Garden Progress

 I seemed to have fallen off the world-wide-web for a while and landed, with a good sized thunk into wide world.  In other words I seem to be spending my time living my life rather than fretting about it.  I just got on with it.

You know, I probably once had a bit of a Martha Stewart complex, without the staff to pull it all off, and I did everything.  And I recently accepted that I not only can't do everything, I actually need help.  I had realized this long ago, and I knew it intellectually, but was experiencing a rather significant disconnect between what I knew and what I accepted.  That changed.

And so I hired a talented designer and friend to do my pots for me this year.  I always loved doing the pots, but hadn't done them for a few years just because I hadn't found the time to gather the plants I wanted as the process of dragging G from one garden center to another is far too confusing.  And of course Celeste did a fabulous job.  You can enlarge the picture, but I didn't do the best job of making the collage so some of the pictures are pretty tiny.

 And the best part was that once I had one thing taken out of my hands I was eager to work on other things.  So I started pulling the front yard together and working in my flower bed, cleaning them out, mulching here and there (I should have done this much earlier) and really thinking about how the light had changed and how I was going to need to do some serious rearranging of plants to suit the new conditions.  I also realized that my plans at the beginning of the season were a bit too ambitious.  I am not going to get the vegetable garden cleaned and actually growing vegetables this year.  So planted some of my vegetables and herbs in the front bed.  As you can see, I am still working here, and some plants will have have to be moved again.  But I am making significant progress here.

And progress is being made with the front yard as well.

 Here is the front yard as it is right now.

No I didn't do all this work.  The thought of it was daunting.  I hired someone to cut down the plants and then dig up the yard and remove the old slate walk because....yes, we are going to put in a new bluestone walk next month and I do want to save the slates for use in a few other areas of the yard.

I have grand plans.  But they will only be accomplished in small increments.  First the walk.  Then the front yard between the walk and the house on the right in this photo.  We will probably enlarge the stone bed by the house, put in another planting bed, and have an area with gravel and slates and some kind of outdoor sculpture, or a potted plant.  it is all rather sketchy in my mind right now.  

Only after this is done will I seriously tackle changing the left side of the path which is not as seriously in need of work.  I will clean out around the rhododendrons and feed and mulch them this year.  The pachysandra and hakonechloa will stay. The rhodies may be moved or they may not.  I am working with a designer, but I have to maintain my own stubborn independent streak.  As I said, I am moving in stages, and beds have to be built, and soil has to be amended.  What you see is pretty much solid clay. This means the area where the path was is actually easier to walk on now without the slate, but the soil needs serious amendment before planting; and with my penchant for woodland plantings such as rhododendrons and hydrangeas the beds must be dug at least 12 to 18 inches and heavily amended to achieve the light, high organic matter soil I required.

 I actually think this new front yard, bare clay and all, is more welcoming than the old front yard which was a frightening mess of the overgrown and broken down.  Approaching the front door was something like asking an acquaintance how she is doing only to have her launch into a diatribe about her liver spots and all that is wrong with the world.  Far from welcoming; it only made you want to turn and run.  Here is a picture I posted here last year.  Believe me when I say it was no better before the digging commenced.  In fact, it was probably worse.

As you can see, there is still plenty to do, but the difference is that before I was overgrown and mentally unkempt, just like my yard.  We are both on the way to new ventures.

 

And because I cannot leave you with that old ugly photo, here is another picture of a recovering shade bed.

Comments

[Luigi Keaty]

Yeah, the entrance to your home looks great. So far, so good. The whole landscape is feeling quite warm and inviting, and some more work will ensure that the place would look wonderful.

[K-Line]

It all looks great! Love your house entrance. Looks MCM from the photos.