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Tag Archives: Garden Design

Step 11 – New Stone Walls

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 11 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September, 2008

Our landscape project continued to move closer to completion when we finally hired professionals to finish the job we’d begun in the fall of 2000.

The new stone walls conformed to my intial semi-circular design concept
The new stone walls conformed to my intial semi-circular design concept

In evaluating the project Billy Ahern of Ahern’s Landscaping, (who is not related to me in any way) decided to take down the walls I’d been trying to build on and off for many years. It is not because the walls I built were unsafe but because we wanted all the walls to match. This would not be the case if half was built by me and half by another person.

The stone steps we built six years earlier were incorporated into the new wall system
The stone steps we built six years earlier were incorporated into the new wall system

We were very happy that the steps my husband Dave and I had built 6 years earlier were judged sturdy and stable and could be incorporated into the finished project. We were and still are proud of the achievement of having completed that part of the project.

What took us years of off and on work, these professionals completed in two days. It was very clear to my husband and me that our careers of pushing keys on computer keyboards didn’t prepare us for the hard manual labor of hardscaping. We were no competition for the hardworking men who build these gorgeous projects day after day. We salute them and their work.

The terraced stone walls opened into the dry stream bed I designed 8 years ago
The terraced stone walls opened into the dry stream bed I designed 8 years earlier

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Go To Step 12 – Renovating the Landscaping

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Step 10 – Resizing The Dry Stream Bed

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 10 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September, 2008

When we finally hired Billy Ahern of Ahern’s Landscaping to finish the project I designed and we started in 2000 he recommended some changes. I agreed with him that the scale of the dry stream bed that I’d designed was too large for the location. He had his men resculpt the walls and add soil. I’d been stockpiling extra soil that was taken from the driveway when I’d had it widened.

The size of the dry stream bed was reduced and brought more in line with the scale of the surrounding garden
The size of the dry stream bed was reduced and brought more in line with the scale of the surrounding garden

The stream was narrowed and brought it into a good balance with the rest of the garden. He reused all the stone I’d dug up from the garden and the extra round river rock I’d purchased years before.

His men put the river rock in the irregular flowing pattern I’d designed and they had nearly enough to complete the dry stream bed. But not quite. We scavenged rock from around the garden but we ended up having to purchase another batch of rock. What a surprise. More rock!

What? More Stone? I'm afraid all this added weight might change the rotation of the earth.
What? More Stone? I’m afraid all this added weight might change the rotation of the earth.

Once the rock walls were in place they put the gravel base in place and put small river rock on top. There is so much rock on this project I sometimes feel that the earth will give way from the weight.

But that is just memories of my aching back.

All the river rock was placed on the newly sculpted walls.
River rock was placed on the newly sculpted walls.

It is so much easier to sign a check. I wouldn’t feel this way if I hadn’t worked on the project for so long and found that I’d bit off more then I could chew. So now I’m really happy to have help and to come closer to a completed design.

Crushed gravel was put down as a base for the small stone
Crushed gravel was put down as a base for the small stone

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Go to Step 11 – New Stone Walls

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Step 9 – Bringing In The Pros

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 9 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September, 2008

We jump ahead on the Rear Garden Design Project from 2002 until 2008. Sometimes life intervenes and projects get put on hold for a while.  In the ensuing years I gained another grandson and he grew enough to join my first. They played on the piles of rock, some of which were walls. They particularly have enjoyed bouncing on the bridge planks giving all of us nervous twitches, but they never managed to get hurt.

Bouncing on the boards and climbing on the stone. What fun!
Bouncing on the boards and climbing on the stone. What fun!

In 2008 I finally bit the bullet and called in the Pros. Billy Ahern of Ahern’s Landscaping in Huntington NY came to the rescue. (BTW. They are not relatives of mine, past or present) He understood immediately what I wanted to create and he worked from my original drawing plans.

