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Nasty - UH! - Nasty Patch

Posted on September 13th, 2006 – 1:58 PM
By Jaime Chismar

Some people are addicted to HGTV, but I can’t stomach its overly perky hosts and their happy home-helper quick fixes. After 30 minutes, my head is buzzing with a severe case of kitchen envy followed by an equally severe case of organizational shame. I know every house has at least one chaotic closet or messy junk drawer; I’m just a little sensitive about mine. (Chaos is the natural order of the universe, right?)

Our yard is also a work in progress. The front generally looks good; it’s the back that harbors the HGTV nightmare — a 6-by-12-foot swath of weeds, discarded patio stones and 10 years’ worth of pruned branches. We simply call it the Nasty Patch.

Thus christened, it’s become the antagonist in our struggle for the perfect lawn. We even sang Janet Jackson songs in it’s honor (”Nasty - UH! - Nasty Patch, don’t mean a thing. Oh, you Nasty Patch, don’t mean a thing to me - UH!”)

After a year of bad jokes, bad pop songs and “helpful” suggestions from family members, the Nasty Patch’s days were numbered. When the kickball season ended, Brian hired one of our teammates to tame this troubled tangle. In less than four hours, Mike and Matt of Rosenlof/Lucas transformed the Nasty Patch into a blank canvas.

Bye-bye brambles. Hello black dirt. Now all we have to do it plant. But with what? As you can see, the site is a bit of a challenge. Nestled beneath two pine trees, it gets only dappled sun.

Because the gardening season is winding down, we need to act fast. Brian wants to go low maintenance and I really want to go native. We both like the idea of planting something for the birds as well as something for the humans. Should I call in a pro and get a garden plan? Just go it alone with some shade-tolerant natives? Or plant a cover crop and wait until spring to transform the nasty patch?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Weeds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to "Nasty - UH! - Nasty Patch"

Laurie says:

September 13th, 2006 at 11:17 pm

Some native plants can be seeded now, because the seeds need to freeze (or at least get very cold) to germinate. Mark out a few areas and put down seeds.

Not everything will bloom the first year; in fact most of them won’t, but plants started from seed in an area develop stronger roots.

The master gardeners program can probably help with the types of seeds that would be best.

debw says:

September 14th, 2006 at 6:19 am

Fall is a great time to plant. Before the fall rains start to wash that swell dirt further on down the hill I would plant some shade lovers like wintergreen(a low ground cover),a shrub like azalia or spirea, or maybe some tall columbine. There is always hosta, maybe a mosaic of varieties.
This is also a good time to get a great deal on end of the season stuff at the nursery, go see what they have, they may have something unusual that will wow the visitors and neighbors.

Peter says:

September 14th, 2006 at 11:37 am

If you want a cranesbill/hardy geranium that does really well in the shade or light sun, and fills in nicely without spreading aggressively, contact me. I live in the Midway neighborhood and have a lot of this to give away.

Chris says:

September 14th, 2006 at 12:27 pm

You know, you could tarp over everything this fall, killing your weeds and whatnot, and then in the spring put in a rock garden with small shrubs, sedum, and widflowers. Could look cool on that slope.

Sarah says:

September 15th, 2006 at 9:54 am

I cleared out a couple of shaded areas in our yard over the years. Good plants for the shade have been Ligularia - several varieties (The Rocket needs a lot of water) and Japanese painted fern. The vinca vine is sweet and an early bloomer. Pulmonaria is also great. I have some varieties that are self-seeding (will try transplanting them in the spring). Another one that surprised me was a common red Monarda (bee-balm). It is tall and loves to take over areas but mine grows in the shade also. The birds & bees like it and it is low maintenance. If you get too much, just pull it out and throw it in another bare space in the back of the woods.

Matt says:

September 15th, 2006 at 10:34 am

Get to the nursery now as the prices are about 1/2 off. Look out as some of the deals are really good and you will find yourself with lots of plants. I 2nd Chris with tossing some slate steps into the hillside to be able to get in and explore the garden.

Mary says:

September 24th, 2006 at 4:36 am

I might be too late for this, but check out the local lamina supply (the one with the yellow flower. I had it under Oak trees and it was labor free. It gets about 1 foot high before it stretches and spreads into a ground cover. Stays evergreen under MN snows, Grows through oak leaves (never needs raking) and is weed free. It’s the perfect plant for hard shade or dry, undertree conditions. Plant 18 apart and it will completely fill in after 1 year. Ask a friend, they have LOTS to give away.

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