Well, I’m still not into the swing of things yet after our big ‘flit’. Today I took some time away from the boxes and house stuff to do a bit of gardening. I say gardening but there wasn’t really anything in it except grass and one very small tree, possibly a plum or dwarf apple – and a lot of grass. Jack took these photographs of the emptiness a day or two ago.
I’ve planted some climbing roses along the bottom of the back fence. I’ve also planted the small acers and the liquidamber tree which I brought from my old garden. I’m not at all sure if they will survive the move though, not so much because of being transplanted but I think that the soil here might not suit them so well. It seems quite clay -ish and heavy, they liked the light sandy soil of Kirkcaldy. I also planted some foxgloves, day lilies, a small pyracantha, euphorbia, deutzia and pulmonaria.
The garden is bigger than I thought it was and I’m not sure what to do with it. I have to have a good mix of plants to entice birdlife in but I don’t want anything which will turn out to be too labour intensive as you know what it’s like – as the plants get older they get stronger whereas as I get older I’m definitely getting weaker!
The yard looks very nice… and yes, very large. The neighborhood looks nice. Hope you have fun settling in.
TracyK,
It’s a big change for us as we used to live very close to a busy high street, theatre and library but no doubt we’ll get used to rural life eventually.
Too bad you couldn’t add some sand to the soil first. Leave some room to just go out and lay in the grass! I do it all the time.
I think Peggy has a great thought.
You could experiment amending the soil in one smallish area and see what happens when you plant there.
Just a thought. But if all of this seems too much, just set up a chair and READ and DREAM. You might just need to relax for a while.
Judith
Judith,
I will relax in the garden after I get some more plants in, in my old garden I loved to go out there in the morning to see what had happened overnight, I want to get back to that situation again. I think the soil is quite patchy, dry in some areas and damper elsewhere, it could be an advantage.
Peggy,
The soil seems to be quite different in places where I have dug, some parts are not free draining at all, so I put a bamboo plant there, it should like the dampness. I have to cover up in the garden otherwise I burn to a crisp!
Katrina,
Wow! A blank slate–just what the creative mind needs to fix on. Now if I had that space, and if it had half-way decent, fertile soil, I would go to the library and carry home two armfuls of landscape gardening books to feast my eyes on and to inspire me.
My fertile soil comment is based on the fact that we have only a mere two to three inches of topsoil here, and fertile it is NOT.
I’m so glad you took time off from the boxes,
Judith
Judith,
I have a fair few gardening books of my own and I’ve been perusing them. I still don’t have a big plan though, it’ll probably evolve over time, but I do miss the mature trees which I had in my own garden, on the other hand there are plenty of trees just outside our back fence, and I don’t have to worry about looking after those ones! I suppose your lack of soil accounts for the Adirondacks just being a place to get from A to B for the native people – way back when!
I’m sure you’ll fill that lovely yard with trees and shrubs and plants before you know it. You might want to just live with it for a while to see how you feel about it after you’re more used to it. You may see sun patterns or wind patterns or traffic patterns that you might not notice now. However, I’m jealous of that lovely space and all the gardening fun you’re going to have!
Joan,
I planted two more wee trees today which I just bought, bare rooted. One pear and a cherry tree, it’s beginning to look like a garden now! I really hope that you manage to get some sort of garden yourself in the future.
Look at all the sunshine and so much space makes for wonderful possibilities! You are going to have so much fun!
Stefanie,
I just wish that things grew as quickly as they do in your garden (if they have survived your long and freezing winter) – it’ll be years before I get any fruit from my wee trees, if I ever do! It’s still quite cold here.
Wow, how lovely to be able to start from scratch! I think I’d say much the same as the girls, about not doing a lot till you’ve lived with it for a while. Testing the soil in a few places might be an idea too, then you could add sand or whatever to different areas. Is the house brand new? I hope you have great fun getting it and the garden organised!
Evee,
The house is 4 years old. We looked at new builds but they had teeny gardens at the back and nothing at all at the front, just monoblocks. I might end up testing the soil and tinkering with it to change it in some parts, it has lots of lovely worms which I always think is a good sign!
A very blank canvas inside and out then.
I have yet to acquire a garden (live in a flat) but perhaps one day.
Jo,
I hope that you do manage to get a garden one day, if you like plants. It’s so relaxing and a great stress buster, for me anyway.