Landscaping a Pittsburgh Hill

Here is my photo diary of my front hill. I'll begin with the pix. Commentary will follow.

My Dream














Fall 2007

March 2008 - too cold to plant, kept dreaming














April 2008 - planted ferns and perennials - looked like a clump of dirt once done.














May 2008 -- Endless rain through spring brought, arrgh, weeds!














June 2008 - first stage of planting - still not pretty.














August 2008 - at least the ornamental grass is growing. What's that pink stuff in the middle?

Just some self-indulgent pix of my daughter

I'm finding it difficult to keep up a good gardening blog. Maybe that's why I haven't found a gardening blog that I like. So what do I like? Something informative. Something entertaining. Something insightful. Something inspiring. Something with that documents the ins and outs, the ups and downs of gardening.

Oh, well. Maybe I'll find the magic in me one day.

In the meantime I'm just going to post some self-indulgent pictures of my youngest daughter with me in my garden.

Isn't she just so cute? It was hard for her to help me plant some lamb's ear plants. So she just posed for the pix.


She tried to help me set up the last vegetable bed. Compost made from decayed playground mulch is in the plastic bag. She gave me a couple handfuls before just dumping it on the sidewalk.

Hopefully one day she will have fond memories of helping daddy in the garden.

The hardest thing about a gardening blog - crappy pictures

The hardest thing I have found about doing a gardening blog is being able to take pictures that adequately captures what's been done in the garden. I'm not an expert photographer. Therefore, my pictures look crappy. That's my excuse for not faithfully blogging. Sorry.

My Epiphany!

I work at the University of Pittsburgh (by the way - the picture is not from Pitt - it's just something I found on the internet to illustrate my story). I ride to work everyday - one hour each way. Most of the time my head is buried in a book, somewhere in my own world. But every now and then, I stop to re-enter the world around me. I typically notice the landscaping of other people's homes, neighborhood gardens, and institutional landscaping. A lot of times, I pick up good ideas. I also realize what I do not want to do.

One example is the law office that is across the street from where I work. They have three beds, approximately 100-150 square feet. A couple of weeks ago they were beautiful. They were filled with tulips. Then one weekend after some rains, all the tulip flowers were destroyed. Soon after all the tulip plants were cut off, covered with mulch, and the beds were made to look like there never were tulips at all.

I was in a state of shock! First, let's give kudos to the landscapers for being punctual in keeping the place looking good. Second, no doubt the law office likes a well manicured flower bed. BUT THE TULIPS WERE TREATED LIKE POPCORN! They were planted. Made to pop. Then tossed.

Tulips like all bulb flowers, after the flowers have died off, need about six weeks of sunshine, air, and water to re-generate their bulbs for next year. My guess is that the landscapers will just replant new bulbs this fall in preparation for next spring. Yea, yea, yea. I'm sure it was just an economic decision.

This insignificant experience produced a real epiphany for me. I now realize some gardening principles that have laid dormant in me for a long time.

I like building self-sustaining gardens that require the minimum amount of maintenance. At the same time my garden should have a dynamic transformation from season to season. I like to see plants traverse a whole life cycle. For perennials and bulbs, they should awaken out of their dormancy in spring - blossom to full beauty in the summer - begin to change color in the fall - and hibernate for the winter.

What I saw in those beds in front of the law office was too man-made and seemed unnatural. I think what I like seeing is the cycle of life for a single plant as well as a whole garden.

So what do my tulips and daffodils look like now that it is the middle of May and the beautiful blossoms are long gone? Like this. . .

Mystery Solved!

My neighbor asked me what I planted in my garden. I answered, "Lettuce, spinach, onions, garlic, salad greens, and collard greens." But then I looked down to see something growing that didn't look like anything I mentioned. I thought, "Maybe those are collard greens."

Well those seedling finally began growing real leaves. I said, those are definitely not something I grew. Those are just weeds!

My daughter and I began to pull these "weeds" out and look at what we found: At the end of these seedlings were pumpkin seeds! This vegetable garden began last fall as a compost pile. The old jack-o-lanterns were thrown in and decomposed really well. But not the seeds.

