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.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Today was another day sending mixed signals.  The sky was clear and the sunlight appeared strong but the overnight temperature fell into the low 20's.  Frozen ground was everywhere and we simply had to find something to do outside.  Periwinkle is a nonnative ground cover that has a certain appeal.  Amy and I have encountered it while hiking in the forest.  Its presence there marks the former location of an early settlers cabin since it was common for them to bring along something from their former homeland.  Ours lies between the border marking stone wall and the driveway.  Briers have invaded and some were cut away today.  More remain for another day.

Only the moss covered surface marked the location of this stone.  Exposed to sunlight it had warmed the surrounding soil and it did wiggle a bit in response to my prodding.  The maddock and my hands were able to coax it out of a fairly deep hole.  The wheelbarrow was placed on its side and the stone was rolled in.  That move sent the wheelbarrow falling toward my legs but once again luck kept me from being injured.  The down hill move to the shade garden was incident free.  Before we started down the hill, I planned to simply release the wheelbarrow if it started to move too fast.

Two other moss covered stones were also discovered and a second trip brought them easily down the hill.  We are trying to copy the look that the glacier left behind where numerous forest stones are surrounded by wild flowers.  Ten thousand years of rotting plant growth has nearly buried those stones and duplicating that look is a problem.  These shade providing trees have roots that extend outward just below the soil surface.  Cutting the roots might kill the trees so we fill around the stones with forest soil and ground tree leaves burying part of the stone.  A close look at the monster stone will reveal the presence of cracks.  This stone was formed from layers of sediment and will likely split nicely into pieces.  If all goes well, the two pieces will be placed with the newly exposed surface down leaving only weathered worn surfaces exposed.  The thinner profile will improve look that we are trying to duplicate.  For now these three new stones are in storage awaiting their final placement later.

A position close to the ground was necessary to capture the above photo.  Kneeling now comes with its own challenges and I sat before any thought was given to what had to come next.  Fortunately Becky does not use the video capability of her camera.  I know that my move to a standing position was anything but graceful.  Once I managed to get upright, the wheelbarrow, tools and I completed the move back up the hill.  Next will come some heat applied to angry muscles followed by some stretches.

Maidenhair Fern Finally Moved

Today was a glorious day to work outside.  Harvesting weeds has been our primary job of late and some of that work was done today.  During one trip up the drive a sizable pile of moss covered stones was spotted.  Two dump cart loads were brought close to yesterday's stone work.

When the tall stone was placed yesterday, it was rather obvious that a tall plant would be needed close by to hide the stone.  The plants should be what catches the eye and holds its attention.  Stones are intended to play only a supporting role.

Becky remained fond of her maidenhair ferns with their location in the shade garden at the top of the hill.  She made no secret about her desire to have some of this beautiful plant in the new shade garden.  No action followed since I had no idea of a suitable location for the treasured plants.  That tall stone resolved that problem.

The ferns do an impressive job of hiding the problem stone.  With the edge of the planting bed defined, the ferns should be fine here.  Given more space in view of their present size, these plants should grow together forming an attractive group.

Fallen tree leaves that had been run through the mower finished the job.  A partial bag of ground leaves remained unused after last spring's work was completed.  They add a look of long standing permanence to the newly planted transplants.  What is amazing is that both their existence and location was timely remembered.  Both the transplanted plants and the ones that remain in the old shade garden look better after the move!

Turned A Corner

Recently much of our time in the gardens has been spent removing weeds before their seed load was dropped on the planting beds.  That urgency has passed as most of the weeds seeds are now mature.  Additionally, heavy rain fell here overnight.  Garden soil that wet is best left alone.  So we turned to the shade garden down near the road.  Working from the hardwood bark mulch path, we were able to reach into the woods soil while doing no damage.

The last five stones at path's edge were placed today.  The moss covered stone near the tree trunk caught my eye some time ago.  It was nearly buried by the gravel fill that was used to bury the remains of the burned barn in the late 50's.  Moss stones appeal to me since they add a natural look to the woodland garden.  This stone was worked free of the fill and rolled into the trailer.  As luck would have it, the stone was easily rocked free and worked into the back edge of the dump cart.

The carefully tended lawn belongs to our neighbor.  We are trying to establish a garden that is worthy of space adjacent to their lawn.  Visible weeds show that we are still working on our part of the picture.  The path will continue on the narrow strip of ground between the tree trunks.  For now, we need to place the stones along the side of the path opposite today's work.

