... And the Critter Is ... 5.2.2016


Definitely a problem ... for any garden.  But the manifestation of a rodent in my garden is not the only problem that has been haunting my garden.  Over the last seven (7) years there's been a 18 diameter region that has refused to support a Hosta.  I've tried Blue Mammoth six (6) times (estimated total of eyes being 36), at least three (3) T-Rexes, one (1) Fire and Ice, and one (1) Empress Wu which now looks questionable even with its massive rhizome system that was container bound when it was planted last year.  There maybe others that I can't remember at this moment,

The critter and the lack of hosta growing I view as two separate issues.  The hosta have not grown in that region since about 2009.  I can say this because the critter only manifested itself during the fall of 2015.

As the critter is the most recent occurrence in this garden lets look at that first.  Last fall I opened the ground to plant Fire and Ice only to find a burrow.  It went diagonally to the garden and seemed to have a downward shaft.  It's diameter was s similar to two fists wide.  I weighed the problem and then politely closed it knowing it would be there in the spring; and then mentioned to the management company that we had a potential pest problem.  From March on ward I provided observations of my garden.  On May 11th I met with both Management and the pest control person and re-iterated my observations from last fall through the spring.  I reopened the ground to find ... absolutely nothing there.  No burrow, no downward tunnel.  Nothing to say anything had even been there.  Talk about utter embarrassment and frustration all rolled into one.  I probably should have had a picture taken of last falls discovery, and I probably will never know what became of it, and most of all it will be one of the great mysteries of my life.  The most I know is that nature dose not cleanly fill holes in.  So that mystery remains.

The plants not growing ... is still there to be solved.  I've looked at the follow issues:

  • Water Availability
  • Water Drainage
  • Soil Content
  • Pests
  • Planting Procedures
  • Proximity Issues
  • Spring and Fall Transitions
  • and even if Management had tampered with my garden
At this moment all of those lines of inquiry have proven to be negative.  So what option do I have left to to look at?  Well let's look at the world of plants.  There are some plants that send out enzymes that prevent other plants from getting to close to growing to them or even under them.  Some of these are  trees.  I asked the question of a hosta forum recently if anyone had ever heard of a hosta repelling another hosta away in the same manner as a tree might.  The answer was what I had thought it might be, "... probably not ...".  However the garden itself suggests something else.  The only plant that has been in the garden for seven (7) years is ... Sum and Substance.  So to take this hypothesis further this fall I will be removing Sum and Substance - entirely,

Sometime this fall the plant comes out.  Anyone in the Twin Cities want some?


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