Why would you want a shady garden or landscape?
Got a bare shady or mossy patch of lawn that just doesn't grow under the shade of oaks or pines trees? Got areas of the lawn that are extra rooty or rocky and a pain to mow? Or even too much lawn and it so happens to be in the shade. My simple solution to these problems will be returning these areas to what they want to be and once were. Woods.
Woods? Yes, returning the land back to its natural state is an easy way to put money back into your pocket and time back into your life. As well as reducing carbon emissions, decreasing erosion, increasing ground water infiltration, providing habitat for wildlife, increasing biodiversity and having your own slice of heaven right outside your door.
Now I'm not implying that I want your yard to become a wild impenetrable thicket. Quite the opposite, the strategy I'll use to bring back woodland to your property will promote an open park like understory with paths and trails, scattered native flowering shrubs, small trees and dozens of varieties of blooming groundcovers that will light up your new yard with all season color. Not to mention never having to water, fertilize, mow and clean up leaves in your yard pretty much ever again.
We can start small with a shade garden and work our way out or we can start the process with a large section.
The process of Woodland Restoration
Theres a few ways to go about restoring your yard.
management plan where I guide the yard to the desired woodland result. Through selective weeding and allowing nature to bring in the plants through seeds. Would take a year or 2 to see results.
, where I Install trees, shrubs forbs etc. Instant results but long-term maintenance would still be needed.
I also offer customizable plans to suit your needs.
Long Term, low cost
1. Stop Mowing
This allows what is there to grow, such as flowering ground covers, native grasses and sedges, shrubs and saplings of trees. As well as allowing the wind and wildlife to bring in cool plants from near and far.
The long term, low cost process involves 3 main principles.
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2. Management
While letting the lawn areas grow out Ill be selectively weeding out undesirable plants, making sure shrubs and trees grow in decent areas, establishing paths and trails
The most expensive part of restoring your woodland is the time it takes to promote the correct plant life. It quickly decreases as the woodland established itself. In 2-3 years the yard should only need a visit once a year to make sure everything is going well.
3. Leave the Leaves
This helps block out weeds, restore soil, increase soil water retention and promote habitat for plants to start spreading in the yard. This part has least amount of work, with the only things that we need to do is keep paths and trails clear.
Short term, High cost
The short-term plan involves the same strategies but with a head start with abundant plants being brought in. Best done in September or October, the bulk of the cost will come from the plants and the labor involved in planting them.
1. Planting
Well have a consultation about the plants well use, the places they will go. Then planting, the new plants. The new plants will need daily water for a few weeks after planting. We do this in fall as the rainy season is Fall-Spring
3. Stop Mowing
This allows what we planted to spread as well as what was there to grow, such as flowering ground covers, native grasses and sedges, shrubs and saplings of trees.
2. Leave the Leaves
If timed correctly the planting should be done by the time leaves start to fall. We will leave them in place. This helps block out weeds, restore soil, increase soil water retention and promote habitat for plants to start spreading in the yard. This part has least amount of work, with the only things that we need to do is keep paths and trails clear.
4. Management
Selectively weeding out undesirable plants that are competing with what we brought in and promoting the plants we brought in making space for them to continue to spread.
Making sure plants brought in are healthy.
This is the expensive part of maintaining the new yard and will decrease as everything established. 2 or 3 years down the line I should only have to come back 1 day a year to check and make sure things are going well.
5. Continued leaving of the leaves to establish good soil and to promote the habitat for our new plants.