Vera Saar's Favorite Random Plant Photos

Every gardener has some favorite plant and for several years, I kept missing out on taking pictures of the various plants and garden features around my yard. This year I made a concerted effort to get out there when the weather was great to acknowledge the arrival and joy of as many of the plants as I could.

I hope that you enjoy (and can identify) many of these images.

Asian Lilies



Mallow



Red Campion



Sedum



Day Lilies



Geranium



Fireweed



Helenium



Penstemon



Penstemon



Sedum



Sedum



Lady's Mantle



Pink Campion



Delphinium



Fireweed



Blue Himalayan Poppy (Meconopsis)



Anemone



Painted Daisy

Vera Saar's Favorite Shrub Pictures

Here are some my favorite shrubs:

Rose Shrub (I don't know what kind it is - just that it is beautiful and fragrant)



Ninebark



Mock Orange



Harry Lauder Walking Stick

Vera Saar's Favorite Tree Photos

Here are some of my favorites:

The Ginko



The Golden Eclipse Lilac



The Weeping Pine (I call it "Cousin It")



Toba Hawthorn

Grouping and Clustering Trees and Shrubs

I am one of those people who likes to group and cluster trees and shrubs for several reasons. When you group different plants together, you get a mix of textures and the plants seem to develop a mini ecosystem of their own. I find that they share roots and sometimes immunity from various pests.



This doesn't always work with certain species. For example I would be reluctant to group a Colorado spruce with a May Day tree and a Mugo pine. The growth patterns and thirst for water by these three make them rather unsuitable.




I have on the other hand grouped a purple birch, a paper birch, a spirea, a cedar and a rose bush with great success. Sometimes birches appear a bit thin, so I add two varieties to give more color and contrast.



Another combination of color and contrast is the use of purple sand cherry, with variegated ribbon grass and quaking aspens. You end up with three colors and textures which are pleasing to the eye.

On a rock garden feature I have placed dwarf Mugos, perennial sage and junipers with a dash of other perennials for color.


Gardening and landscaping is always an individual taste and for just as many rules, there are rules that are broken. The garden is an ever-changing living thing and there is no perfection, only change. Consider everything an experiment and many times the experiment exceeds the expectation.

Using Sedum as Ground Cover

If you have an area that is usually hot and dry and is just too narrow or small to have grass - let alone drag a lawn mower through, try some low growing sedum.



In my case, I have a boardwalk that goes beside my window well on the south side of my house. The span is only 10 inches and not wide enough to grow grass, but it is large enough for weeds to attempt to grow. Rather than allowing that scenario, I decided to rip the grass out and put in sedums. When they were first planted they did look a bit scraggly, so I also filled in the space with cedar mulch (about 1.5 inches).



As with everything, I added some zeolite to the soil, to help as a soil conditioner which holds moisture, gives the plants a better rooting medium and breaks down the clay. Over the years I have found that the weeds (if they do come) are much easier to pull out.

I like to mix several varieties of ground cover to add interest to the area. You will find that different varieties have different colors and blooming times. I also added some thyme to the mix.



Here are some more pictures of the results.

Vera Saar's Fire Pit - a discussion on design

A fire pit was an opportunity to create a space for relaxation and socializing. It took many months to dig out the soil and clay. One characteristic of Calgary (and a lot of Alberta) is the clay soil. Generally, there is about 7 to 9 inches of top soil, then there is 12 to 24 inches of hard clay. Once you get below the clay , you may be fortunate to have sand and then possibly other layers of clay or even a sandstone boulder or two.

I found that the best way to dig through clay was to moisten the clay and then use hammer and chisel. Even though the clay is heavier, it is easier to work when the soil and clay is moist.



Here are pictures of the fire pit. The diameter of the fire pit is about 3 feet. The distance between the pit and the seating ring is 2 feet. the seats are made of spruce wood. The circumference of the amphitheater is about 26 feet, thereby allowing 10 persons to gather around the seats comfortably. The depth from soil surface to fit pit base is about 3 feet. The effect is one of openness yet privacy. There is a definite screening from the wind. The base of the pit has more stone openings and there are two grills within the structure. A smaller grill was placed at the bottom of the pit to aide in ventilation as well as keeping wood above any moisture gathered due to rain or snow.







The aqua colored stones just were a fortunate find at one of the local gravel pit suppliers. They had since discontinued getting this strange variety of stone. When these stones get moist they take on a jade like quality of green.



The fire pit was used all year round and did start up well due to the second grill inside the pit, which held the firewood above the snow and moisture.


The tealight lanterns added extra illumination and ambience to the space.

Vera Saar's Pond - How the Pond was Built

When you decide on the site of the pond, here are a few considerations. Choose a place where you can see the pond and where it can be seen and appreciated. It shouldn't be where it is in the way of yard traffic and yet reasonably close (but not too close) to your electrical outlets for powering your pumps and lights.

The size of your pond depends on what you want, how big your yard is and what pleases you. You can get pre-made ponds or pond liner to create your pond. I prefer the pond liner route since it is the opportunity to truly customize a pond or water feature to your landscape. There are some basic problems with preformed ponds. One is that the hole you dig for a preformed pond has to be exactly the same as the shell. If it isn't, you may have uneven pressure along the walls, leading to future cracking and leakage. Another problem recently pointed out to me was that when the shell has been drained for winter, there is the chance that water will seep between the ground and the shell to the point where the water can gather underneath the shell and the pond was actually lifted or floated up above ground.

My pond is 7ft by 9ft by 2.5ft deep. Here are a series of photos showing the progression ...yes the video is of my dog contributing his energy to the project. he was disappointed when there was no more hole. He hasnt jumped into the pond (just yet)...







Sometimes as you dig, you will find a big rock trophy.... this one was about 50lbs. It's always a risk when you want to dig the pond just another few inches deeper, and you might find something you didn't expect.







Remember to leave shelves on the sides of the pond so you can place plants or lights or filtration boxes.






Then the next step is placing the pond liner. When you decide to get pond liner use the following equations to decide how much to purchase:

Length of liner = Length of pond + (2 times Depth of pond) + 2
Width of liner = Width of pond + (2 times Depth of pond) + 2

In my case the liner is:
Length of liner = 9 + (2x2.5) + 2 = 16 ft
Width of liner = 7 + (2x2.5) + 2 = 14 ft

The size of my pond is L x W x D x 7.5 = 9 x 7 x 2.5 x 7.5 = 1181.25 gal (US)

Here is a picture of the underlay. Underlay is a felt like material used to cushion the rubber pond liner. It helps to keep sharp rocks and objects from puncturing the EPDM liner.



It does take two people to lift and position a liner this large (and heavy). The fence is 6ft tall (for scale).

Here are some more pictures, complete with silk plant water lilies, some water hyacinths, 2 pumps, a filter, some lights and a mister... the ambience is complete!
Enjoy.