Landscaping by numbers

Photo credit, "Plant by Number," Julie Siegal, Fine Gardening. 

"Like the guards at Buckingham Palace, the number two conveys formality. Two plants tend to divide your eye, so this number works best when used like sentries to mark both sides of an entrance or passageway. Trees and shrubs are easy to use in pairs, but perennials are more challenging. Some of the larger perennials and ornamental grasses work well in a pair, as do some annuals and tender perennials."

I've heard a fast rule about landscaping—ones, threes, or fives, never two plants!

While working with landscape architect Tim Borden in creating a design for a section of Wildewood, my view enlarged. Context and overall design influences selection and placement. Here's an article that invites thinking openly about numbers in landscape design. Siegal writes about each number using these headings.

One is not the loneliest number.

Two signals formality.

Three is a charm.

Four works best divided.

Five is pleasing to the eye.

Six is two sets of three.

Seven and more becomes a mass.

Two different butterfly caterpillars on the same milkweed plant

Queen butterfly. Note the two black spots on the wings that show it is a male. 

Photo credit.  

The Grounds Committee plans to recommend a flower and butterfly garden for Wildewood IIA. It looks like we already have a few butterfly friends in the neighborhood.

Today I noticed two caterpillars are munching on the same milkweed plant in my inner garden. I recognize one as the usual Monarch. The other is slightly different. The familiar Monarch looks like this:

And becomes the Monarch butterfly:

And, here is the slightly different Queen caterpillar sharing the same plant. The Queen has one set of antennae for sensing and two sets of filaments, one in the middle and one at the rear. (More about filaments and purpose here.) The extra set is for show to scare off predators. I read that the Queen eats slower than the Monarch and can be out-paced by its Monarch cousin for food. The Queen is also a bit smaller in size. Here is the Queen:

The Queen caterpillar becomes the Queen butterfly: 

The Monarch and Queen caterpillar chrysalis' also look similar. The middle one is the Monarch chrysalis:

Photo credits and information.

Irrigation system gets an upgrade

This is the new updated Irrigation System for Wildewood IIA—look to the right under the trees, and then out in the pond--see that black donut? It supports the inflow and outflow pipes for irrigation. 

After extensive research and multiple professional opinions, the Board chose to add a filter to the pump system, relocate it outside the pond's flood level (summer storms), remove the unsightly shed housing, upgrade the wiring, and bury the valve boxes.

B & B Services installed the pump and filter. Kevin Bridges did the design and work.

NEXT! 

No, the next photo is not a Guinness book record groundhog tunnel. It's the newly buried wire upgrading the irrigation's communication. The wire runs from the pump and filter to the north end of the property. This wire tells the sprinklers in select areas to turn on and off. (NOTE: future Grounds Committees, please do not dig and disturb/nick this wire.)

Last step. See the exposed valve wires. Professionals recommend burying the wires in protective boxes. All three valve areas of Wildewood IIA are now buried.

Daniel Martin planned and organized the job, and his skilled workers completed it within one week.

Residents are grateful. Can you guess the first recommendation from professionals and professors on caring for the habitat and grounds? Assess irrigation. Make sure what you plant gets the water it needs. So, a big bravo to our Board for investing in this upgrade.

The investment is an upgrade in appearance, too. Though no Pineneedle neighbors had a view of the old pump house (photo below), our Woodland Village neighbors across the pond saw this. The pump house is no longer there. We're glad for the improved view.

UPDATE

The Grounds Committee continues to tend the Pump/Filter Garden for the benefit of wildlife and the view for Woodlawn neighbors. Reducing grassed areas where possible and providing native areas - this is a good way to balance keeping some land for those residents who were here long before we were. 

Getting the scoop about the soil pH will save plants, trees, and money

If you haven't met Walter Goodrich, let me introduce you to a hard-working and knowledgeable Wildewood 2A neighbor and friend to the Grounds Committee. Walter dug, and Mike and Lois bagged and marked by location twelve different soil samples. 

