Constant Gardener

US National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

2011-10-24T19:37:00.008-04:00

I recently learned that there is a National Bonsai collection in Washington DC. I had a trip planned for a professional workshop last week, so I had the privilege of seeing the collection on my way home. I tend to prefer deciduous bonsai, and the deciduous offerings are mostly Chinese Elm and Trident Maple, which are very traditional bonsai species. I would liked to have seen more Beech and Hornbeam, but I can't really complain as they have some amazing trees. The oldest one dates from 1625, I saw one from 1905, and the rest seemed to be mostly 1960's and '70's. Here are some of my favorites from the visit:

Chinese Elm, Slant style

Sweetgum, informal upright

California Juniper, 1964

Boxwood, 1975

Common Privet, multiple trunk, 1979

Sargent Juniper, 1905

Chinese Elm, age unknown, windswept style

Japanese Yew, 1966

Threadgrafting

2011-06-08T11:37:00.002-04:00

Here is a small elm tree that volunteered in our front yard. I let it grow for two years, then in February this year I pruned it back to this. I like the curve of the trunk, and the potential to form a small informal upright style bonsai.

In spring when it started growing new branches there were none growing on the outside of the curve where the ideal first branch would be for a bonsai.

So I dug up a second volunteer elm tree and am attempting to add a branch by threadgrafting.
I drilled a hole through the trunk where I want the new branch, then snipped off all the leaves from the donor branch, called a scion, and threaded it through the hole. The idea is that as the branch grows and thickens it will eventually fuse with the new trunk. It is already starting to grow new leaves (not visible in this picture).

Next year's projects

2010-10-02T11:52:00.003-04:00

One of my developing interests is in bonsai cultivation, which is a long-term venture in which trees or shrubs are either grown from seed, or to speed up the process, collected from "the wild" so as to find a specimen that already has the desired trunk thickness.

I have identified several plants with potential to become bonsai. A privet hedge I planted at my rental property about 10 years ago has been slowly dying because of its proximity to a black walnut tree (which is poisonous to many other plants) There were two left still alive, but suffering, so I dug them up and put them in pots. I've been watching them all summer and they seem to be rebounding, so by next Spring I'll probably choose just one to begin training by cutting off the tap root, and any branches that don't fit into the design I decide on.

In May I was working in a national cemetery where they happened to be digging out a row of Yew bushes, so (with permission) I salvaged one from the trash heap and brought it home. I'm afraid it might be dying, but I'll wait until Spring to see whether it grows any new leaves. You can see the Yew in the picture to the right of the glider. The two privets are in a pot and a bucket to the left of the glider.

The third possibility is an American Elm tree I noticed in my parents woods. It has a nice gnarly trunk base, so with permission, I cut back the height of the tree to about 1/3, and pruned the roots to about a 14" circle. Next Spring I'll dig it up and pot it. I don't have a good picture yet.

Isaac lending a hand

2010-10-02T11:33:00.004-04:00

When I come home from work, Mindy is ready to be done with Isaac, so I have to be creative at how I get things done around the house and in the garden. I was spreading compost on several of the vegetable beds that are done for the season, so when the wheel barrow was empty, I put Isaac in it to take him with me on my trip to the back of the yard. Then once it was full of compost, I set him on top of the load sitting on these lawn bags. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of that, but here's Isaac trying his hand at the wheel barrow - as you can see, he loves it, but isn't getting very far!

Hornbeam progress

2010-09-11T18:34:00.005-04:00

Here are the plants in November of 2007 where I kept them over winter before being planted outside in Spring of 2008.

Here was the hedge in May of 2009 after one full year of growth.

Here's my hornbeam hedge today at the end of their 3rd season. Most of the plants have branches higher than I can reach! The lowest phone wire you can see is about 7' high. Next spring I'll shear them to have flat sides and train the branches into an arch over the opening where the path goes through.

Orchids in my Seoul

2010-03-29T16:59:00.003-04:00

I had a two hour stop over in Seoul on my way to Singapore. Apparently Dendrobiums do actually bloom. Maybe mine will oneday look like these.

