a garden revival
 
reviving a very secret garden
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Imagine having such a secret garden with a long private road off the street...
 
We have a new ongoing project of fixing up Jena’s garden. What a wonderful secret place to live, up a private road, surrounded by bogs (yes, there are mosquitos in summer) and willows...with a driveway circle, one of my favourite design features in a garden. I forgot to take before pictures, unfortunately. Originally designed by a now-gone landscaper called Beachscapes and Beyond, the garden has some good plants which needed some shifting around and an overgrowth of the dreaded orange montbretia which had been a gift to Jena which she had taken against as much as I have. So out it came, leaving room for the enjoyable task of adding some new plants and some species narcissi bulbs. not before, but during.............................and after...... The goal: turn the Wiegela into an arched shrub instead of a rangy partly dead tree. We shifted two variegated boxwoods which irked me by being together, off to the side, under a Berberis ‘Rose Glow’. (above left) a side view, quite overgrown...note deer fence of crabbing rope; I like it. (above right) cleared of too much white yarrow, and mulched with “Soil Energy” mix from Sandridge Topsoil. On the day when we did the mulching, we had the Soil Energy loaded into our trailer in the rain, with blue sky just to the north, from whence a light wind blew. Sure that the blue would reach us, we drove on to Jena’s, where the blue sat agonizingly out of reach and the skies opened with torrential rain. Her spouse arrived as we were shoveling and inquired of our sanity. The blue finally arrived overhead when we got to our next job. (above, left) entrance view, before, with Allan weeding (above right) after, with the pretty weeping Japanese maple more clearly defined. No one seem to realize how big New Zealand Flax will get; the Phormiums look so charming in one gallon pots. Happily, this will become an ongoing job, not one of those clean ups where one revives a secret garden but then never sees it again.