Honey Locust, Sumac combination on the right. 

Below are two shots from different angles of those trees. 

Cardinal Vine grounds this picture as it drapes over a quince. Below is the young Acer 'Bihou'

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Turning around, the now 20' tall Coralbark Maple, is set against the sun and cradled in the arms of a China Fir. 

That streak of light coming in from the upper right corner is a spider's silk thread.  The foreground is filled with Abelia chinensis. 

Native Grapevine hangs with a spirit man leaf on a Winged Elm. Finely cut leaves catch the light in a chartreusey puff on a Vitex Tree and the creamy buff color of giant Solomon Seal leaves adds to the experience as they droop over the path. 

There is an abundance of early yellows in the air along with flaming orange and deep crimsons. 

Flaming vines, like torches, show themselves 30-40' in the air. 

A majestic Cornus florida with berries alongside the turning leaves. 

I get to enjoy the full display of a Winged Elm at the edge of my neighbor's west facing woodland edge. 

Looking up I see Tulip Poplar, Witch-hazel,  and Mulberry doing 'their own thing'. 

The show has just begun so I leave you with this southern edge picture of pastel perfection combining on their own and taking a very deep bow: Dog Fennel, a Sumac sucker and the very foreign Heptacodium myconoides, with the pink bracts hanging on to the curtain.  

After thought....

Those of you in the mountains... Zone 6.... Heptacodium bracts take on a deep red color. 

HANDY OUTDOOR STORAGE FOR THE GARDEN

I consider my front porch as an important part of the entrance garden in my woodland. As you can see walking into the front courtyard the broken concrete path curves to the right leading to the front door under the roof elbow and situated to the left of the long narrow cavelike porch that tucks into the house. 

It faces east looking into a verdant woodland scene unlike the ancient caves at Bandelier National Monument that face west to capture the much needed warmth of New Mexico's winter sun. 

But, I digress a bit now to talk about the ongoing need for dry storage in the garden. This is one solution for a 7' X 2' X 4'1/2" cabinet that houses handy tools and seasonal decorations outside. 

Our house did not come with a detached garage, carport or storage building but it did have the 6' wide front porch tucked into the roof line. The depth accommodates a couple of rocking chairs.  At one end there was sort of a dead space between the kitchen window and end wall. 

I decided to build a rustic armoire to fill the space reminding me of a trip ( in my 20's) to New Mexico. I came upon 100 year old doors from a post office and began to build. The doors were made of Oak and the wood had become hard as iron with age, almost petrified ( I saw the Petrified Forest on that trip west, too.) The doors I used had the original hand forged hardware which added great character to the piece. 

All the joining had to be done with pilot holes and screws as the hard aged wood long since denied the penetration of nails. To keep it water tight and somewhat weather tight it was caulked inside with a silicone seal. 

My brother, nephew and I lfinished building and painting this beauty in a weekend. Now all I need is "Help in the Garden". 

ON THE NORTH SIDE ...... A new garden

         BEFORE.                 AFTER

Woodland Garden edges sometimes demand attention. The before and after picture of a small wedge shaped entrance garden, seen above off my gravel driveway, is nestled in the north facing 1/2 shade of the woods. 

It was time to transplant a few somewhat mature root bound evergreens out of containers that had given me pleasure for at least 5 years. 

And even though I had placed an unusual Hinoki Cypress as the sentinel into the main front courtyard, after twenty years it was blocking the view to the entrance of the house.  So, out it came. 

On one side of the gravel path to the courtyard Selaginella and Strawberry Begonia had made a happy home encroaching and narrowing the path by a good 18" over a two year period. 

I thought this band could be transplanted to make a great skirt to edge the newly cleared bed at the top of the wedge. Loosening it's roots was easy. I cut the inside edge to where the original path edge was and slipped my shovel underneath the growing roots. Then I began to role up sections to transfer. 

Marcus supervised. 

In a little under three hours I had a new shade garden entrance. see the edging along the bottom of the picture? It's a great time of year to transplant......the cooling weather, the moisture, the plants crying out for a change of scenery..... HA

FALL MAGIC or Why I love Autumn Gardens in Woodlands

Apart from pushing spider webs out of the way when walking the woodland paths and sweeping them from the house eaves, at this time of year, be on the look out for magical visual gifts in the early morning lit up by the slanting sun. 

I saw this silvery floating disk from my kitchen window as I was washing up the breakfast dishes. 

There it was....a floating alien space ship looking to land in my woods. 

I knew I had to get outside quickly to capture it's glowing placement before the sun rose a little higher in the sky.  I keep my IPhone at the ready. 

Try as I might, I couldn't get a clear image of Mrs. Spider in her leafy shelter resting above the web attached by a single strand of silk. 

15 minutes later the web disappeared in shadow as the sun moved on for the day. 

What better reason to live on the woods than to experience moments like this. 

POEMS POP INTO MY HEAD WHEN AUTUMN ARRIVES

Patient and tempered in Summer's heat the forest floor holds its wonders in warm beds that silently never rest.

When golden canopies catch popping pine cones falling from soaring needled branches, we wander cooled for hours in Autumn's air. 

Life breathes along paths and moss carpets tucked into secret rooms where fairies ring recklessly around roots and stumps.

Leftover leaves crunch under Winter's footsteps in mosaic music mustering mulch while protecting precious sleeping pretties. 

Sun strokes strengthen and ferns freely fiddle about trails and trunks reveling Spring's arrival to the gardens in woodlands. 

Suzanne S. Edney   2010