I worked for 20 years in a profession famous for repetitive stress injuries to the wrists (court reporting) and never suffered from one and could only wonder what it must feel like to those having to wear wrist splints as part of daily attire. Now I wonder no more. Cutting back the garden since arriving in early April, the right wrist really started to feel it. It’s back to normal now, but that marathon spring cutback session needs rethinking. While the pain memory is still fresh, I thought some notes on tuning up this spring garden might be helpful to review next spring, hopefully prompting some workarounds. (For comparison, the cleanup work we put into the Los Angeles garden last October was exhausting, but no one particular muscle group was affected more than the other — everything hurt!)
Dierama needs careful cleanup due to its asymmetric and akimbo growth pattern that juts out stalks awkwardly. I sacrificed some summer blooms to lasso it back into a more vase-like outline and trimmed a lot of its ratty blades. (The Olearia x mollis ‘Zennorensis’ directly behind the dierama surprisingly flourished, but the two shapes fought each other. Which one to move? Not wanting to set back blooms on the dierama, I opted to move the olearia to the front garden, which has a mostly evergreen presence.) The giant restio Rhodocoma capensis was thinned a lot; arguably, it needs a bigger garden than mine, but even reduced and thinned it has a strong presence, so it stays for now. And it definitely has more breathing room now that the tetrapanax is gone — above ground anyway!
Something Ketzel Levine said at Manzanita’s Wonder Garden plant sale last weekend stuck with me. Some of us volunteers were looking at a congested clump of Eryngium paniculatum, and our fearless director said sometimes it’s best to dig up and divide a mature clump rather than waste time trying to clean it. Now, to me, a mature clump of anything is a huge asset, capable of producing more blooms, and some tap-rooted plants don’t take lightly to being divided, but the general point is well taken. The giant eryngo in my garden, E. padanifolium, becomes a congested mass of spiky leaves, very scratchy cleanup work. I opted for a shortcut this week and removed most of the rosettes, leaving the largest. And as for Stipa gigantea, this evergreen grass needs a lot of tidying and cutting back of old bloom spikes, and I’ll most likely divide it next spring and start fresh –.I wouldn’t be without it. The seslerias and deschampsias also need extensive raking and trimming.
Between the two clumps of Silver Spike Grass grew one of the many divisions of Succisella inflexa spread throughout the garden, a fizzy pollinator-attracting perennial that adores growing conditions here and quickly extends to sizeable clumps. With pale lavender, knautia-like flowers, it was a boon to the new garden but becoming an aggressive spreader. Only one clump remains. Symphytum ‘Axminster Gold’ was found at Blooming Junction, a good nursery an hour and a half away. (We made a couple trips to a nearby mechanic to get my Mini Cooper checked out, so there were some unexpected plant shopping opportunities. Garaged all winter, nevertheless, upon startup the Mini had a fit and was throwing multiple computer codes, and the windows, turn signals and windshield wipers wouldn’t work. A hefty repair bill for the Mini at 14 years old, 100,000 miles, but we’ve no interest in car shopping at the moment!)
The comfrey is a much better background for the camassias than the nondescript green leaves of succisella, and as it gains size and spills over the riser it will help conceal the dying camassia leaves.
Overall, since breaking ground in October 2021, more plants have survived than failed, so there’s been lots of digging and relocating this spring. (The only transplant I fear may not survive is Sinopanax formosanus, which flourished in a location that was inappropriate for the size it was attaining, so it had to be moved in any case.) Regrettably I did remove Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia, and will miss its glowing willowy presence when at its peak of summer/fall beauty. As it grew to over 4 feet, however, its scruffy spring presence became harder to ignore.
I expected a similarly scruffy appearance from the stock tank beschorneria, but the buffering effect from the nearby Cassinia x ozothamnus may have saved it from winter’s worst. See, it pays to overplant!
The anthriscus share ground with a young Stachyurus salicifolia, melianthus, Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ and a nicely maturing Thalictrum ‘Elin’ just in front of the stock tank.
Also here, Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’ can’t hold a candle to the majesty of ‘Elin’ (imho). Digitalis ferruginea is reseeding almost too prolifically here, and I’m trialing a couple Digitalis lutea too.
More photos and less words soon!
Your garden looks happy with all the effort and love you’ve given it since your return. I’ve only gardened extensively in the rain once but then we don’t get nearly as much rain (especially this year). I love your blue Camassias and the Cassinia x ozothamnus is intriguing. I have a wrist problem going myself, although I can’t say the wrap supports I’m using on both sides are doing the job, probably because I’ve yet to give them any real opportunity to recover.
Sorry to hear about your wrists. Every Spring seems to bring about some new ache and pain after a winter of not using these muscles. I now stagger all the jobs that need doing so decreasing the amount of repetitive strain. So far so good. However, you little garden is thriving and looking so good in such a short period of time. Appreciate your rain. We have had nothing so far and it’s dry.
My aches and pains have been my right knee acting up on some local hikes in the Columbia Gorge. It’s always the downhill that gets me. Just getting into the swing of gardening again. It’s nice to see what you’ve been up to and to be inspired by your ability to put together interesting contrasts in form and color. I’m working on that. I’ve been really pleased with Polemonium ‘Golden Feathers’ too, though that Thalictrum has surprisingly become a bit assertive in reseeding in my garden. Also surprised that my only clump of Stipa gigantea bit the dust over the winter. No idea what happened. I thought they were as tough as nails. Oh well, time to find something new to fill the void before the weeds do.
Ah our gardening aches and pains! I’ve bungled my knee again and of course there’s very little chance of a long rest to help it heal up. It looks like there’s lots to appreciate in your Oregon garden, even if there’s much work involved. As for the rain, it has been freakishly dry here for the last 3 weeks or so, I am spot watering as I plant but I may have to start my summer routine soon. How about out there?
@Kris, there’s a really deep blue camassia that came up too, so hoping that spreads. Fortunately my wrists up to now have always been good, I remember so many people washing out of court reporting due to stress injuries after going through years of training to get certified.
@Elaine, the Oregon garden requires different tasks from the LA garden — I’m learning! April has been intermittently rainy, but the wet season is just about over.
@Jerry, weird about losing the stipa, mine’s been a monster. Yes, to the polemonium, even Marty pointed to it this morning as special! Funny about heading downhill, it seems like it’ll be a relief after a long hike, but then really hits the knees hard!
@Loree, sorry to hear that knee is acting up again. April has been pretty good for rain, not steady but well timed so no need to grab the hose other than for containers.
Oof, sorry about the wrists. I remember having bouts of carpal tunnel syndrome in the early 90’s from long bouts of typing (admin. law office). Nice work, you’ve done a lot. I like the advice “digging it up to divide is easier than cleaning”. The asphodels are cool! Golden Feathers is a looker- so many great plants.