First the bad news (and then the rest of the bad news).   My mom has cancer.  It has spread very rapidly.  The doctor said 6 to 9 months, but she has lost ground so quickly that I don’t expect her to live to see Christmas.  She lives about 5 hours from us, and I work full time with rotating days off (meaning I rarely get two days in a row), so visiting has been difficult.  We’re trying to get down most weekends, which usually means down Saturday after work and back the following evening.  My sister lives next door to my mother, and Sis is taking the lion’s share of the burden.  I feel guilty about that (I feel guilty about a lot of things). 

Watching someone you love suffer and not being able to do anything about it is very difficult.  Not being able to be more “present” is also difficult. 

The rest of the bad news is that I’m taking a break from writing for a while.  Actually, this blog was my wife’s idea and I didn’t originally intend to be the “writer” – it just turned out that way.  So I’m taking a break, and it may be a few months, which I’m sure you’ll understand.  Thank you for your understanding, your patience and your thoughts and prayers.

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Wild roses cascade over a trellis dividing our yard from our neighbors.

We have several arbors and trellises in our garden.  There is the one in the photo above, for one.  There is also a rose trellis on the other side of the garden, running the length of the house, separating us from another neighbor.  The goal here is to provide privacy AND have greenery, scent, color and beauty.  We also have the “path to nowhere” which leads under a free standing arbor.  And along the entire width of the back of the house is an attached arbor that is covered with Confederate Jasmine.  The entire carport (well… two side) has walls of trellis with jessamine and crossvine.  And both ends of the front porch have wide spaced trellis, one side covered in moon flowers.  Can you tell we like arbors and trellises?

This was the large rose trellis before we covered it with bourbon roses and jessamine.

This trellis in now covered with moon flowers.

A trellis is a great place for "hidden" art.

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We have rabbits - ceramic and otherwise.

I’ve seen deer in some of the busiest areas of the city.  And foxes and raccoons and opossum.  And of course there are the birds and squirrels and chipmunks and voles and all the other creatures we’ve come to know.   Usually wildlife is a joy.  Sometimes they are a pain in the backside.  If you’ve ever struggled with voles and watched your much loved plants just disappear before your eyes, then you know what I mean.  

And sometimes the critter can be a joy AND a pain.  Take our rabbits for instance.  We’ve had a family of rabbits living in our yard for years – at least a decade.  We don’t see them every day, and when we do see them it’s usually only a brief glimpse as they hop off to their hideaway. Sometimes when they’re young, they’re more … naive.   A few weeks ago I was sitting at the table in the lower level of the garden having coffee with my son-in-law and a little rabbit was munching away right beside us.  He didn’t seem to mind us at all – and we certainly enjoyed watching him. 

Usually, they don’t eat much (at least in OUR garden).  Once in a while we’ll see that something has been nibbled on, but not very often.  But every once in a while we’ll come out in the morning and something will be decimated.  And it’s likely to be something precious – like an asian lily.   But that’s rare.  That being said, last year was the worst we had ever seen.  I don’t know why but suddenly they started eating away in our garden.  Maybe there were more of them than usual.  Maybe there normal food supply was late or in short supply.  I don’t know why it happened.  We adjusted.  We blocked off the things they seemed to be going for, with wire screening.  That helped.  But we never even entertained the notion of getting rid of the rabbits.  Not once.  Eventually the problem stopped.  If it hadn’t, or if it had gotten much worse, I don’t know if we would have kept our attitude of laissez faire toward the rabbits.  Let’s hope we are never faced with that decision.

We have friends who have far worse problems.  Usually these friends live further out of town and have larger properties.  Deer can be like Godzilla in a garden.  So can voles.  Although it would be great to look out from the deck and see a family of deer, it might not be so great to look out from the deck and see a family of deer eating your entire garden to the nub. 

On the whole, we don’t have a problem.  And we sure do enjoy seeing that little chipmunk race across the patio.

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This is NOT our neighbor - but it's somebody's neighbor!

We’ve had our share of neighbors – good and bad – over the years.  After all, we’ve lived in this house for a long time.  Americans as a rule aren’t known for staying in one place for very long.  And this is (laughingly) what many call a “starter” neighborhood -  meaning that the homes are small and (at least at one time long ago) inexpensive.  Plus we live near a teaching hospital, so it’s not uncommon for folks to buy and then sell when they finish their residency. 

