CREATING A GARDEN IN A SUNNY WOODLAND CLEARING

In 1992 I made a sunny woodland opening in front of our ranch house larger.  Two Loblolly Pine trees were no more than 20 feet from the house facade and felt a bit threatening.  So, down they came.  Below....before the Pines were gone, the sun configuration on the right. 

The trees didn't fall from natural causes the way they might have in the typical sequence of natural forest succession, but, the loss of their mass and the shade they provided created a much more open clearing where the sun shone for the first time in many years.  Below (right drawing) shows the sun configuration with the pines gone.

In nature without man's interference the catastrophe of a fallen tree would set into motion a rejuvenation of plant growth adapted to a sunnier micro climate with the seeds of such plants wait for generations in the soil in preparation for just such an opportunity when the sunshine returns stimulating their germination and growth. 

    

   (Above) The courtyard now with a new shadow edge on the east side and entrance arbor on the north side. By removing the pine trees, in my situation, I created a more challenging space than I realized. Intense sun in summer for half the year and full shade during the other six months meant that plants chosen would have to deal with this one very important aspect of the microclimate in the woodland.

               Then.                          Now

The front courtyard begins heating up in late May when the sun clears the tops of the trees on the south side of the woodland. There are now three extremely different planting situations at the edges of the pool of light 18' wide and 36' long. 

            Further inside the courtyard

                          Looking South

First things first......give the space a more natural look, one that blended into the surrounding woodland. I removed the straight concrete 'builders walkway', had it broken up into irregular pieces and laid it back down in a more organic configuration.  

(Above) There are  1 to 2 inch spaces between the large concrete pieces. I   had a garden in mind that I had seen at the Strybing  Arboretum in San Francisco.  That garden had an ancient look about it. The stones used there were very large,  gray and primeval looking. 

This view is from an upper deck porch entrance added in 1995. Sitting here, overlooking the north facing garden, I can see all edges of the garden right through to the simple four post arbor that encloses the courtyard at the other end. Below, you can see the chair on the deck porch where I am sitting. 

 When I look straight ahead and East from the chair there is a Japanesque feeling framing the woodland garden. 

I can sit on the original front porch that also faces east (above).  To the right, looking south from the same porch, I see the porch deck on the addition added in 1995.

        View from original front porch

The original paving design came right up to the porch deck wall with the exception of a pocket garden planted with a Variegated Hinoki Cypress, Pieris 'Temple Bells' , Fatshedera lizei, and Agarista 'Rainbow'.   Over the years a native spreading fern, Woodwardia, took hold in the cracks and spread northward about 8 feet.  I've been letting it do it's thing and have added Hardy Beginia,  Acorus 'Ogon', Holly fern, Purple Oxalis, a few more Hosta and containers that give height to it's  natural character.

 A few containers off the original front porch are getting more sun. Their positions can be changed as well as their contents to give pops of color in the green toned mixture of the more permanent planting scheme. 

Across a ramped stone access walk  from the deck porch on the eastern edge is a short embankment garden. there is an azalea hedge as backdrop at the top of the hill.   Nandina and Cryptomeria 'Globosa Nana' are at the 'head waters' of the cascade of Hosta ending in a splash of Lonicera nitida along the walk. 

It's 11:30 in the morning at the beginning of August and you can see the sunspot on the west side of the courtyard.  The house is 10' tall giving this bed of Edgeworthia, Mondo Grass, Geranium macrorrhizum, Iris virginica, Eucomis, Cephalotaxus, Pieris, Nandina, Symphorocarpus, Hinoki Cypress, Camellia, containers of Heuchera and Caladiums a much-needed rest from intense sun as heavy afternoon shade creeps in around 3-4pm. 

In the five minutes i have been writing I took this photo.  Notice that the sun is now caressing a thread leaved Thuja occidentalis (above in the left middle of this image) that is on the other side of the path.  In another hour the  right side will be in full sunshine providing the minimum amount of intense daylight for healthy growth of  Coral Bark Maple, Dwarf Cryptomeria, Fothergilla, Dwarf Chamaecyparus and a low mingled planting of Lemon-balm Kalamiris, Acorus, Oxalis, Tricyrtis, Tradescantia, Ajuga, Saxifraga stolinifera, 'Jet Trail Quince and Japanese Anemone. 

At the north end where the arbor gets a wash of southern sunshine most of the day I once grew a blooming rose (removed in 2005 in favor of a softer planting of Jelsemium sempervirens and Lonicera sempervirens......see 'VINE WARS'.)

Annual Cypress Vine twining on the arbor is so pretty and attracts  hummingbirds. The arbor provides its own challenging microclimate under and around the structure. 

 

Some people despair when a tree falls in their woods and creates an intensity of sun where there has been shade. Don't be afraid.  Now you have been given an adventurous opportunity to learn how these new forest edges will welcome a vast and interesting array of plants that will further enhance your gardens in woodlands.

PATH MAKING CAN SOMETIMES = FILE CLEARING

Two office experiences collided last week and I had to get creative.  The shredder bit the dust and it was time to clear out 20 years of files.  What to do? Why, fill in one of my sunken paths, of course and use those shredding $'s to purchase some mulch. 

'SOMETIME CREEK' had eroded two of my causeway crossovers. Years ago I had placed 4" PVC pipes parallel to the water course of a perennial running creek;  layered cut logs parallel to the pipes and mulched over the corrugated walk making it a smooth pleasure to get close to the Broad Beech Fern that naturally resides in the wet valley. Over the 20+ succeeding years I have had to fill over those pipes at least three times to make the paths passable.  It was time again. 

This year instead of using cardboard boxes or newspaper I had 20 years of files to dispose of and no shredder.  So, I spent the morning clearing out one side of a storage room and filled a deep wheelbarrow with all the files. 

How satisfying it was to toss the papers in chunky handfuls over the low wet spot. I didn't even have to soak the paper ( this helps if you are using cardboard or newspaper to fill in low spots in a path. )

Once the wheelbarrow was empty and the path full  I only needed 10 bags of Cedar Mulch to cover the paper up to the log sides.  Total time for that? 45 min. 

Last fall I found four coir door mats on sale with our initials on them. They were vetoed on two counts for using them at the doors of the house: too small and too pretentious. They also sat in the store room with my years of files until I came across them in my cleanout and remembered the garden of the late Ian Hamilton Findlay, LITTLE SPARTA.  As a sculptor of stone pieces and owner of property in Scotland he decided to populate his garden walk with carved stones spelling out classical phrases.   

So, into the Cedar Mulch went the lettered mats.  There is also a funky frog reading a birding book beside the path where I placed a note giving a hint of the meaning of the mats. 

Now this causeway is known as 'ODE TO LITTLE SPARTA'. Thank you, Ian Hamilton Findlay, where ever you are, for creating and sharing your inspiration with other gardeners all over the world.