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

A SIMPLE BENCH UNDER A SINGULAR TREE

Sometimes a tree will oblige your garden with an amazing surprise. It's up to you to recognize such a gift and honor the tree's efforts. 

At the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC such a gift was presented by an aging Hinoki Cypress. Hedera colchica  (Persian Ivy) was planted under that tree by JC Raulston himself around thirty years ago.

Lower branches were removed as the tree's suckers expanded beyond the original trunk and a path was cut through the Ivy and mulched. 

Adding a simple wooden bench was all that was needed to complete this garden in a woodland of a single species. 

THE CURTAINS ARE DOWN BUT THE SHOW'S NOT OVER

The leaves are finally filling in the bare branches of winter.  Etherials on the forest floor are grasping for the last vestiges of as unobstructed sunlight as the trees will allow. 

In spring understory specimens planted near the house become curtains of all manor of foliage texture, flower color and shape.  The 30" paddle whorls of Magnolia tripetala against expanding crinoline petticoats of Hinoki Cypress hover over ferns and decorative ground covers. 

Star shaped chartreuse cut leaf Japanese Maple leaves fill in the picture over the wall garden. 

Tiny flowers and leaves of Pink Chimes Styrax japonica back up a stained glass panel. 

In my woodland garden the 12-25' tall accent trees like this mature Styrax japonica off my deck are backed by the noble trunks of Loblolly Pine and graceful dipping branches of White and Turkey Oaks.

 The tallest trees (Oak, Pine, Tulip Poplar, Sweetgum) help moderate the high temperatures of summer as do the shorter native and ornamentals. 

The Styrax japonica is the most dramatic curtain of all spanning 25' across three windows. Two of the windows are flanking the fireplace in the living room. 

I love the play of shadows in the afternoon on portions of inside walls as I take a short rest to put my feet up before making dinner. 

This house is situated in a doughnut hole of an opening in the native forest. It was cleared for three years by the previous owner. The bare woodland became my playground for adding interesting supporting plants. I focused on the understory trees to bring the natural soaring canopies down to human scale. 

Inadvertently my placements (10-20' from the house) have become lovely curtains in the vignettes of the gardens just outside the windows. Looking through the screened window of a bedroom, Stewartia monadelpha drapes over Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' .  A moss path carries your eye into the distance.  Both masses were planted as gallon plants and as mail order bare root from Camellia Forest Nursery and Woodlanders successively. 

It's time to take another walkabout to look at some other outside curtains. 

Stewartia monadelpha and native Fringe Tree with a purple Loropetalum. 

A graceful Oaklahoma Redbud takes center stage 20' from my office window. 

A Dwarf Variegated Hinoki Cypress dresses up with a yellow fringed edge on its fan shaped needles next to the porch. 

The tree is a Coral Bark Japanese Maple. 

Quite a while ago I had the idea to paint all the views from the dozen windows of the house. This is one that I painted with the entry arbor as canopy.  The Mermaid Rose that grew on the arbor at the beginning if its life has long been replaced with native twining vines of Carolina Jessamine and Coral Honeysuckle and the Art Gate by Carol Stein is now in another location in the garden. 

WHO NEEDS CURTAINS IN MAY!!!!