Ahern's Landscaping of Huntington Long Island (Not a relative though)
Ahern’s Landscaping of Huntington Long Island

The first thing that Billy’s crew did was to dismantle the stone walls I’d built in fits and starts from 2002 through 2007. What took me days of laying one course of stone took the men seconds to undo.

The crew dismantling my carefully and painfully built stone walls.
The crew dismantling my carefully and painfully built stone walls.

It was quite dismaying and sad for me to watch the work I’d done disappear. I thought about the exhaustion and pain I’d experienced and all the trips to Nadine O’Neill my Chiropractor and The Pilates Place trying to get my self back in shape.

And then I’d think with optimism how nice it was going to look and I would be able to go back to gardening, not construction work.

Ahern's crew demolishing everything we'd built except the stone steps
Ahern’s crew demolishing everything we’d built except the stone steps

I was also very pleased that Billy Ahern decided to keep the stone steps that my husband Dave and I had so proudly built in 2002. He said that were rock solid. We’re very proud.

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Go to Step 10 – Resizing the Dry Stream Bed

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Step 8 – Building The Flat Stone Wall

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 8 of Rear Garden Design Project.

July through November, 2002

We decided to trash my first idea of continuing the theme of the garden and using round river rock for the walls at the rear entrance to the guest room. What would happen each time it rained was that the soil would creep in from behind the stones and eventually clog up the passive drainage system.

So I dismantled the walls, making a stack of rocks to the left of the door. Using my handy dandy Mantis tiller I excavated the base and leveled it smoothly.

July 7, 2002 Clear the base and level it
July 7, 2002 Clear the base and level it

I used crushed bluestone to fill the base and give an even and strong working surface to the first base layer of stone.

July 9, 2002 Spreading gravel is much harder then raking a lawn.
July 9, 2002 Spreading gravel is much harder then raking a lawn.

I put landscapers cloth down first to keep back the soil and put the first course of stone down. This one is so critical because it sets the tone for the entire wall. I used levels to make sure the row was plumb.

September 8, 2002 Picking the right stones for the puzzle takes a long time
September 8, 2002 Picking the right stones for the puzzle takes a long time

The work was so laborious that I could only work on one or two courses a day and then it would take me a day or two to recover. Thank goodness for my Chiropractor, Dr. Nadine O’Neill in Northport for keeping my aching body going.

November, 9, 2002 The leaves are beautiful the unfinished wall isn't
November, 9, 2002 The leaves are beautiful, the unfinished walls are not

By the fall of 2002 I had to stop the project because I couldn’t fight the leaves everyday just to get started lifting stone. The project stood at a standstill for quite some time. Years in fact.

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Go to Step 9 – Bringing In The Pros

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Northport Historical Society Garden Tour – June 2009

In June of 2009 my garden was featured on the annual Northport Historical Society garden tour event. Weeks of preparation for a full day of garden connoisseurs visiting your garden takes an act of courage and lots and lots of hard physical work. The day was a rousing success and I’m glad I did it. 

Sharon Ruedeman captured the event and created this energetic video of that time.

Step 7 – Building Our Stone Steps

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 7 of Rear Garden Design Project.

July, 2002

We’ve read lots of books on building stone walls and steps so we are fully armed with knowledge on how to proceed with our latest step in the project. We dug below the soil line, filled and leveled the base with gravel poured onto landscape fabric. Great beginning.

We removed the temporary steps in preparation for the stone work. Note the pile of river rock piled against the back wall. We've begun dismantling the garden walls.
We removed the temporary steps in preparation for the stone work. Note the pile of river rock piled against the back wall. We’ve begun dismantling the garden walls.

We found the largest stones from amidst the three tons of stone we had delivered and started to put down our first step. We measured the height and width of the area and determined the riser and run dimensions of the steps making sure that they would all equal. This is a safety issue.

My husband Dave quit stone work after this part of the project and went back to computers.
My husband Dave quit stone work after we built the stairs and went back to computers.

At the end of our first day we were proud of having completed our first step. We used levels to make sure the stones were sloped correctly and concrete dust to stabilize each step.

