I wanted to share with everyone what my youngest sister Hope and I have been doing for a new garden project for this year. For those of you who don't already know, I my youngest sister and I live with and help out our father who has dementia, but who is otherwise in good health. My sister's 18-year-old daughter lives with us, too. Our mother died in Aug. of '01, and Hope and I have been taking care of her gardens ever since, renovating and improving and expanding them. I have been doing the majority of the work, but Hope has been getting more involved the last couple of years.
So, anyhow, Hope decided she would clean up this one area of the gardens and put in a sitting area and arbor. I thought it was a great idea. There was already somewhat of a garden there, but very few perennials other than some daylilies that weren't thriving because of the area being mostly shade. There is a large Kolkwitsia amabilis (beauty bush) there http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/521/ , and a Cercis canadensis (red bud) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/217/ . There is also 2 Rosa multiflora http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31975/ there, and Hope cut them way back and wants to train them over an arbor that she plans make. There are a couple of large rhodies there, as well as a few smaller PJM rhodies. There are lots of snow drops and primulas there, and on the other side of the path, which borders our woods, there are big clumps of daffodils. We have been dividing those plants and spreading them around the area.
Well, I'm running out of time to continue writing on this, so tonight I will return and continue on and post pics.
Karen
Secret Garden Project for spring of '09
Oh, Karen - this sounds wonderful. I am looking forward to seeing your pictures!
Sounds great can't wait to see the pics.
Sounds like fun. Are you still considering moving, Karen?
Victor, we haven't decided on whether we'll move for sure. We aren't going to move now, as we can't get enough for our house. We are looking into getting a home equity line of credit to get our house fixed up. It needs a lot of work. We may decide we want to stay, but I want to move to TX eventually for sure. I may just wait awhile. We will see. I hate leaving this place behind after putting so much work into it.
Karen
Okay, now here are some pictures of our Secret Garden Project.
Karen
The garden is this way.....
PJM Rhodie with lots of snowdrops. This has been here for years.
And here's the picture.....
A view of the garden looking towards it from where the trellis with the sign is at. You can see 2 rocks that Hope found in the woods that were covered with moss and we moved them here. You can also see the new Peiris japonica 'Valley Valentine' that I just recently got.
Looking down the path from the street side.
Standing a little further away, here is another shot looking at that same path and into the woods, which is to the right of the path in the last pic. You can see a lot more clearing needs to be done. There are a lot of brambles in that woods that have to be taken down. I wish I had taken pics of how the Secret Garden area looked before Hope cleared it. It was a real mess. Looks so much nicer now, and will look even nicer this summer. Can't wait to show it off at the Round Up!
Here's a view looking in the opposite direction, away from the woods, standing in the same spot. I call this area the trail along the road. There is a very large apple tree to the left, along the road. This year rabbits or voles ate most of the bark around the bottom of the trunk. I think it will die now.
Here you can see the damage that was done to the apple tree.
Here's part of the garden We're working on. You can see my new PJ there. I also have a concrete owl that my mother bought some years back that I just love. It's a barn owl. I have transplanted various things to this garden, including daffodils, crocuses, snowdrops, astilbe, variegated Solomon's Seal, and primulas. I also put in some new astilbe plants I got from HD and Lowe's, the roots you buy in the bags. I plan to put in more stuff, as there is still lots of space here. Other than the crocuses, as far as I know the deer and rabbits are not fond of these plants I've put in. At least so far they haven't shown a liking for them in my gardens, and they seem to like a lot of other things.
Another view of that garden. You can see I'm incorporating moss into this bed. I would rather have moss in this garden than mulch, as it seems to do well here, and I love the way it looks.
Another shot of the garden. This is on the other side of the path that leads to the sitting area Hope is making, where she will have the arbor.
A close-up shot of the moss.
Another.....
Here's a close-up of the Peiris japonica 'Valley Valentine'.
Here's a shot of it with the owl on one side and one of the mossy rocks on the other.
A shot of one of the mossy rocks with a collection of bottles. You can see I incorporated quite a few in this garden. We have an old garbage pit here that Hope likes to dig in, with stuff from the late 50's/early 60's in it, and she unearthed a lot of neat bottles. They make great garden decorations.
Another shot with both of the mossy rocks.
Here's a shot of the garden and path looking towards the road. The woods is to the left. Way over by the road is leucothoe, over where the orange wheelbarrow is.
Another shot. You can see where the Kolkwitsia amabilis (beauty bush) is on the right. Right behind it is the Cercis canadensis (red bud).
Here's the picture.......
Here's what it looks like looking into the woods across the path from the garden. My mother had planted lots of daffs there, and the clumps had gotten quite large, so I'm working on splitting them up and spreading them around more. I want to have lots and lots of them in there. I have also put in astilbe, variegated Solomon's Seal, English bluebells (botanical name?), and some kind of fern already in there, that I don't know the name of, some sort of native one I think.
Here's a closer shot. You can see a wet area behind them. There is a low spot there that fills up with water whenever we get rain. I believe it could be considered a vernal pool, though I'm not sure.
This is the area to the right of the other 2 shots. You can see a pile of sticks and brambles I got out of the woods. Much more of that to do.
Another view of the daffs.
Well, that's it for now. I will continue to post pics as I make more progress here and as things continue to grow and bloom.
Karen
nice spot... looks like a good coffee spot to me
Thanks, Allison. Yeah, it would be a nice spot to have coffee. Nearly every spot in the garden would be good for that.
Karen
That a wonderful project, and so nice to share.
yes that it is... can't wait to see it growin!
Thanks, Trouble!
Karen
Looks great, Karen. Have fun with it.
Thanks, Victor! It will keep me busy for sure. I have other projects I will be working on as well. So much to do and so little time.
Karen
Isn't that always the case? Even when you get more free time, it seems to get sucked up somehow.
LOL! Sure does!
Karen
Looking forward to seeing more of your 'secret'project. So tranquil!!