My Growing Garden Maze in August
My two-and-a-half year old garden maze is looking so lush and green this summer.
The three-acre pasture just outside my Winter House is the setting for my maze. Since work began, I've planted a variety of different hedges, espaliers, trees, and shrubs - hundreds of specimens that add texture and interest, and all according to a detailed map I created specifically for the space. A lot of care goes in to maintaining this area. Recently, my resident tree expert, Pasang Sherpa, pruned some of the largest plantings, the handsome London planetrees, Platanus acerifolia 'Bloodgood,' a relative of the mighty sycamore.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- At one end of my living maze is a selection of Platanus acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’ trees, also known as London planes. I also have London planes growing in an allée through my middle hay field.
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- These large trees are sought after for the large three-lobed, toothed, dark green leaves that turn yellow, orange, and red with the fall season.
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- Its bark makes it even more interesting because it sheds in a patchwork pattern with growth and age.
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- I planted these trees in early November 2022. They are planted in a rectangle with two long rows and two short rows and an open space in the center.
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- Here they are after they were mulched that first year. Once planted, trees usually spend that first year focusing on developing their root systems.
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- Here is a view from one end. Remember the saying, “”sleep, creep, leap,” which describes the typical growth stages of trees.
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- This photo shows the trees in October of 2023, one year later. In the second year, attention goes to growing – slowly and steadily. Every tree is happy here, and in part because of the nutrient-filled soil I provide all my trees and plants.
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- And here they are this year – so lush and green. These trees are large shade trees with broad open crowns.
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- Not long ago, Pasang gave the trees their first pruning here at the farm. Pruning helps them grow into more strong, full and healthy trees with good, uniform shapes.
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- Pruning also helps improve air circulation around the tree and allows light to reach through to every branch.
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- Here they are all finished. Pasang did a great job pruning them all to a desirable height, removing any dead or dying material. These London planes are now established and doing so well.
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- In fact, the entire maze is thriving. The tall tree is one of several Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ trees, American sweetgums. As these trees mature, they will maintain their erect, columnar form, growing up to 50 feet tall and only about four-feet wide.
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- The footpaths are also designed appropriately, so my horses can walk through the maze as well, and get an apple along the way – on the left is an espalier of apple trees.
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- The long, upright-growing branches of Hick’s yew have dense, glossy, green foliage that naturally forms a narrow habit. And right now, they are showing off lots of berries, or red drupes, which usually come out in late summer and persist through fall.
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- Paul’s Gold threadleaf false cypress, Chamaecyparis pisifera, has year-round golden green foliage.
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- Another espalier of apple trees – each one with a different variety. All the apple trees are doing so well here. I already have so many fruits growing on the branches.
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- My overall plan is to plant as many interesting trees, hedges, espaliers, and shrubs as possible in this space and to create a fun and challenging living maze.
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- The plants are spaced closely, so they become a closed hedges in time.
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- I plant as many different specimens as I can, but always with the same fundamentals in mind – the plant’s mature size and its light and soil needs.
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- There is still a bit more to do before this maze is complete. Please follow along and see it develop with me!
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