The two houses on either side of us have been both rentals and owner occupied.  Many of the renters have been better neighbors than the owners, so you can’t use that as a tool for deciding who’s going to be a good neighbor.  And we’ve found that even when a renter is a bad neighbor, that’s it’s still usually the owner’s fault for never checking on the property. 

We’ve never had gardeners for neighbors.  There may be several reasons for that.  People know they won’t be here long, for one, so don’t want to put in time and effort.  Often, families that move here are young and don’t have the experience to make a garden and, what with work and young families, also don’t want to put in the time and effort.  We’ve heard many people say that they’d love to have a garden but don’t know anything about them, not realizing that no one knows anything about anything until they start doing (and learning). 

We’ve had neighbors that would leave town and leave their dogs out (under our bedroom window) the whole time they were gone.  We once had a neighbor who drove a big bread truck and parked it in his driveway.  It was like having a billboard in your front yard.  I felt sorry for the guy, but 1) it was ug-ly, and b) it was illegal because of it’s very large size.  We once had a neighbor with very bad teenagers.  And we once had a neighbor that became so angry one day … well, it was like this… my wife was trimming a bush at the border between our yards and stepped into her (the neighbor’s) yard to trim that side.  The woman comes rushing out (she had been watching, evidently) yelling “get out of my yard” over and over.  We had no idea.  We thought we were doing a good thing.  I still have no idea what that was about.  We’re talking two minutes of standing two feet inside her yard to trim our bush.  Whew. 

What does all of this have to do with gardening?  Well, you want to enjoy your garden.  And some of the things that keep you from enjoying it might be noise, poor relations with (perhaps very visible) neighbors, trees that hang over into your yard (and maybe shade things you don’t want shaded), and plants that find their way into your garden (with us that means grass). 

What can you do?  We like privacy.  We don’t want to be watched (or watch others) while we’re outside, so we’ve planted plants that became natural barriers.  We do have one short section of privacy fence, but the rest is mostly trees and large hollies.  That helps with the privacy a lot – for everybody.   About trees hanging over – in our city (and in most I think), anything on (or over) your property is yours.  You can cut it.  But in the interest of having good relationships with your neighbors, it’s a good idea to talk these things over.  Most people are reasonable.  Even with grass being blown into our garden, usually when we mention it, they say “I had no idea – it didn’t even occur to me” and then they point the mower’s chute away from our yard (or get a catcher).   Sometimes talking doesn’t work.  We once had a college student (s) neighbor with a very large St Bernard that they would leave for days at a time.   We asked many times for them to make better arrangements.  They ignored us.  After night after night of a deep “woof….. woof …. woof” we called the police.  Sorry.  Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.  

How about you?  Do you have great neighbors that garden and share plants and water when you’re gone or do you have …. different…. neighbors?   Share your story.   Use the comment tab.

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Is shade gardening easier than sun gardening?   I think it is… but I guess it depends on what sort of shade garden you have.   That’s not to say that I think shade gardening is easy.   It still takes planning and arranging and tending and rearranging.  Soil still has to fit the plants.  Mulch needs to be applied.   But our experience with a shade garden is that it only needs work in the Spring and Fall.   And even then we don’t seem to put as much effort into that space as we would a comparable space with the same number of plants.  Our shade garden is usually FULL of plants.  

Most shade gardens, ours included, are heavy with ferns and hostas.   That’s partly because they’re readily available, easy to grow and come in a very wide variety of shapes, colors and patterns.  You can mix several varieties of ferns and hostas into one grouping and get a very pleasing ensemble – as much so as if you had planted different kinds of plants altogether. 

But there are all sorts of shade garden plants.  Dead nettle, bleeding heart, astilbe, lenten roses, lily of the valley, soloman’s seal, lungwort.  Not to mention larger plants that do well in understory like hydrangea and rhododendron.   Except for the rhododendron, we have all of these in just one of our shade gardens.   The list of possible plants is long. 

Every couple of years some plants need thinning or dividing.  But even that doesn’t seem to come as quickly as it does with our sun plants.  Maybe that’s because up until recently our sun plants have greatly outnumbered our shade plants, but I don’t think so. 

What do you think?   Is shade gardening easier than sun gardening?   Use the comment link below to state your thoughts.

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Ten Days Ago.

This Morning!