So now that we had our first step the rest would be a cinch. Right?

No beauty pageant winner here. I'm far to exhausted to care.
No beauty pageant winner here. I’m far to exhausted to care. Stair 2 has been completed.

What we found is that we could only build one step a day. Sifting through the tons of stones, bringing them from the driveway using our handtruck. Shimmying them down to the base of the project and then lifting them into place. Absolutely exhausting work!

I didn't even commit a crime and I've been sentenced to hard labor on the rock pile. I should have been naughty.
I didn’t even commit a crime and I’ve been sentenced to hard labor on the rock pile. I should have been naughty.

At the end of each day we took photos since we couldn’t believe how hard this project was for us physically. Oh, so you mean, working with computers all day doesn’t make you fit enough to haul huge stones? Who would have thought?

The steps are done and I'll never, ever build another set. Yippee!
The steps are done and I’ll never, ever build another set. Yippee!

And so the day finally comes and we’ve finished the steps. We are still proud of them and thankful that we’ll never have to ever do something like that again in our entire lives!

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Go to Step 8 – Building The Flat Stone Wall

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Step 6 – Stone Walled. Rethinking the Project.

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 6 of Rear Garden Design Project.

June, 2002

River rock walls with temporary steps reclaimed from the basement
River rock walls with temporary steps reclaimed from the basement

Sometimes you design a project and don’t foresee some of the unexpected pitfalls to your vision so you try to make it work. It is important to recognize when to change course and try another solution. This happened with my idea about using round river rock on the terraced stone walls.

I wanted to keep the materials for the walls somewhat aligned with the natural stone found on the property. I didn’t have enough of my own local stone to do all the walls for the entry and the dry streambed so I bought 3 bins of Pennsylvania River Rock to supplement what I already had.

Running out of rock. To the right is the temporary bridge over the dry stream bed
Running out of rock. To the right is the temporary bridge over the dry stream bed

What I didn’t expect was that, even with landscape fabric behind the rocks, the soil was going to come through the walls and seep into the drainage system. We worried each time we had a major rainstorm that if the drains clogged the guest room would flood. This development was so unacceptable to us we zigged and zagged for an acceptable design solution.

We bought more stone as the solution to all our problems. Hmmm.
We bought more stone as the solution to all our problems. Hmmm.

So what did we do? We bought more stone of course. This time it was flat stone, which we felt would be a tighter solution to the seeping soil problem. We’re on our way forward…again.

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Go to Step 7 – Building Our Stone Steps

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Step 5 – Hard Labor on the Rock Pile

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 5 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September 2000

If anyone had ever told me that I would be sentenced to hard labor on a rock pile I would have mocked them. Welcome to my life.

The garden rocks begin to accumulate in the dry stream bed from months of gardening
The garden rocks begin to accumulate in the dry stream bed from months of gardening

On the program, “Inside the Actor’s Studio“, James Lipton asks ten questions at the end of his interview with the guest artist. Two of those questions are:

  • What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
  • What profession would you not like to do?

My answer to the second is instantly and consistently: Ditch Digger.
I then remember that I’m a gardener and I dig ditches and holes all the time.

Nobody could pay me enough to do this backbreaking work but I'm doing it for free here
Nobody could pay me enough to do this backbreaking work but I’m doing it in my own garden for free

I guess I would also have to include working hard labor on the rock pile under professions I would not like to do.

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Go to Step 6 – Stone Walled. Rethinking the Project

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Step 4 – The Stones Get Delivered

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 4 of Rear Garden Design Project.

June 2000

On June 19, 2000 I had three bins of Pennsylvania river rock delivered for me to use in building the walls of the terraced back entry. Though my property is rich with stone, (I do live along a road named Stony Hollow after all) I knew there wouldn’t be enough rock to complete the project as designed. The wire bins which contained the stone eventually became repurposed as my compost bins offering me many years of service.

