I researched how to ensure a healthy peony season, and there was very little for me to do. I deadheaded spent blooms, encouraging the flowers to send the rest of the season’s energy to the tubers—saving that energy for the next year’s blooms. I cut down the dead stalks in the fall and added compost. I went so far as to buy specialty fertilizer, but I never added it. I had no good reason to mess with a sure thing.
Garden
Xanaduing My Best: Common Buckthorn
In addition to outcompeting native plants that support native wildlife, buckthorn are bad for surrounding structures. Their roots are shallow but dense, hoarding nutrients for themselves. Native plants with deep roots soak up water and incorporate it into the Earth’s water cycle; buckthorn trees let the water pool and soak into my basement and cost me thousands of dollars in repairs.
Xanaduing My Best: English Ivy
English ivy was eating my new home. It crawled through windows, over doors, and into brick. It climbed up trees and advanced across grass. It swallowed up light and space. From the front curb to the rear fence, the north side of my property was a 15-foot wide forest of invasive plants, with English ivy rising from the ground in mats, suffocating trees, and generally taking over.
Xanaduing My Best: Silver Maple
The silver maples in my neighborhood are past their prime. Some, like mine, lose a few branches in big storms. Others, like the neighbors across the street, lose a lot of branches in mild winds. Several neighbors have entirely removed their silver maples. I don’t expect mine to live forever, but I believe they have good years left in them.
Xanaduing My Best: An Introduction
My gardening goals have changed from season to season and year to year. My reasons for growing and landscaping have included everything from solving drainage issues, to supporting wildlife, to growing food and a hundred other purposes. My intentions have changed as my knowledge has grown, but my overarching desire has always been to walk out of my home and enjoy the abundance of nature. A personal paradise. A Midwest Xanadu.
Put It In Your Hat 