Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have several horse paddocks - enclosed spaces where my Friesians, Fell pony, and donkeys are turned out to exercise and graze. The gateways to these paddocks can sometimes get muddy. Muddy high-traffic areas are not suitable for horses - they can cause poor footing, which can lead to leg injuries, strain, and stress to their joints, muscles, and ligaments. To help, we installed special mud management systems from RAMM Horse Fencing & Stalls, a 30-year old family-owned business located in Swanton, Ohio. The flexible, high density, three-inch deep polyethylene mats help to contain gravel and improve drainage where it is needed most. It's an easy way to make my paddocks safer for my dear equines.
Enjoy these photos.
Pete secures twine at the entrance to one of my paddocks, so he can dig out a neat, straight space for the mud management mat.
I wanted the mat to be placed on the inside of the paddock, right at the gate where it tends to get muddy.
Pete rakes the area clean of any old sod and debris. Doing this levels the area and removes any pre-existing ruts which could hinder proper drainage.
The space is now ready for the mud management system installation.
Pete dug the area about four inches deep.
We’re using the innovative environmentally-safe mud control panels from RAMM – a company that also makes the hay feeders we use here at the farm.
Pete and Fernando open the mat and stake it to the ground so it could stretch out under the sun. Allowing time for the panel to soak in the heat helps to maintain its form for installation.
After an hour or so, Pete and Fernando remove the stakes and move the mat into place.
They lay it over a weed cloth that was put down and secured to the ground with sod staples.
Here, Pete secures the panel with wooden stakes once again until the gravel is in place. This mat is 85 square feet when fully opened. The cells are each three-inches deep.
Next, Pete starts to fill the cells with a 60-40 mix of crushed gravel and stone dust. Because the interconnecting cells have a double-welded seam and are not made of hard plastic, they conform to the area easily.
Here is a closer look at the angular gravel and stone dust. This mix is available at any local sand and stone supplier.
Fernando works from the other side to fill all the cells.
It doesn’t take long to fill the mat plus a two inch layer of fill above it.
The gravel and stone dust are spread evenly over the mat. It can also be mounded up slightly in the center to allow for better drainage. Pete and Fernando make sure none of the mat is exposed.
By early afternoon, my stable manager Helen Peparo and Bond, come over to take a look at the new paddock entrance and path.
What do you think, Bond? I think he approves.
Fernando wets the gravel, so it packs down into the cells as much as possible. This is a crucial part of the process to ensure there is enough of the stone mix fill.
Pete uses a stone tamper to pack the fill tightly.
It looks so much better – and the water is already draining away from the surface. If preferred, a layer of top soil can also be placed on the gravel.
Minutes later, it looks completely dry and mud-free
And here’s my Fell pony, Banchunch, about to get turned out with his Friesian friends. Banchunch is inspecting the entrance to his paddock.
But he doesn’t make much of the new gravel entrance – a good thing when it comes to horses. He goes straight to the nearby grass. This is actually a good sign – the new surface does not phase him one bit.
In fact, it doesn’t phase any of them. Banchuch, Rinze, and Bond simply keep on going – the grass seems more appealing. I am glad these mud management mats will help keep the mud away and my horses hoofs safe and dry.
All my tropical plants are now stored indoors for the winter.
Caring for these plants means following a strict schedule, particularly at the end of the warm season. During the colder months, these tropical specimens are all gathered, moved and stored in special greenhouses where temperatures and humidity levels can be closely monitored and adjusted when necessary. Yesterday, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew got all my tropical plants put away. And just in time - night temperatures are starting to dip.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
Before storing, all the plants are brought to their designated greenhouse and placed outside, so each one can be inspected, and trimmed or repotted if necessary. Then, by size each one is carried into the structure where they will stay for about seven months. These tropical plants are in front of a large hoop house located between my Equipment Barn and my vegetable greenhouse.
This year, I decided to purchase strong tables specially designed for greenhouse plants. Here, the tables are connected together to form one long surface.
All the tables are then shimmed and leveled perfectly on the gravel floor.
I have a series of tables lined on both sides of this tropical greenhouse – one of five greenhouses at my farm.
This is our new Kubota M62 tractor hauling a very heavy plant. During the summer, I like to display these large specimens around the farm. Some of these pots weigh about 500-pounds each.
Here, Brian and Phurba move a topiary from my Winter House courtyard. These plants grow a little more each year, so the placement of these specimens will change every time they are stored.
These taller topiaries from the courtyard will winter in this small enclosed porch located outside my Equipment Barn. It was a little used space, so a couple of years ago, I enclosed it and made it more usable for storing these tall specimens.
Domi carries another plant into the tropical greenhouse. This project of moving the plants indoors is a big undertaking and takes several days to complete.
My camellias are now all lined up together on one side of the table.
On the other side, a collection of Chinese fan palms, or fountain palms – a species of subtropical palm tree of east Asia.
Some of the container plants can be wheeled in on a hand truck. Domi and Chhiring move this in very carefully, so the branches are not damaged along the way.
This is a Bismarkia palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
Some planters from around my Winter House are loaded and moved indoors. Trough planters are also emptied and the contents put in plastic containers for storage.
Pasang directs the moving of this large tropical. We always strap the containers onto the tractor bucket and then cushion it with a moving blanket. These plants and their pots are handled with the utmost care.
