Fall Plant Shopping

What the buckthorn may look like..someday

HAVING BOTH DEER AND SHADE TO CONTEND WITH is kind of like being a vegan. It’s doable, but your choices are awfully limited.

I wanted to do some planting this first fall on my woodsy property in Springs, but I haven’t put up a deer fence yet. It’s fallen off my list of priorities, behind a new roof, fireplace, bathroom, etc.

I spent a recent evening looking over the offerings from several online nurseries, including Deer-Resistant Landscape and Wayside Gardens, and drove myself a little crazy trying to determine whether a plant in a 5″ plant from one nursery for $12 is a better or worse deal than the same plant in a gallon pot for $23 from another nursery.

I ended up ordering from good ol’ White Flower Farm, which is probably the most expensive, but I know from experience that their products are reliable. I chose an alder buckthorn (rhamnus frangula ‘Fine Line’) – five of them in fact, to reinforce the straggly privet hedge between myself and my next door neighbors – and three of an ornamental grass that is among the few that don’t require full sun: panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Fire.’ They arrived in just a couple of days, disappointingly tiny but fresh and healthy-looking.

Planted a trio of these along my front deck for curb appeal (three years from now, perhaps)

I planted them all yesterday, which first required hacking down five leggy old lilac bushes - rejuvenation pruning, they call it – which you’re supposed to do in spring after flowering, but these didn’t flower last May anyway, so shaded out are they by enormous trees.

Then I spent many hours digging, pulling, cutting, and – with surgical precision – dabbing the cut ends of the evil, never-ending wisteria with Round-Up. (Professionals have repeatedly said it’s the only way.)

I’ve never been a patient sort of person, and I’m generally lousy at long-range planning. My next plant purchase will be something BIG.

GARDEN VOYEUR: Backyard Architecture in East Hampton

I KNOW. “BACKYARD” IS HARDLY ENOUGH WORD for the gorgeous green acre my friend Stephanie Reit been lovingly tending and tweaking for the past 13 years. It’s more like a private park.

This is an artist’s garden. Stephanie is an accomplished painter and maker of collages — go here to see her work — and, as I now know, a very able landscape designer as well. There’s so much to admire here: the seamless flow of the long, curving borders; the creative mix of trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials, all in tip-top shape (she used to do everything herself, now she hires help); the painterly arrangement of colors; the horticultural variety; the charming collection of birdhouses; and how good it all looks this late in the season. (Yes, it’s fenced against marauding deer.)

Pee Gee hydrangea is in its glory this month, below.

One of my favorite aspects (it’s hard to choose just one) is the architectural approach Stephanie has taken to carving out special areas. At the far end of the long lawn, there’s a gravel square with four Bradford pear trees in each corner. She calls it the “chuppah” (Jewish wedding canopy) because it would be a perfect place to get married — but, failing that, it’s a serene spot to sit and contemplate the plantings.

There’s a rustic wood bench tucked into a euonymous hedge; a shed with its own shade garden; and three ornamental flowering cherry trees anchoring one end of the pool. A striking deep mauve color, Stephanie planted them in memory of her late parents and sister.

The stately cedars that stud the lawn are among the few things that were there when Stephanie bought the property in the mid-’90s, casting giant, dramatic shadows on the sweep of green.

The house, once an ordinary 1960s shingled ranch, has undergone three renovations. Now an entry with French doors and a pergola give it a classical look; bay windows and a wide back deck extend life into the outdoors.

Note: Look for a separate post on Stephanie’s birdhouses very soon!

A Loose Schedule and a Tight Budget

I want a river birch.

I’M ALL OVER THE PLACE HERE. I still have so much to do pull this house and garden together, I’ve hit another impasse of indecision. So I’m planting daffodils. (Though everywhere I dig, I hit inch-thick wisteria vine, and I spend more time pulling and cutting wisteria than digging holes for the bulbs.)

I’ve accomplished a lot in the four months since I bought this cottage in May, but I still have so much further to go. Not knowing whether this is a long-term home or a flipper makes it that much harder to proceed. If I knew for sure it was the former, I would take my time and spend more freely. But if it’s going to be a flipper, I just want to get it done.

Thanks to Eric Ernst, Tree Man of Montauk, my yard has gone from deep shade to dappled. It's much less oppressive than before.

Perhaps I should buy the Zen mindset my friend is trying to sell me. “You’re here now,” she says. “When you decide you don’t want to be here anymore, you’ll go somewhere else.” Yeah, but how exactly do I proceed with my renovation on that basis?

This I know: as soon as possible, I’d like to feel “Oh, how charming” pulling into my driveway, instead of “Oh, shit. Ugh.” That driveway — broken asphalt studded with weeds — is part of the problem. As is the house itself: discolored cedar shingles. And a front yard more brown than green. What’s the opposite of curb appeal?

The deer fence and patio have fallen off the top of my priorities list. I’m thinking of letting the deer have one last winter of ravaging the evergreens and rhododendrons, and spending that money indoors instead, on a fireplace, a new bathroom, a new kitchen counter, and a paint job. I also need a whole new roof. I’m gathering quotes from tradespeople: two roofers so far, two bathroom contractors, and a housepainter.

I’ve been canvassing the nurseries for shrubs on sale. I’ve fallen for a doublefile viburnum, left, eight feet across and flaming red, at Spielberg’s in Amagansett. At 40% off, it’s under $100, plus another $100 to plant (it’s very heavy). Deer don’t like it, but it needs a good sunny spot, and those are still in short supply on my lot. I also want a river birch somewhere; I love the peeling bark and delicate leaves. And dogwoods.

The truth is, I’m not in that much of a rush. This is not a magazine project done in a weekend. It’s real life, on a loose schedule and a tight budget.