Then the samples were delivered to the UF - IFAS Manatee County office for testing.

A week later we met with Susan Griffith, a landscape-friendly faculty specialist at the UF-IFAS Extension office in Manatee County. She and her staff reported the soil as basic high alkaline. 

How high? Between 7 and 9.  

So what does that mean and why do we care about the makeup of our soil?

Maybe you've heard the phrase "right plant, right place." This means that achieving a natural, healthy balance in the landscape starts with matching plants to the right light, drainage, surroundings, and soil.

Soil?

Susan explained: "Amending will not change a soil pH." 

What? We can't amend our favorite plants into place? What about fertilizing? Pesticides and herbicides—don't they help a plant thrive? 

"Well, they'll work temporarily. But you'll need to keep it up. That means a long-term commitment to chemical amendments." The Committee cares about levels of chemicals in the pond, seepage into groundwater, and effects on humans, wildlife, and pets. 

A plant that likes acidic soil needs acidic soil to thrive. Same with alkaline.

Did you hope for a southern magnolia tree? Wrong pH. I know. I know. 

The Committee really, really wants to make informed recommendations about planting the right plant in the right place for the sake of the plant, habitat, and our joy of living in such beauty. Ph is just one of the many aspects of central Florida wetlands (yes, Wildewood is a wetland) we are learning about from our professional educators.

And now, with this new-to-us information, we realize our choices and recommendations to the Board can save money.

How? For example, the wrong tree, in the wrong place = $ to plant it + $ to amend and irrigate more frequently + $ for future residents to remove and then grind the stump when it gets sick or does not grow well + $ to start over and plant the right tree in the right place.

Being attentive to HOW we work together

Wildewood Springs neighbors Michaelene Laliberte and Lois Goodrich with Susan Griffith (University of Florida extension office in Palmetto, FL). 

March 28, 2017

The Board approved the Grounds Committee Charter and applauded the committee's goal to use these principles to guide its work.

After we wrote our Committee Charter, we agreed to give attention to how we work together. The following principles were inspired by Margaret Wheatley and written in 2002 by Adena Brook Community neighbors (Columbus, OH) who wanted to restore a ravine-habitat and park that abutted their properties. 

The Wildewood Grounds Committee chose to adopt them.

CARING PRINCIPLES - WORKING WITH EACH OTHER

We care about the habitat and all living beings residing here.

We show our care through action.

We base our actions on a breadth of information and guidance from professionals.

We are an agent of change through service guided by kindness, cooperation, and persistence.

We talk with respect for all and listen to all points of view.

We rely on creativity, generosity, and commitment.

We treat people and the environment with the same care and respect.

We focus on what is possible.

We work towards yes.

We keep track of what we do.

We use a trust-based model of relating to one another.

We work cooperatively rather than confrontationally with others.

We are patient and persistent with people and processes.

We lead in a way that welcomes others in.

We believe our capacity to be helpful grows as we widen the circle of inclusion.

We work with our children and grandchildren in mind.

(These principles are inspired by the work and writings of Margaret Wheatley to help leaders in how they work with each other and their communities. Turning to One Another, Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future.)

UPDATE: the Wildewood IIA board members continue this work, 2023

Grounds Committee

Sunrise dance between bottlebrush blooms and a Norwegian pine tree.

The Grounds Committee is delighted to announce that it wrote a document of caring principles that was approved by the Board on February 24, 2017 and shared with the Wildewood IIA neighbors.

Stormwater drain path lined with stones

With Board approval, the Grounds Committee members and a few other neighbors lined the stormwater runoff drain path from the parking lot to the pond with stones. The stones will help control erosion and maintain the path (instead of the grass growing over it).

The Board approved a Committee request for up to $400 to do this work. The Committee saved a delivery cost by making multiple trips to The Big Earth, purchasing at wholesale cost, and completing the job at a cost of $321.67.

Here is a photo of the path in action after yesterday's soaking, morning rain.