Transplanting

These are not the first things that I have transplanted this spring, but they are the first that I am posting about.  The elm--which is taller than I am--was growing too close to our deck (and would block our beautiful view).

I am not sure what took me so long to do it, but I guess it is the same reason I haven't stained the deck.  Yesterday, Jeff started power washing it to prepare for staining...and then building a catio!  (Something else we have been putting off.)

Digging it out was a bit of a chore, but I found some great rocks for the streambed.  I wish I got more roots, but there are a lot of feeder roots.  As I tend to do, I trimmed the branches and pinched back most of the new growth, so its reduced root system has less to support. 

In addition to the elm, I finally found a place for the native hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) that I bought a couple of years ago.  I bought three, planted one, and put the other two pots near the front door so that I could keep them watered.  Over time, of course, they sent roots into the ground...so, when I went to plant them near "my pride and joy" (our giant boulder), I had to cut the pot away from the roots. 

In addition to these, I have moved several smaller elm trees (at least one or two that were potted), the oak trees that I bought at a yard sale last year, and several shrubs (silky dogwood, meadowsweet, and elderberry--which I am rooting in place...and some wildflowers, grasses, and sedges) along my new terraced path. 

Exposing my Pride and Joy

I love boulders.

We were fortunate enough to have some very large rocks (and dare I say at least two that qualify as boulders) on our property.  It was actually one of the selling points (at least for me) when Jeff and I bought this place.

One, in particular, is HUGE.  For years now, I have found myself calling it "my pride and joy".   Early on, maybe our first few years here, Jeff made the brilliant suggestion to dig out some of the soil around it, to expose more of it--since I liked it so much...and the top part was had only several inches showing above the soil line.  Excellent suggestion.

At that time, I did expose more of it along the top.  Yesterday, as so often happens as I meander around the property, I found myself digging out part of the lower portion--and, in the process leveling off the slope below it.  It is not obviously terraced, but perhaps terracing is a fair description...although the goal was to expose more of the boulder.

I cleared out the soil in one spot where I could get under the rock.  Hopefully, I created a spot for a critter to use in some fashion. 

When I was finished, apparently I only dropped the soil level about 6 inches.  Doing much more would have looked odd and messed with the path as round it.

Six inches is enough to show more rock once the wildflowers grow up. I planted:

golden ragwort (Packera aurea)
Greek valerian (Polemonium reptans L.)
wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
white violets

....and, I replanted the asters that were already there among the weeds.

I plan to add others that are appropriate to that area.  Columbine comes to mind.  Last year, I actually sprinkled seeds in the cracks and crevices of the boulder (and maybe added a seedling).  Many years before, I added a starter of some fern kindly shared by a friend.

It is time I begin to showcase this beauty.   :)