Keep in mind, feral and stray cats are not one in the same. A feral cat has never lived inside or been handled by humans. A stray, on the other hand, has lived indoors for part of its life and is use to human contact. Skittles and Snickers were feral (wild), but now I like to think of them as just outdoor cats. The word feral seems evil and they are far from it, having never bitten or scratched me, although Snickers got me once when applying Revolution. She was scared, and I wasn't holding her correctly. Initially, she batted me with her paws and then, when I wouldn't give up, a claw or two came out... my fault on all counts. Today, they both love to be pet. Snickers can be picked up for a quick 5-second snuggle, Skittles slightly longer at 6 seconds, and both will stay on my lap if I insist. When I work in the yard or take "bench breaks" from my home office, they are never far away, chasing each other in the garden, which must be a jungle at that size, running up and down trees, no longer kittens but cats with lots of energy for hunting. As I mentioned, my husband is allergic, so Skittles and Snickers do not come into the main part of our house. However, they do have access to the attached garage via a small cat door, which we installed ourselves and they have been trained to use. The garage is where they seek refuge from inclement weather and where we feed them only high quality, high protein dry food twice a day. And, of course, water is always available. Our yard (and garage) is their home, territory, and hunting grounds, and they seem very content. There is still an innate wildness about them, which makes me believe they could never be indoor pets.
And, so we begin...
December 2013, I sat on my garden bench, head in my hands, and close to tears. I had just come outside to inspect yet another 10-year-old Oakleaf Hydrangea laying on its side with no roots, the sixth Hydrangea victim in two weeks. Voles were to blame, aka nocturnal field mice and very cute until they do thousands of dollars of damage to your landscape. As a designer, my yard is my business. At that rate of destruction, we could no longer co-exist. Not to be confused with moles that dig for earthworms, grubs, and other insects, voles feed on plants, primarily plant roots. Voles do not tunnel like moles, but they use mole tunnels to access the root systems. They will also strip the bark from mature trees and shrubs. Because they are nocturnal, often the only sign of vole activity is a leaning plant with severely damaged or no roots, and by then, it's too late. Those who live north may be less familiar with these destructive critters, simply because voles can struggle to survive very cold winters. Living in a thickly forested area of northwest New Jersey, I developed a thorough understanding of deer and their habits, but had no experience with voles until we moved south to a warmer winter climate. Now, I'd trade a deer problem for a vole problem any day. So it is here I digress from blogging about plants and landscape design to share a story, or perhaps an adventure, about my experience with developing effective vole control for my yard. My critter problem started after years of working my dense clay earth, when my soil finally became black, rich, loam-y, and, of course, easy to tunnel through. Add several mild winters, and my vole population simply exploded. For the next three years, I waged a war with traps, deterrents, and chemicals. I spent hundreds of dollars every season replacing plants, not to mention the frustration of having to start over with 3-gallon shrubs. But, no matter what I did or how vigilant I was with applications and traps, I was losing the battle. Nothing was working. As I sat on my bench, it was time to rethink my strategy. I knew I needed a nighttime mouse predator. The hawks, owls, and black snakes weren't putting a dent in the numbers. A cat was a logical solution, but my husband was terribly allergic and the idea of leaving a cat outside 24/7/365 wasn't very appealing. When I talked to my sister who owns a horse farm and several barn cats, she encouraged me to connect with the local feral cat society. The what? Who? It was then that I dove headlong into a project of researching, adopting, and then taming two spayed feral kittens, part two, and possibly part three, of my story. In the meantime, meet my "repurposed" cats... Snickers and Skittles...
Up to this point, we have named combinations of three to five genus species for every area within the larger landscape, focusing and selecting plants based on mature height and contrast. Now for the layout...
For most of us, straight lines patterns and symmetry just feels right, but it's the one-off that truly appeals to our subconscious, i.e. asymmetry, odd numbers, zigzag and triangular patterns. Also remember that Mother Nature rarely plants in straight lines. There are opportunities for straight-line and symmetrical planting near the house, patio, and very narrow beds. But, right now, we are designing for planting beds away from the house, and our goal is to weave a natural landscape of colors and texture using triangular and zigzag patterns. Step two, take the next tallest plant for this first area and do the same. Create triangular or zigzag patterns with an odd number of plants (or multiples of 3), weaving them close to the first plant, yet always accounting for mature width. Again, use this group once or several times, depending on the mature size of the mass and the space available. Continue with the next tallest plant and so on. Poka-dot the open holes and edges with perennials and annuals and move on to plan the next area.
We pick up where we left off a few weeks ago... breaking down the design process into more manageable steps. Up to this point, we have defined our spaces, what they will be used for, and how big they need to be. We have also given some thought to minimizing the non-native lawn in an effort to increase biodiversity and reduce our carbon footprint. The exercise of defining spaces has led to the incorporation of hardscapes and transitions, the sculpting lawn lines with recycled tree chips, and the pinpointing areas for additional trees. If we look closely, we have naturally delineated smaller areas with which to work and can begin to pick our plant combinations based on sun, wind and water exposure. The next step is to select three to five different plants for an area without yet deciding on how many of each or the physical layout. For example, for the first area, we might decide to use Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen', Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' and variegated Hosta. Notice how we've combined a large-leaf, gray-green plant with a small-leaf, light green plant with a large-leaf, variegated herbaceous plant. Using the size, shape and color of the leaf along with mature height of the plants, we have developed a certain level of contrast with this combination of plants. Done. We move onto the next area and name the next combo. Right now, the goal is to simply identify interesting combinations of plants for each segment of the landscape, bearing in mind that repeating certain plants or colors will tie the design together. Next time we'll talk about how to weave a beautiful layout with plants.
The local media here in Virginia is paying lots of attention to ticks and Lyme’s disease with good reason. The disease, which is spread by deer ticks, is on the increase and it’s a serious disease. The lab tests are not yet definitive and the symptoms can be debilitating. Many cases are left undiagnosed for months and, in some cases, years. We were living in the northwest part of New Jersey before moving to VA. At the time, that part of NJ had the highest rate of Lyme’s disease after Lyme, Connecticut, where the disease was first discovered. We had an out-of-control population of deer, the preferred host of the deer tick. As a landscaper and parent, I was obviously concerned for my well-being and that of my family since we like to play outside a lot. Spraying ourselves with pesticide on a daily basis was not an option nor did I want to kill all insects by spraying the yard. The mosquito companies, such as Mosquito Squad and Mosquito Authority, are rendering our backyard ecosystems sterile which has rippling effects on the environment and, ultimately, all of us. Don’t allow these companies to frighten you with their advertising. To prevent tick bites and Lyme’s disease in NJ, our family had one simple, hard fast rule. If you put a toe in the yard, you showered before bed. No questions asked, no excuses. Ticks crawl around the body for a very long time before they attach, up to 12 hours. By showering and washing within that timeframe, ticks end up down the drain. They also have to be attached for at least 24 hours to transmit disease. A shower at the end of the day and frequent body checks kept us tick-free in NJ and now VA. |
Welcome to my journal. For over 20 years I've created original landscape plans to help homeowners increase property value and really enjoy their yards. I approach every project as an unique opportunity to develop a work of living art, one that will require minimal care and age beautifully with time. In this journal, I will share some of my field experiences and tricks of the trade with you. Feel free to email questions. Thanks for visiting.
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February 2019
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