The twin pines

Pinus strobus

Immediately east of the willow, between it and the house, two Eastern White pines sit on the property line. They are beloved by squirrels. One pine features a low spreading branch with yellowed needles, which should probably be pruned, as it might be diseased.

Notes on the Eastern White Pine:
Cone production peaks every 3-5 years. They can last 200-400 years, and prefer well-drained soil and cool, humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky areas. Will live past 200 years. 72-118 ft high. My fellows probably top out at 40-50 ft.

The weeping willow

Salix × sepulcralis

The first thing you notice about the house is the weeping willow. Its massive contorted trunk is probably 6 feet across, and shows several cracks and hollows. The tree rises perhaps 40-50 feet, and is situated at the north-west corner of the property, about 50 feet away from the house. Given the reputation of these trees, that is doubtless barely far enough.

Weeping willows can grow 70 feet high, in the 4.5-7.5 pH range. Medium drought tolerance, intolerant of shade, high water use. Willows will root from cuttings or broken branches, and it is a litter-happy tree, so cleaning up after it will be a necessity. A weekly tidy prior to cutting the grass seems to be sufficient. It has a stunning beauty in the early spring, with its yellow new growth and chartreuse foliage. Now that it is June, it has settled in to the standard silvery tones. It also seems to be suffering from the Imported Willow Leaf Beetle.



Ideally I'll try to have it professionally pruned every 2-3 years.

Lawn Mowers!

I grew up on a (fallow) farm, then always lived in the city core -- and have never cut a blade of grass with a mower in my life. I did plant a bit of grass in the pathway of our rowhouse a couple years ago - which I cut with my hedge trimmers:)

DH grew up in a suburb and had his fair share of mowing, with a corded electric. He is allergic, but will hopefully contribute to the mowing.

I have pretty much decided on buying a cordless mower, in spite of their expense and time limitations. We'd go for a reel mower if we could but -- we have too much grass. My initial estimates put it at about 7,000 square feet, perhaps more. I hate the idea of mixing gasoline (plus the smell, the noise, and the pollution) so we've nixed the gas mowers, which would otherwise be the logical choice. I'd consider the corded models but a) DH hates them and b) DH hates them. So that leaves these cordless models.

I have a 10% off coupon from Home Despot that I'm saving for the purchase of spring equipment (lawn mower, wheelbarrow, assorted tools). I've narrowed the choice down to the Solaris, Homelite, and Black & Decker models. I would buy the Neuton 6.2 if it were available here - its little cousin the 5.2 is not wide enough at 14" cutting width.

The Solaris (made by this company) is the only self-propelled model, most flexible on the batteries, and the most expensive. The Homelite is the cheapest, but I'm unsure whether it has the lasting power to cover all our grass on one charge. The B&D falls in the middle of the pack. Decisions, decisions...

Landscape and planning

My main objective this year is to learn more about the type and quality of the soil, and see where the sun hits. I'd also like to discover what I've already got on the site, further my knowledge of the trees, and hire an arbourist to help prune/explain about said trees.

Our house grading is poor and needs improvement all around. Our roof, soffits, fascia all need replacing, and we'll add eavestroughing at selected locations. I also want to add as many rain barrels as I can afford. Other than the grading, most of our effort this summer will have to be directed towards the house itself.

I do plan to try tomatoes and herbs in a couple locations. We've also order a free tree through the city's Tree program. It is going to be a small native tree, such as a Serviceberry. So I'll need to decide on a site for that.

We're moving from a city rowhouse, and I'll be cutting grass with a mower for the first time in my life. And learning how to care for the lawn.

I also plan to do a pruning regimen where I can to tidy up the trees, especially the overgrown cedars. And I'd like to put railings on the deck.

In general, I need to keep an eye out on drainage patterns and runoff. We have a complicated sloping site, a wet basement, and a ravine... plus the soil may be expansive clay... I may consider weeping tile/ french drain/ dry well/ dry river bed if needed.

In the future, a vegetable garden, lots of shrubs, and a garden bed along the steps are in the cards. Depending on the mowing, I'll probably consider ways to reduce the size of the lawn. I'd like to see a woodland garden at the back/by the ravine.

I would like to retain the woody- ravine feel, and the indoor/outdoor aspects of our ranch house. Privacy and beauty. Horizontal accents to compliment the house. I'd like to improve the "curb appeal" in general. The rear of the house should be an enclave, welcoming. The path to the back needs improving too.

Wildlife

The four-footed variety consists primarily of black and grey squirrels, red chipmunks, and our resident rabbits. Plus the occasional doggie visitor. The rabbits have a habit of chewing bark from shrubs and the lower branckes of spruce.

On the wing, we have plenty of chickadees, which are endlessly amusing. A number of crows in the area. A cardinal pair spotted several times. King of the land is a Cooper's Hawk (slightly rare for the area I believe) spotted 6 or 7 times so far.

DH saw a deer once several blocks away - hopefully won't become a visitor. Rabbits are bad enough!

Sun Patterns: March 20, 2008

10 am:

The back yard is mostly sun, with some shade cast by trunks of deciduous trees. Ditto for the ravine, as far as I can tell. The south side and north side yards are in complete shade, except for patches at the rear corner of the house. The front south strip is complete shade. The front main yard is mostly shade except for a big spot right in the middle.

12pm:

The back yard and ravine are similar to before. There is perhaps a little less shade in the side yards, although not a significant change. The front yard is much sunnier, except for a strip along the house and driveway, cast by the house and trees. The south grass strip is still mostly shade, except for the very front edge along the street.

