My garden maze now includes a long row of Lynwood Gold Forsythia.
I started this three-acre maze in the spring of 2022, and so far I've completed more than two-thirds of the entire course. I've planted European beech, European hornbeams, boxwood, parrotias, espaliered apple trees, American sweetgums, barberry, London planetrees, privets, camperdown elms, yews, a variety of evergreen shrubs, and now forsythia. The Lynwood Gold Forsythia is fast growing and maintains an upright growth habit with graceful arching branches. This flowering shrub features beautiful bell shaped yellow blooms in spring, alternating green leaves in summer that turn to a dark purple in fall and winter with the return of cold weather.
Enjoy these photos.
A couple weeks ago, we picked up 16 forsythias from Select Horticulture in nearby Pound Ridge. I knew these shrubs would be great additions to my living maze.
The crew uses marking spray, often used for landscaping jobs, to indicate exactly where each tree will be planted. Forsythia do best in full sun to light shade with well-draining soil.
Backhoes are extremely versatile. I am fortunate to have this attachment for our tractor. Backhoes come with a bucket and digging arm that can perform many different tasks.
These holes are carefully dug along the northern most side of the maze. It will eventually develop into a beautiful spring blooming hedge.
Chhiring manually smooths out each hole as needed and ensures it is deep enough for each specimen. The hole sides should also be slanted. Digging a wide planting hole helps to provide the best opportunity for roots to expand into its new growing environment. The entire process of planting these forsythia takes a couple of days.
Chhiring also sprinkles fertilizer specially made for transplanting. Remember, “if you eat, so should your plants.”
Scotts Evergreen Flowering Tree & Shrub is a fertilizer that is ideal for acid-loving trees and shrubs, including evergreens, dogwoods, hydrangeas, and magnolias. It encourages vigorous root growth and lush foliage, and is easy to use – just sprinkle a generous amount into the soil.
Chhiring removes the protective burlap from around the root ball.
And then he removes the cage. Removing all the material is very important. Some gardeners will leave the wrapping in the ground, but I prefer to remove everything around any trees that are planted at the farm, so there is nothing blocking its root growth. Some burlap is also treated to prevent it from disintegrating.
As it is removed, all the protective cages and coverings are placed by each tree, so we are sure it was taken off.
To place each one into its designated hole, Chhiring slowly rolls the root ball into position. Only hold it by the root ball and the base of the trunk – never by its branches, which could easily break.
All these shrubs are in good condition, but we always position plantings with the best side facing the walking path.
Next, Chhiring rmoves the twine holding the branches together.
Here the twine is removed and the branches are given time to open naturally.
The leaves of the Lynwood Gold Forsythia are oval, dark green and three inches long with toothed margins. In the fall, the leaves turn yellow with a hint of purple, or shades of red and purple, before going dormant.
The shrubs are then backfilled. A good tip is to “plant bare to the flare,” meaning do not bury above its flare, where the first main roots attach to the trunk. The roots need oxygen to grow. By placing the root flare at or slightly above ground level when planting gives the specimen the best chance for survival, growth and development.
Phurba follows behind and rakes the pit, so it is neat and tidy.
Once they’re all planted, the forsythias are given a very deep and thorough drink. It’s been hot and humid here this week – we’ve been watering quite a bit.
Here is a view of the row planted and backfilled. When fully mature, these will be about eight to 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide.
I think it looks excellent. I am so pleased with how well my maze is turning out. What do you think?
There is always so much work to do on my Bedford, New York farm.
During the warm season, all my potted tropical plants are displayed outdoors in various locations. This year, I decided to display four large potted specimens in front of my Hay Barn - two Bismarckia palms, Bismarckia nobilis, and two pygmy date palms, Phoenix roebenenii. These attractive, slow-growing plants are thriving and will do very well in the custom square fiberglass planters painted my signature color, "Bedford gray."
Here are some photos.
These are the wide silver green leaves of the Bismarck palm, Bismarckia nobilis. It is among my favorite palms and I have several in my collection.
I knew two of my bigger Bismarck palms would look great in the square planters from ePlanters. They come in a dark cement gray color, but I painted them Bedford gray to match the exterior of my houses.
The Bismarck palm is a native of Madagascar that grows to a height of 30 to 60 feet with a spread of 12 to 16 feet. This is the base of the plant. The leaf base is split, creating an attractive pattern on the 15–18-inch-diameter trunk.
Phurba measures the length of the root ball to determine how deep it should sit in the pot.
Shards are placed in the bottom of the container. This is so soil does not fall through the holes or block any drainage.
Non-woven landscape cloth is also placed at the bottom of the container for proper filtration, allowing water to pass through while keeping fine soil particles out.
Phurba also measures the depth of the pot as soil is added to make sure it is filled with the right amount.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed Palm Plant Food is added to the soil scooped into the container. This fertilizer continuously nourishes tropical plants for up to three months. It contains magnesium, iron, and manganese to reduce the risk of yellowing or curling fronds.
Phurba and Pasang gently lift the potted palm up and into the container with the nicest leaves facing out.
Hauling all the needed soil is our Kubota M4-071 tractor – a vehicle that is used every day here at the farm to do a multitude of tasks.
Once the plant is in its pot, Pasang fills the surrounding areas with soil to secure the plant.
Phurba spreads the soil evenly across the pot and adds more fertilizer.
And then Pasang gives the Bismarck palm a good drink.