My daughter is trying to convince me that we should keep some of the pumpkin plants. My kids will probably win. I'll keep you posted on our pumpkins this coming fall.

In the meantime, I pulled as many seedlings as I could, since they were taking up the space for my lettuce and greens. So in between the beds we have a pumpkin seedling cemetery.

Our First Salad

We've finally had our first salad from the garden. Mmmm. Was it ever good. Not bitter. It's been too cold and rainy to make the greens bitter.

"As soon as the soil can be worked..."

Here is a helpful pointer I found in a book by some Pittsburgh horticulturers, Grow Organic, by Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser.

"Plant as soon as the soil can be worked" -- a frustrating statement for beginners who wonder exactly when that is. There is a simple test to determine if the soil is ready. Take a shovel out to the garden and turn it over in a couple of spots. If the soil sticks to the shovel, forget it and try again in a few days.

Isn't it great to have good friends with a dog?

What do you do when you have 700 sq. ft. to fill with plants, but no money? Have good friends. Even better, have good friends that have a dog that have been destroying their perennial bed.

Friends of mine have a very large Basset Hound. He is very lovable, but he's been destroying a very large perennial bed with beautiful hostas, ornamental grass, phlox, delphiniums, and lamb's ear.

They just want the bed covered in mulch to be dog-proof. I generously offered to dog-proof their bed and transplant all of their beautiful perennials at my house.

More pictures to come when these perennials are planted in my front hill.

Here come those vegies!

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I'm experimenting by growing my vegetable garden in pure compost, no dirt. They sure seem to be growing well. I'm planning to use a compost tea next.

Strawberries!!!

My family loves strawberries and a big can of Redi-Whip. My wife makes a great strawberry shortcake. The shortcake is on the dry side. But that's the best part since you have to add cream and more Redi-Whip to soften up the shortcake.

Now let's be honest, strawberries from the store rarely taste really good. You just have to pretend that they taste like strawberries, and imagine that they are sweet. So why not try to grow some for myself?

On the same hill that I planted 25 perennials last spring and tulips and daffodils last fall, why not plant 22 strawberry plants to act like a ground cover to the perennial flowers? So that's what I did.

At the nursery on the way to the kids' gymnastics gym, I picked up two packages of of bareroot strawberry plants - June bearing, All Star #1. My potting mix was one part compost from decomposed playground mulch, one part leaf mold, and one part red worm compost.

My Vegetable Garden

Along with landscaping my front hill, I'm also planting a vegetable garden for the first time in my life.

I like experiments. I like the unconventional. I like doing things that are slightly out of the ordinary - especially if they work. So the best way for me to describe my vegetable garden: (1) using a plot of land that is filled with tree roots, which digging would only result in frustration, (2) using a rather shady spot on my property, where very few things other than hostas would probably grow - the grass that was in this area did not grow very well, (3) an attempt to solve the problems of very little space, but desiring to harvest a variety of vegetables.

Problem (1) is the ground is filled with tree roots - I got my workout last spring when I planted a number of perennials in a nearby area. My solution was to begin a compost pile last October as the leaves began to fall.
For those of you not educated in the art or science of composting, my understanding is to mix in equal portions brown material (eg. dried leaves, paper, hay) with green material (eg. grass cuttings, green leaves, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells). Keep the pile reasonably moist. Then let nature due its stuff. Having this was great for fall cleanup. I didn't have to fill 20 bags of leaves for garbage pickup. All the dying annual pots and rotting jack-o-lanterns were all thrown in. I went most over most of the leaves that fell with my lawnmower and threw them on the pile. Once the weather got too cold for my lawnmower to start, I just dumped the leaves as they were - chopped up leaves definitely composted better than the whole leaves.

