Summary of current inquiries
With using natives in the landscape and learning their properties as an ongoing endeavor, there are particular points of current interest.
Rain water: capture and retention
Although annual precipitation totals a reasonable 35 inches, the supply is never even. Short-term drought is common and unpredictable. Also common are periods of considerable precipitation, both as snow and rain. When you live on a ridge top and rely on a well, all your household water comes from the sky. But plants get thirsty too. This project investigates using mulches to block stormwater runoff and the thousands of gallons that come off the house roof to even out soil moisture.
Epigaea repens: habitat, preservation
Reputedly one of nature's most difficult plants to manage, trailing arbutus is among the most desired of natives. For reasons unknown, we have many patches of it slowly spreading in undeveloped areas. What makes this such a good habitat? How can it be encouraged and transplanted? Is its reputation for difficulty not deserved?
Culinary herb habitats, landscaping
Many culinary herbs have great value in both the landscape and the kitchen, but to what extent can one combine moisture-greedy sun lovers with species that prefer some shade and drier soil?
Cyprimedium acaule: habitat, preservation
Ranking with trailing arbutus as a plant you're lucky to have not to be disturbed, pink lady's slippers, which occur naturally on our property, have a tough existence because of foraging deer. Localized protection of existing stands and rescue of others is the goal.
Woodlot restoration: multiple microhabitats
A one-acre area adjacent to the present garden offers opportunities to establish microhabitats. These include a moist-to-wet area (like a floodplain or riverbank), a dry area (typical of the general terrain) and a meadow area (poor soil, but full sun). A managed but wild look is the goal.
Small meadow: study in prairie grasses
Just over a quarter acre, this section of the lot is on the edge of the woods and was formerly filled with an array of invasives. We stripped the area of everything and brought in some sandy clay and rock to enhance the grade. It has been seeded with a mix of prairie grasses on one end and plugs of little bluestem on the other.
Soils and composting
Several investigations involve soils and compositing. Matching soil types with regional plant species explores known habitat data for native plants and the soil types that accompany them.. Carbon-nitrogen ratios and management relates to enhancing composting of a variety of freely available mulches into humus for use in new soils. Mulch and forest floor development explores the gradual process of enhancing the thin and sterile soil existing on site to strengthen large woody shrubs like mountain laurel and increase the health of standing timber. Themes in natural landscaping is an investigation of encouraging combinations of native species for strong visual appeal. Optimal nutrition for natives concerns NPK balance in created soils to find ideal levels for specific species.
Pollinators and bloom succession
I've recently noticed a phenomenon involving bumble bees: many more of them, and a corresponding increase in propagation of plants, including some that are very fussy. Is it because the collection has now filled gaps in providing a continuous stream of flowers throughout the season? In the coming year, I hope to chart what bees are foraging upon and where to see if there might be a correlation.
Propagation of select species
Until now, I've accepted the natural propagation of a number of species as good fortune. Now I'm more interested in learning about controlled propagation, germination rates, impact of cross pollination and other factors to develop large quantities of stock, particularly plants that do not spread stoloniferously.
Native plants as large-area groundcovers
This project began with Tiarella cordifolia and a rocky bed surrounding a Lindera benzoin. Now it's time to go on a roundup of the exuberant Anemone canadensis and see if it's possible to use it on a large area that has defied conventional landscaping.
Landscaping with mosses and stone
An unexpected byproduct of cleaning up a dense mat of fallen leaves and refusing to nurture sparse shade grasses has been thousands of square feet of several species of mosses. These ancient plants are at once delicate and tough and offer a soft landscaping opportunity with a lot of the glacial stone that dominates the property.
Landscaping with native grasses
A byproduct of the meadow experiment will be to assemble clumps of specific varieties of prairie grasses and use them in ornamental settings instead of small shrubs and herbaceous perennials. These range from very large (up to eight feet) to unusual sedges and woodland grasses.