Hi!I just wanted to thank you Dale, for making this really neat bed for me. I know you probably spent jillions of dollars to make it just perfect. Sorry I had to leave so soon but Mom called me and I had to go. I told her all about it! She was just happy to know I was safe. I'm telling all my friends so maybe you will have another visitor soon. This is a scenario that many people encounter in their gardens each spring. The reality of a fawn nestled amongst flowers and shrubs is a common and fascinating occurrence in nature.
0 Comments
Tour Dale Sievert's GardenThe Japanese GardenA Japanese garden was Dale Sievert's initial inspiration, and the one that he's built for himself is a marvel. In the shade of a striking katsura tree and surrounding maples and lindens, Dale created a Japanese garden with classic elements, including a raked gravel garden, an azumaya (viewing house), a stream with an arched bridge, small ponds fed with bamboo waterspouts and a lower reflecting pool.Staircase Up the SlopeA gently inclined stone staircase with a rustic wooden railing climbs past terraced pocket gardens—a bog; a stumpery; and perennial beds of ferns, horsetail, and meadow rue.Winding Paths to FollowDale collected more than 11,000 fieldstones to line his garden paths— including thousands from his gracious neighbor’s hedgerows. Some came covered in moss, and others he covered himself, attaching moss temporarily with silicone caulk until the rooting attachments, or rhizoids, clung on their own. The Built-In Garden ShedIn the bank of a hill, Dale built a garden shed you could easily mistake for a hobbit house. He lined a cobblestone path with dozens of moss-filled bowls and concrete troughs. Up the slope, two containers perch on natural pedestals—rather than discard stumps when he takes down trees, Dale embraces them as part of the landscape.Water FeaturesMosses don’t grow in standing water or soggy soil, but they do thrive in humid microclimates—whether created by the mist of a water feature like these cascading falls or just in the damp cracks between pavers. When it rains, mosses function like sponges, taking in and holding water with their specially adapted leaves that weave together into hydro-wicking colonies. In fact, Dale likes to show off a "magic trick" for visitors, spritzing dormant moss with water, and drawing cheers as it turns lush green in seconds. This small pond, fed by a bamboo spout, is in the Japanese garden. The textural, shade-loving plants here include Japanese forest grass, hostas, golden Japanese spikenard and conifers.Moss, Moss (and Stumps) EverywhereUsing found materials, Dale built two benches from large stones and wood slabs, then encouraged moss to grow on them for a fairy-tale, lost-in-time look. Here, a hanging bark planter provides an eye-level view of mosses. When visiting a moss garden or natural moss habitat, Dale advises to take it slow. “As I often watch many on the path, few hardly give mosses a glance,” he says. “If they could, the mosses would cry, their dazzling show falling on blind eyes." Dale has also succeeded in cultivating moss on boulders and concrete forms like this sphere. One of the remarkable things about Dale's garden is how it brings about a feeling of calm and stillness. One intimate space or sculpture leads to another, and you start to notice how each moss is different; some form small puffy cushions while others create velvet green carpets.Dale has even fashioned a table from a lingering, twisty tree trunk. It's the perfect surface for more small containers and pretty stones. "Many people come through my garden and see a mass of plants," he says, "but I have lots of different species of mosses.”Moss in Miniature—and Growing Your OwnA moss bowl (or tiny pot, below) is a great way to test your hand at growing moss because the scale is modest, and you can easily move the container to seek more or less light. (Here's a full how-to guide.) Start small, be patient and match the growing conditions where the moss was gathered. Most mosses prefer some shade and moist, well-draining soil. If collecting moss, for best results, gather locally and always request permission from property owners. Conservatively collect small, 4- to 6-inch patches so the original patch will regenerate easily. If possible, leave a half inch of soil under the moss for successful transplanting.Other tips? Get inspired by reading Gathering Moss. Acclaimed nature writer Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves history, culture and science into a fascinating snapshot of these unique plants. Then pick up The Magical World of Moss Gardening, Annie Martin’s popular primer on growing the stuff. You can also draw visual inspiration at public gardens, like Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois, or the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin.
Cameroon Part 2 November-December 2024 In November and December of 2025 three of us toured Cameroon, a country in central Africa just north of the Equator. On January 6th I published the first part of this Gulliver's Travels episode, so check it out for more information. We visited several Indigenous tribes, and to me the most interesting was the Pygmy tribe, also known as the Ba'Aka. They are about a foot shorter than Caucasians, and at times members of the taller Bantu tribe associate with them. The Pygmies are a forest dwelling people, so they took us on several excursions into the forest to show us some basic aspects of their life. Between tour stops we encountered a funeral. After the burial, at least 300 people sang and danced to celebrate the life of the deceased. The Nynong River is one of the largest in Cameroon. We took a leisurely trip on its placid waters in a hand-carved craft called a pirogue. The Pygmies were showing us how they build their huts made of sticks and palm leaves. First they clear a flat area in the forest with machetes. This video shows the construction of the hut. Here the tribe is celebrating the completion of the hut.The branch of this tree holds a lot of water and can be used for hydration, obviating carrying containers of water. The Pygmies are animists, believing there are many "gods" or spirits associated with parts of nature. A special one is the Spirit of the Forest, which appears about twice a year. Here the tribe is making a costume out of palm leaves for the spirit to wear.The Pygmies catch fish by damming a stream in two spots, then bail out the water between the dams to expose the fish.Such effort is arduous, especially in the tropical heat and humidity.After dark the Spirit of the Forest appears to the tribe wearing its costume.EPILOGUE
|
Archives
June 2025
|