In December, my pile was about 3 feet high. By the middle of March, after most of the snowfall had come, the pile shrunk down to about 2 feet high. Some of the leaves are still not fully composted. But much of the material in the center of the pile looked like good compost. So what was my solution to (1) not having good soil for planting? Don't use soil. Just use compost. Will it work? I don't know. It may work great. It may not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Problem (2) is about just having shade. I decided to grow mostly leafy vegetables. So I planted in March garlic, onions, Romaine lettuce, spinach, collard greens, and a salad mix.

Problem (3) is trying to overcome the small space. This area is enclosed by a chain link fence. It is 4 feet to the sidewalk and 14 feet wide to the tree. I will use the chain link fence for climbers - pole beans and cucumbers. Each bed is about 4 feet by 4 feet and 3-4 inches of mulch. At the bottom of the mulch, I planted garlic. On each 4 by4 bed, there are 6-8 inch wide rows of lettuce, spinach, collard greens, salad mix, and onions.

Mmmm... Can't wait for the salad.

Spring is finally here in my garden

Spring is finally here. My kids and I planted a number of daffodil and tulip bulbs last October. Ahhh. Signs of life.

Planting was anti-climactic

Let me begin with this disclaimer: I am a complete novice to gardening. I never really did it before. But I picked up the interest to read about it and research it like a mad man for the last six months. So I have been looking forward to spring for weeks and weeks. Finally, the temperature here in Pittsburgh became warm enough that I can dig into the soil without much trouble, although the nights still dropped into the 30's.

So I planted my tree. But the last two weeks have slightly derailed me. I planted my fern and flower planting on my front hill two weekends ago. Maybe it was the 40 degree weather. Maybe I didn't have the emotional excitement and support from my kids - it was too cold for them to be out for very long. Maybe . . . I don't know. . .

Well here goes. Two cinnamon ferns, one painted fern, twelve Dutch Irises, six Crocosmia Emily McKenzies, and six Foamflowers all came in the mail from Michigan Bulb Co. I cut out a hole in the burlap on my hill and began to plant. I used some of the dirt I had mixed up for my dogwood tree (one part dirt, one part compost using leaf mulch, one part worm castings - actually there were some worms as well). Then I covered the whole thing with leaf mulch. Ta..da..! Looks like a pile of leaves on top of my burlap on the hill. (Like I said, kind of anticlimactic...Oh well.)

My Tree's Planted!

Well, I finally did it. I decided it was close enough to spring and planted my bare root dogwood tree. What? You can't see anything? Look closer.


What's that white stuff around that twig? It's my version of mulch. All of my ideas and experiences with mulching will have to be another post. I like to experiment.

By the way, that twig is my tree! OK, the tree doesn't look like the full grown 15 foot Dogwood in full spring glory. But it's got to start somewhere. My neighbor said, "Doesn't look like much yet." My six-year-old son said, "We're going to have to wait until you retire to see the tree big." I don't know about waiting until I'm retired, but maybe five years. Patience, my son, patience.

Planting My Bare Root Dogwood Tree

Quick description about what I did - (I don't claim to be an expert. I may have even done things a little wrong. But I'll still document what I did.): I let the bare root tree soak in a bucket of water for a day and a half. (My daughter said, "Daddy, what's that? A tree? Doesn't look like a tree.") I put on my hunting boots to keep myself from slipping off the hill. For every 3 shovelfuls of dirt, I added a half shovelful of leaf compost and a large handful of worm compost (compost stories will probably be part of my mulching stories - which will come). Dug the hole about twice the needed width. Built a little mound for the roots in the middle of the hole. Spread the roots out over the hill, like a Southern belle sitting down with her hoop skirt. Filled the hole halfway with the amended dirt. Added about half a gallon of water to let the dirt settle. Added more dirt to fully cover the roots. Packed the dirt down with my hands. Made a ring of compost and added more water.

Comment about amended dirt to back fill: I've read about amending and not amending when planting trees. The latest advice being given is not to amend. The reasoning is that the roots will only grow out to the circumference of the amended area. I decided to amend since the soil is rather sandy - water drains very quickly - adding compost may maintain the moisture. Even if the tree ends up being stunted because of amending, having a Dogwood tree that is only 6-8 tall rather than 15-20 feet tall is no loss to me.

