A promise yet to be fulfilled [02/25]

I’m Nathan Langley and this is A promise yet to be fulfilled, a seasonal weekly newsletter on my garden developments at home in Sudbury, Ontario!

I continued my work along the driveway this past week, preparing the space for planting and updating the plan for the section next to the old well.

The feeling of the garden didn’t change much with my revisions to the plan, but I did add a few more perennials to the mix:

Symphyotrichum (Aster) laevis (Smooth Aster)
Eupatorium maculatum ‘Gateway’ (‘Gateway’ Joe Pye Weed)
Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night’ (‘May Night’ Meadow Sage)

I also decided to switch the Aster dumosus ‘Wood’s Light Blue’ (‘Wood’s Light Blue’ New York Aster) with Aster novae-angliae ‘Grape Crush’ (‘Grape Crush’ New England Aster).

Overall, the new section should add a bit more structure to the garden bed, and the asters should add some wonderful colour as the growing season draws to a close.

On a whim, I also decided to start adding some grass clumps to my “mini Arboretum” in the front yard.

I don’t intend to add garden beds to this section of the property, at least not formal garden beds. But I felt there wasn’t enough of a balance between the turf and the trees I have planted so far.

There is just something about the energy and liveliness of grasses! I had the material on hand anyway, so I figured why not add some of that feeling to the space and see how it goes. Another little experiment!

I think the week ahead will be a recovery week, as I have picked up a summer flu (doh!). The downtime might be a good excuse to begin planning work for my trial garden, though.

And if I am really lucky, I will kick the flu early and be able to plant some more grasses in the front yard and chip away at turning over the soil in the trial garden area.