The chicken yard update

[Linda P]

I thought I'd give the new pic upload a try, and share one of the chicken yard today. I've removed about every other hosta. Some have done well, others have declined. After the major drought of last year, almost all of them are smaller than they were, despite heavy watering. The trees have grown over the years and are offering some root competition, but it's not as bad as I had expected.




ps...edited to make the pic larger. Thanks Chris!!!

[Chris_W]

That's beautiful Linda. With the new upload you can make the pictures bigger so we can see more of these

So you are saying that this is a current picture and they are smaller than last year? I never would have known. We are creating some beds around our chicken coop but are facing way too much root competition. I think we need to start ripping out all the scrub trees and bushes around that entire area, but when I'll find time I will never know...

Thanks for sharing. Hope to see more pictures too

[Linda P]

Thanks, Chris. Yes, this is a current pic, and yes, some of them are smaller. Garden Party, on the right, was shadowing over Squash Casserole last year, and there is a Gold Regal behind GP that is about 1/3 smaller this year. Blue Angel is half the size of last year, though it did have a vole attack, in addition to the drought. Still, it's looking pretty good! So, can I choose a larger size than the one I did on this pic, Chris? I'll give it a whirl and see what happens. It's nice to see this option! I did finally figure out how to resize with my new program, just haven't had the time to go through and set up a file and resize some.

Here's one in the 'message board size', another chicken yard view. That's Alvatine Taylor in the front, Stardust, and a nice sized Dancing in the Rain, one of the last of the secret trade hostas that I got from FreakyCola. It's doing quite well!

[Linda P]

Here's a shot from the south side of the chicken yard. These are mostly smaller too. The bright one in the middle is one of my seedlings, Margarita Moon. It has that strange frosted lime color that it keeps all the way through the summer. In this pic, there's a Lakeside ChaCha stuck under the big Flower Power that was about twice that size last year. Between the drought and being too close to Flower Power, it didn't have a chance! I really need to move it, but love the color there. Down in front is Captian Kirk, also a good deal smaller, but still looking pretty good. In front of Flower Power is Everlasting Love,and the blue behind it is another of my seedlings, Blue Grallis. The little streaky thing along the edge of the bed is a seedling of mine from years ago of unknown parentage. It's stayed streaked and produced some small streaked seedlings, but doesn't have enough substance to be a good plant itself.

[Eleven]

Linda, your hostas look beautiful! The chickens must be happy with the view.

I think the thing with tree root competition has a lot to do with how established the contenders are. Planting beneath a new baby shrub or tree is probably great for hostas (and just gave me a spot to move 3 of mine), while trying to grow under an older tree is much harder on the underplants.

[Linda P]

This hosta bed was established in 2000, around the same time as I planted the curly willow and pin oak. I've added some shrubs along the south side, and there's also a dawn redwood on the southwest corner. The hostas grew like weeds there. I took over the area that used to be the chicken yard, and it's also hosted calves, hogs, and horses over the years. The native topsoil here is very deep and rich, and the years of 'natural composting' only added to the great soil. I haven't fertilized this bed in 13 years, other than an occasional top dressing with compost. The tree roots haven't been too much of a problem, since most of the hostas are well established, but I expect they will eventually start to cause issues. The drought last summer, and a bad year for voles, did more damage than anything. And the only chickens that live there now are some metal ones.
Here's a pic of one end of the south side that was devastated by voles in the last couple of years. This was as fully packed as the other side of the bed before the vole attacks. There's a Jimmy Crack Corn in the pic that was huge, and is now making somewhat of a comeback. The edge variegated one is Austin Dickinson, and it's a shadow of its former self.

[jgh]

thanks for letting us visit via pixels!

[pauhaus]

Beautiful pics Linda! I love your Margarita Moon seedling. I have some seedlings from seed you donated to one of the auctions that have the same coloring. I'm excited to see them grow up.

[thy]

Linda your chicken yard have allways been something special and it is still very lovely

[Linda P]

Thanks everyone! Paul, I'm glad you got something you like out of the seeds. Pia, it amazes me to look back at the pictures I took when I planted this garden, and compare it 13 years later. The steel chicken sculptures are new in the last year (I brought one back from Texas with me!) and I like them in there.
Here's a view from the east end of the chicken yard. The Great Expectations in the center is about 1/3 the size it was two years ago, but still alive. The Francee, Patriot, Minuteman, Revolution group is also much smaller.

[kHT]

What a love garden, thank you for sharing.

[Carol O]

Linda, I've been out and about this past month, so just now getting a chance to really read what you had to say about the hostas in the photos. They are lovely even though smaller. I feel very privileged to have been able to visit you last year and see in person your hostas. I, too, really like the look of the frosty 'Margarita Moon.'

[morgansrgr8]

Wow those pics are beautiful. Wish I could do that to my old chicken yard. But its in full sun so we planted corn. Next year it will be beans. Rascally rabbits got my beans this year. Hopefully the chicken yard with the smaller wire around it will stop them and I will have fresh beans next year.

[Linda P]

Thanks, kHt, Carol and Linda. I now have hostas planted all over the property, but this is where I started, around the chicken house, and it's still a favorite place to walk through.