Orchids everywhere in Singapore - I hope to visit the orchid park/botanical garden later this week, so I'm sure I'll have more pictures to show.

Dad, this is for you - the triple 7 I spent 18 hours on. Business class is nice, the food was superb, the bed was a little uncomfortable though. Next time maybe I'll bring a thermarest mattress along.

My first rebloom ever

2010-03-08T22:06:00.003-05:00

I bought this Phalaenopsis at Home Depot (you can do it, we can help) in bloom, which lasted many weeks. Now it is producing another flower spike. I'm thrilled to have this happen in my home under my care. Praise the Lord!

Could this be a flower spike?!

2010-03-08T21:39:00.003-05:00

My dendrobium orchid that I've had for at least three years appears to be finally producing a flower spike. I can't be sure, it's very tiny, but I have hope. Here's a picture:
This is the first time a bud has appeared at the top of the cane. I understand that orchids of this variety need at least three or four canes before they can bloom because energy is stored in the canes (pseudobulbs).

Sequence of events

2010-03-06T16:08:00.004-05:00

I am not feeling well today, so I don't feel like doing anything; but I had fun taking these pictures of Isaac playing.
Here he is checking out the blocks

The connoisseur explains the subtleties of the yellow cylinder

5 minutes later I return...

Don't be fooled by his mild demeanor

This foreign structure must be destroyed!

I pummel you!

I grind you into the dust

Enough said

Just a kid at heart

2010-02-27T12:51:00.004-05:00

Today I pruned the Maple tree again, but before I finished, I made Mindy come out and take some pictures of me climbing the tree. Yes, I admit I have fun climbing the tree even if it is 32 degrees and snowing. This year I attached a level to a long piece of wood molding to make sure the top of the tree is perfectly level. I'm pleased with the results.

I have been pretty patient all Winter, but now I can't wait for the growing season to arrive. I am so ready for spring to arrive to see the fruits of all my planting labors last fall not to mention witnessing the miracle of rebirth of green shoots coming out of previously frozen root balls.

I joined the National Arbor Day Foundation for a huge donation of $5, for which I'm supposed to get two each of the following trees: flowering dogwood, crab apple, Washington Hawthorn, and redbud. I have some ideas where to put them all, but haven't finalized my decisions. I also went out with Isaac to Home Depot and bought some seed packets for early Spring planting: sugar snap peas, spinach, broccoli, carrots and cabbage. Cant' wait!

gardening requires patience

2009-11-27T19:46:00.003-05:00

I recently walked home from church and went past some American Holly trees that were about20-30 feet tall. I picked a handful of berries and brought them home. I looked up information on growing Ilex species from seed, and found that they can take 2-3 years to germinate. Also the seeds are usually spread by being eaten by birds, which strips the flesh off the seeds, and broadcasts the seed in the manner you can imagine. So to prepare the seeds, you need to soak them in warm water to ferment and soften the pulp. I did this by putting the berries in a glass of warm water, which I perched on top of the crock pot which Mindy had cooking some beans over night. This kept the water just warm enough to turn the berries soft and brown by morning. Then I rubbed them over a window screen I had in the basement, and rinsed the pulp off the berries. I dug a trench in the back yard in a place where I've been wanting to put a hedge and planted over 300 seeds (there are four seeds in each berry) I figure this will increase my chances of getting enough to germinate and grow, and I can thin out the ones I don't need.

So in 2-3 years I'll have some tiny shoots, and then in about 10 more years I might have something resembling a hedge. God knows whether we'll even be living here by then.

New veggie patches

2009-11-02T19:38:00.003-05:00

Mindy and I decided to grow more vegetables next year. Up till now I've just been growing tomatoes in a narrow strip next to the house, and I've tried zucchini in a little hole dug through the sod, but that wasn't very successful. To save work putting in the beds I tried the lasagna gardening method, where you just lay down newspaper on top of the grass and then pile on layers of green and brown compost.

