Forest Floor

This spring after pruning the dead branches, I found the 2009 planting area to be almost at the point where I can easily walk under the trees. Almost like it is becoming a real forest. However, while the trees have filled in and in many areas have shaded out the grass, the ground looks nothing like a proper forest floor. There is too much dry bare earth. I don't know if it is normal for it to take this long for humus to develop but digging into the soil isn't anything like digging into a real forest floor. It is mostly heavy clay while a forest floor soil should be mostly organic matter.

To aid the diversity of plants on the forest floor I planted a variety of native plants that I identified as likely understory plants appropriate for a mixed deciduous forest floor. I planted:

• Hop Hornbeam
• Pagoda dogwood
• Liverwort
• Trilliums
• Canada Mayflower
• Purple-Flowered Raspberry
• Prickly Gooseberry
• Dog-toothed Violet
• Ostrich fern
• Virginia Waterleaf
• Chokecherry

Now to see how they take to their new home. Some of them naturally die back in the summer so I'll have to wait until next spring to see if they come back up.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Not the greatest picture of this tiny bird flitting through the branches feeding on insects, but I'm just happy it's in focus because these birds weren't staying still for long. There were a bunch them I saw on that day feeding along the berm. I don't know if I've ever seen them before. Luckily I did spot the small red crown on a couple of them or else I wouldn't have a clue how to start identifying them from this picture.

Early Spring 2024

It is a very early spring this year with the alder tree's catkins already spreading pollen and some maple trees in flower.

Rabbits caused a significant amount of damage to some trees and bushes this winter. The serviceberry bushes in the 2010 area got severly attacked as did many apple trees as in the above picture. It is interesting how the winter damage varies from year to year. That apple tree had escaped their notice for about 10 years until this winter. I also found damage this year on sumac, basswood (see below) and cedar, trees that don't usually get much significant browsing damage. Perhaps it is just a matter of individual taste. Perhaps it was just one rabbit hanging around having a good feed on his favorite things.