Back-to-school energy

Would you like an in-person view of my sustainable gardening techniques? Sign up at Newton Community Education for a two-session course. We’ll meet on Saturdays October 13 and 27 from 11 to 12:30. 

Come see the sustainable-enough garden in real life

I’ll demonstrate a super-simple way to make compost, explain my approach to fertilizer and soil amendments, and showcase some easy-to-grow native plants blooming in my garden. I’ll demonstrate how to make mulch from free materials you’ll find close to home, revving up the leaf shredder so attendees can produce some leaf mulch. I’ll show how you can replace part of your lawn with shrubs and perennials that are more fun and more environmentally friendly than turf grass.

New England asters-pretty, and great for native insects

    This course channels some of the fall energy that’s surging at this time of year. Maybe it’s a holdover from when fall meant the start of a new school year, or maybe it’s just because I’ve emerged from summer torpor now that the days are cooler. Whatever the reason, I’m eager to spend time in the garden, and ideas for improvements are bubbling up daily. 

    Now that the new perennial beds next to the back of the house are settling in, I can turn my attention to two other areas where I’d like to add perennials and shrubs. 

Goldenrod blooming in the new bed

When we planted a dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) in 1997, it was a slender sapling no more than 6 feet tall. Twenty-one years later, it’s done what it was supposed to do—sent out horizontal branches covered with soft, feathery, grass-green needle-shaped leaves. Those limbs have spread wide, and they’re shading out the perennials I planted in front of the tree. At this point, only hostas and other shade-lovers are happy in that bed.

Time to give up on growing flowers in the shade of the dawn redwood

    I’m thinking of carving out a big section of the sorry lawn in front of the bed to make more space for flowers that need a half day of sunlight. I could start by smothering the grass and improving the soil with sheet composting. That would involve putting down thick layers of organic material—it could be wood chips, unfinished compost, straw, or even cardboard or newspaper. After giving them and the lawn grass underneath time to decompose, I could plant through the layers. 

     I’d love to get started this fall. I’m already thinking of lots of plants around the yard that need more sun and could grow better if they were moved to that new area—for a few years, until the dawn redwood overshadows them again.

My redleaf roses could bloom like this if I moved them out of dense shade

    Another place I could add more interest is the front yard, shaded by Norway maples and currently covered with periwinkle (Vinca minor) groundcover. 

Shall I liven up this groundcover bed?

A red-leaved Japanese maple and a couple of hydrangeas rise from the periwinkle, and a row of scraggly yews line the foundation. I started this project two years ago by adding an oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) to the front yard, and I’m encouraged by its success. Why not add some more native shrubs that can tolerate shade? It would be fun to try.