I wanted to be able to walk between the rows of plants, and have it look a little nicer, so I left grass in between the rows. I know this will be more work, keeping the grass from growing into the beds, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Leafless transplants

2009-11-02T16:09:00.005-05:00

Fall is a good time to transplant bushes and trees because all the energy of the plant can go into re-establishing its root system rather than supplying the leaves with moisture. Also the cool temperatures prevent moisture loss.

I have been intrigued by Witch Hazel because it is a native tree that blooms in fall, and the seed pods when ripe, pop open and the seeds fly out up to 30 feet. Here's my new small Witch Hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana), I put burlap around it because this spot is quite windy, and the winter wind could kill it. I'll try to remember to post a picture in Spring when it leafs out.

I also transplanted an unknown sapling from the far back corner of my yard out into a spot where it will have a little more room to develop. I went through the indentifying key for Ohio native trees and the closest I could come up with was the Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) but the leaves on my tree aren't as big as the description says.

It was very difficult to dig up because it was right at the base of a clump of American Hazelnut (Corylus Americana) and the roots were all intertwined. Also my unknown sapling had a taproot 34" long!

I had to use this post-hole digger to dig the new hole. Even then I hit rocky soil after only 26" so I had to cut off the last 8" of roots. The spot where this tree was originally growing was near the corner of the black chain link fence. Just behind it is the Hazelnut, which unfortunately didn't produce any ripe nuts.

Black-eyed Suzies and Karl Foerster

2009-08-10T21:46:00.002-04:00

Volunteers and forgotten seedlings

2009-05-15T08:12:00.010-04:00

Last fall Mindy and I were walking through the Italian cultural garden on MLK Blvd. and I saw some perennials with interesting seed pods. I didn't know what they were, but I decided to harvest a few pods and try growing the seeds. So I planted them about 4 inches deep in my new bed with the ornamental grass clumps and black-eyed susan (see the posting about my patio for a view of the bed). This spring I checked for them anxiously many times but never saw any signs of life, so I just assumed they weren't going to come up; but this morning I was walking around the yard eating a bowl of cereal and I noticed these tiny little blade type shoots and remembered my mystery seeds!

And here in my herb garden there are a number of volunteers: Chives at the base of the mother plant that reseeded themselves from the multitudinous purple ball flowers of last year.

I am amazed at how quickly in the spring the chives are completely covered in blooms. Normally I'd be pleased, but the herbs stop producing new foliage when they go to flower.

Last year our parsley completely stopped producing leaves there were so many flower heads. Fortunately there are some Parsley seedlings this year.

Also Dill - this is the second year dill has volunteered.

Potential new patio

2009-05-14T12:21:00.003-04:00

This is a photoshopped image of my backyard showing a possible patio made of paver stones. My workplace is planning to install a green roof, which would make these pavers available cheaply, so I wanted to see how they would look in our yard.

And here it is with furniture! Pretty cool huh? This was all done during my lunch hour yesterday.

Rainbarrel

2009-05-13T19:51:00.004-04:00

I've been excited about installing a rain barrel since last fall. I bought this used barrel from a lady who makes and sells pet hair care products, so I had to wash and rinse it thoroughly. The red hose you see coming out the top is for overflow when the barrel fills up. The first time it rained after I installed it was just a gentle sprinkle that lasted most of the day and it was completely full when I got home from work! I've used the water collected on plants already - plants like rainwater much better than city water. Of course it is kind of ugly, but I hope to put a trellis around it and grow some vines to cover it up.

Handmade Trellis

2009-05-13T19:40:00.003-04:00

The last couple years I have been using a rose trellis for my two clematis plants. The bars on the trellis were too wide for the clematis to grab onto, so I decided to make my own. I like to use branches and twigs from my yard as climbing aids for other plants, so for the uprights I used branches from a Mulberry tree that I plan on cutting down sometime, so I didn't mind cutting off some branches. The woven part that the clematis will actually grab onto I used twigs pruned off the maple tree in the front yard in February. They are nice and straight and flexible. The only drawback is it takes a long time to make, and now I've run out of Maple twigs. But I just discovered a small Oak sapling growing along the fence in the back yard that I can harvest. I'm sure it'll come back again so I can keep on using it.

