Category Archives: berms

Winter Arrives

berms, rambling thoughts, seeds, the Lot, to do

In our area of Zone 6a of the midwest US, I have mixed feelings about the winter months. I enjoy fresh snowfall and snowy days curled up on the couch with the four-footed garden management. For me, it allows a type of recharge, both physically and mentally. We gardeners in this corner of the Blue Dot do not have many months to spend in the garden. However, we hit it hard when we do. Now is a time for rest… and daydreaming about next season.

Most of the plants on the Lot have been hibernating for a solid month or so now. The only activity has been from the Hellebores as the temps flux up and down. “Winter Interest” can only do so much to counter consistently gray skies and rain/snow sleet mix. There isn’t much sun to speak of to show off all those carefully planned arrangements of brown in the garden beds. However, today we had our first good snowfall. The Lot was blanketed in a cozy cover of white fluff. Winter is fully here, which means Spring is on the way.

Big Dreams in All the Spaces

As we wait for Winter to play its part, I’m already thinking of plans for the Lot this year. Here are a few I’d like to log and revisit later:

  • Plant a sedge lawn
  • Create a rock garden berm
  • Plant more Mexican sunflower in the back garden
  • Try again to start some annual ornamentals from seed

TOTALLY doable in one season, right?

Fieldtrip : John Ball Park

berms, , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Better Half and I took a stroll this evening through John Ball Park. I believe volunteers from MSU’s master gardener program care for the landscaped sections of the park. As a result, it’s always a lovely place to visit with it’s very own rose garden.

As mentioned before, I do not know much about the care of roses. That’ll have to change because boy, oh boy, are some of those plants pretty. I snapped photos of the different roses in the park so I can identify them at a later date. Maybe, once educated a bit more in their care, I will purchase some for our lot.
There are also some nice “berms,” simple, circular beds whose soil is slightly raised above ground level, at the park. In one of the free gardening seminars I attended, the presenter spoke of how to construct them. I may reserve the idea of a raised bed just for a little vegetable patch. To create changes in elevation on our lot (which is very much needed), I could give a few berms a try.
Other things blooming on the lot: peonies in the sidewalk bed (pink with frills), little red roses in the front bed, the coral bells in Loki’s bed,  nasturtium, Jupiter’s beard, foxglove and rose campion in the back bed, the nicotiana in the fence bed, and the spiderwort and bachelors button in the alleybed. The lavender and hollyhock both are budding.