Abandoned Midwestern Farm Scene (Saikei)

[Michael P]

Leo, that's a great link!

As a terrestrial plant in a pot, E. parvula likes some shade during the summer. When sharing a pot with a bonsai, the shade of the tree is usually enough. As an aquarium plant, the problem seems to be availability of CO2. Most aquarists who are successful with it use pressurized supplemental CO2.

 

[Carol 83]

if you have not gotten to Timberwinds, you should keep it on your "List of Places to Shop". I know it is a 30+ mile hike for you, but if you are doing one of the west Saint Louis County attractions, like Bush Farms or MOBot, you can make it a side trip.

We actually go to St. Louis pretty frequently, since there is NOTHING to do around here. I'll put it on the list for spring.

 

[Crawforde]

All sedges are not cool when you have 6 Carex spp. in a small plot to key out.
that is an activity designed to expand your vocabulary.

 

[Kanorin]

@Kanorin - "Sedges have edges, and all sedges are cool", a quote from one of my prairie restoration nut friends. I'm not well versed in sedges. Genus Eleocharis is a sedge, and it is native to much of North America, it is quite likely winter hardy in Saint Louis area. In all probability the reason Eleocharis fails as an aquarium plant is that it is a full sun plant.

If you have an area that floods part of the year, or a permanent pond or swamp nearby, spend some time gazing at the grasses. You might notice "little grasses" that grow between the more robust grasses. The "little ones" are very likely to be sedges, genus Eleocharis, & Carex. Some might also be rushes, genus Juncus, some species of Juncus are quite dwarf.. It takes expertise beyond my skills to tell one species from another, but the size of the '"little grass" after August is a good clue to what the likely mature size will be.

And now I need to make a spreadsheet on sedges...see what you have done to me, @Leo in N E Illinois

I've been reading Dr. Seuss books to my kids and my brain immediately took your sedge rhyme to the next level.

Sedges have edges
You can plant sedges on ledges
Sedges with edges on ledges as hedges!

 

[Michael P]

Sedges have edges
And rushes are round.
Sometimes both are found
Growing in soggy ground.

 

[HorseloverFat]

But if sedges on ledges serve as edges of hedges..

Whose extremity edges, trudge the sludgy edges of said sedges?

I shared a cell with Theodore.

 

[Crawforde]

But if sedges on ledges serve as edges of hedges..

Whose extremity edges, trudge the sludgy edges of said sedges?

I shared a cell with Theodore.

It’s like you are writing about my life.
I am the sludger

 

[ShadyStump]

And yet I can't get anyone to read Fox In Sox with me as a drinking game.

 

[HorseloverFat]

And yet I can't get anyone to read Fox In Sox with me as a drinking game.

You don’t want to play drinking games with folks up here..

Seriously! I went to a few “ragers” in Northern California... and as soon as they heard me SPEAK... “This guy’s out.. that’s no fair!”

 

[Kanorin]

Picked up a cotoneaster specifically for this project. In the spring I'll reduce it to about 6-8 inches tall. It might be a little too thick, but I may be able to play with perspectives putting it in the foreground and the barn in the background...we shall see.

 

[Kanorin]

After taking a look at the above cotoneaster sitting next to the barn, decided it was too big...the trunk girth was about 65% of the width of the barn, so it didn't work proportionally. I decided to use the smaller cotoneaster I had and a volunteer chinese elm. These are meant to be stand-ins for apple and american elm, respectively, since the leaf sizes are much more in scale for this particular composition.

Here is what the initial placement looks like


And here is what I'm going for. I have some native sedges and eleocharis stratifying in the fridge to add some grasses to the composition soon. It will be a mix of moss and grasses ideally.


After looking at the pictures, I think I need to raise the soil level higher so the inside of the box is less visible.

 

[ShadyStump]

This is going to be SO AWESOME.

 

[Crawforde]

This will be so so nice with some moss/ ground cover and the trees leafed out.
I think you are right, mounding the soil a bit will help remove the boxyness and give it more subtle boundaries/ framing.

 

[Kanorin]

Worked on the soil level issue. Used straight kiryu for the top layer because it’s a uniform tan color and I had some on hand, then shredded some sphagnum on top of that. I also sprinkled in some ivory sedge and Eleocharis seeds in there. Fingers crossed! Lastly I plucked some moss and grasses that were growing between sidewalk cracks and put those in too - can remove the grasses later if they are out of scale.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Worked on the soil level issue. Used straight kiryu for the top layer because it’s a uniform tan color and I had some on hand, then shredded some sphagnum on top of that. I also sprinkled in some ivory sedge and Eleocharis seeds in there. Fingers crossed! Lastly I plucked some moss and grasses that were growing between sidewalk cracks and put those in too - can remove the grasses later if they are out of scale.

View attachment 431593

Somewhere down the line...It needs... Silo ruins.... maybe?...

 

[19Mateo83]

Somewhere down the line...It needs... Silo ruins.... maybe?...

Or a piece of old farm equipment rusting into the ground…. Or both

 

[Crawforde]

I think I’ll do an
American style landscape
But use Fukien tea.

Just because I feel
the melting pot requires
Some stirring today

nope. Math isn’t my thing.
poetry either

but a busted silo is a perfect idea.
and maybe a fireplace and chimney with a broken hearth and part of a foundation.

 

[ShadyStump]

silo is a perfect idea.
and maybe a fireplace and chimney with a broken hearth and part of a foundation.

You gonna make @HorseloverFat earn his keep.

 

[palafr01]

Any updates?

 

[Kanorin]

Any updates?

Busy year with some work on our house meant this project and several others got back-burnered and are currently overgrown. Update to come next year I hope!