GARDEN ENGINEERING

Forewarning -- I done went and wrote too much, again :) Oh well, consider it a winter solstice gift.

While I love plants, there can be so much more to gardening than botany. There are lots of associated non-plant activities. Truth be told, I find hard- and softscaping as satisfying as the plant cultivation. Moreover, the construction usually gives immediate fulfillment compared to most of the horticulture, and much of the engineering is once and done. Furthermore, part of the process can be done inside, and outside the growing season, with the thinking and design (pen to paper) accomplished perhaps while sitting at a table sipping on a glass or two of fine wine :)

Before proceeding let me add that even though of limited means I find a way to accomplish my projects -- by making sacrifices, being patient, doing all the work I can and I'm resourceful. More money would allow me to embark on some bigger pricey projects but I doubt that having more money available would have dramatically improved or changed anything I have done. My goal is always the best (most appropriate as well as quality).

While in no meaningful order, I offer the following:

• ARBOR / PERGOLA / TRELLIS - in my opinion no "formal" garden is complete without one or more of these structures, regardless of whether or not they are used to support plants. The top pic above is a hybrid structure (dare we call it a tregola ? ) I built at my place.

• FENCING - I see lots of fencing mistakes and bad fences. First, most types of wood (even treated lumber) does not weather well or last long outside, especially if in contact with soil or left unsealed, and resealing will be necessary. Cheap wooden fences (made using 5/8 inch dogeared precut slates) have a life expectancy of little more than a decade or so.  See the dump bound example above. The failure will occur first with the posts, either (1) at the top (if left exposed, particularly if horizontal) or (2) at or just below ground level. Also pictured above is a galvanized fence post cap I made and use at my place to prevent water on the end cut in order to delay the rot. The wood was first sealed with an opaque stain. The buried portion of my posts are encased in concrete. I use wood chips to surround the bottom of the posts, ground level to top of the concrete, as well as along/under the entire length of the fence to a depth of 4-5 inches. The soil there is first removed and used elsewhere and I replenish the chips every few years. Yet another maintenance activity to add to the list. And know that fences (at least portions) can and often should be constructed so as to be removable, if necessary (easier repair or to permit passage or access). After construction, the most common fencing mistake is not removing woody startups growing in the fence line. Doing so prevents lignophagosis for metal fencing (see glossary under ADDENDA). The removal can be very challenging and usually will result in fence damage, whether metal or wood.

• BARRIER EDGING - lots of options but I find almost all of the plastic types hideous. I mostly use rock or metal. The one in the top pic above is 11 gauge raw steel but I also employ the painted prefab kind, although that kind is becoming expensive and the paint WILL fail. All steel will eventually rust, regardless Moreover, one quickly discovers that the unwanted plants, esp. various grasses, WILL try to migrate into beds and that a barrier can impede that invasion, thus reducing maintenance -- music to the ears of any gardener. I also like the more natural look of a barrierless edge but the maintenance required to produce and keep it "clean" can be daunting. I am always amazed (and jealous) at how good my friends Lisa and Dan Burnham are at accomplishing this task in their large outstanding garden. And I do mean task.

• SIGNAGE - I appreciate gardens with labeled specimens but creating the signage can be expensive and time-consuming. The fancy labels one sees in botanical gardens can, all told, cost $100 each to produce. Few of us can afford to do that but it is nice having plants labeled as it reduces the need to repeatedly answer "what's that?" from visitors or as a reminder that something, a dormant or recently planted species, is located there. Signage also makes it easy for the visitor to note by simply snapping a phone pic. The most troubling maintenance aspects of labeling for me is UV bleaching (if using printer ink lettering). I am also bothered when the labels overpower the specimen(s) -- this is particularly a problem in a bed with lots of different taxa thus lots of markers. I finally settled on the stainless steel markers available from Kincaid's (free advertisement) but am still experimenting to determine the best label printing option (i.e., easiest and long-lasting, yet affordable). I advise that you maintain a master digital record -- very helpful if the markers get removed -- frost heaved, maintenance activity or misbehaving visitor. Moreover, the signage could be for other than plant identification. Pictured above is a replacement business entry sign I recently made for my buddy Chris Wilhoite (Soules Garden, Indy). See also CIVIC SERVICE below as well as my Mar 2023 post and then wisely plan a trip to Soules new spring or summer. -- Here is an important consideration: the prospect of meeting interesting and knowledgeable gardeners is much greater when visiting these rare local treasures. Many of these meetings would likely otherwise never occur and the history and advice gained from those encounters is commonly memorable and extremely valuable.

