For most folks, when friends come to visit for a couple of days they’ll send a little note of thanks when they get home. When your friend is a garden blogger, they’ll blog about your garden.
My friend and English garden tour travel partner, Layanee, did just that, posting about my garden here on her lovely blog Ledge and Gardens.
The Woodland Garden and, we hope, future Moss Garden
It’s very interesting to see someone else tell the story of your garden through their eyes with their camera. It was Layanee’s first visit here, although she has seen many photos of my garden over the years on this blog. As we walked around the winter devastation she said more than once, “I haven’t seen this view!”
I particularly appreciated Layanee’s view of what we are currently calling the Woodland Garden. Our hope is that over the years moss will cover this area to create a serene and green woodland setting. On Layanee’s advice, we cleared the underbrush and hauled in and spread about 10 tons of stone dust. (Well, “we” didn’t do it. My 6’4, 180 lb 20-year-old son did it.) The stone dust will keep down the weeds and provide a surface for the moss to grow.
It’s nice to have friends in the horticulture business who can give you free advice! By the way, you can get your own free advice from Layanee and her radio partner, Sam, by calling into their Sunday morning radio show, “Garden Guys.” You’ll have to find your own strong 20-year-old to do the heavy lifting.
Winter is not the best time to visit my garden, but Layanee kept reassuring me that she could see the “bones.” I do hope that she returns when things are growing and green. Better yet, come visit around July or August when I could use an extra pair of hands weeding it all!
Layanee with my little dogs, Sarah and Sophie
Thank you, Layanee, for a wonderful visit and such a kind thank you note.
Robin
Now, these aren’t really garden photos, but they do illustrate an important vantage point that we see from the garden.
The first photo is looking from our back yard into what we call the Back Forty. The Back Forty is a sort of weedy, semi-wilderness area that we keep cut so that the wild critters won’t feel too welcome to wander close to where we have little dogs, a cat and chickens milling about.
Tree line before tidying
As you can see, it’s not very pretty and it’s not very inspiring. The undergrowth is out of control and you can’t even see the trees for the forest, so to speak. It’s a wall of green.
After having done some clearing for our fledgling woodland garden (scroll down to the bottom of the post to see a photo) I decided we needed more of the same. The hearty tree guys spent the better part of two days limbing up trees, clearing brush and generally tidying the area.
Tree line after tidying
It’s still a blank slate, but at least now it’s a tidy blank slate and we can see the trees.
Next step: Figure out the next step.
Robin
Sometimes when I look at photos of my garden I think, “Hey, that looks pretty good.” This isn’t one of those times.
I don’t know why, but it seems that for all the work I’ve been putting in, the flowers just aren’t cooperating. Things don’t look as full as I want. The grass isn’t green and lush. I’m dissatisfied. It’s just not…enough!
Perhaps it’s because all of these photos were taken around June 1. This is the second month of this year’s marking time in the garden with a monthly overview shot of the potager. May’s photos are here. Maybe things will get better. But the point of documenting is to show warts and all. So here goes…
- Potager on June 3
The naked spot in the potager is where the ‘Speckled Trout’ lettuce was just pulled up. I found that it bolted more quickly than the other lettuces. The rest of the lettuce is still doing well—’Red Sails’ and the heatwave blend from Cook’s Garden.
Next to the mimosa tree limb trellis I’m giving some yellow pear tomatoes a shot, despite the past fusarium wilt problems in the potager. They are supposed to be resistant and I haven’t grown them in this spot before. I’m fully prepared to yank them out if they look sick.
The herbs are healthy, although the cilantro insists on bolting after about five minutes of heat. I still need bedding plants for the borders but haven’t been able to bring myself to choose from the measly offerings of annuals at the garden center. *snore*
Herb bed June 3
We have been enjoying the new, cleaner look of the tree line from the back patio. In fact, the tree guys have been out doing some more edge clearing so that we can now see the trees for the forest. I’ll have before and after photos at some point.
View from the back patio on June 3
There are a couple of cute little details. The ornamental oregano is a new plant for me this year. This one is Origanum rotundifolium ‘Kent Beauty’.
- Ornamental oregano – Origanum rotundifolium ‘Kent Beauty’
And, given how partial I am to chickens, I think the little chicken form covered in hens and chickens is adorable.
A whole new meaning to hens and chickens
I will work on being less critical, less persnickety and just enjoying the small bits of beauty.
P.S.
You can click on the photos to see a larger version.
Robin
