Come take a hike through rolling Woodlands and make a stop by the shade garden, as well as the pollinator garden. Grab your plant journal if you care to take down names of plants you like and might want to grow yourself. I keep a plant journal with the conservation value of each one of my native plants, as well as it’s Latin name. It’s fun to see how plants are connected.
In 2012, we began clearing invasive species including oriental bittersweet, autumn olive, Dame’s Rocket and my personal nemesis – garlic mustard. We have been regularly monitoring for new invasions of these plants. It’s definitely a constant battle that is totally worth it! The clearing of autumn olive and heavy grape vines made room for native flowering dogwood and healthier trees overall.
In 2016, we transplanted Pennsylvania sedge, hepatica, pussy toes, porcupine grass, and bottlebrush grass out of the area intended for our home and driveway. In 2017, we sowed the seeds of some of our established native plants onto the hillside to curb erosion and labeled new plants as they came up. In fall 2022, we began a large garden makeover by dividing a number of natives and moving them to new locations to add a variety of color and bloom time to the pollinator garden.