• WALKWAYS - paths, esp. those with heavy usage, are best with (i.e., usually require) some kind of covering but it does not need to be asphalt or concrete. Instead of an impervious surface, which we need less of, I use wood chips. I considered pea gravel -- I love the look -- but it is too loose under foot or wheel (i.e., easily displaced). The wood chips need to be replenished every two years or so. I formerly used the fancy clean grade of chips but switched several years ago to a much more affordable option. I get the material directly from the tree chipper's dump site and simply cull out the unwanted long thin sticks. Told you I was resourceful. By the way, Lisa and Dan Burnham also rely primarily on wood chips and leaves for mulch -- better and less costly. Regarding the chips, one soon learns to detect whether or not the chipper blades were sharp and the difference between chipped living versus from dead standing material. Not to worry, the chips from recently living specimens rarely sprout but they will always serve as a nitrogen sink while decaying. Because I use so much wood chip I have and recommend a large tub, two-wheel, wheelbarrow (see pic above) for dispersal.

• HIDING & REDUCING (view, sound, light, wind) - plants can be used for this, but plants are usually a poor choice because (1) they take time, sometime years, to get big enough, (2) the woody choices don't stop getting bigger, (3) the roots and digging often present a problem, and (4) for non-woody options there is a potential for it/them being absent part of the year. Further, most people do not realize that many forbs and grasses spread (grow laterally) over time. See also my GREEN GIANT, BEWARE post (Sep 2021), easily my most visited essay. Unfortunately, that essay and all the preaching I have done on the topic seems to have had little impact since I have NOT observed a reduction in the misuse of this amazing plant. Why? (1) We are NOT a gardening society (if, a gardening IQ test were administered, sadly, most people would not only flunk but qualify moronic philistine), (2) I find people also are typically ignorant (i.e., believe what they want) and often just make things up, facts be damned, and (3) most of the plant suppliers do not provide/tell customers the truth. Commerce first. Frankly, I suspect most suppliers and landscapers don't know the truth about this spectacular giant. Clearly the customers do not -- more concerned with the big game or some other irrelevant entertainment. In decades to come, dealing with the misplacement of this potentially enormous tree WILL BE a costly very nightmare. And by costly I mean more than money.

• NON-PLANT OPTIONS for H & R - immediate results, will not grow (get bigger) and permits one the option of achieving an outcome often not possible with plants. I have been able to create some special blocking options using treated lumber and stain with little more than basic tools, and I am by no means a master carpenter. See pics above -- masking of an AC unit with a removable top (the surround is a 2/3 scale version of Boo Radley's fence in the To Kill a Mockingbird movie, the fav of my daughter Emily who was an English teacher).

• BUILDINGS - esp. garden related storage. Unfortunately, most of the prefab structures I see are ugly, too small and short, and/or poorly constructed, or occasionally wonderful but pricey. I built mine with a sliding door (highly recommended).

• GREENHOUSE - I liked the idea of a greenhouse but decided NO for my place. Yes, a greenhouse would expand the plant options, but my conclusion was: too expensive, high maintenance, potentially dangerous and unnecessary for my type of gardening. Plus, I already have too much on my plate.

• COLD FRAME - I tried to get by using just south-facing windows for seed beds and seedlings in late winter but the space was inadequate and one of my feline companions (purrfect Pepper) considered the trays a sunning location. While I use the cold frame mostly or only in spring, when needed it is indispensable. Essentially, serving as a mini greenhouse.

• BRIDGE - to my way of thinking every garden needs a bridge but not necessarily a bridge over water, troubled or not :) It could be the concept of a bridge (a connection) in the layout (e.g., the path from one section to another). The best actual structure example I have seen in my area is the stone one my buddy and super gardener Jay Park built for his excellent garden.

• SEATING / GATHERING AREA - most commonly a patio but depending on the size of the property and layout it could be a station strategically located elsewhere such as a bench.

• FIRE PIT/RING or BURNING AREA - locate appropriately and if using a stone perimeter the stone should be heat resistant. Most rock is not. The heat converts the moisture in the stone to steam and causes it to crack or spall. Before creating a burning area check local code and be certain there is adequate clearance overhead (a figurative chimney) for the heat plume. Any limbs up to at least 20 feet above the flames will suffer damage.

• PURELY DECORATIVE - art, although mostly nonfunctional, can add so much to a garden but (1) it is easy to overdo (clutter vs tasteful enhancement) and (2) what is being done needs to be to scale. I like and need to create items out of metal but do not have that skillset so I found a local metalsmith (Steel House, Indy) to help me make my ideas come to fruition (e.g., the base for my floating moss trays or my most recent endeavor a play-form cat {available through my SHOP} both visible in the pics above). I also occasionally find neat garden art, like the Girly Steel hornet pictured above.

