All of the rain has been kind to our Pi house project (except for the leaf rust on the Wheat). Here’s some recent photos showing how things are progressing. I’m glad to see many pollinators and abundant wild life enjoying the biodiversity.
Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak)
Milkweed
Astrolepis sinuata (Wavy scaly cloakfern)
Back in August I went and looked at Washington Elementary’s Outdoor classroom space to see what might be done to restore it to a functional place for learning. For three years or so the area had been virtually left alone and as a result is was in pretty bad shape. A thick impenetrable mass of Bermuda grass, Black Locust saplings and Torilis arvensis Hedge Parsley had set up camp and virtually no desirable flora remained on the site. The immediate solution was to remove all of this unwanted vegetation and start from scratch with native plantings that would provide a resilient natural garden full of educational opportunities. With this in mind I came up with a design incorporating some of our regions ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, shortgrass prairie and cross timber woodlands. After a couple of vegetation removal visits the site was ready for planting and a volunteer day on Saturday November 1st got the majority of the planting work done! The ponds will be the next thing to work on and next year will be critical in establishing our plants and keeping on top of the unwanted plants. Overall this has been a great opportunity for us to volunteer and donate the design, some plants and labor on a project that can demonstrate the value of Eco gardening and also create a civic benefit for our community. Thanks to Washington teacher Tammy Trumble for spearheading the whole effort and to the students and faculty of OU’s college of Business that volunteered. Thanks also to Minick Materials who graciously donated compost and Prairie Wind Nursery who donated some plants. There will be more volunteer days next year so contact us if you’re interested in getting involved.
Here are some before and after photos of a recent project. Most of the plants are just breaking dormancy so it may be hard to visualize this as lush as it will be by summer’s end but just the addition of the bed itself has added a much more inviting and pleasing feeling. This front side of the house is actually not used that much as an entry but adding this bed makes it at least feel like more of the front of the house. We went with a combination of reliable standards (Cherry Laurels, Crape Myrtle “Burgundy Cotton”, Liriope etc) and some natives and prairie plants (Rudbeckia Laciniata “Herbstonne”, Pink Muhly, Echinacea Purpurea etc.).