Pennsylvania river rock delivered to the project site
Pennsylvania river rock delivered to the project site

The non-native river rock has a slightly different color than the native rock. It has a cooler shade of gray then the more earth toned local material. I was and am, somewhat bothered by this color shift.

2000-06-25-dry-stream-bed
Rocks dug from the garden help to define the dry stream bed

With each shovel dug into the ground over decades of gardening I’ve unearthed more and more stone treasures. I use these treasures to design and delineate my ideas, walkways and planting beds.

First hose and then rocks help to define the woodland walkways
First hose and then rocks help to define the woodland walkways

I use garden hoses in the early stages of creating the curves. You can see the hose towards the right hand curve. This allows me to visualize the movement and width of the walkways from many perspectives without breaking my back. Once I feel somewhat satisfied, I then replace the hose with rocks. I have been known to move the rocks over and over as time helps me to consider and reconsider the flow of plants and the land.

It is so creative to plan a garden so what’s a little pain!

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Go to Step 5 – Hard Labor on the Rock Pile

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Step 3 – After Destruction Comes Construction

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 3 of Rear Garden Design Project.

April, 2000

After we scooped out the soil for the creation of a back entrance to our home certain considerations needed to be addressed. The water and gas lines running to our home needed to be lowered to a new appropriate frost depth. The John Borrelli Plumbing Company brought in heavy equipment and reinstalled all our lines after the town located the entry points of our utilities.

Borelli Plumbing putting in the new gas and water lines
Borelli Plumbing putting in the new gas and water lines

The digging for the utility lines was planned to do the least damage to our existing garden. We used the plans for the dry streambed as part of our guide.

Digging the trenches for the utility lines

Digging the trenches for the utility lines

And then the rains came and came and came. The sandy soil on the sides started to slide down towards our new door. We stared out our new back window for hours hoping that the passive drainage system I designed was going to do its job. It worked exactly as I intended but we really needed to get some structure to the entryway.

Seemingly endless rains began to erode the sandy backfill

Seemingly endless rains began to erode the sandy backfill

Since I collect round things, so much of my design work entails circles. The entrance was no exception since I wanted a semi-circle as the entrance. I plotted it out on paper and then used twine to circumscribe the dimensions.

I inscribed a semi-circle for the entry platform

I inscribed a semi-circle for the entry platform

About a week later the cement was poured onto the sand base and we breathed a sigh of release. No more soil leading right up to the doorway.

The concrete had to be brought in by wheelbarrow since the truck was so big

The concrete had to be brought in by wheelbarrow since the truck was so big

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Go to Step 4 – The Stones Get Delivered

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Step 2 – Garden Excavation Starts the Project

The Garden Artist Posted on by

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 2 of Rear Garden Design Project.

On March 25, 2000 we began the excavation of the rear garden in order to add the back door entrance to the guest room addition to our home. When you first see a bobcat drive into your garden that you’ve been carefully planting and weeding over the course of 10 years it is really startling.

It was strange to see such a big bobcat driving into my precious garden
Frank Falino our Architect overseeing the bobcat excavation

The bobcat continued for hours digging down and removing the soil surrounding the rear foundation of our home. The soil in the top foot or two was good quality planting material but as they dug deeper, the quality of soil deteriorated to contractors fill which was disappointing since I was using it to build up other parts of my garden.

Dennis George watching as the project evolves
Dennis George watching as the project evolves

There is something about power equipment that mesmerizes people. As time passed, the groups standing watch at this loud and violent-like event grew. The whirring and burring of the machinery echoed disconcertedly through the woods

The mesmerizing sound of power tools
The mesmerizing sound of power tools

The saws used to cut through the concrete squealed with high ear splitting intensity while spewing clouds of dust both in and out of our home.

Within days we had a brand new back entrance to our home
Within days we had a brand new back entrance to our home

We had our back door and new full size windows looking out on our garden brightening the rooms planned for our new guest quarters. Both the inside and outside spaces were forever changed and our home felt so much larger.