Hornbeam hedge

2009-05-13T19:16:00.004-04:00

My last post about the hornbeams was a picture of them in a wooden trough over-wintering in the coal cellar. They were planted last Spring and all but two survived the Winter. Last year at least four got cut down by deer, and two of those didn't come back, so I've replaced them with new plants that arrived in the mail last week. They were tiny 6" twigs with half a dozen leaf buds each. The year old plants have already leafed out.

Here is a tiny new hornbeam plant

Spring is coming

2009-03-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

My roses have survived the winter with their burlap windbreakers. They have some dead twigs that'll need to be pruned off once I can see what is growing. The irises at the base of the rose bushes need to be moved. They have expanded so much that they are crowding the roses.

This is a welcome sight. I really need to remember to plant more crocuses this fall. I'd like to have more purple and white ones.

I had a great picture of this maple tree last fall where the new growth on top was still green while the rest of the tree was orange, but I lost it. I am pleased at how it is filling out and getting thick on top.

I planted this new bed next to the driveway last fall. It has a line of ornamental grass called Calamagrostis Karl Foerster, it should grow to 5' tall and form a nice green barrier for this narrow side yard. I chose this species of grass because it is supposed to grow straight and stay very upright so it won't fall over into the neighbor's driveway. Then there is a row of black eyed susans which I've always wanted. I planted some seeds from an unidentified perennial in the Italian cultural garden on MLK Blvd last fall, but I don't know whether they'll come up. I may have planted them too deep.

I hate deer.

2009-01-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

Here is a dendrobium orchid that a friend gave me two years ago. Back then it only had one cane, now it has three, however it has never bloomed. I don't even know what color it should be. It began simply, I just put it on the window sill and hoped for the best... nothing happened. Next I began fertilizing it with something that is supposed to encourage blooming...nothing happened. Then it was summer, I put the orchid in the sun room, and eventually it grew a second cane. I thought for sure it would bloom now that it had two canes, but no. Time went by, and I did some research and discovered that dendrobiums like a lot of sun, so I put a grow light over it... nothing happened. Then I discovered that most orchids need high humidity, so I put a pan of water with gravel under it... nothing happened. Eventually it grew a third cane, this one was the biggest of all the three, but nothing happened.

Here is my latest attempt: behold the Orchidarium.
A 29 gallon tank with a glass lid, and two grow lights: one fluorescent and one incandescent. It also has a little fan to create gentle breezes. There is also a digital hygrometer/thermometer to record high and low readings and allow me to make adjustments such as sliding the lid on or off by 1/4" to 2" to either remove humidity or preserve humidity. There is also a space heater underneath the tank that cycles on and off during daylight hours to keep the day time temperature around 75 F. The humidity varies between 60 and 75 %. Still, nothing...

My only hope is that with the onset of summer and higher daytime temps and also I will increase the hours the lights are on, will trigger the blooming response. My good long-time friend David suggested I just buy an orchid that is already blooming.

That would be cheating, and it would offer me no degree of satisfaction.

Flat top for the Maple

2008-01-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

January is pruning time for Sugar Maples. The sap can start running in February, and you want to prune when the sap is all down in the roots so the cuts won't bleed, which attracts insects and can cause disease and stress to the tree. We have a Sugar Maple on our tree lawn directly below the power lines, so I have been pruning the tree to prevent the branches from reaching them. Our tree was small enough that it hadn't reached the lines yet, and by cutting off about the top third of the tree I was able to establish a fairly decent flat top and still have some branch structure below. I first pruned it in the winter of 2005, and last winter I just thinned out the new shoots on top but didn't flat top it again. I decided to give the new branches another year to get thicker and get established. So this year I decided to whack 'em all off again, leaving about 6" of previous growth.

p.s. I would rather have been out riding my new bike (yeah!) but the pavement is wet and I don't really want it to get wet and salty. Besides, it is close to freezing so I guess it wouldn't have been too fun. The cats are very interested, as they are with anything new.