3pm:

The backyard is shadier than before, with the big spruce near (not nearest) to the house casting a shadow across the middle of the lawn. The ravine still seems sunny, but its hard to tell from the house. The south side yard is still heavily shaded, though a bit more dappled. The front yard on the south is full sun up to the oak, where the shade begins. The other half of the front is almost the opposite that it was this morning - a big shadow in the centre. It is still shady along the driveway as well, but the (future) garden bed along the steps is mostly sunny. Shade still along the edge of the house.

4:30pm:

The backyard is now mostly dappled shade, with the area nearer the house in complete shade. A few sunny patches here and there over by the compost area. In the front, the south side is even sunnier, with the sun stretching past the oak tree to reach the house. The front yard is shaded along the steps more than it was in mid-afternoon, but the sun is starting to reach the house.

A new garden, a new blog

Temperature: -9 (centigrade)
Sunny

Having mostly survived our first winter in the new house, my thoughts now turn to gardening. It is the second day of Spring after all. The snow cover is still impossibly thick, and local forecasts call for a long, slow start to Spring.

Let's begin with a description of the property and the little that I know about it. We moved in in late November, just before the first of many snow storms. As such, I've had little chance to become closely acquainted with the property (I hesitate to call it a garden yet). We're located in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, which boasts of weather extremes ranging from -30 (plus windchill) in the winter, to the high-30s in summer (plus the humidex). Ottawa suffers under what is called a "humid continental climate" (thanks, Wikipedia!). This year has been the second snowiest on record, and I expect to see a soggy start to the growing season as the snow cover melts. I also suspect we are on clay or a clay-loam soil, which will delay the season even further.

The property itself is just over 1/3 acre (16,000 sqft and change), located where the urban centre turns into mid-century suburbs. The house itself is a split-level ranch built by a locally famous builder. The property features some slopes which provide visual interest and no doubt inspired the split-level design. Prior to the house being built in 1957, the area was historically meadows, sited along the bank of the Rideau Canal. Completed in 1832 by Colonel By, the Canal is a historic site and we've always enjoyed living near its bike paths and beautiful aspect. The area we now live in was once settled by canal workers, and later featured small cottages owned by the likes of the poet Archibald Lampman. It has been lightly lived-on for most of its history.

I would like to research the geology more and post on that topic at a later date.

Our site faces west, with a 90-foot frontage. The one stand-out feature of the landscaping is the trees. Most of them were probably planted 50 years ago.

The front yard: Split in 2 by the driveway, there is a strip of grass on the south side (which includes a deep depression which has a storm sewer drain) about 10-15 feet x 55 feet, plus a line of cedars (primarily) following the property line. Near to the house (too near?) is an oak, still fairly young. It is about 25 feet tall. A 5-foot-tall deciduous shrub sits next to it. On the north side of the drive is a front yard about 50x70. (All my numbers are guesses at this point!) This yard is mainly grass, with a limestone retaining wall nearer the house. There were signs of a bit of gardening along the front of the house, and the steps. 2 overgrown cedars line the driveway side (one is growing into the spruce at the front corner). That "bed" also features a little christmas-tree evergreen (pine? fir?) about 3-4 feet tall. There is another overgrown cedar smack against the house, its only redeeming features being a) the privacy it gives my office window b) local birds like it c) it hides the air conditioner. The northern edge is lined by a ratty-looking cedar hedge about 4-5 feet tall, 2 very tall pines (the kind with the feathery needles) and a huge weeping willow at the front corner. Everywhere else is grass.

The north side: Not much to say - only about 6-10 feet wide, and the length of the house (22-24 feet). The cedar hedge continues along here, as well as 3 spruces. I aim to remove at least one, and preferably all 3, if I can convince my DH. They are too close to the house, and pretty ugly, with no branches on their north sides. This area is quite shady, and lined with patio pavers I believe. Most of our (soon to be replaced) roof directs runoff to this area. It will be first and foremost a utility area for rain barrels, etc - but is useful as a path to the back deck.

The south side: Wider than the north - 15-20 feet x about 35 feet long. The property-line cedar trees continue along this side, casting it into shade most of the day. Their only useful purpose is to provide privacy from the neighbours. The cedars are interspersed with the occasional deciduous tree, species TBD. The back corner, by the walkout door from the den, is more sunny at this time, as the deciduous trees are denser here. There are pavers along here as well. The neighbours' chain link is partly visible along the trunk line. This side will provide main access from the garage to the back, as well as for garden party guests I expect.

The rear yard: There is a large deck along the back of the house, and a limestone retaining wall at the slope next to it. The rear wall of the house provides many views of the yard from windows and glass doors.A path leads from the den (at the lowest point) up the slope to the yard. The rise is perhaps 3 feet? The back south side of the yard drops down to a small ravine wooded with deciduous trees, including a large maple, perhaps very old. The ravine is mostly unexplored so far, but has a small creek (seasonal?) at its base. The rest of the yard is reasonably flat, and grassy (although perhaps as much as half is actually groundcover or weeds?) In general, the north side is mostly line with evergreens (spruce) and the south and east with deciduous (maple). In the summer/fall, no neighbours are visible. There is a compost area, and a little "garden area" lined with an amusing ranch-style fence on the north side. That is butted up against the neighbours chain link (where they have a pool). I think I saw a clematis there. This is one potential veggie garden spot.