Our biggest worry with square foot gardening was that things would be too crowded, too shaded and too…. everything.   Well, so far it’s doing great.  So far the only casualty has been sage.   We have no idea why that died.   The other has been basil, but they’re not dead, only growing much slower than usual – probably because they’re a little shaded.   Everything else is healthy and thriving.

We’ve already had some beans which were really good.  So good that for a while, they didn’t make it into the house — we just ate them off the vine.  When they did start getting to the house, we put them in small candy dishes and at them that way.  Man, were they good!

We have quite a few little squash coming in.   We were a bit concerned that the “vegetable garden” between our front yard and the neighbor’s might not be attractive, but we think it is, happily.  

We haven’t pulled anything out yet that has “finished” and replaced it with something new, but that’s supposed to be one of the great attributes of square foot gardening.  We’ll keep you posted.  

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About a  year and a half ago, I decided that I wanted to learn something about websites.  I’m nearing retirement and, although I would like to retire, I worry about staying busy.  We have a lot of hobbies, but many of them involve bikes and kayaks and hiking boots.  I hope (HOPE) that we’ll be able to do those for years to come, but I wanted something I can do on 25 degree days and 100 degree days as well as something I can do long into “old age”.  And hey, would it hurt if I could find a way of making a little money?   I had no idea how easy or difficult it would be to make money with websites, but it was worth exploring (turns out – it’s difficult). 

You are of course reading one of the offshoots of my exploring the world of web building. The first posting was on Aug 30, 2009, so this site is “officially” 9 months old.  They tell me that most sites take about two years to find their footing.  I can see why, now.  I’ve floundered a bit with this one.  Part of the problem has been not knowing exactly what I wanted to do.  I thought I did.   It started as sort of a “universal” site.  I even started a map page listing public gardens around the world.  That turned out to be too much work.  Besides, although in our travels we try to visit gardens, what do I know, really, about gardens of the world?   I was also  listing garden blogs, but there are sites that do that already and (you guessed it)…. too much work. 

This floundering was discouraging.  I already went from two posts a week to one.  How much can you say about a tenth of an acre (our garden)?   And what do you say in the winter when there’s nothing going on?  (This winter I wrote about cool garden catalogs). 

So what do I do?   Well, I’ve decided that  I am both narrowing and widening my focus.  First, I’m ditching the global stuff.  I’m going to concentrate on my home area, which is the Ardmore neighborhood of Winston Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina USA.   That’s the narrowing.  As often as I can, I’m going to write about what we’re doing in our garden and in our neighborhood.     I’m going to go to other gardens in this city and interview their gardeners.  I’m going to write about garden shops, stores and greenhouses in our area as well.  With photos.  

The broadening is that I’m going to visit gardens that I can get to and from in a reasonable drive from home.  Day trips only – no overnights.  I think this would be of interest to my local readers.  And it’s an interest of ours.  Part of my retirement goal was to find something of interest to do. Key words:  Of Interest.   Frankly, the website was beginning to feel like work (and me no like work).  I think that was because of the lack of focus and the too broad agenda.  I enjoy gardens, gardeners and writing.  I just need to find the path that both satisfies me and is of interest to others.   If you have any thoughts on this subject, please comment using the area below.  I would really appreciate any thoughts you wish to share.  

I hope to have most of this done by the end of the year (I still have a day job, remember).  The tabs on top will change.  I may still have a map, but it will be a local one (or not – I haven’t decided).   And I may still list blogs, but they will be local blogs.  Or maybe just gardening blogs that I really like.  Who knows?   Suggestions?  At any rate, stay tuned. 

This isn’t my only website, you know.  My most focused one is Rooms With Great Views.   Folks send in photos taken from rooms around the world – mostly hotel rooms, but also B & Bs, cabins, even cruise ship cabins and safari tents.   It’s eligible if another guest could expect to see the same or similar view.  That site has been up just 7 months, 2 months less than this one, but I’m really happy with it.  www.roomswithgreatviews.com.  Check it out.  By the way, that’s a photo of my beautiful wife in the title.

There are a couple of others as well, although still in the planning stages mostly (see “our other websites” in the right hand  sidebar). 

AND, we have a store.  Just click on the rotating image in the sidebar on the left.  Go ahead.  Double-click it.   I mean, would it kill you to buy a mug?  (That’s humor, by the way.)

