Another big summertime task is checked off the list.
Along one side of my home overlooking the farm, I have a large stone terrace constructed with formal hedged gardens. For the upper parterres, I selected contrasting evergreen shrubs – boxwood, and golden barberry. To provide interest, these shrubs are sheared to different heights, creating a step effect. In the lower parterres, carefully designed and manicured boxwood hedges surround two hand-casted antique fountains. On one side, a low hedge shaped with an inverted V pattern, or chevron. Maintaining all these plantings requires extra maintenance and grooming from time to time, but I think it’s well worth the effort.
Enjoy these photos.
I am so pleased with how well these formal gardens have developed over the years. I’ve worked hard to maintain the detailed shapes of the hedges and shrubs. This is the lower terrace that is located just outside my Winter House. It’s a lovely place to sit and conduct meetings or enjoy a lovely summer lunch.
It’s important to groom the specimens every few months when they all appear overgrown.
This is the golden barberry before it is trimmed. Golden barberry takes on its brightest coloring when it gets at least six hours of direct sun a day.
Golden barberry, Berberis thunbergii, is a deciduous shrub that is compact, adaptable, very hardy and shows off striking small, golden yellow oblong leaves.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
Both barberry and boxwood are known for being robust. Phurba is excellent at trimming these shrubs and takes on the task whenever it’s needed.
Phurba works on the lower parterre, shaping the boxwood by hand.
These are Okatsune 30-inch long Hedge Shears. Okatsune shears are light and precise, and come in a range of sizes.
This pair has shorter handles and longer blades.
Phurba uses STIHL hand-held HSA 26 garden shears to trim the sides and top of this low hedge. I love this tool and use it often around the farm. The hedge shear attachment with double-sided cutting blades cuts in both directions.
There are always lots of clippings to clear away, but that’s because these hedges are doing so well. Good, regular pruning stimulates new growth, controls unwanted growth, and removes dead or damaged branches.
Pruning is also important to keep these defined shapes. Boxwood is a popular choice for formal gardens because of its versatility, ability to be pruned, and year-round bold green foliage.
Here, Phurba works on the upper terrace quadrants, again hand trimming the big boxwood shrubs.
To reach the tops of the boxwood shrubs, Phurba uses an orchard tripod ladder. One can see where he has trimmed, and where he still has work to do.
Phurba makes sure to cover every side of the shrubs and hedges, sometimes carefully having to walk in tight spaces.
Every so often, Phurba stops to sharpen his tools. Here he is using his STIHL pruner, axe, and tool sharpener. It is crucial to always work with sharp tools in the garden. They make cleaner cuts that allow plants to heal faster and resist disease, insects, and poor weather. Dull blades can crush and tear plant tissue, which makes healing more difficult and increases the risk of infection.
This entire chore is time-consuming and takes a few days to complete.
Every so often, Phurba stops to assess his work from a distance. He considers the overall shape of each hedge and shrub as well as how all four quadrants look together.
Finally, Phurba covers all the beds with a two inch layer of compost made right here at the farm.
These gardens look so excellent after a good grooming.
It takes time to develop formal gardens. When planning, one must consider type of plants, their size at the time of planting and at maturity, the level of care, the environment, and local weather conditions. It can take up to 10-years for a formal garden to be fully established.
All the hedges are all level around the boxwood. These plants have filled out the areas so nicely.
And here is a look at all four quadrants with my antique sugar pot in the center. Sugar kettles were used on 19th century Louisiana plantations for the production of sugar. In the winter, I use it as a fire pit when entertaining. The terrace looks great. Thanks Phurba.
One of my farm's off-road vehicles is now equipped with a low-maintenance, long lasting lithium battery - and it's working great.
There's a lot that goes into maintaining a farm. I am constantly driving around, talking to my outdoor grounds team, visiting my animals, and checking on the progress in my gardens. The crew is also very busy and needs to get around easily and efficiently. My off-road utility vehicles are extremely useful, but when my electric one began to slow down, I decided to convert the battery system from lead-acid to lithium. Now it runs longer, charges faster, and is much more environmentally friendly. Our new 48 Volt Eco Battery is from Extreme Kartz and comes with a complete conversion kit making the "switch" so easy.
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of my off-road utility vehicles. It is used every single day of the year for a myriad of chores, including carrying harvests from the vegetable garden to my Winter House, transporting mulch and compost to various sites, and hauling supplies for work projects. This particular model was outfitted with lead-acid batteries which were aging and becoming less efficient. It was time for a change.
It takes eight lead-acid batteries to run this vehicle. They are located under the seats. The lead-acid battery is a type of rechargeable battery first invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté. Compared to more modern rechargeable batteries such as the lithium battery, lead-acid batteries have relatively low energy density.
The first step is to remove the old lead acid batteries. These will be disposed appropriately.
These are two new lithium Eco Batteries – one 160ah for my electric vehicle in Maine, and a smaller, skinnier 105ah battery version for the EV here at Bedford.