Disappointed but not giving up

2007-11-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

Today I had great plans. I was going to work out at the gym, plant my 15 hornbeam saplings which came in the mail on Wednesday, and then go buy a new bike. So, I got up at 6:55 to go to the gym. I have a training plan this Winter to build up my leg strength to prepare me for bike racing next Spring. I'm doing 250 lbs on the leg press right now and am anxious to increase that to 270 soon. I could do it if it wern't for my darn knees. Every time I try to increse the weight too quickly I get twangs of pain in my left knee. So today I stayed on 250, but I had a dull ache the whole time. I rode the stationary bike for an hour, and at the end I increased the resistance and stood up for three intervals. This hurt my knee too. I left the gym feeling discouraged and thinking I'll never be able to race if my knees keep acting up like this.

When I got home I did a little last minute research on the proper planting techniques for my hornbeam hedge. I discovered that late November is not actually a good time to plant. Early fall is good, but the ground is too cold now for any root development to take place. So I had 15 plants with nowhere to put them. I decided to plant them in a wooden trough and keep them in the coal cellar through the Winter and then move them outside next Spring. I think this plan will work fine, but it was rather disappointing to have prepared a bed, wait 6 weeks for the plants to come in the mail, and then not be able to plant them.

Here they are, the poor little twigs, stuck in a box of dirt in the dank, dark cellar.

As for buying the bike today, I just couldn't bring myself to do it after my disappointing workout this morning. I won't give up though. I've been dreaming about this for over a year, so I'm just going to have to take a break for 3 or 4 days and let my knee heal and then start again. This time I won't try to increase too soon.

The Eagle has landed

2007-11-02T22:19:00.000-04:00

Rather, the Eagleman is taking off...

I've finally finished restoring a sculpture that's been hanging out in my basement for over a year. I took on the Eagleman just before I started a new job last October 23rd, and now finally, he's ready to go. The sculpture is about two feet tall and made of copper and brass sheet formed and soldered together over a plaster mold. The thumb had broken off, and well, both buttocks had dents in them. So the buttocks had to be removed, reshaped and put back on and the thumb soldered on.

This week I just finished matching the color of the repaired areas using a combination of chemical patination, automotive paint applied with a detail spray gun, and tinted lacquer. I ended by waxing the entire thing to give it a nice overall sheen. and protective layer.

Now the final splinter is out of my mind and I can focus on other things, like the kitchen remodel.

Not just gardening

2007-10-31T21:24:00.000-04:00

I really love gardening. When I go to stately homes and botanical gardens I always come home with renewed passion for turning my own backyard into an English walled garden complete with espalier fruit trees, neatly trimmed hedges, a koi pond. Oh and I'd love to have a 100 year-old Yew tree somewhere.

My current project is planting a Hornbeam hedge (carpinus caroliniana) to create a little privacy barrier for the backyard. American Hornbeam, also known as ironwood, will grow into a tree if you let it, but it can be pruned back to form a nice hedge. I plan to leave a gap in it for a gate, and then eventually train the hedge up into an arch over the gateway. Here's me in front of what I want my hornbeam hedge to look like someday.

But the title of my blog doesn't just refer to actual gardening. I am a doer. I am happiest when I am doing some activity, be it trumpet playing, bicycling, home remodeling, silversmithing, or gardening to name a few. Since I got married three years ago I have been learning to just relax and be. My wife enjoys sitting at a coffee shop and talking or reading. This is hard for me. But, since I value her as the most important person in my life, and love spending time with her more than anyone, I now go to coffee shops on occasion.

So here I am, a doer, writing a blog, something I have long derided as a pointless waste of time. Well, I can't guarantee how often I'll write in it. Incedentally, my two incredible sisters both write blogs, which when I can sit still long enough I really love to read.