Native plants for a Cape Cod garden

The year has barely jumped the gate, but I already have tons of ideas that will add luster to my garden. Additionally, there are some things I want to do with the blog as well. They say that penning things down is a necessary first step toward implementation, so here it goes.

Spring tasks for the yard:

• Prepare the pathways – remove root systems from brambles, and prepare for seeding (by April).
• Seed the pathways with native grasses – natives are more resilient than store bought. I like the idea of a grassy path to walk on, and it is much less labor intensive than constructing a stone path. Last year I built such a path with flat river rocks, and it was a backbreaking experience.
• Saw the remaining limbs of the fallen trees, and store those for firewood.
• Cut back tree limbs that might interfere with the powerlines.
• Cut back the bush honeysuckle bushes (Lonerica morrowii). I am fortunate to have very few pesky invasives in my yard (I have no bittersweet, count my lucky stars), but the bush honeysuckle has thrived. Here and there the plant has become part of the landscape, and I will keep those plants for now, but everywhere else it needs to go.
• Cut back the brambles and other pricklies.
• Order and plant native understory bushes and trees. I want to create an environment of fairly dense undergrowth under the canopy of white oak and scrub pine. The following plants are on my wish list:

1. Corylus americana (american hazelnut) – should do well on the edge of the woodland and will provide food for the critters.
2. Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum) – provides shelter and food for birds
3. Sambucus canadensis (elderberry) – more delicious berries
4. Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) – white flowers followed by white berries that provide nourishment for birds
5. Cornus alternifolia (pagoda dogwood) – a nicely shaped small tree with flowers for insects and berries for our feathered friends
6. Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly) – the female plant produces red berries that remain during the winter (unless consumed by birds)
7. Ilex opaca (american holly) – I have a few of these already, and I am looking forward to some additional evergreen in the understory during our long winters
8. Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple) – endangered in Massachusetts – it has the most interesting bark

Blog ideas:

Last year, I was able to blog about half of the plants in the yard, and I will try to capture the remainder this year. Additionally, I want to add more pictures of the plants, not only in their peak moment, but at different stages of their life cycle. Too often we don’t know what we have until we see a flower or seed pod.

Another idea of mine is to start a section on beach plants, or discuss those in a separate blog. I live in the woods, but I spend ample time on the Cape Cod beaches and wetlands. The plants may not be as “useful” to our landscaping needs, but they are beautiful and important. I’m hoping to learn more about them as I go along this spring and summer.

I may start offering some of my services. My own yard, although never done, is starting to mature and I will increasingly be able to offer seed and cuttings. I would love to help others with ideas, plant selection, and some hands-on work. I need to figure out what would be the most effective way to go about this… stay tuned.