Spring Garden Care Around My Pool

April 12, 2023

We're now in the third week of spring, all the protective burlap is removed from the boxwood and ornamental urns, and seasonal chores have begun at my Bedford, New York farm.

The area around my pool is planted with a variety of dark-colored burgundy-black leafed plants. I always try to incorporate unique and interesting specimens in the gardens. Along the inside of the pool's fence, I have a growing hedge of purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple' - a splendid tree with deep-purple foliage. On the outside of the fence, I have Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple.’ Yesterday, my outdoor grounds crew checked all the specimens, pruned what was necessary, and dressed all the beds with nutrient-rich compost. All the gardens are looking better and better every day.

Enjoy these photos.

: This is what this space looks like in summer – the pool is open for my family and friends, there are gorgeous views of the landscape, and all trees, hedges, and shrubs are filled with bold colored foliage.

: Around the pool, I have plantings on both sides of the fence. These hedges and shrubs are all deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves in autumn. This photo was taken in July.

: We planted this hedge exactly five years ago. I am so pleased with its development, in part because of all the thoughtful care I give them through the year.

: The leaves of the columnar purple beech are rounded ellipses, two to four inches long and one to three inches wide, with an undulating margin and a slightly pointed tip. They are smooth and softly lustrous in the sunlight. In spring the new leaves are a vibrant, deep purple-red. As they mature in summer they become dark burgundy-purple, holding this color well through the hotter weather.

: This is what the hedge looks like now. One can see all the new buds growing. The pool is surrounded by about 170 of these European columnar beech trees along the inside fence line. The columnar beech trees will grow to 40 to 50 feet in height and only 10-feet wide which makes them perfect for tight spaces and as an interesting hedge.

: Here’s my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, bringing over wheelbarrows filled with my nutrient-rich compost made right here at the farm.

: And here’s Phurba spreading the compost below the beech hedge surrounding the pool. Adding compost to the garden has many benefits. Among them, improving the structure and health of the soil by adding organic matter, helping the soil retain moisture and nutrients, attracting beneficial organisms to the soil reducing the need for pesticides and fertilizers, and helping to prevent the potential for soil erosion. We cover all the garden beds with compost this time of year.

: And looks what is now blooming. Commonly known as The Guinea Hen Flower, The Checkered Lily or The Snake’s Head Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris is an heirloom species dating back to 1575. It has pendant, bell-shaped, checkered and veined flowers that are either maroon or ivory-white with grass-like foliage intermittently spaced on its slender stems. I have many in my gardens.

: And here is fritillaria in ivory white.

: Guests always ask about these structures at one end of the pool. Do you know what these are? They’re called staddle stones. I bought these staddle stones in 2017 from the annual NYBG Garden Furniture & Antiques Fair. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version.

: The hedge bed looks so clean and tidy after the compost dressing is put down. In several weeks, these plantings will show off a stunning dark burgundy color.

: On the outside of the fence, Pasang is working on the shrubs – Cotinus alternating with Physocarpus. He cuts off any dead, dying, or diseased branches and twigs first.

: Pasang also cuts any big dead or crisscrossing branches from the bottom. Pruning means to lop or cut off any superfluous branches or shoots for better-shape and better growth. These look fuller every year – in part because of our regular pruning.

: Here is the Cotinus leafed out in summer. Cotinus, also known as smoketree or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The stunning dark red-purple foliage turns scarlet and has plume-like seed clusters later in the year, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.

: In fact, the name “smoke bush” comes from this – the billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters which remain in place through the summer, turning a smoky pink to purplish-pink. I have many smoke bushes around the farm.

: This is physocarpus in June. Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark is an upright, spreading, somewhat coarse, deciduous, Missouri-native shrub which is closely related to the genus Spiraea. It boasts dark foliage with ovate to rounded, usually three to five-lobed leaves.

: For these shrubs, Pasang uses two distinct tools. This is his hand-held pruner. Every member of the outdoor grounds crew has one. This tool is good for trimming delicate flowers, cutting thin branches, or getting rid of old, dead wood.

: For thicker branches up to two-inches, Pasang uses the STIHL PL 40 lopper, made with aircraft aluminum handles measuring 32-inches long and perfect for getting better leverage or reaching taller branches. I always instruct the crew to use the right tool for the job.

: He also trims all the tops to keep them at the same height as the fence itself.

: All the cuttings are gathered on a tarp to make cleanup easy and quick.

: Here is Chhiring shoveling compost on the outside hedge. A layer of compost should not be too think – just top dress perennial flower gardens with a layer no greater than an inch or so.

: The beds look so nice after some spring maintenance.

: And here is the outside of the fence – so straight all the way around. The lawn was also mowed for the first time this season. These plantings create such a gorgeous privacy screen around my pool and still disguise the fence very well – one cannot see it at all.