Viewing post #815339 by chelle

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Mar 24, 2015 7:57 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
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Just a fairly thorough, sunny day study during each season.

-In late winter even deciduous trees will throw enough of a shadow outline that you can reasonably judge where the heaviest shade will eventually be concentrated, or at the very least give you an idea of which areas to study further later on.

-Spring is harder to judge because there's less leaf cover, coupled with wind to add confusion. During breaks, I just move a lightweight chair or gardening stool around to unknown areas, sit, and check it out. During spring leaf-out it's sometimes easier to judge by how cool or warm exposed skin feels in different areas. If in one spot my skin is very cool, I think hosta or fern, if a spot five or ten feet away feels a bit warmer, I think heuchera, daffodil or delphinium.

-Summer, same way. The visual signs are much clearer because the trees are already fully leafed-out, but factor in what you learned in spring because spring ephemerals won't need sun during the summer.

-In autumn I take note of which trees shed leaves early (might be a good place for mums, monkshood or asters), which ones hold them till spring (darker almost year-round), and where the heaviest concentrations of leaves fall. I always leave most of the leaves in the beds they fall into, so once again I'd choose plants that want lots of organic matter for those planting areas. It just saves work all around. Smiling

(Did I get the drift of the question, or did I fly hopelessly off-base? Whistling I do that sometimes. Hilarious! )
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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