I also decided to transplant two giant pygmy date palms which had outgrown their urns and needed new homes. Pasang carefully went around the root ball with a hori-hori knife to loosen it from the pot.
This plant definitely needed some attention – the root mass has grown quite a bit. Pasang scarifies the root ball, or slices through the roots, in several areas to encourage root growth. It may seem harsh, but the plant will send out new feeder roots and should recover quickly.
Pasang and Phurba carefully transport the pygmy date palm to its new pot in front of the Hay Barn. Phoenix roebelenii is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia, from southwestern China, northern Laos and northern Vietnam.
Pasang and Phurba position the plant in the pot, and like the others, add soil and fertilizer.
The leaves of a pygmy date palm are deep green, feathery fronds that can grow up to four feet long. These fronds form a dense canopy that can have 30 to 50 leaves. The leaves are graceful and arching, and can look piney when the wind blows.
What makes the Pygmy Date Palm so attractive are the brown, textured trunks. These trunks can grow straight or crooked, depending on how the palm is placed as they tend to curve toward the light.
This is the base of the trunk which gives the appearance of a pineapple as old leaf debris is removed.
Two of each plant are now potted up and flank the sliding doors of the Hay Barn. They will remain here until the fall when all the tropical plants are returned to their designated hoop houses for winter storage.
Displaying plants outdoors is an easy way to add color, texture, and nature to any space. They’re definitely a good thing.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, the weather these last couple of weeks has been pleasantly warm, dry, sunny, with light breezes - perfect conditions for cutting, tedding, raking, and baling hay.
One of my objectives at my farm has always been to practice self-sufficiency. When I moved here, I designated three separate areas as hayfields, so I could grow lots and lots of delicious, nutritious hay for my horses and donkeys. I plant the fields with a quality custom seed blend and when it's ready, my outdoor grounds crew works hard to cut, fluff, rake, and then bale the hay.
Enjoy these photos of the first cut of the season.
This time every year, we hope for at least a week of good, dry weather, so we can get the first cut of hay from the fields. Timing is everything when cutting the hay crop.
This is our mower-conditioner. Mower-conditioners are a staple of large-scale haymaking. It cuts, crimps, and crushes the hay to promote faster and more even drying. It is the first step in the hay baling process.
The discs and blades are located behind the protective shield of the mower-conditioner.
This equipment also works to remove the waxy coat on the crop as it conditions, making the hay dry faster – this means less waiting time and less chance for poor weather to negatively impact the hay quality. When weather conditions are ideal, these machines allow farmers to cut wide and fast – the best formula for quality field productivity. As the mower-conditioner goes over the grass, it cuts it and then conditions it – all under the protective hood of the machine.
The best time is to start as soon as dew is off in the morning, which will maximize drying time. After it is cut, it is left to dry the rest of the day.
Next, the cut hay is ready for tedding, also known as fluffing. This is our hay tedder. A tedder spreads and fluffs the hay in a uniform swath. It uses a rotary motion to grab the hay with spinning tines and then cast it out the back of the machine. The tedder moves up and down the field taking all the greener hay from the bottom and turning it over to dry.
The hay turn colors from green to tan. On average, it takes about three days per field, depending on the size of the field and the weather, to complete the entire process of mowing, raking, and baling hay.
Then it is time to make the windrows, which are rows of hay raked up and shaped before being baled. Here is Phurba pulling the bar rake and making windrows from the tedded hay.
The bar rake, also known as a basket rake is hydraulically driven. This rake allows for consistent movement across the fields making well-shaped windrows.
Here, one can see the tines creating the almost box-shaped windrows.
Here is a windrow ready to bale. All the windrows are lined up straight next to each other with enough room in between for the baler to maneuver properly around the field.
A hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. I am fortunate to have all the necessary equipment to process the hay in my fields.
The process starts midday when there is the least amount of moisture. The trailer fills up pretty quickly. Luckily, I have two hay trailers. Each one can hold about 150-bales. Chhiring drives up and down the windrows of all the hayfields which takes a good portion of the afternoon.
The tractor rides to one side of the windrow while the baler passes directly over it to collect the hay. All the hay is dry and passing through the machine smoothly. If the hay is properly dried, the baler will work continuously down each row. Hay that is too damp tends to clog up the baler.
The hay is lifted by tines in the baler’s reel and then propelled into the wagon by a mechanical arm called a thrower or a kicker. The bales are manageable for one person to handle, about 45 to 60 pounds each.
A baled “square” is traveling up the conveyor belt. A measuring device—normally a spiked wheel that is turned by the emerging bales—measures the amount of material that is being compressed and then knotters wrap the twine around the bale and tie it off.
The hay trailer has high walls on the left, right, and back sides, and a short wall on the front side to contain the bales which are stacked neatly from back to front. Once a trailer is full, it is driven to the hayloft above my stable.
The crew sets up the hay elevator from the ground to the hay loft.
Then each bale is placed on the hay elevator which sends it up to waiting hands. Baling hay is a team effort. Each bale is about 15 by 18 by 40 inches large. The number of flakes in the bale is determined by a setting in the baler. Many balers are set for 10 to 12 flakes per bale.
Here is the view from the top end of the loft as the bales are sent up.
Juan is in the hayloft stacking the bales as they come up the hay elevator.
We collected so many bales, there’s just a narrow aisle in between the tall stacks.
But wait… here comes another wagon. It’s the last bit of baled hay, and our fourth wagon almost full. I am so pleased with how much hay we’re able to produce here at the farm.
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