Green Giants, whats going on?

By SKEETERI have not really talked much about the new additions to my Georgia Gardens. I did show you the new arrivals from the McCorkles Nursery sale back in June. The steamy days of summer were in place by June when the sale occurred. Above picture was taken a month later in steamy, hot, humid and dry drought conditions. Those were all Dirty Words this year as it was brutal on a gardener. This new area holds 3 Evergreen trees. They are located to the back of this new garden area. I shall talk about the other additions at a later date. As you can see, I had to resort to setting up a Sprinkler to keep the trees moist. They were holding their own, until we jump forward to September.
Two of the three are not looking so well now.
This Arborvitae Green Giant started out as a 15 gallon pot of beauty at the bargain price of $15.00. It is now turning brown as if on fire and dying on me! I have brushed out the dead and am left with a sparse tree. Sigh...
This one is smaller because it is not a Green Giant but rather a Leeland Cypress. It was a 10 gallon potted tree at the cost of $10.00. The poor thing looks so puny now. Sigh...
The third in this group is another 15 gallon Green Giant and it is happy as can be! This grouping of 3 Green Giants that are located nearby, received more direct sun and were watered the same amount as the others. Thus far, all three of them look fine. This past weekend, I added fresh compost and a layer of pine straw mulch to all the trees. I am hoping that with cooler temps in the air, that maybe the two will bounce back. But just in case they do not, I am planning on picking up 2 replacements at this weekends Big Sale. That is, if they happen to have any available. Poor GREEN GIANTS, whats going on? In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Moving a Hedge of Very Large Arborvitae

I have a huge hedge of 'Pyramidal' Arborvitae I planted beginning in the year 2003. It has grown quite big and beautiful and does provide me lots of privacy and beauty in the winter when nothing else is green. However, I planted this hedge in the wrong spot and with the completion of the privacy fence I decided to move this hedge.

Let me explain why this hedge was planted in the wrong spot. At the time of planting I had terrible neighbors and my main concern was privacy. Additionally I did not want the hedge close enough to the fence so as to be damaged by the adjacent property owner. The chainlink fence itself suffered quite enough damage by itself without having a living hedge be destroyed due to vandalism. Therefore I planted the hedge about seven feet from the fence. The arborvitae themselves can grow to about 5-6 feet wide. I really should've planted the hedge only about four feet from the fence because I lost that amount of space inside of the hedge and fence. I really missed the space too because who is going to use space between a fence and 11 foot tall shrubs? Normally boundaries and privacy fences would be on the outside of the living area of a yard not set several feet into the yard area.





I felt pretty confident I could move this hedge pretty much by myself. Normally moving shrubs this big is not a recommended project due to the trauma mature shrubs suffer their mortality rate is very high. I myself have lost one or two over the years in part due to moving. But here is the caveat, these shrubs grow in a low spot where water tends to flow underground just beneath the roots of the arborvitae. The area almost always stays wet in the lower area but does dry out considerably on the higher ground area. The total length of the hedge was to be 35 feet. The higher end of the area had the shorter shrubs (probably due to less water and more tree root competition) and the lower end had the very large shrubs. The two shrubs I have lost from this area were both growing above the water level and so were not privy to a good underground source of water. By the time I realized they were in trouble it was too late. But now that I know of the situation I'll be able to monitor it more closely this summer so I decided to move these shrubs.





There were eight shrubs in total ranging from 6 feet to 12 feet tall. What was I thinking??? I was able to move four of the eight shrubs by myself. I don't even want to ever think of doing something like this again. I began by digging the huge holes to accommodate the rootballs. I then cut around the root balls being sure to stay outside of the canopy if I was able to do so. This meant I had about 30-40 inch rootballs. In order to be sure the roots were completely cut and to dislodge the shrubs I leaned them over. This part was easy.




Moving the shrubs and their rootballs over was not so easy. Here we are looking at the before the move photo. See all of that room between the fence and the arborvitae? I used to have some barberry growing here but have since removed it. Anything that is invasive or has thorns has to go and the barberry fit the bill. I used the chainsaw to take them out. If you look all the way down past the hedge you can just make out a swing near the fence. Just on the other side of the swing is the end of my property and also the pond that belongs to my neighbor. To the right of this hedge there was about a three foot walkway between this hedge and a hedge of crepe myrtles and a small picket fence. This garden is known as my picket fence garden and I grow only touch me nots, the arborvitae, and the crepe myrtles in it. I wanted a bigger walkway so that the crepe myrtles would get more sun, I'd have more room to walk, and the yard would feel larger in this area without the shrubs infringing upon the space.