This is the view looking in the opposite direction.  The area opposite the bench has been partially planted with native woodland plants.  Moving in the opposite direction takes us out of the shaded canopy of the sumac trees.  Here we intend to plant asters and black-eyed Susans.  Both the jumble of rocks and the weeds show that this area still needs considerable work.  Another thick layer of grass clippings recently placed will make removal of the pasture grasses and their roots relatively easy if we get to it before snowfall.  Our time spent outside today was wonderful.  Any day that includes the safe placement of native stones is both pleasant and permanent.  These stones will stay where placed.  They have been carefully supported underneath so that any child walking on top of them will find solid footing.  In time in their new home, moss will spread giving these rocks the appearance of having been here for a long time.

A Change Of Scene

Winter approaches and Nature's Artwork has a definite wintry change of scene!

If we get a thaw, we may see Nature's Artwork again.  If we get more snow Mother Nature will close the exhibition  for repairs. Do you see what I see?

Stone Stories and Hidden Treasures

We found this land because of our passion for stones and my passion for building stone walls.  The farmer's wife that had worked this farm for decades saw an opportunity to unload the last twisted piece of the original farm.  She offered us free field stone to use in our village garden.  Many truckloads of wall stones later we purchased the last piece of the farm.  Native stone has fascinated us.  At one time this area was covered by a vast sea.  Mountains to the east surrendered to the ravages of weather and their sediments washed into the sea.  Geologists gave the resulting land form the name Allegheny Plateau.  Several periods of glaciers carved the flat plateau into its present configuration of bedrock hills and river valleys.  We own a small piece of a bedrock ridge that is the visible remains of the plateau.  The rest of our land surface consists of glacial deposits.  Our tiny metamorphic stones were carried here from the Adirondack Mountains to our north.  Larger sedimentary rocks were formed closer to home.  We find these rocks both fascinating and useful.

This rock was long ago placed in the patio next to the section of garden enclosed by four stone walls.  It was selected because of its size and shape.  Years of foot traffic have worn away a thin deposit of sediment revealing a stone surface featuring ripple marks.  This stone was formed in a shallow section of the sea where gentle currents formed the ripple marks.  It is also possible that the marks are worm tunnels made by life forms on the bottom of the sea. In either case the rock is interesting and attractive.

This piece of a formerly huge rock is headed down near the garden by the road.

This is the same rock close to where it was found with a newly exposed interior surface taking in the sunlight.  When this rock was first discovered, its shape was nearly a cube.  At that size machinery would have been necessary to move it.  A series of parallel cracks were discovered crossing the exposed top surface.  A hammer and wedges allowed me to split that monster stone into several pieces small enough to be carefully moved by hand.  This piece remained unused because of its other side. Special stones with interesting fossils are hidden treasures!

Here is a closeup of the fossil covered surface.  This face deserves to be seen and that required placement as a top of a wall stone.  Its mass made such a location both difficult and unwise for me to attempt so up until now this treasure remained leaning against a tree in the woods.

This stone slice is from another monster that was located close to the above pictured stone.  A weathered crack invited investigation with my hammer and chisel.  For the first time a stone of this type actually split for me.  The core of the rock is heavily mineralized and unbelievably hard.  Contact with a hammer usually produces only a sharp ringing sound in my ears and pain in the joints of the arm swinging the hammer.  This rock has also remained on the forest floor where it was found.  The moss covered outer edge is soft and moist supporting growth.  That layer will soon fall away from the hard central core.  This stone is far to interesting to bury in a stone wall.

Here is the site of the project that will make good use of these interesting stones.  The current owner of the original farmhouse in the background takes excellent care of his home.  The previous owner allowed the field to grow weeds unchecked and I took similar care of my narrow strip of road frontage.  Now we are working to establish a tended flower garden on our side of the property line.  This new growth of sumac is creating a shaded area that can be used as a pleasant place to sit and rest and it might support native woodland plants.  We intend to use our large flat rocks to build a low ledge that will direct water to the base of the plants.  With our  well drained gardens, extreme drought ended our Bloodroot plants that had reproduced from seed.  Here at the bottom of the lane we have different soil and drainage.  We will see if the large stones will capture enough moisture to keep new plants alive.

Today's weather forecast predicts that we will awaken to find two inches of snow on the ground tomorrow morning.  The rest of the week may feature more snow each day.  Those facts made moving stones out of the woods seem like a great use of this blue sky day.

This stone's final destination is to the left at the base of the hill.  The red of the sumac berries can be seen from a distance.

Here the rocks supporting moss growth are placed flat on the ground to try and keep the moss alive.  When the ledge is completed these rocks will be placed on a slant in full contact with the ground.  So placed these rocks will capture moisture from the night air and hopefully keep both the moss and the native woodland plants alive.