Garden #8 - The Far Acre Garden

The far acre garden consists of the last acre of land we bought. There is a large vegetable garden, a native plant garden, apple trees, roses, peonies and “the hill” that I am currently landscaping with plants such as phlox, bee balm, yarrow, hydrangea and hosta. I have the space up there to also grow numerous trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and bamboo – and I’m doing just that. Much of the ground is covered in moss under the large maple trees and I find that attractive and soothing. There are places to sit up there right next to the large pasture area. Figuring out what will grow up there isn’t always easy since the plants need to be fairly drought tolerant once they are established, but landscaping this area is certainly fun.

: Another view of the large vegetable garden. The area in front of the vegetable garden, right at the front of the photo, contains 13 roses and some strawberry plants.

: This is another view of the large vegetable garden. The tall plants are Hawaiian giger.

: This is the large vegetable garden. You can see the row of young cannas, an orange tree, and edible bananas.

: This is the long view of the hill. I still have a lot of room to plant.

: This area of the hill was very shady, so I planted hosta, daylilies, tulips and peonies.

: These plants are actually growing on a hill. The hill was too steep to mow with a riding lawn mower, so we decided to landscape it. At the top of the hill is tall purple phlox. The next several rows are various colors of bee balm. The bottom three rows consist of various colors of yarrow. In between the rows are tulips and daffodils.

: This garden is home to a mix of various colored peonies, lilies, two pink buddelia and two Clematis 'Sapphire Indigo.' The clematis blooms continually and has a dark purple flower. It grows to a height of 36" and is best used as a ground cover.

: I grew this pink and white striped peony from seed. I really like the way it looks.

: I love this coral colored peony.

: This shot shows most of the native plant garden, although three of the corners are chopped off. I added tulips and daffodils along with a few crocus for early spring color. Other plants in this garden include hollow joe-pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum), New York Ironweed (Veronica noveboracensis), Broomsedge grass (Andropogon virginicus), Big Bluestem grass (Andropogon geradii), Ruby Spice Summersweet (Clethera alnifolia 'Ruby Spice'), Amsonia, Purple Love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis), Dwarf Crested Iris, Smooth Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis), Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), Tussock Sedge (Junica tussock), Geranium 'Blue Rush,' Heucherella ‘Buttered Rum,’ Leucanthemum ‘Freak!,’ Heuchera 'Dolce Blackberry Ice,' and Heucherella x Rosalie.

: This is another photo of the native plant garden. The rocks in the birdbath allow small insects and butterflies to get water without drowning. There are numerous plants in this photo including ornamental grass, amsonia, heuchera, perennial geranium, tulips, daffodils and daisies. In the background you see a variegated lilac and a row of peonies.

: This is yet another shot of the native plant garden. There is smooth penstemon, crested iris, amsonia, ornamental grass, tulips, daffodils, heuchera, perennial geranium and daisies in this photo.

: This is another shot of the native plant garden. I added some daisies, heuchera and perennial geraniums this year. You also see amsonia, lupine, ornamental grass, tulips, daffodils, joe-pye weed, crested iris and summersweet.

: This garden contains many native, deer-proof plants as well as a few non-native plants. In this picture you see perennial geranium, tulips, daffodils, amsonia, lupine, joe-pye weed, New York Ironweed and cutleaf coneflower.

: This is Amsonia - commonly known as blue star. It is a native plant.

: These are pumpkin and corn seedlings. They too are growing very fast this year due to the large amount of rain we are receiving. They are planted so close together to discourage wildlife, especially racoons, which are a problem. The colored yarn is intended to mark the rows and discourage wildlife as well. I have attached tiny bells to the strings. I am also making dancing garden mirrors which will reflect light and help to discourage wildlife.