Dayna's Landscaping

 Grooming the river rock behind this feature of the museum makes a difference.  I pushed the rock up the slope and weeded the area.  Yes, the rock will slowly make it's way down this slope again. But, it will take awhile and looks so much cleaner.

The Fonda Garden seems to look its best in late May through early June.  The goal is to grow various plants that will keep the garden colorful May through October, and endure a variety of growing conditions.  It will always be a work in progress.

It's not all fun and games when you maintain the landscape.  Years ago, mugo pine shrubs were planted on the bridge's raised beds. Unfortunately, they are not all the same type of mugo pine.  Some are large and others are small and compact.  The only way to create an even appearance is to trim the candles shooting out from the ends of the branches on the larger shrubs and refrain from trimming the small shrubs.  This is done every year in the springtime.

 The winter of 2020-21 in Nebraska wasn't kind to Boxwood shrubs.  It was very, very cold!  This spring, the desiccation of branches on boxwoods was obvious.  UNL extension and other gardening experts recommended that if you prune out more than half of a boxwood, then take the entire shrub out.  I did that for one shrub, the others just had a lot of dead top branches with very white leaves.  The following photos show what was removed, and the final appearance.  It isn't ideal with they're lack of fullness, so I'll call it the natural, wild look.  I would hate to remove them all as they've always looked so nice.  Let's hope the warmer weather will bring on enough green growth to mask the damage.

Part of early spring clean-up is to remove old debris, leaves, and trash from underneath shrubs.  In this case, I am removing debris from Yucca.  It's amazing how much stuff you'll find underneath this sharp, pointy plant nicknamed Adam's Needle for a reason.  I took it a step further this spring by removing some of the Yucca, also.  It is too thick, and needs more airflow.  Hopefully, it will look nice early summer when they begin to bloom.

In the summer of 2020, I dug out different varieties of perennials in this space so it would be one mass planting of Little Blaze Bluestem grasses.  I wanted it to look like the horse is running through the prairie.  I divided and replanted several clumps of grass.                                                        June of 2020, before removing perennials                                                                        March of 2021  June of 2021

The following photos show the gradual changes made to the Fonda (Rose) Garden over the years.  This garden is a place for outdoor weddings as well as a visitor stop on the walk to Railroad Town.  It isn't visited often, but is considered one of the main gardens in the arbor. In 2014, I cut down the two largest lilacs with a hand saw, dug out non blooming roses, weeded, dug out other random plants, removed the birdbath, and continued taking photos for reference.  It was a learning experience.                                                                                Benches on the narrow path   Wild look of roses Overgrown lilac shrubs Random ring No symmetry in the plants along the brick walk. Many roses had long canes and never bloomed. In 2015, I cut down the two small lilacs with a handsaw.  I began redesigning the garden with the existing plants to save money on the budget. The four center areas would have the similar plants, two sides with lambs ear and two sides with spur

A board member took great pride in keeping this raised bed of roses looking its best.  Occasionally, a Knock-out rose shrub would die over the winter and need to be replaced.  Together, we decided it would be best to remove the ornamental grass and the barberry shrub in the center and have all roses.  Some hostas died on the edge and were divided and replanted to fill the void.  It's done very well over the years.  The brick circle has some damage that will need repaired, and the hostas are beginning to look like they will need to be divided.  The board member's term is done, but I continue to keep it maintained.

 This is a short video of Monarchs on September 21, 2020 in the Hornady Family Arbor.  Stuhr Museum Rail Road town is closed this time of year, so this is a quiet stopping place for them.

 A strong thunderstorm hit Grand Island and surrounding area on August 6, 2019. The winds topped 80 mph in places causing a lot of tree damage.  There was so much damage that the city of Grand Island had to create places for people to drop off all of the debris.  Stuhr Museum maintenance spent the next several months cleaning up and hauling away trees and debris on the property.   

 After working one season and learning the landscape of the arbor, I decided to simplify things.  There were too many garden areas to groom, and for the maintenance employee to mow around.  It's a more pleasant view with a nice lawn, grown trees, and fewer gardens. Iris growing under two trees in the shade.   Removed iris and planted in another location.  Sowed grass seed here. Removed plants in the next three photos, and sowed grass seed.  There are many more garden areas that were eliminated and sown to grass seed.

Every spring, the junipers growing along the edge of the sidewalk around the Stuhr building get pruned.  This small hedge serves as a barrier for any visitors who would choose to walk the edge and possibly fall off.  I usually trim various branches with a a pair of hand pruners to form a natural look.  One year, they were invaded with bagworms.  I hand picked all of them, then later replaced four shrubs.