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Gardening,
for me, is always a work in progress. When Dan and I bought our home there
were foundation beds and a few plants in the back yard. Without a fence,
everything was open and park-like. All of our neighboring yards were filled
with towering trees. One look and I knew this was the place for me.
It has always felt very special, and the more time I spend here the more in tune
I become to the special energies of the land. Certain areas speak to
me in differing ways. And that is how they are developed--in accordance
with what they most desire.
The photos to
the right show how our house looked when we bought it. The foundation beds
are small and the dominant features of the back yard are the clothesline
poles. They're massive and sunk in concrete, spaced at least 40 feet apart,
although I've never bothered to measure.
One of the first things
we did was to have a fence installed. We chose Western Red Cedar for it's
pest resistance and the fact that it's an easily replaced natural resource.
We also had no intention of putting pressure-treated lumber in our land, since
it is known to leach harmful chemicals such as arsenic. Above you see the
back of the garage with some plants I added shortly after the fence was installed.
There was previously nothing in this space, so I had to start from scratch by
turning the soil and adding compost. In the center of the bed is a carpet
rose. It was a housewarming gift from Dennis, Dan's twin brother.
It has done astonishingly well here, considering this is the north face and recieves
virtually no direct sunlight at any time of the year. It has, in fact, grown
so enormous that I've had to trellis it up every season and cut it back every
winter. What a joy it is!
Above you see
the back of the kitchen with a completely unkempt bed populated primarily with
Blue Ajuga. This ground cover has lovely bronze foliage and purplish flower
spikes but is very invasive. That's not such a bad thing at times, as it
handles foot traffic splendidly. However, I found myself having to contain
it here with edging and decorative rocks, which it has still managed to jump!
I don't mind it so much, really. After all, the patches of Ajuga in the
lawn resemble large stepping stones and I find them pleasant.
Above is
the end result. I added Palace Purple Coral Bells to the bed and their foliage
and flower color really combine well with the existing Ajuga. Oh, and please
forgive me the quality of these photos. They were taken with a Polaroid
camera, which I keep with me as I'm doing major work in the yard. I like
to keep a visual record of the changes for our scrapbook, and this is a really
handy way to record the process quickly.
Gardening
is like life: A journey, not a destination.
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I call this little
corner (above) my Temporary Holding Grounds. It's located just beyond the
corner of the garage on a steep grade, and recieves morning sun with afternoon
shade. It's been the perfect spot to nurse ailing plants back to robust
health. For instance, I had planted some Astilbe under the pine trees but
they seemed to languish there, much to my surprise. In this corner they
thrived so well that I've kept them here. Other small perennials you see
here haven't fared quite so well. Some were lost entirely, even after having
been moved to several locations.
I bought the Hostas
pictured above as tiny little plants from a home improvement store. They're
located in the corner farthest from the Astilbe, under the pine trees. This
location speaks loudly to me of fertility, water and peace. The space
is created by the junction of fence lines and two pine trees on the other sides.
Access is through two narrow pathways, one leading directly to the corner.
This bed has already expanded since this photo was taken, but as you can
see plants thrive here. Eventually the entire space will be taken up with
plantings, sculpture, water features and pathways. I strongly feel that
the visions in my mind's eye are planted there by the energies inherent in the
land.
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