Stonewell Farm 9am May 26th 2019

Every year I take numerous photos of our gardens here at Stonewell Farm.

But never have I taken a sequence of photos from a number of identical positions 

on a weekly basis, at the same time of day, over a full year.

I hope this will be as enlightening and enjoyable for you as I know it will be for me.

I will probably add some closeup photos of various plants and shrubs.

 Possibly some shots of other parts of the garden if they catch my eye.

But this series of 12 photos will always be first and foremost.

As you can see from the date I am already behind with posting.

 But I do have the photos from June 3rd which I will post on Saturday

 The blue spruce is a spectacular colour at this time of year.

I'll always remember, several years past a friend arriving with their young son who commented "Look Papa a blue tree"

 Spring came late to Stonewell Farm and the gardens are playing catchup. You will notice quite a change in the next series of photos.

Beautiful Betula

Our River Birch (Betula nigra) planted primarily to create shade for the patio,

 but also for its eye catching exfoliating bark.

We chose a multi stemmed tree to increase the shade area, currently 36ft in diameter.

After a long growing season of being attacked by caterpillars, leaf miners and various pathogens, the tree will absorb the remaining chlorophyll (green) leaving nothing but the skeletal leaves natural pigment (Fall colour) as they abscise and fall to the ground.

The exfoliating bark exposes the inner layers to sunlight, which in turn allows the tree to photosynthesize on sunny winter days, rids itself of  some parasites, lichen, moss, fungi etc and increases transpiration. All aiding in the speedy growth of this exceptional tree.

As the tree ages, the bark takes on a more normal look,

and becomes almost scaly in maturity.

In March 2018 we had a winter storm of wet heavy snow.

Some of the limbs were bent to the ground, but very few broke and returned to their upright position once the snow load was removed.

To prevent recurrence I cabled the main trunks.

When first planted, to give the 8ft birch (left foreground) a head start I excavated a good cubic yd of the sandy soil and replaced it with a mix of moisture retaining aged horse manure and good quality top soil,

while the proximity of our pond provides a constant supply of water.

(River Birch circled in blue)

So when I tell you the above photo was taken on Dec 21st 2009 and this photo dated Oct 16th 2018, you will understand just how quickly this tree has grown.

Bon appetit

The importance of water.

This is a good comparison between two Nasturtium plants.

the first has a constant supply of moisture.

 The second has rain only.

Yet the two plants are only a few feet apart.

Fall's bounty

Today feels like our first Fall day and Summer is closing. but we do have bounty from the garden and orchard to soften the blow.

and the flower borders are still full of colour.

All we need now is for Sooty to hatch.

 Then we can fire up the oven and get back to enjoying hot Pizza.

The Susan McDaniel Lecture.

This coming Thursday, July 12th at 6.30pm at The New Canaan Library. I will be presenting The Susan McDaniel Memorial Lecture.

This lecture will draw comparisons both similar and dissimilar in geology,

  building styles and techniques,

 and follow the development and evolution of stone walls and structures In England and New England  from colonial times to the present day,

and explain how they fit into the garden and wider landscape past and present.