What a joy! Looking forward to more pix.

To your request...

always great to see your stuff ... thx...

talk to us about a downspout into a whiskey barrel.. with trees in it ...apparently it stays rather dry most of the time??? .. what about in winter????

ken

Great specimen plants. Would like a more cohesive planting strategy. Just a bit too random to my eye. Has some Asian garden elements. I would pump that up and maybe create a path through the space and group plants in segments along that pathway for example. So the eye and body can stroll through enjoying the visit.

Ken,

The downspout is not "into" the barrel.... it looks like it is in the pic though.

Flo Mangan

Just a random planting. No strategy. I'm a student of Entropy. In the end, everything will be chaotic anyway as the entropy increases :-).

Nice mulch work over there.

Oh but there is no such thing as randomness. Lol.

Thanks for posting these bamboo_nuts!

Great variety including the rarer specimens you don't see just anywhere. :-)

Keep up the good work!

Flo Mangan

It's true there's no such thing as randomness...at least for now..until we get to quantum randomization. Hope can live that long to see that :-).

Hey John, Always a pleasure too see your amazing gardens! Your hard work sure shines through...great display! Really like your 'de Ruyter'.
Thanks
Al

Al

Thanks for the compliments. I - for one - would like to see the display of your gardens. Some pics? Any changes this year?

J.N

I am NUTS about your collection

thanks , ron

I think my bamboo died this year

Good stuff and good to see the updates. Thanks.

tj

I also really like the P. Omorika de Ruyter. How big was it when you got it and how old is it? I got my hands on a 6" tall 1-gallon. I have read that they are very slow growing.

Al,

What a setting. Love it. Thanks for the pix.

Matt,

It is about 12 years. Yes, it is very slow growing.

Matt,

Correction.. it is 7.5 years old and about 7ft height.

John, I really love your conifers in containers. And even though it’s probably not a good idea in my climate I’m trying one anyway. Figure the worst that happens is I kill a conifer, and maybe it will bring me some joy in the short term. Thanks for the inspiration.

indianagardengirl

It's really fun to watch them grow in containers. Try it and you will love it. Good luck.

And by the way, avoid growing firs in container though.

I started one last fall, inspired by some of your posts, and a nice small cultivar of Pinus strobus called Cockerton special. Made it through the first winter and looking good so far. Thanks for the tip about firs :)

To both b_n and a_c, three things jump out at me:

1. You love plants
2. You have an eye for design
3. Deer are not a big problem

Thanks for the pics.

I love, love, love your place. Such an immaculate treasure. Thank you for sharing your hard work with us. We all look forward to these update posts every year. Thanks! =)

RIGHT ON , GAREN !

I am totally jealous. If I indulged in such plantings, they would all lay on the sacrificial altar of the deer gods.

Love that bed in the first pic with the mixed conifers. What variety of Sciadopitys is that, Green Star? Killer 'De Ruyter'. Thanks for the update John!

-Ryan

Ryan

I'm not sure which Japanese pine you referred to. In the fourth pic, it is http://www.iselinursery.com/colorful-conifers/sciadopitys-japanese-umbrella-pine/sciadopitys-verticillata-gruene-kugel/. In the eight picture, it is http://www.iselinursery.com/colorful-conifers/sciadopitys-japanese-umbrella-pine/sciadopitys-verticillata-picola/

The 'de Ruyter' starts showing its beauty only when it matures. It is not in the right location though. I ran out of space :-(, so I had to place it by the side of my house... I'm not able to enjoy it from my library room ... poor me!

John Nguyen

PS: some pics of your gardens? Any new plants this year? Love to see yours.

Garen Rees

I learnt some new English words from you... eye-candy, immaculate... :-). Are you English major or a writer? Just curious...

J.N

I'd agree Alley and bamboo have what I'd call immaculate gardens. Add pristine to your new words!

Thanks for the IDs John, both of those Umbrella Pines are top notch, I love this species. I'll have to make a post sometime, lots of new plants :-)

John, here’s my little pine in a big container experiment. Pot is 36“ high by 42“ wide:

Not much soil in there! hmmm

LOL! Bags and bags and bags of bark and 511 mix ingredients. I didn’t do the math, figuring I surely had enough. Took me a few days as I kept thinking surely now I’d bought enough! Finally quit as I figured I was close enough to the top. It looks kind of ridiculous right now, this little pine perched on top of this giant container. :)

We're not seeing the whole container, just the top rim. Indygirl can we see a pic of the whole? And speaking of holes, is there a drainage hole in there?

tj

Sure, here’s the whole thing. Yes, the pot has a large drainage hole. I used it as a water feature in my pond, with water spilling over the sides, so there’s a good sized hole that we created for the plumbing. After several years I wanted to do something different in the pond, so I have this as a focal point near the back fence and the gate into my woods.

Dat's one big pot! 8^0

I like the pot. I'd be inclined to put the tree in the biggest nursery pot that fits and put that into your urn. Those rounded sides will make removal a royal pain should you need to get it out of there sometime down the road.

tj

That’s a great idea, TJ. I figured I would destroy either the pot or the plant when it needs to be repotted. I have some really large nursery pots out behind the barn. I will add this to the fall project list!

John, apologies for the hijack :)

indianagardengirl

No, not at all. This forum is for everyone where we all learn, exchange and share our experience from each other Feel free to change the subject to meet your need. I have no concept of "hi-jacking" :-).

J.N