2023, gardening, home, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather

Microclimate

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It has been a long struggle adjusting to gardening in the cold and dry climates in Winnipeg and western North Dakota. We managed to find the plants that worked the best for the soil and the weather, and just persevered. The discovery of Morden roses, really cold hardy and beautiful roses from the Morden, Manitoba Agricultural Experiment Station has allowed us to have a beautiful yard of very low maintenance roses.

I am inordinately proud of our backyard for defying the odds and allowing us to grow things like hazelnut bushes, rhododendrons, ligularia, bleeding hearts, and ostrich ferns. There are very few trees on the western Plains. I believe that North Dakota has the fewest trees of any US state. It is windy. Our climate is semi-arid. The people who owned our house before us did extensive landscaping that made for an unexpected microclimate in the backyard.

We have a cool, moist, and shady backyard because of one Amur maple tree, a large and unruly lilac bush that goes along the entire back yard on the west, and the wooden privacy fences on the north and west sides of the property. That fence, with the lilacs, keeps much of the wind out. Here is our fern bed under the maple tree.

Plants like ferns, ligularia, rhododendrons, and bleeding hearts take a lot of babying and water, but if you are persistent, they will establish themselves. We also planted grapes to grow on the deck to keep the deck and the west side of the house shady. You can see in the lower right hand corner of the photo a small Red Hazel, which we planted not knowing it only can winter over in Zone 5. We are Zone 4 on a good, day, and usually Zone 3. The hazel is small, but we have had it for 30 years.

It is amazing what luck, water, and perseverance can accomplish. Our yard is relatively small, but it is a joy to nurture.

What microclimates are you familiar with? What joys do you derive from gardening?

24 thoughts on “Microclimate”

  2. Renee, it’s great to see photos of what you’ve been describing for years here on the Trail. What a beautiful place!

    Gardening in Robbinsdale did bring me some joy, as I had so much space I could be pretty creative – all with help and advice from friends who knew what they were doing. And here we’ve created a perennial garden on the boulevard. But I’ve learned that I don’t love it like a lot of gardeners do, and it’s never high enough on the to-do list to get the attention it needs…

    I imagine I am familiar with this local micro-climate, but couldn’t tell you much for detail.

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  3. This week we are having more rain than we usually have in a month. After a couple years of drought, this is welcome relief. We had 1.5 inches on Wednesday night. It is raining lightly this morning, and it is supposed to rain all weekend, with rain in the forecast much of next week. It is nice to not have to water the garden.

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  4. It seems easier to be artistic with plants in a well-defined, smaller space. My huge, sloping yard in Waterville was just a lot of work and it didn’t inspire me. It was like a huge blank canvas. The only thing I knew for sure was that the black walnut tree and the hillside would be challenging, and they were.

    I love what you did with your space. Using trees as focal points and then filling in around them with lovely plants and landscaping features is like magic! It’s also really fun to have edible landscaping like your grapes.

    I can’t do any of that here due to the restrictions from my HOA. I have lots of containers on my deck now. The deck gets so hot that I can’t walk out there in bare feet. It’s like a desert microclimate without the sand. I have chosen Mediterranean plants that like heat, such as tomatoes, peppers, basil, rosemary, succulents, and petunias. I am generous with watering and I don’t neglect it because it isn’t long before I can see the plants wilting in the heat. It’s really nice to have a warm deck in March. I’m frequently sitting outside in short sleeves when there’s still snow on the ground. It’s not as great when it’s in the 80s and 90s. It can get up to 110 degrees on my deck.

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  5. Just poking my head in here to say hello. I am in Iowa, being part of family rotation sitting with my mother. Her body’s stamina is incredible. She has had no liquid for over a week. She is weakening and no longer conscious and we have someone with her at all times. I have To come home tomorrow night. I am out of medication and clothing.

    I will spare you my joys of the garden.

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  6. The North Shore is a sort of microclimate but from about Silver Cliff, or as the locals say Silver Creek (Crick) Cliff, to about the lighthouse is it’s own microclimate. But I lived a mile south of the cliff.
    Clyde

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  8. The micro climate I am the most familiar with is the one I’m living in right now, which is hot. I’m not sure what it is about my personality that resists the window air conditioner, but that part is still winning.

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  9. My apartment is its own microclimate because the angle at which the building sits, because I am on the west northwest side, because of the trees in front of my apartment, because I am on the ground floor, and because I am gone from about 10-4. I seldom turn on my ac. The sun does not shine in my windows until about 5:30 this time of year. I pay about $40 a month for electricity with only me living there.
    Clyde

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  10. I drive by a beautiful mid century modern home in tan and rust bricks. According to Sandra’s HGTV shows everybody wants such homes. This home was recently sold. Today they started covering it in white vinyl.
    Clyde

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  11. With the new AC in the theater, I wish I had more time to just go sit in there and feel it blowing on me. 🙂
    It’s hot working in my shed. I know that. And it seems like all my jobs, theater and home, involve working at heights. And heat rises. Man I sweat a lot.

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  13. My mom died this afternoon about 5pm. We were all with her and it was peaceful. It was a long illness for her so we are all relieved it is over. More tomorrow. I am back home tonight petting Bootsy and in my own bed.

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