# May shots around the garden



## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Starting off with the last harrah of my 'New Dawn' rose arbor. It will be torn down (along with my sheds and workshop) for a new highway because evil developers dumped a ton of money to get their corrupt political candidates into office so that they can build a bunch of freakin' townhouses no one can afford to buy. I am getting an equivalent piece of adjacent property and a big check for a bigger and better workshop/sheds.




















The dogwood bed is looking great with the foot and half of rain we have had this May







! Walking around the yard is like walking on wet sponges but the turf does look like a green shag carpet.
Here is a Cornus kousa 'Milkway' flanked by two taller Cornus kousa chinesis surrounding a stone bench. A partially hidden Cornus alba 'Ivory Halo' sits to the right of the bench.











Another 'Ivory Halo" sits around the other side. On the right side is a Franklinia alatamaha, a small native tree that has big beautiful white blooms in the late summer. It was named for Ben Franklin and is now thought to be extinct in the wild.











At one end of the layout (you can see a bridge on the left) these 'Knockout' roses are going strong. Two months ago they were seven feet tall and got shorn down with hedge clipper. In the background is a hardy, medium sized southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora 'Bracken's Brown Beauty'. A 'Gold Princess' spirea sits at the left end of the bed.











-Brian


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## Steamnutt (Apr 12, 2008)

Brian, 
The landscaping looks GREAT! Sorry to hear that you are going to lose part of your lawn.


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## bottino (Feb 7, 2008)

Brian, everything is growing so well I can't even see the trains. I know they are in there somewhere. Maybe the Intercounty connector land rapers will find them. Thats called Urban Removal. Your yard really does look fantastic. I wish mine looked 1/10th that good. 

Paul


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## rivets (Jun 17, 2009)

Brian, prune that New Dawn and move it! I bet it has a thick "trunk". Ours here in Roanoke VA went wild this year with heavy blooms. It and the other plants are a nice background for our infant layout. Your arrangement looks robust and natural, and I think I saw tracks and bridges in there. It must be a pleasure to run there. Nice work. 

John


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks John. I plan on taking cuttings and hope to move the primary plants. Unfortunately, I don't have a good spot to replant it yet. 
Running is great when its not monsoon season. More on my blog by clicking on my signature below (click on "Bypass this message" when you get to the 403 forbidden page). 

-Brian


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## pdk (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks. Pretty stuff,


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## ShadsTrains (Dec 27, 2007)

Beautiful garden Brian.. I could only hope to have a garden that looks so nice.. Mine's still mostly weeds.. At least my lawn looks nice.. To get around that 403 error thing, you might want to try using tinyurl.com to generate a shortcut link to grblogs..


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## CSG (Jun 13, 2009)

Wow, your yard is beautiful. Sorry you are losing part of it and some of the serenity of the place what with roads and houses coming in. Love to see more pictures in other seasons. Thanks for sharing.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks GREAT!! 
Love the dogwood.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Brian - you could always throw in a few endangered plants and animals into the area the highway is going. Then call the Sierra club ect.... and let them know their are rare plants. That will put a stop to the road.


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By snowshoe on 06/20/2009 9:24 AM
Brian - you could always throw in a few endangered plants and animals into the area the highway is going. Then call the Sierra club ect.... and let them know their are rare plants. That will put a stop to the road.










That's been done and tried by several groups including the Sierra Club bringing lawsuits against this CF of a project. Slowed things down for awhile but that's all. This highway will cause major damage in the way of run off into river headwaters here. The native brown trout population is most at risk. They have added many holding ponds to the project now (more skeeters, Yay!)

-Brian


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## rivets (Jun 17, 2009)

You needed the extra strong mix of "developer-rid" spray, but I bet the town planners were fertilized with too much "green" to make a difference. 

Can you actually use a hedge trimmer on Knockout? It does tend to get out of hand for hand clippers after the first bloom. 

And Brian I like your work presented on your site. Very natural plantings and great walkway patterns. Lots of train pictures too- how do your clients like their garden railways?. 

John


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Brian, I try your Chesapeake and Appalachian Railway, but I get a 403 forbidden page telling me to stop "referrer spam."


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rivets on 06/20/2009 9:15 PM
You needed the extra strong mix of "developer-rid" spray, but I bet the town planners were fertilized with too much "green" to make a difference. 

Can you actually use a hedge trimmer on Knockout? It does tend to get out of hand for hand clippers after the first bloom. 

And Brian I like your work presented on your site. Very natural plantings and great walkway patterns. Lots of train pictures too- how do your clients like their garden railways?. 

John


Thanks John. The clients are always happy







.
I use a good sharp pair of hedge shears on my knock outs. I'm not a fan of hedge trimmers.


I ran a cross a pic of that bed from a few years ago when the roses were babies -











Tom,
I mentioned above to click on the "bypass this message" link on that page


note to Shad - thanks for the idea. I tried it and it didn't work but was worth a shot.


-Brian


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice yard and pics. I just planted some of the knockout roses last year. I hope they eventually look as good as yours.


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## rivets (Jun 17, 2009)

John, if you want roses near your trains (or anywhere) Knockout varieties are fast growing and tough to kill with excellent drought resistance and are nearly disease proof in our experience. Ours bloom from May to Thanksgiving here in VA. My garden railroad will include an end loop under a big red Knockout in the next phase. 

This is fun- combining trains and gardening. Beats finishing the basement for a layout any day. 

John P


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