THE JOSLIN GARDEN

City of Oaks Foundation and 

City of Raleigh Parks

January 7, 2021—Taming of the Vine—10A—Formal Garden and Lawn

On this chilly morning, Nell and I started at the house entrance where the vine grows.

Before my time in the garden, birds often perched along split-rail fence lining the upper driveway to the entrance of the former Joslin home; now known as The Joslin Garden. 

Tangled native Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, with a few yellow buds just beginning to form, benefited from a refresher. Visible from both the driveway and the garden path below, our focus today was to tame the vine, having it travel along the top of the fence line.  

Indeed birds still perch along the fence line, and will no doubt continue to leave their calling card for many years with more Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, seedlings growing freely along the fence line. We also found wintercreeper, Euonymus fortunei. A gardener before me must have kept a keen eye on this invasive. There wasn't much to pull, and what was there was, was easy to retrieve. 

We promise there are plenty of native berry-producing plants to feed you, dear birds. We look forward to seeing what other gifts you might bring us. Helen Yoest

Also, within the fence line was a volunteer nandina, Nandina domestica. Birds aren't fond of these berries, yet nandina spread. Indeed, they are toxic to birds, thus birds avoid consuming them. I've often thought a bird holds a berry in its beak, only to get a taste before eating and dropping it to the ground. Yuck! I need to understand more about birds and nandina berries. Since this is not a berry bush I grow to feed the birds or even for its ornamental value.

The Carolina jasmine stretched to twine around the young branches of the columnar peach trees, Prunus Persia' Corinthian Pink'.

Did you know the direction of vine twines is species-dependent? The Carolina jasmine twines left to right and tightly. Once it has a foothold on tree branches, removal is difficult. Some remnants remain. Once the cut vines dry, their tight hold relaxes, removing the rest of the vine is accomplished without harm to the tree. 

In the Formal Garden and Lawn, we cut back garden phlox, Phlox paniculata and bronze fennel, Foeniculum vulgare leaving about seven to eight-inch standing. These hollow stems are good nesting sites for native bees if they choose.

At the entrance lamp post, another. Euonymus spp. grows. Poorly groomed over the decades, we studied the form. It appears it was planted with intent and then spread in an undesirable shape. Nell and I agreed to pull out the offending forms, and Nell took the lead on this pruning. She did a fine job, don't you think! I was remiss in getting a before picture, but I hope you find the after-pruning image agreeable.

The gardenia, Gardenia spp. at the entrance of the back porch had suckered over time and was infringing the pathway. Knowing this was a much-loved shrub, I was careful in my suggestion to remove the suckers.

There were quite a few suckers. The results pleased both Nell and me. The left side of the remaining shrub will fill-in to have a nice rounded form. I know doing these kinds of cuts takes a leap of faith or a lot of experience. 

At first, I proposed to cut back the lantana, Lantana camera, cultivar unknown, but then thought better. I decided to leave it standing. The multi-branches provide excellent cover for birds escaping predators. Plus, in truth, this stand of lantana, with the ground leaves providing food for the birds, and other wildlife, is a natural combination.

Bed Former Garden and Lawn also had Glechoma hederacea, an aromatic evergreen perennial ground cover that is hard the stop. It is coming up from the grass area. So you want to know the common name of this invasive weed from Europe? I say gill-over-the-ground, Nell says, Creeping Charlie. You might call it ground-ivy, run-away robin, field balm, or some other regional common name. That is why Latin names are so important. But here's a tip. I never learned this plant's Latin name because it is one plant I don't want to know officially, so gill-over-the-ground suffices.

It was a good day to be in the garden. I feel so fortunate to be the primary caregiver of this magnificent piece of nature right in the heart of Raleigh. And working with Nell Joslin only made the day sweeter as we accomplished our goal for the day and look forward to next week.

Until soon! Naturally

Helen Yoest

Horticulture Specialist