So where did the excavated soil disappear to? Whenever you are moving soil on landscape design projects you need to consider where the soil is coming from and also where is it going.

The red arrow marks some of the berm we had built as a buffer to the street
The red arrow marks some of the berm we built as a buffer to the street

Part of my plan was to use the soil to create berms on the outside perimeter of the property close to the somewhat busy street running along the back of our home. The natural slope of the land scooped towards the street but the berms created an upswing and a visual and sound buffer useful for planting.

Unfortunately the better soil was at the bottom of the piles with the filler soil on top, reversing how it was excavated. I’ve been enhancing that soil for years now.

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Go to Step 3 – After Destruction Comes Construction

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Step 1 – Sometimes Garden Projects Take a Long Time

The Garden Artist Posted on by

Step 1 of Rear Garden Design Project.

In 1989 I bought my home in Northport Long Island NY. A cute little two-bedroom cape but I really bought it for the garden. It had a good skeletal structure. The property is triangular, set on a corner at a point of two (actually three) converging streets. That the perimeter is not rectangular adds to the illusion that the area is greater then its actual half-acre on the tax code.

The original rear garden in February 1989
The original rear garden in February 1989

The original garden behind the house was merely a worn path skirting a slight mound of earth leading to the rear foundation. The foundation planting consisted of two Euonymus alatus shrubs perched on each outside corner.

In 2000 after looking around for a new home in the area which my new husband Dave and I could share together,  we decided to stay on this little piece of earth and build a home specific to our evolving needs. One of the main reasons for staying was my love of the garden I’d worked on for a decade and the vision I’d been working towards.

Small basement windows in the rear of house in 2000
Small basement windows in the rear of house in 2000

In March of 2000 we began to break ground on what was to be a momentous change in our lives. We were gutting the entire house and rebuilding the interior into three floors. The rear of our home was to become the guest room entrance for the finished lower level which we were adding to the existing structure. The tiny basement windows would be replaced and the entire rear mound would be excavated to create a grand entrance.

View of rear garden looking north in 2000
View of rear garden looking north in 2000

The modest little bluestone path was to be replaced by a walkway leading to a Japanese inspired bridge, dry stream bed and planting terraces.

My drawing of the project as I envisioned it in 2000
My drawing of the project as I envisioned it in 2000

As part of my degree in Landscape Design at Farmingdale I designed and drew the plans for this project. It entailed moving water lines, electrical work and ensuring proper drainage management. Pretty complex and really creative.

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Go to Step 2 – Garden Excavation Starts the Project

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Five Plants I Would Save In My Garden

The Garden Artist Posted on by
Kansas Peonies Artwork made from the original gift from my son Chris. By the Artist, Mary Ahern.

“Kansas Peonies” Art inspired from my Mother’s Day present.

Four O’Clocks were my first introduction to growing plants from seed. Uncle Teddy took me by the hand at his home in Schenectady and introduced me, the kid from Brooklyn, to gardening. I can still smell the soil as we dropped the seeds of Four O’Clocks into the ground he taught me to prepare. Four O’Clocks weren’t the only things growing in his garden, so was I.

The Kansas Peonies I grow in my garden was a Mother’s Day present from my son Chris. I have so many gifts he’s given to me over our many years together but I still cherish the bright pink of these robust plants each year as they bloom for me right in season. They return each Mother’s Day, expanding and adding to their beauty, as does he.

Japanese Maple in the garden of the Artist, Mary Ahern.

Japanese Maple a birthday gift.

One year for my September birthday, my son, Michael came swooping in proudly bestowing upon me a stripling of a Japanese Maple. Still dangling was the $9.99 tag placed on it from Home Depot. Now, this mature specimen holds court as a central focal point in my front garden.

A bouquet of Zinnias comes into my hands each year when my husband Dave buys them from the gardener with a stand up the street from us. The grin on his boyish face as he hands them to me with love is matched only by the riotous colors of the single and double flowers grouped tightly in his hands.