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So that’s pretty much it for the overall planning process.  Take note of what you’ve got, decide what you want, justify that with what’s possible, divide the whole into areas. 

Now what?  Well, logically, you do one area at a time.  But we aren’t Vulcans (Star Trek reference), so there’s a big problem with doing one thing at a time.  Several problems actually. 

 The biggest problem is emotional — you’re stuck with looking at all that unfinished stuff while you concentrate on that one area.  And you can spend a whole growing season on one area – easily.  Even a whole year or more.  

Another problem with doing only one area at a time is more practical – cost and efficiency and logistics.  It just makes sense to do some things all at once.  Preparing the soil is the biggest example of this.  Unless you just lucked into having really good soil, which is unlikely, then you really really need to spend that first year amending the soil.  I can’t emphasize this enough.   It will save you so much time, effort, money and ….. heartache.  If you want great plants, start with great soil.  Period.  Any excuse you make for not amending the soil is just an excuse – one that you’ll pay for later.  I guess the only really acceptable excuse is that you’re moving in six months.  But who plans a garden when they’re moving?  (Hint:  if you want the garden of your dreams – stop moving!).  Americans move so often.  Jeez!

Solution?  The first part of the solution is with the design – you have to know what and where all of your areas will be and what they’ll be used for.  You don’t have to have every square foot planned out, but you’ll need to know if it will have trees, major shrubs, benches, tables, etc.  (Of course you already know where your paths run.)   

The second part is to do all of the really big things first.

  One – build the soil.  I’ll do a posting on this soon.  Prepare to bring in truckloads of topsoil, grow crops of nutrient building plants to work into the soil, compost, etc.  Probably all of these.  

Two – plant all the major plants.  Trees take a while to mature  (the ones that don’t are usually weak).  Figure out where your trees and major shrubs will be and plant them.  Do it right.  Put them in the right size whole with lots of good dirt.  And most important – don’t forget that trees do grow.  Know how big (and how wide) they’re going to be when fully grown.  The number one failure with trees, short of failing to nuture them  early on….. okay, okay.  The number TWO failure with trees is to not allow for their FULLY GROWN size.   (”Guilty, your honor”).   Then your trees are too close together, or rub the house, etc.   Also….never mind.   I’ll do a separate posting on trees too.  

Three – build all the major hardscaping now.  Any walls, fences, arbors, or paths that you have planned will be a lot easier to do without all the new growth in the way.  And the hardscaping and the trees will give you the sense that your garden is shaping up.  AND you’ll get a sense of if it’s going to work or not.  Especially by doing the paths and any retaining walls, you know first hand where all the areas are.   Something to look forward to.  “Ah but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp…. or what’s a heaven for?”  – Lord Byron

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Here is what that same area looks like today.  The photos are in the same sequence as last week’s.

This trellis hides the driveway (the photo that had the van).

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This lattice hides under the deck.

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Looking toward the neighbors house. We have lots of privacy now.

We have everything we wanted in this area.  It seats 6 people.  It’s right off the enclosed deck, so it’s not far from the kitchen – we sometimes have our meals out here.  It blocks the view of the cars in the driveway.  There is plenty of shade from both the carport and the trees.  Believe it or not, there are lots of plants in this area – a dozen kinds of hosta, half a dozen types of ferns, soloman’s seal, cross vine, moss between the stones, ivy on the fence and much more.  There’s a water feature (the blue urn in the corner) and even outdoor speakers (which we rarely use – the sound of the birds and the water is usually enough).

We drew all of this out on graph paper.  We marked where the border garden should be, how far apart to put the trees, where we wanted to sit and so forth.  Lots of measuring.   Lots of soil improving for the border hosta garden.  A little wiring (for the water feature AND – I forgot to mention- the indirect lighting that runs near the top of the fence behind the ivy).   I love it when a plan comes together.

This last photo doesn’t correspond to any of last week’s photos.  It’s still in the upper patio, but it’s of the house.  I wanted you to see several things we did.  There are the outdoor speakers I mentioned.  We also installed an awning over the windows.  That’s our bedroom, by the way.   It’s great to look out and see this patio, especially when the cherry trees are blooming.  The trees also give us privacy.  Also notice that the lower windows (to the basement) have mirrors inside them.  It was just nicer to see a reflection of the garden than to peek into the basement (probably safer too).

And of course the artwork, just for fun.

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