2019 pond and garden

Spring garden and yard tasks

Posted by lorivertin on

When Spring returns to Minnesota, the pond builder and I often over-do. We have ambitious weekend plans and the time flies by. When you feel like you have run out of gas, you realize you have been working outside for eight hours. (Or if you are the pond builder, it’s more like 11 hours.) The pond builder planted a number of things for me, transplanted some plants, did some pressure washing, staining, ten bags of mulch, thirty bags of topsoil and still worked out after dinner. I could barely move off the couch after dinner!

One of my highlights today was moving along some tosai purchases. We are making an effort to whittle down the koi holdings since everyone is getting much larger. I posted an ad on a Facebook site with five of my koi. Two left today and one will go away in the next few weeks. I believe my koi are going to a nice home – a hobbyist who lives in the Twin Cities area and has a small pond. I hope she enjoys her two new koi.

Two koi rehomed today. The remaining 25 seem exceptionally happy in their winter pool and don’t seem to miss their pals at all. I will be rehoming a large shiro utsuri to the local japanese garden when their pond warms up.

Every morning it becomes more difficult to get to work. There is always a lot of activity going on in the backyard. This past week I had crows fighting, blue jays fighting and robins thinking about making a nest where they were unsuccessful last year. I’m also easily amused watching plants grow. I really enjoy walking around the garden and seeing all the plants we have put in come back to life at this time of the year.

Mr. and Mrs. Duck always try to make one of our ponds their new home. We will be watching (and discouraging)…

We have a number of wooden structures that need maintenance…

There’s always a little maintenance to do in early spring. The lower pond was PP’d and the pond builder restained some of lower pond surfaces. We also restained the shingles of our equipment house.

We’ve been moving a few plants, adding a few plants and rethinking this area. I’d like an evergreen closer to the pond. A Swiss stone pine would be nice but it takes thirty years to reach a mature height of 10 to 12 feet. The pond builder thinks we should find an 8 foot tree and have it delivered.
New Japanese tree lilac
new japanese lilac clumps and azaleas further down the path
Moved this bench to the way back corner of the yard and I’m gong to try wisteria “Summer Cascade”. This variety is supposedly very cold hardy.

I should probably not take the road past the nursery on the way home from work. I stopped there twice last week and we visited two other nurseries to purchase some new plants. There is always something I want to get (except the Swiss stone pines…maybe another week or two). The plant below is particularly suited for winter interest. Since our front garden looks so blah in the winter, I’m going to try it out there and moved in some evergreens to keep it company.

always fun to find an unusual looking plant at the local nurseryl

Still looking for some different plants to obscure the view to the back. More Japanese clump lilacs might be an option here too.

Very busy Saturday, and not so busy Sunday since rain is a possibility. A good day to rest and recover (the pond builder will be outside doing something).