Moss Island Shoreline Complete

High humidity and building heat sent us into the shade this morning seeking a somewhat comfortable place to work.  Gathering moss covered stones from the wildly overgrown border area seemed like a good idea.  Rain forest like moisture dripped from plant leaves making the uneven ground slippery.  Caution prevailed and a load of stones was gathered without incident.

Planting this area will be a totally new experience for us.  A trip to the back woods in search of natural soil will provide some of the raw materials for the soil that will fill this island.  If we complete that task ahead of winter's arrival, we will have a clear area ready to receive native plants next spring.  Usually our habit is to frantically prepare a planting spot for the generous load of new purchases bought with little idea of just where they will set out.

This Ruby Spice Summer Sweet may be given a home in the foreground narrow tip seen in the first photo.  Calling it a native plant might be viewed as questionable since pure white flowers cover the wild form of Summer Sweet.  Both carry the overwhelmingly pleasant aroma that caused this plant to appear here now in several different locations.  The real drawback to placing Summer Sweet on Moss Island is its size.  A vigorously spreading bush that grows to five feet high will in time overrun this relatively small planting bed.  Individual stalks can be pruned without harm to the plant to control its spread but so far we have been unable to cut away parts of such a beautiful plant.  One of the entrances to our stone square has been totally closed by this pink beauty and still it remains uncut.

Last night's rain pulled this growth up out of the mulch path just beyond the right distant tip of the bed in the first picture.  As fragile as they look, these will be broken and torn by lunch time.  Pure luck allowed us to see this short lived beauty today.

Moss Island

We spent a great deal of time yesterday working on the garden down by the road.  Few of the stones in the distant planting area were in place when we first arrived here.  Our goal is to have walking paths so that one can safely walk among the plants with no risk of stepping on any treasures.  Aside from the fallen sumac leaves, this ground looks interesting.  The pit manure truck in the background was never intended to be part of the picture but our reality is that a truck like this one or a beat pickup truck is likely to be captured.  From this vantage point we do not have a totally natural woodland garden.

A rather large stone lies in the newly defined planting area.  I was able to move it by flipping it end over end.  Now I cannot raise it.  A hammer and chisel have opened the beginnings of a crack but I can no longer swing that sledge hammer endlessly.  A return visit is planned to attempt to deepen the crack and split the stone in half.  Then the stone will be flipped to its final resting place with the option of placing the two pieces one on top of the other.

Our method for removing highly invasive pasture grass is shown here.  Thick layers of grass clippings are spread over the weeds.  They easily penetrate the cover but the roots develop on the surface between the soil and the clippings.  After a year or two passes it is not an impossible job to roll up the mat and the weeds leaving mostly clean soil behind.  The area covered with chopped tree leaves was covered with weeds when we arrived.  Becky did a masterful job of clearing this area.  An occasional weed will appear but the plan is to place plants here next spring.  With any luck the cleared area will expand this summer.

The poet Robert Frost wrote about the mystery created by a bend in the road.  His words helped place these path stones.  Despite my efforts to define smooth curves, it appears that creating straight lines is my default method.

The last glacier dumped a huge load of broken stones here.  Some are pieces of nearby ridge sedimentary rock while others made a journey of some distance from the deeper sea to our north.  This rock is unusually heavy for its size indicating the likely presence of limestone.  Its moss grew here so it presents an image of both far away and nearby.

Our Wild Ginger is growing strongly in its new location.  New growth is pushing outward. Here the plant will have the option of placing growth in the cracks between the stones making visible the usually hidden from view flowers.  That will not happen quickly but we can be patient.

Most of the rocks visible in this photo started the day on the jumble of stones at the edge of the nearby field.  Fallen down barbed wire fence and ground littered with stones and holes had to be crossed to gather these moss covered stones.  Twenty-four round trips were safely made and these stones are now part of our garden.  Great care was taken handling these stones since the bond holding moss to stone is easily broken.  With any luck the new home will prove satisfactory and the moss will remain in place.