What's to come: I got an email that the other perennials for the front hill have been mailed. Planting will probably begin next weekend. I also started making the beds for my vegetable garden out back. Also, more perennials should pop their heads out of the soil in the little hill out back. They'll be a lot to blog soon.

Is It Spring Yet?

I've been planning my spring planting since October. Began mulching my newspaper with garden scraps. I added all my leaves from fall to the mulch pile. Began a worm bin in November. Put Japanese Maple tree seeds in the refrigerator in January. I even began to receive my vegetable seeds in February. May seem like a lot of work, but each is a story of its own. Don't worry, stories will come.

But here in Pittsburgh, the weather likes to tease anticipating gardeners like me. The temperature fluctuates between 20-65 F. But when it should just warm up and stay in the 40s for the start of spring it still snows!

Oh, well. I guess I'm just more sensitive this year since I'm itching to plant something.

This morning the ground was covered with snow. By noon it was all melted. Then I took a closer look at my back yard. From a distance it looks like a barren hill. Then up close, tulips and daffodils are starting to pop their heads up.


I've got to plant my bare root Dogwood tree.

Wouldn't This Be Nice

Even though the ground is currently frozen, it's not frozen in my head nor in Photoshop. It's nice dreaming of what could happen.

March 1, 2008 -- Is It Time Yet?

Nope. It's not time yet.

My Tree Just Came in the Mail - Oh no, the Ground is Still Frozen!

Thanks to doodling in Photoshop, I foresee two trees in my front hill: a red Japanese maple and a red Japanese Dogwood.

I ordered a bare-root red Japanese Dogwood tree on eBay. I asked the seller to please wait for another 3 weeks before sending it, expecting the ground to have thawed out by then.

Unfortunately, it came in the mail today. I checked by the help of Google: "plant bare-root tree immediately upon receiving it in the mail. If you are unable due to poor weather conditions keep in a cool place, making sure the roots remain moist." The tree will just have to wait in the basement until spring arrives.

The Ugly Retaining Wall

This is a close-up of the ugly retaining wall. It's made up of pieces of a broken up concrete side walk. It's a great place for moss and weeds to grown in.

For me, thinking about trying to replace this retaining wall became an impossible task. 1) A new retaining wall is expensive - money which I do not have. 2) Due to the temperature zone of Pittsburgh, with its endless freeze-thaw cycles, temperatures ranging from 15 to 65 degrees F from December to April, all the new retaining walls in the area are falling apart.

The greatest thing about my retaining wall. It is probably the original retaining wall when the house was first built. It has held up all that dirt for decades. I don't think it is going anywhere.

My father-in-law gave me the best suggestion a couple of months ago. He said, "Why not just plant some ivy and let it cover up the wall?" The light flashed on in my head. That was the best suggestion and solution that I heard for the UGLY RETAINING WALL.

February 2008 in PIttsburgh

Snow covered burlap. I'm just waiting for the ground to thaw to begin my landscaping.

I've never lived on a hill like we have here in Pittsburgh. I grew up in Hawaii; lived in Cleveland, OH and Ann Arbor, MI. Hillscapes are very new.

Just ask friends and colleagues, I've been thinking about what to do about this hill for the last three years.

What do you do with a hill?
What do you do about that ugly retaining wall?
What do you do if you don't have much money to spend to hire a landscaper or someone to rebuild that ugly retaining wall?

One thing good about this hill, this challenge has become a hobby that has occupied my thoughts, resulting in reading 30-50 books from the library, bought another 20 more, scoured numerous websites, took a summer community college class, and endless hours playing with different ideas in Photoshop.

Definitely more to come....

Fall of 2007

When we moved in, the front hill of our house was an overgrown jungle of weeds. Some of the weeds had even become "trees". By brute force the weeds were pulled. A black tarp was laid on the soil for three full summer months. Then burlap was laid to prevent weeds from growing, as best as it could. That lasted for about 18 months.