On Mother’s Day this year my grandson C.J. bounced up to greet me with a pot full of poppies. He shares my garden with me and helps to bring my attention to all the wonderful colors and shapes he finds there for fear I might miss them. These poppies are pink he told me and reminded me that we need to photograph everything so we’ll remember how they looked.

I’ll remember.

Water Water Every Where

The Garden Artist Posted on by
Irrigation system installation in progress in the garden of the Artist, Mary Ahern.

Irrigation system installation in progress

For years I’ve been hauling hoses back and forth across my property. Each year the hoses get heavier and more difficult to move. In the last few years I can count far too many lost additions to my garden for want of water. Not a good way to treat the plants and certainly not a good way to protect the investment I’ve made in my garden.

So we half bit the bullet and had the initial stage of an irrigation system installed. If you live on Long Island and want to know a truly professional company to work with on your irrigation needs, go to Rain Rich located in Greenlawn NY. First we met with Manuel Nava who is the service manager and did a very thorough layout and assessment of our somewhat complicated property. Then Rich Silverman, the owner and founder of Rain Rich met with us to discuss the staging of the project over time.

Woodland paths restored after the irrigation pipe installation in the garden of the Artist, Mary Ahern.

Woodland paths restored after the irrigation pipe installation.

As he explained, since we have a mature, heavily planted garden, all the digging work would be done by hand in order not to disturb the root systems. The garden, since it was in peak season would be protected and returned as quickly as possible to an undisturbed state. As a skeptical New Yorker I figured, “Oh sure, that’ll happen!”

Well it did! Rich was true to his word. In one day he had a crew come in and hand dig all the trenching for the water and the electrical work. They first moved aside all the wood chips from my woodland walks and then dug the trenches. After the installation was completed, the soil was returned and the wood chips restored. Had I not taken pictures all day during the project, had I been away for the day and missed the frightening havoc wrecked upon my garden I would not have believed that the piping system had been installed. After all was done, it was hard to see that anything or anyone had been tromping around the property.

Rain Rich trucks of Greenlawn NY installed the irrigation system in the garden of the Artist, Mary Ahern.

Rain Rich trucks of Greenlawn NY

What an amazing and careful piece of craftsmanship!

How Not To See A Rhododendron

The Garden Artist Posted on by
Rhododendron catawbiense in the window of the Artist, Mary Ahern

Rhododendron catawbiense in the window

Rhododendrons have such a great place in plant hunter’s history. Tales are still being told and re-enacted as new and old seekers traverse the back roads and non-roads of the Himalayas in search of the newest and rarest of Rhodies. Courage, stamina, and leeches always play a big role in these adventures.

Having quite a different perspective of plant hunting, I traverse the hills and dales of Long Island in search of the ever elusive cultivar not yet in my plant collection. Rather than being the intrepid adventurer of far off lands gathering seed, I drive to nurseries and make some of my decisions on whether I can lift the plant into my car. Rhodies can be backbreaking.

Which brings me to the problem of this Rhododendron catawbiense which is an original inhabitant when I bought the property in 1989. The foundation plantings were all huge view-concealing Rhodies. Over time I’ve managed to dig up and move all of them except this last remaining specimen. Some of the huge plants I moved by myself and in some cases, I hired a person with a bobcat. Some survived the transplanting and some didn’t. In retrospect, I think the fatalities had to do with watering and drought issues since the rootballs of Rhodies are pretty shallow and self-contained.

View from the dining room window of the Artist, Mary Ahern

View from the dining room window of the Rhodi in bloom

The way to view Rhododendrons is not to the exclusion of a view of the rest of your garden when sitting at your dining room table. This view is only beautiful for 2 weeks a year when the rhodi is in bloom. The only other benefit to having this view is that in the winter you can use the leaf curl as a thermometer to determine if the temperature is below freezing. Not worth it I say. So, as I’ve said every year for the last decade or so, I’m going to move that Rhodie to the woods this year.

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