Note to self is key to next year’s garden

I have a note in my phone called “Garden 2025.” The name seems much grander than it is — a simple list of things to do or plants to add to next year’s garden.

I never used to make such notes, and I’m a garden journal failure, but I’ve realized that spring can be overwhelming and I could very well find myself sitting in my garden a year from now wondering why I didn’t do all the things I meant to do in summer.

One section is dedicated to basic plant care, something you wouldn’t think I’d need reminding of at this point, but a glance at my garden cleary suggests otherwise.

At the top of that section is a note to cut back my stonecrop (Hylotelephium) such as Autumn Joy, ‘Neon’ and ‘Carl’ by half in mid-June. Not only does this help prevent flopping, but when every other stem is trimmed by half, you’re treated to a staggered, longer blooming period on a semi-domed plant, something I saw used to great effect in a Port Washington garden.

At the same garden I noticed a plant I  grow — tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) ‘Isla Gold,’ which is better behaved than the specie — looking absolutely stunning while it has been a mess in my garden for months now. The difference was that it had been caged to remain upright in the other garden while mine had been left to flop on the ground. Added to the “Garden 2025” note: Support ‘Isla Gold.’

Some notes remind me to repeat things that worked well in my garden this year, such as fully cutting back the lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) after it’s done flowering — the fresh foliage it quickly pushed out is still looking great now — and cutting the ‘Stand By Me’ clematis back hard after flowering. I even made a note to stay on top of deadheading the Geum for continuous flowering, although one would think I could manage that without a reminder.

I also make note of the jobs I’d love to be doing now but require doing in spring, like dividing the beautiful, huge aster that is eating up plants around it, moving and dividing Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa) and planting more Russian cypress (Microbiota decusatta), which I’m finding to be an amazing evergreen groundcover for part sun to shady spots.

And of course I have a wish list of plants I’d like to add to the garden. Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) ‘Snow Flurry’ is at the top of the list for good reason. Like most late-season bloomers, it tends to fade into the background at the garden center in spring, while flashy flowers on early bloomers are more likely to catch your attention.

And the Dahlia wish list kicked off with a variety called ‘Hollyhill Serenity’ that I’ll probably spend all of January searching for, along with all the other varieties soon to join the list.

Let’s just hope I pay as much attention to the to-do portion of the list as I do to the to-buy part.