Introducing the all-new Trains.com Forum! Become a part of our Community! >>VISIT NOW
Nancy Norris Common name: Elfin thyme Latin name: Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’ Plant type: Groundcover Plant size: 2″ x 6″ and spreading USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9 Cultural needs: Poor, well-drained soil, moderate to low moisture, sun to partial shade Elfin thyme deserves its status as practically everyone’s favorite scale lawn or meadow. It’s about “thyme” this […]
Nancy Norris Common name: Silver carpet, Dymondia Latin name: Dymondia margaretae Plant type: Groundcover USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-11 Cultural needs: Full sun to part shade; well drained, sandy soil Plant size: 1-2″ high, spreading slowly Dymondia margaretae is usually just called dymondia, because it’s the only species of a genus from South Africa. As a […]
Trees are as essential to a landscape as mountains, hills, and rivers. Those of you living in (and/or modeling) the desert, will have to overlook my exuberance for trees. In this article I’d like to add to my previous discussions of conifer, deciduous, and wannabe trees, to pursue my favorite subject further. (See the list […]
Common name: Sweet woodruff Latin name: Galium odoratum, syn. Asperula odorata Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9 (sheltered or near the house in Zone 3) Cultural needs: Shade or partial shade, moist (even wet) soil Plant size: 6-12″ high, spreading quickly to 9-12″ wide Do you have a rather large shady spot in need […]
Hardiness Zones are the answer to the question, “Where can I grow this plant?” If you’re planting strictly native plants, you won’t need to worry. On the other hand, your nursery plants were originally plucked from all over the world and then researchers tried to grow them in every imaginable climate. The USDA (US Department […]
Miniature Garden Guidebook by Nancy Norris Published by Kalmbach Publishing Co. PO Box 1612 Waukesha WI 53187 112 pages, 8¼” x 10¾” Softbound, color photos throughout Price: $21.85 Website: www.kalmbachbooks.com Nancy Norris, Horticultural Editor for this magazine, has put together this handy guidebook that railroad gardeners, from novices to green-thumbers, will find useful. It is […]
Bonsai is an ancient horticultural practice that has been developed into an art form. Years can be spent studying and perfecting it. I doubt there are many garden railroaders with the time or inclination to get into true bonsai culture. Fortunately, there are some shortcut (and likely unorthodox) methods to make miniature trees with less […]
A gallery of miniature conifers: Nothing gives a sense of scale and believability to a garden railway quite as well as miniature trees. When it comes to really small trees that translate well to our railroad landscapes, conifers (cone bearing, needled evergreens) seem to have the most representatives in the miniature woody-plant kingdom. I will […]
How to prune dwarf Alberta spruce In an effort to model conifer trees, garden railroaders usually go to the nearest garden center and find dwarf Alberta spruce shrubs. This classic, Christmas-tree-shaped evergreen has a nice, green color and a densely packed growth habit, giving it a fuzzy look. Picea glauca conica (aka. P.g. var. albertiana […]
Common name: Thyme-leaf fuchsia, Encliandra fuchsia Latin name: Fuchsia thymifolia Plant size: 2-4′ high x 2′ wide Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 8-11 Cultural needs: Rich, moist, drained soil; sun or light shade Planting Fuchsia thymifolia in your garden railway will surely attract hummingbirds, which love the profusion of magenta tubular flowers from spring […]
Over 2000′ of track runs through the relatively lowmaintenance Sunset Valley Railroad of Ted Sharpe in Issaquah, Washington. Dwarf Alberta spruce (Pirea glauca ‘Conica’) and low groundcovers predominantly thymes and sedums) are repeated throughout each section of the line. Joel Hayward Gary and Norma Agard of Augusta, Kansas, are building a beautiful garden in which […]
Dozens of Alberta spruce trees help create a mixed-conifer forest setting at the Little Vista Garden Railway of Larry and Pam Webb in Vista, California. Some of the trees are over 20 years old. Pat Hayward A newly planted area of the South Pacific Coast Garden Railway of Jose and Jean Picazo, Los Gatos, California, […]