Both batteries come with an all inclusive installation kit, complete with brackets, a charger mount, and all the needed nuts and screws.
Here is the 48 volt Eco Battery charger. The entire battery and charger system is much lighter – about 80 percent lighter – than the lead-acid batteries.
Here is the plastic tray that held the lead-acid batteries in place. This also needs to be removed for the conversion.
Here is another view from the side showing where all the wires are located.
The two black brackets will now hold the new lithium battery.
… And the metal mount will support the battery’s charger. The conversion process is not difficult. Anyone with automotive knowledge can replace lead-acid batteries for lithium ones.
Here, the Eco Battery Charger is secured in place within the battery bay.
Everything fits compactly under the seats in the same place the lead-acid batteries were located, but with a much smaller footprint.
The connection wires run from the charger to the new status charge meter. Another advantage of these lithium batteries – they provide the same voltage output at any level of charge.
Finally, the Eco Battery is installed and connected. And it’s actually safer for the environment – they do not emit any toxic gases.
Here is a view from the top – one battery and one charger, which can last up to 10 years or more.
The seats lift up for easy access if needed.
One doesn’t even know the battery is there.
Inside the vehicle is the status charging indicator.
And outside is the vehicle’s new Eco Battery Charger Port. It uses a regular household power cable for charging.
And it’s ready to go once again – back to work at my busy farm. It now runs as good as new. A lithium battery for an off-road vehicle like this or a golf cart… it’s a good thing.
For any serious and passionate gardener it's important to attend botanical events that can inform and inspire - as I always say, "learn something new every day."
Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota for the first ever Creator event at Bailey Nurseries. He joined more than 20 other garden influencers to learn about the Bailey brands Endless Summer® Hydrangeas, First Editions® Shrubs & Trees, and Easy Elegance® Roses, and tour the greenhouses and growing fields. I have many plants from Bailey Nurseries in my gardens. This was a great way for Ryan to see up close how plants are grown and nurtured before coming to my beloved Cantitoe Corners.
Enjoy these photos.
Bailey Nurseries is a fifth-generation, family-owned company. Its main mission is to help retailers, growers and landscapers create a “world landscape” that is beautiful, diverse, and fully sustainable.
This was the first-ever creator event for the company. Digital creator, Ryan McEnaney, who is part of the fifth-generation of the Bailey Family, welcomed everyone to the event and presented an introductory video.
The Bailey facilities are massive. The group started at Nord Farm in the propagation greenhouse.
There were thousands of hydrangeas being grown and nurtured in the ground. The group learned about the different methods of propagation, both by seed and by cuttings.
Look how big this is – bigger than Ryan’s hand. This panicle hydrangea is called ‘Strawberry Sundae’ – noted as a strong shrub for use in hedges and tight spaces. The flowers start of white and then change to red in the fall.
All the Bailey greenhouses are equipped with advanced irrigation systems. Hoses move from one end to the other watering the plants from above.
In the another area, root cuttings are placed on flats, and then processed through a conveyor belt for watering and then placement in the greenhouse.
This is production manager, Dave Gross. He oversees 22 acres under cover plus two acres of outdoor fields. Here he explains and shows the components for the soil mix. One of the materials used is hydro fiber, a pine by-product.
During the tour, Ryan spotted some linden trees. I am a big fan of lindens and have many growing at my farm. Two of several allées are made of lindens.
Outside, Ryan is standing in front of a large display of hydrangeas featuring three varieties – “Vanilla Strawberry,” “Berry White,” and First Editions “Little Hottie.”
This is Great Star Hydrangea. It has bold clusters of white star-shaped flowers with creamy white overtones at the ends of the branches from early summer to early fall.
Ryan and the group also toured the fields – rows and rows of gorgeous shrubs growing in the ground. Spiraea, sometimes spelled spirea, is commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes. It is a genus of about 80 to 100 species of shrubs in the family Rosaceae. They are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, especially in eastern Asia.
In another section, rows and rows of lilacs.
And then a sight to behold – thousands of blooming hydrangeas. The two varieties blooming here are “Little Hottie” and “Berry White.”
The flower heads are so huge and every one is so perfect.
The container fields were next. At any given time there could be more than a million containers of plants in these fields – plants in one, three, and five gallon pots. These plats are ready to go to retailers.
This dwarf panicle hydrangea is called Bobo®. It features large white flowers in summer held upright on strong stems.
There were also so many pots of bold colored barberry. This is Orange rocket barberry which shows off vibrant coral-orange new foliage that turns ruby red in autumn.
Outdoor displays show other flowering plants offered by Baileys.
There was a lot of phlox, that hardy long-lived perennial. I also have a lot growing in my gardens.
This is Echinacea purpurea, the eastern purple coneflower, purple coneflower, hedgehog coneflower, or simply echinacea. It is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
… And of course, roses.
Ryan had a great time, learned a lot about Bailey’s history and its growing practices, and met lots of interesting people. Now, back to New York and back to work…
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