Ah, here we go. All moved and back into place-kind of. In order to move the bottom four shrubs I had to get my neighbor to come over and help Mr. Fix-it and I. What a big job!! The rootball with the trees must've weighed 300 pounds a piece and it was tough moving the shrubs over. Fortunately we did not have to move them far and were able to drag them into place pretty well. The hedge is now an even 36" from the privacy fence and each shrub is 48" apart. They should grow together nicely and recover in a few years. Can you see the swing and pond now? A much better view now I think and more breathing room for me and the crepes.  I wish I had taken a before shot on this side of the arborvitae but just now realized I did not. It's hard to tell just how much more room we've gained with moving this hedge over.



The last time I moved some of these shrubs was in 2008. It also happened to be the year of the Master Gardener Garden Tour. My garden happened to be on the tour and I vividly remember I had a bunch of ropes holding these shrubs in place so that they would not fall over. I learned from prior experiences that without the roots to anchor these tall shrubs into place these shrubs will easily blow over. Blowing over is not such a big deal because I can usually set them up easily, but each time a shrub blows over the rootball is set back again. To prevent blow overs I have anchored each and every shrub in two different locations with more ropes. Not the prettiest thing in the garden but definitely functional. In a year or so I'll be able to remove the anchors and I'll still (hopefully) have a beautiful green arborvitae hedge....


in the garden....

And to think I am publishing this on April Fools day! Everyone beware...in the garden... and have a great weekend!



Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The New Old Fence: Refurbishing a Salvaged Fence

After about six months and many stressful days when no work could be done my 200 foot long privacy fence is done! What a relief. We mainly put in the privacy fence to keep the dogs inside the yard but do you know the evil dog known as Lady has still tried to jump this 5-6 foot tall fence? When that didn't work she has tried to go under it. Sigh. Well, it's done and what a big relief as garden season is in full swing and I've been pretty busy with plants lately.



I am still fixing the going under part with the dogs by placing wire in all gaps but for the most part this fence will keep the dogs in and give me a good sense of enclosure; something I love in a garden. 

The area around the fence is a bit of an enclosed wooded area and I just love the fence as a wall alongside this part of our property. Here you can see toward the frontyard (east) and a section of the fence still in progress. It has been completed since this photo was snapped.




We initially were not going to put up a fence on this southern side of our yard due to the fact all the landscaping took care of privacy and also due to the fact I did not wish to lose the sun. But when I came across a deal too good to be true I jumped on it. That plus the fact Lady would disappear rather frequently. I found an ad on Craig's List that said 26 panels of privacy fence for $100. The only problem was the panels had been sitting out in the elements for at least a year and who knows how old the fence was initially. The fence had deteriorated a bit which meant I had my work cut out for me. The above view of the fence is looking west toward the pond and the side of our garage. I'll be talking about the large arborvitae hedge you see on the left in this Friday's post.


After pressure washing every single fence panel and staining all the panels with a 'Desert Sand' solid color fence stain from BEHR paints, I had a fairly workable fence. I dug the 35 holes, mixed the 40 sixty pound bags of concrete, set and plumbed all poles, and attached all panels. What a job. Okay, I have to admit it, Mr. Fix-it dug four holes and set four posts-thanks baby! The rest was up to me and since I am home most of the time it made sense. My issue was the weather. It was impossible to pressure wash and stain panels in the cold of the winter. Brrrr! But I slowly plodded on and got all of the panels up-a mere 32 feet short of the total distance. That was okay because I prepared to be a bit short and was happy the initial $100 got me as far as it did. I built the last five panels from scratch with a little help from Mr. Fix-it (he is home all the time now due to being on final vacation from the Army). And the fence is done!



The total cost for this nearly 200 foot long fence was about $635: 20% of what it would've costed new and professionally installed. The breakdown of costs is as follows: $100 for 26 fence panels, $30 for some 2x4s to replace damaged ones and to build the portion of the fence I had to build, $75 for the dog eared pickets I had to purchase to build my portion of the fence, $25 for nails, $125 for the 4x4 posts (I only bought about 24 posts because my neighbor gave me 9 and I had a few here in the gardens already) and about $280 for the solid color stain. It sounds strange I spent so much on the stain but I tell you the stain makes a big difference on any outdoor project you do. Not only does the solid color stain make all wood look good, but it also protects the wood and increases the life span of the fence. If you ever get the chance to rehab and salvage an old privacy fence give it a try but be sure you know what you are getting yourself into....


in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden