Gardening is a love. It is a gift to those who reside there, look into it, get to work it, for visitors and for future generations. The desire to get stuck into the dirt, compost and mulch usually overrides the ability to claim this part of gardening a chore.
As a teacher I use my holidays to recharge the battery and to cleanse the soul. Nothing cleanses the soul like a lovely day's work in the garden. The benefit is watching one's efforts contribute to the overall feel of creating a peaceful yard where one is surrounded by plants that will mature beautifully. The gift from this effort is the fact that we get to appreciate the garden now and with age.
I love nothing more that to sit on the freshly mown grass while tending plants within reach. The fresh grass and "earthy" smell seems to carry me away to places I have been before. I think of the plants my Grandmother and Nana grew, and, the many gardens I have toiled in my life. I recall many different memories and have a lovely time reflecting, refreshing my memories of people I have met on my journey. Of late I have been gardening with my iPod playing Tina Arena's album Reset All! Every song is beautifully written and is perfect for those of you like to sing and those who love great lyrics presented with clarity and meaning.
When we initially bought the house we had many potted plants, as gardening has always been a passion, even in rental houses we had lived in. We simply 'quick planted' many of them purely to get them going. We were lucking in that I had a knowledge of what plants to place where - shade, sun or dappled shade. In our first year we spent time creating the bed and tending the many plant we had thrown in. Over the course of the next two years we purchased numerous plants and have created many beds in our desire to have a lovely yard. We are in that wonderful part of Garden creation and construction, where every bed we redesign and make over, we are able to fill with plant stock we have been growing. This is not to say that I do not need to buy plants, "Of course I do." Many of our beds are about to take the next step with us lifting and planting, for effect rather than survival. We have decided that the pool yard will be the next one to get a make over. We planted close to 200 bromeliads, different ginger varieties, bamboo and agaves when we initially made it over nearly a year ago. We have some lovely big plants that we will now be able to feature. We are simply going to lift, thin, tidy up and mulch the existing beds before we landscape. If I can afford them I am going to hunt down three large Silver Plum Alcantarea. These bromeliads make a lovely statement. This photo does not do the plant justice. I adore the rich colour with the dust grey colour.
In a previous blog entry I shared the construction of our gazebo. It has been lovely to watch the plants acclimatise to this new area. The plants quickly grew into the space, and now looks like a mature bed. The purple colour is the exact shade for the purple agapanthus that we have scattered around the yard. I am really looking forward to seeing them in bloom, as they will simply welcome the gazebo into the wider picture. To continue this theme I have planted blue and white petunias, mottled pink and white pelargonium, rich blue cornflowers and erlicheers. This would make for a lovely display should the rain assist. It is amazing how a stepping stone path and a cluster of plants can make a huge different to the overall feel of the garden. I have planted 20 small alcantareas around this raised bed pictured above. With time, the agaves and the alcantareas will make a lovely display, softened by cottage plants, of all things. Watch this space!
People often ask me for gardening advice and I sometimes surprise myself with what I have learned by osmosis, over the years. I think the most critical advice I could give would be that - every good gardener has a rough patch. For some of us we have had time and opportunity to get to know the different micro climates we have for different garden beds around our yard and house. Identify the conditions of the bed - morning sun, hot sun, full shade, dappled shade, strong winds, radiating heat from concrete and brick structures.
If you take note of these elements and then find plants to grow with those elements, you should be right. Too often I think people rush in and buy everything that they like, plant it and then struggle as the plants die. Most times it may not be a matter of not having a green thumb, but rather the wrong plant matching.
Another big mistake a lot of people, myself included, make is to buy plants with the greatest intentions and leave them in the pot where often they get neglected and die. Once dried out for a couple of days it is can be difficult to bring the plant back. Even the greatest of gardeners will tell you that they too have done this. I will often leave a plant it it's pot, dug a little into the ground, to let the plant acclimates. This gives me time to watch the elements and the impact it may have on the plant.
Be brave, go for a drive or even better, a walk, and observe the gardens in your area. Be brave enough to compliment the creator/carer and then hit them with advice. The knowledge of your "new friend" may contained could be unlimited. A keen gardener in your area will give you far better advice than can most of the "hardware store" type nurseries. You never know, you may well be walking away with a few cuttings. A gardener is always willing to talk things garden. They have the time to share, to show and possibly even, to demonstrate something you may be asking.
Until later,
Happy Gardening.
