April, 2017 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

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In This Issue

In the meantime, I'm planning on trying an entirely different method of construction on the new railroad than what I did last time around. It will involve more lumber and less dirt, and, hopefully, a lot less weeds and ROW-disturbing rodents.

If you want to see the history of our garden railroad, New Boston and Donnels Creek, please click the following link:

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/

We moved so late that we had trouble transplanting all the plant starts that we wanted. And, of course there was a winter, during which we had no idea which plants would survive and which wouldn't. Now that things are perking up again, it looks like we have good starts of our Gold Crown, Acre, Blue Spruce, and Stubby Fingers sedum, four of our favorites. We also have some creeping thyme, another favorite, and a lot harder to keep going in tough situations than the sedums.

That didn't keep us looking for some new plants, though. A visit to the "fairy garden" section of a large local plant nursery gave me some great starts for the next iteration of the garden railroad, and Shelia some great starts for her next fairy garden. No doubt several of the plants we found will do double-duty, though. There's a report on what we saw and what we brought home further down.

• Planning the New New Boston and Donnels Creek Railroad, Parts 2 and 3 - The plans keep coming. We've "flopped" our design, changed our basic construction approach and done more site preparation. Hopefully we'll get started in May when we have all the lumber we need for the first phase and a pretty weekend to boot.

• "Fairy Garden Plants" Work Fine on Garden Railroads - A trip to a large local nursery allowed us to check out many miniature plants that they recommend for fairy gardens. Many are already familiar to garden railroaders, or are related to plants we're familiar with. But a number of them were new to me. All of them would work just as well on a garden railroad. So don't scoff, those fairy garden fans are doing us a favor.

• Garden Railroading in the Late Spring - Seasonal tips.

Planning the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek, Part 2

Click on the following link to see what we were considering in early April.

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_04_planning/planning_nnb_n_dc2.htm

Planning the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek, Part 3

Click on the following link to see what we were considering in late April.

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_04_planning/planning_nnb_n_dc3.htm

"Fairy Garden Plants" Work Fine on Garden Railroads

Click on the following link to see some of the delightful plants we found (and some we bought) in preparation for this summer's garden projects.

https://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants/fairy_gardens/fairygarden_plants.htm

Garden Railroading in Late Spring

http://familygardentrains.com/primer/gardeners/garden_safety.htm

In many parts of the country, May is the best time to get ahead and stay ahead of the weeds (except for those that germinate late). Also, you may have groundcovers that are growing where don't need them (like over the tracks).

When I attack my garden railroad for weed control, I try to go while the ground is still damp from recent rain (wearing old pants that I can get muddy). I take:

• Two large buckets or other containers, one for weeds, and one for desirable plants that are just in the wrong place and can be used elsewhere.

• A dandelion puller (this is critical; if you don't take one out with you, you'll be tempted to pull out dandelions and thistles without getting the whole root, and that's bad)

• A "very fine" sanding block to use on the rails while I'm there. Just shine up the top and inside edge or the rails if you haven't already. The rest looks better brown.

• Something to trim unruly branches with - I try not to get into a conifer-trimming process when I'm supposed to be weeding, but otherwise, I wind up making extra trips because I see SOMETHING I really should deal with.

By going out to the garden prepared, I can be more productive than if I am running back and forth for things I forgot. Most of my buildings are on concrete stepping stones, so I have move them off the railroad and have places to step when I'm doing "heavy" maintenance.

In this pass, you're mostly pulling plants that rooted last summer and may have even died off to the ground in the winter. Later (in mid-June) perhaps, you'll do another round to pull plants that just germinated this spring . (Or you could try using Preen and slow that process down.)

If you're like me, you might as well bring set a full-sized trash can next to the railroad to keep yourself from making too many long trips with the weeds. In fact, if your railroad looks like mine some springs, you might want to rent a dumpster.

Keep the "desirable plants" you pulled damp and cool until you can replant them or give them to another garden railroader or gardener.

This is also a good time to bring in new plants from the garden store. Please read the directions carefully, and ask other garden railroaders if they have any recommendations or warnings. Plant articles that may be especially helpful at this time of year include:

• Inexpensive and Low Maintenance Plants for Garden Railroads - Click the following link
  http://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants.htm

• Groundcover 101 - Click the following link
  http://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants/grndcvr/grndcvr.htm

• The Secret Life of Perennials - Click the following link
  http://familygardentrains.com/primer/secret.htm

There used to be a tradition in some garden railroading circles to have an open house on the Sunday closest to the summer Solstice (June 20 or 21). Though celebrating "G day" is less common today, it's a nice target to encourage you to get things cleaned up and running early.

Please let us know if you have some tip that you would like to share with your fellow readers.

Keep in Touch

Finally, please let us know about your ongoing projects. Ask questions, send corrections, suggest article ideas, send photos, whatever you think will help you or your fellow railroaders. In the meantime, enjoy your trains, and especially enjoy any time you have with your family in the coming weeks,

Paul Race

FamilyGardenTrains.com

To view the newsletter for March, 2017, click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/17_03_newsletter_gr.htm

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