I keep a group of sago palms, Cycas revoluta, in this enclosure. I have many of them in all different sizes. They are popular houseplants with pretty foliage, but keep them away from pets and young children, as they are also very toxic if ingested. This is a large sago. Sago palms support a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about seven to eight inches in diameter when mature, sometimes wider.
Here’s Chhiring about to move the Kalanchoe. Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. It is know for its ease of care and interesting leaves and flowers, which bloom consistently throughout the year in response to daylight. Kalanchoe can grow quite large, spreading out over a thick columnar trunk.
I have many agaves, including this blue agave with its beautiful gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. Do you know… tequila is distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
Chhiring assesses each plant as it is brought indoors. The plants are all arranged with enough space in between them, so they don’t touch each other. This greenhouse works by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment. The heater is checked a couple times each day to make sure the temperature remains comfortably warm inside. Too cold, plants will freeze – too hot, plants will rot. This greenhouse is always kept above 50-degrees Fahrenheit.
In a front corner is my monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana. It is an evergreen tree native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. Mature trees may reach 150-feet in height and have a trunk diameter of up to seven-feet.
Look closely – it has strange leaves – they are thick and stiff and have pointed tips. The leaves overlap each other and completely cover the branches that emerge from the trunk in whorls.
By afternoon, all the plants are inside. In the front are several potted Stephanotis – one of five to 10 species identified within the genus of twining vine-like shrubs. It is sometimes called Madagascar jasmine. The leaves are leathery, oval-shaped, and opposite, and the plant’s woody tendrils can grow to 20 feet. They were displayed by the pool this summer. I am so glad we got all the plants indoors well before the first frost in this area. I look forward to when these precious plants come out of hiding again next spring.
Rainy autumn days are perfect for working inside the greenhouses.
I have quite a large collection of warm weather plants at my farm, including citrus trees and other tropical specimens. Because I live in a four-season region, during colder months, it’s vital these plants move indoors, where the temperature and humidity levels can be controlled. Plants that spent the summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are also brought back to Bedford for storage. Most of them are kept in one of two hoop houses designated specifically for these plants. They are all thriving, and have grown quite well in the last year - some grew too big for their pots, and needed to be removed, trimmed, and repotted into new containers. It’s a tedious process to put all these container plants away, but a very important one that keeps all my plants healthy.
Enjoy these photos.
Here is a section of bird’s nest ferns, Asplenium nidus, stored on a new gardening table in my citrus house. As each plant is placed in here for storage, it is inspected, groomed or repotted if necessary, and then placed with other like plants. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name applied to several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a central rosette.
Bird’s nest ferns reproduce through spores, which appear as little brown spots on the undersides of the fronds.
These are all potted, dormant cannas, tropical plants that are often planted for their colorful foliage varieties. In cool climates, canna bulbs are planted each spring, then in fall they are dug up, divided and stored away from the winter chill to be replanted again the next year.
Here, Brian uses a long knife to cut around the inside of the pot to loosen the canna plant. Always do this first, so the plant comes out intact and the roots undisturbed.
Using his pruners, Brian also cuts down the stems. Transplanting and dividing cannas should be done every few years to prevent overcrowding, disease, and pests.
Here is the root ball after it is removed from its former pot and its stems cut back.
Like iris plants, canna rhizomes multiply quickly and eventually older rhizomes in the center of the mass can be choked out. Dividing perennial grown cannas keeps them growing in smaller healthier clumps. Brian divides it into smaller manageable pieces.
Brian does this for several of the canna plants.
He brushes off any soil stuck to the rhizomes so he can see the joints where new rhizomes are growing. They usually break apart cleanly and easily. This one can now be repotted. Each section should have at least one eye and preferably some roots.
Here’s Phurba working in a production line process planting all the cannas as they are divided.
This greenhouse is called the “citrus” house, where I store my citrus collection and other tropicals needing similar conditions. It is covered with heavy-duty, woven polyethylene that features an anti-condensate additive to reduce moisture buildup and dripping. It is also covered with a layer that contains UV additives that allow the fabric to maintain its strength. This greenhouse works by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment.
A heater in the back of the hoop house keeps the space warm. And, like many hoop houses and greenhouses, light from the sun enters the plastic and is trapped, keeping the interior several degrees warmer than the exterior.
This greenhouse is also equipped with three circulation fans.
Brian and Phurba also tend to the alocasias. Alocasia is a genus of broad-leaved, rhizomatous, or tuberous perennial flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are 97 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and Eastern Australia. Around the world, many growers widely cultivate a range of hybrids and cultivars.
Alocasias are known for their distinctive and stunning foliage – broad heart or arrowhead-shaped, textured leaves that feature flat or wavy edges.
Norfolk Island pine trees, Araucaria heterophylla, make great houseplants. They are native to the South Pacific, so Norfolk Island pines prefer warmer, wetter climates between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit – similar needs as my citrus trees.
The foliage is medium green and needlelike with an awl shape.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at Bedford.
All varieties of Philodendron produce what are called aerial roots. These roots grow above the soil off the stems of the plant and are meant to help stabilize the plant as it grows.
And here is one of several sword ferns, Polystichum munitum, the western swordfern, is an evergreen fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns. Each day, more and more plants are stored in the greenhouses all set for the winter ahead. We still have a lot more to put indoors, but I am glad we’re getting it all done quickly, neatly, and efficiently.
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