Garden update: Building a habitat for pollinators and stopping erosion
I am in the process of reconditioning the landscape on the property I live on. Theres a few reasons for this, one is the erosion that occurs due to our frequent and heavy rains. I have procured truckloads of mulch, which I use to cover any dirt on the property. As living on a slope the dirt washes away when we get heavy rains exposing tree roots.
I contact tree trimmers in the area and offer them to drop off truck loads of mulch at any time. These trucks would otherwise have to pay a city dump to take their waste from tree trimming. The trimmers usually have a full truck of ground up trees which is known as mulch.
This mulch breaks down into soil after years and helps protect the tree roots from damage. Luckily my recent load of mulch had mostly hardwoods in it. So the chips will last longer than softwood chips.
Along with the mulch I acquired, I have bought a bunch of bare root cuttings of various plants. These will help secure the soil under the mulch and form a strong root system to reduce erosion. Also having plants in areas that are otherwise bare will help stop weeds from moving in.
The following have been purchased, not all have shown up yet:
False Solomons Seal
Variegated Solomons Seal
Spearmint
Goldenrod
White Oak Hydrangea
Platycodon
Lavender Purple Butterfly bush
Spotted Dead Nettle (Hen bit and Shell pink)
Russian Comfrey bocking 14
Sedum Autumn Joy
Pink Handy Geranium Cranesbill Biokovo
Lenten rose
Black Iris Gamecock
Lambs Ear
Ice Plants
Bearded Iris
Sweet Flag
Phlox
The plants above can live in zone 7, are perennials and are great pollinator plants. Though most of them bloom in the summer and fall besides the Lenten Rose and Dead Nettle. So for my Mason and Leafcutter bees I may need to purchase some plants that have Late Winter and Early Spring blooms. I have some in mind.
To find all of these plants I have been extensively using a website called Daves Garden: https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/advanced.php
They have an advanced plant search so where I be very specific in environments to search for when choosing plants.
So ill be pretty busy for the next few weeks getting all the roots, bulbs and plants in the ground.
Its been fun, I had an encounter with a Humming Bird. I watched it drink nectar from my Red Canna and then moved onto my Yellow Canna going through all of the flowers. Then it came over to me, within five feet lingering near me and then moved on to somewhere else. It must have been checking me out.
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Wood chips are great mulch! Every time the power company sends the trucks around to trim the trees away from the power lines, I try to get them to dump their chips in my driveway. They're perfect for the path up to the barn, which is a little steep and gets very muddy and slippery with all the rain.
I love your plant list! I have grown many of those myself. I am in zone 7 and pretty shady, so things like lenten rose and false (or real) Solomon's seal are perfect. I hope you post pictures when things start popping up!
@goat-girlz nice! That's smart, I'll need to watch out for those trucks too. ah yeah I've used it for muddy paths as well, love its versatile use. Oh cool, we probably have simular plants. I will post some pictures when they come up.. hoping this year or maybe next year.
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Our PUD has a list you can get on to have the chips delivered, but I just wait until they're in my neighborhood. They are more than happy to get rid of them so they don't have to deal with it themselves!
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LOVE your mission to use native plants to control erosion and feed the pollinators! You're in Zone 7? I'm in Zone 4, but half your list of natives is growing for me, and I'd have been happy to share plants or seeds. Best to get them locally, right? BTW, I'm also a fan of Daves Garden - and a book by Lorraine Johnson, Grow Wild!: Low-Maintenance, Sure-Success, Distinctive Gardening with Native Plants by Lorraine Johnson, Andrew Leyerle - I've bought copies for at least a dozen people now, not as much for the photos as the text. Inspirational. The ubiquitous suburban lawn is such a bad idea... but I digress. :)
@carolkean yeah I'm in zone 7, most of what I got is pretty cold hardy but I'm sure a few wouldnt cut it in zone 4.
Oh cool, I'd love to buy some bare root cuttings from you if you had something I would want. I'm looking for late winter/early spring blooming plants. Something that has flowers by late February or early March.
Thanks for the tip I'll give a look at that book.
Bare root cuttings - #1, I'd give them, not sell them to you, but #2, it's like @manorvillemike said: better to stay local as much as possible when gardening. I could give you lists, though. Finding woodland plants at a nursery is tough, but local nature centers and local gardeners sometimes have plant sales. Good luck!!!
But I might be able to mail seeds...
@carolkean I dont have very good success with most seeds. When I can I tend to get bare root cuttings. Or using root hormones I take cuttings and form roots. If you ever have too many rhizomes let me know what you got i may be interested.
I'd be happy to pay for shipping of those roots. It can be costly sometimes.
I've never shipped roots and rhizomes - the list of what I have is so long, it'd take a while! Most of it is natives with deep tap roots. Lily of the valley, I could dig up. (Not a native.) Violets. Some asters, maybe. Do you need shade loving, water loving, or drought tolerant?
@carolkean oh sweet I prefer perennials, mostly shade to part sun is what I'm looking for right now. Do you know what kind of violet and Asters you have?
It'll take me a while to make a list. All kinds of prairie-native asters: deep purple (that one is not a native, I fear), white, "sky blue aster," heath aster. Violets: deep purple, white, a fusion of white with the purple, and yellow violets that almost a species apart. Lily of the valley, tiger lily. But the woodland natives have deep tap roots and I don't think they'd survive being uprooted for very long.
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Wow erosion is something I have never had to deal with. Maybe lots of heavy root plants and some little retaining walls?
Pollinator plants are such a great thing for the planet and the knowledge you are collecting and sharing is awesome.
Nice work pimping that post! #PYPT
@zekepickleman yeah heavy rains move the dirt, it's pretty amazing. Yeah retaining walls will help, alot of people use old rail road ties.
Thanks much the pollenators are real important for all of us.
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WOW.... Impressive ambitions to help the landscape.
I cannot wait to see how it turns out...
Thanks for sharing on @pypt #pypt
@bluefinstudios I hope it all works out, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Thanks alot will post updates when I got them.
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Sounds like a great list of plans in your list which you shared on PYPT! I love spearmint (which has many good culinary & medicinal uses) and irises! And how wonderful that you have hummingbirds at your place! The additional flowers should make them very happy! 😊
@thekittygirl oh wow I'm lucky to be able to get it then. Whenever I hear chainsaws I drive over and ask them if they can give me mulch and it's worked quite well.
Yeah looking forward to that spearmint, the smell will be amazing. Thanks alot I'm sure the hummingbirds will have alot more plants to enjoy soon.
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