Edit: doing more of this Thurs 4/30, 3-7.
Garden labor / plant trade? I’m planning to be weeding, planting new native perennials, and putting down mulch this Tuesday afternoon from 4-7. If you’d like to stop by for an hour and help, I can offer in exchange:
1) answering any garden questions I can (I’m good on perennial flowers, shrubs, and flowering trees, English style gardens, some about prairie and native gardening, and fall bulbs; I also like talking about garden design)
2) you’re welcome to dig out:
• Canadian goldenrod (native)
• whatever random grass that volunteered in my front parkway (reasonably nice border grass, but I want something else there), • Russian sage (easy-care, good for dry parkways, will multiply slowly over time)
• variegated English ivy (I planted some in a low planter by mistake, and it’s escaped into my lawn and needs to be pulled, but it’s great for hanging planters normally)
ALSO (with warnings):
• lily-of-the-valley (invasive, so I wouldn’t recommend putting it in your garden, but now is a great time to have a pot of it in your house — will soon bloom and smell amazing — traditional Mother’s Day flower, nice gift for mom — you can just give her a bouquet if you don’t trust her not to plant it in the garden…)
• wood hyacinth — about to start blooming, and it’s very happy in my garden and has spread a lot, basically invasive here, I’m going to replacing mine with native camassia, I think, but if you dig it up and plant it in a pot, it’ll be lovely blooming indoors over the next week or two)
3) you’re welcome to take cuttings of roses, shrubs, etc. I haven’t propagated that way, but I know lots of people (who have more patience than me) do so successfully. I have native redbud, serviceberry, and probably other native trees I’m forgetting too. Lots of fruit trees, grape vines, raspberries.
4) I also have three bags’ worth of organic leaf mulch that would be good in the bottom of planting beds — bring something to carry it in, like trash bags)
My yard has been all-organic for 16 years now, so everything should be quite safe! If interested, just stop by this afternoon (if you can comment here so I know you’re coming, that would be great, but not required):
332 Wisconsin Ave., the blue and purple house with the little free library in front.