• WATER FEATURE(s) - can be stunning but require lots of maintenance and expensive. One of the advantages of having a water feature, be it artificial or natural, flowing or still, is that it permits the conditions necessary for obligate wetland species, both plants and animals. Rubber roofing membrane increases the engineering possibilities if wanting to hold (i.e., prevent percolation) but masking the edges can be difficult. And a water feature need not have open water. Several of mine created a boggy habitat -- Michigan lily, cardinal flower, spider lily, Rodgersias, hostas, as well as many ferns and sedges thrive in an overly wet spot. Following the lead of my prof Wesley Whiteside, I also have used old bathtubs to create the same swampy effect.

• CONTOUR / DRAINAGE - one must live on a property for a year or more (i.e., all the seasons) to get a full representation of the challenges and opportunity. Especially important is knowing if, when and where water ponds and the drainage pattern when rainfall is heavy. You may find it necessary to facilitate the drainage or to create capture basins (i.e., rain gardens). The capacity of these capture spots should exceed 1K gallons to have much of a sequester effect. Each acre in the Midwest gets about 1M gal/yr. of precipitation (do the math) and you WILL need to remove the woody species that invade. Furthermore, it is hard to adequately water plants on a slope so I find it necessary to engineer a horizontal surface in such places. I do so by creating eyebrow raised beds using boulders on the low side (to reduce the slope) or corrugated steel fire rings of various diameter for the same purpose. A pic above features a Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea Pendula' with the eyebrow leveling -- the boulders can and will be moved outward and changed as the specimen requires. See also my recent RAISED BEDS posting. Lastly, rain barrels DO NOT have adequate volume to function as a flooding prevention measure yet people persist in thinking otherwise -- their idea blind spot pitfall. In a heavy rainevent even the biggest examples (60 gal capacity) can fill in a matter of minutes, and once full . . .. Again, do the math.

• WILDLIFE - I do all I can to make my garden attractive to wildlife, esp. birds. Yes, some wildlife (particularly the deer!) can be destructive and frustrating, but the squirrels and other critters need a place to live, too. I enjoy sharing with them and they enhance my life and enliven the garden. See SAFETY below. I also address safety and chemical warfare in my Rantings book (see CHOOSING -CIDES, chapter 40).

• COMPOSTING - I find that composting helps ground me, makes me more aware, and we all need that. Sadly, few people do (i.e., compost). See my previous posts on the subject, Nov 2017 and Sep 2020. The compost/soil sifter I designed, built and market is pictured above -- yet another example of garden engineering. The item drapped over the arm is a pair of closed cell deer stand thermal seats I got at Menard's for $10 each -- the newer version is slightly different. I connected the two with Velco straps making the perfect large format garden kneeling pad. Using it, I can fall to my knees onto the cushion over gravel without discomfort. Far superior to any traditional garden kneeling pad I have seen, and less expensive. The pads have lasted nearly a decade despite the fact that I commonly leave them outside on the wheelbarrow arm year-round.

• ROCKS - I cannot imagine a garden without rocks. I use lots. And when I say rock I am referring to boulders which are by definition (on average) >10 inches in diameter (actually 10.1"+). Not counting the driveway gravel or patio stone, I have found, moved and placed well over 30 tons of boulder size and near boulder cobble at my place, almost all by myself. Some of the boulders are several hundred pounds. The rocks you use should be the appropriate size and NEVER painted -- painting rocks (or tree bark) for me is vulgar. I feel the same way about red and black lava rock. I am considering a separate piece dealing with my technique for moving and the advantages and disadvantages of various types of stone as regards use in a garden.

• SAFETY & SECURITY - this can and does include fencing but I will use here as an example the metal sunburst cover I created to prevent window well injury on my patio (see pic above as well as Chap 23 in my Rantings book and kneel pads above). And S&S is not just humans (e.g., I noticed that toads commonly hop along the edge of my house and occasionally were getting stranded and dying in window wells so I created metal wings (a short fence) to deflect them towards the yard thus preventing the pit trapping.

• RECORDING - take before and after pics and maintain a file for the associated paperwork.

• CIVIC SERVICE - by gardening we not only enrich our lives but the lives of others who live in as well as those who pass through the community. I have taken that responsibility and opportunity a step further. Two examples, (1) this free website and (2) every month I post a word on a 6 feet long sign I hang along the road in front of my place (see pic above). The latter yet another example of garden engineering as well as a social statement. See my Sep 2018 rant for a fuller explanation of the Word Sign Project.

In closing I will say that function, purpose as well as the reality of our location and circumstances should drive how we garden (i.e., what, when, where and why are you doing or not doing something). Be willing to dream and to experiment. Doing so will enable you to be a better gardener. BTW, Being a Better Gardener is the name of the class I occasionally offer. Now, consider some engineering ideas that would improve your garden. GOOD LUCK and ENJOY.