Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Better Late than Never!

While the rest of you are posting stunning images of your Autumn tables, Thanksgiving, even Christmas; I am here, just barely dusting Summer off my flip flops!
Though still a work in progress, I want to share some of my gardens with you!

I remember there was NOTHING here when we moved in four years ago.
We removed all the compacted, hardpan, clay soil, 2-3 feet deep and replaced it with garden soil in all the beds as we went...
Let's start with the backyard...

The Potager
You cannot tell but the raised beds are cut away on an angle toward the center.  I added fence post finials to the beds for a finishing touch.
I took this photo before I leveled the plinths that the concrete fruit topiary baskets rest upon.  The pedestals are mysteriously heavy.
Rest assured they are level now.

The color was of the utmost importance.

I enlisted the help of the highly trained professional at the Home Depot paint counter one afternoon...

Me, "Does this look like a green-y blue, grey-ish black to you?" 
Him, "Yes".
Me, "Is this one more green-y?  You know, like teal?"
Him, "Yes".
Me, "Four-score and seven years ago, our Fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation!"
Him, "Yes".

It was at that moment that I realized I was alone.


This is the closest I could get to green-y blue, grey-ish black before Home Depot closed for the evening.



This is the first time I have ever planted vegetables.  I overdid it by a wide margin.  As in "feeding an entire Third World country with the excess" wide margin. 
Imagine my chagrin when my neighbors refused to make eye contact, lest I accost them with 30 lbs of zucchini or such an abundance of tomatoes that I had to use a wheelbarrow to bring them to their door!  
Yes.   That happened.
"These are heirloom!"  I would exclaim as I attempted to divest myself of the evidence of my folly.

Next year I will know better.  I hope I remember.


 The boxwood surrounding the perimeter of the potager will make a great frame in a few years.  I still may make a lattice fence to keep the bunnies out of the strawberries!
This year it didn't matter because I had so much I didn't even care what the bunnies ate.
Grace tried to get them to eat the broccoli but it was a no-go.

Their diet consisted mainly of strawberries and random nibbles of cucumbers. I wonder if the cucumbers made them burp?
Do rabbits burp?
If you know the answer, please leave it in the comments.

The Parterre
The parterre built itself!  I had no big plans.  It just kind of happened.
It started with a six foot circular bed filled with lavender.  I paid the neighborhood kids ten cents a stone to use as drainage in the bed, then filled it with bags of garden soil.
Then, one night, I couldn't sleep...
and the rest is history!
Here is the parterre the day I finished planting.  This is before the pea gravel and the limestone curbing.
It's just a wee hedgerow here!


Here is the parterre last month.  The angel was my Birthday present last December but it wasn't delivered until Spring.

The Limelight hydrangea in the lower right corner is part of a long hedge. The yew hedge to the lower left, is on its way to knitting itself together too!

Last Winter's harsh weather took its toll on the growth of the boxwood.  I had to clip quite a bit away.  It is filling in nicely, however. I also changed the triangular shapes around the lilac standards into curlicues.

Do you want to know something funny?
I mean, downright hysterical?

I thought...get this...I thought that a garden would be much less work than a lawn!

I thought I would actually be afrolic amongst the flowers all Summer!  Not a care in the world!  Flowers in our hair! Flowy dresses!  Cucumber sandwiches!

Yeah, well, I just finished closing up the beds.  Many shrubs and perennials are stored in the garage until Spring.  The ground froze before I got to them

I was able to plant a privet hedge as well as a reading garden surrounded by privet, though!
I had to replant all the arborvitae, over 50, that died last Winter and all the annabelle hydrangeas, and over 300 perennials in the Shakespeare beds, as well as 14 pear trees!  Oh!  And the apple trees!

That is another post for another day.
I still have to get bulbs in the ground!

xo

Andie

15 comments:

  1. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutifullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll !

    Cannot wait for the bones to grow.

    Alas, your weather.

    Garden & Be Well, XOT

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  2. This post had me LOL throughout! What a beautiful garden, I can't keep a fake plant alive so I truly envy your green thumb and dedication. I'm with you--summer is only just beginning to leave my spirit.
    Fondly,
    -Lisa

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  3. beautiful -yes lots of work but so much better than a lawn. I hate lawns!! Lawns are tons of work if you want them weed free. I prefer the European version, full of weeds - they're green afterall (color and otherwise)!
    Most of my memories of my grandfather are him in their small front yard wedding his lawn which was IMMACULATE -like a green forest. I would have just thrown a bunch of wild flower seeds at it and let it go!
    We lost our rosemary but thats it -even our boxwood made it through (fingers crossed for this year). We have some boxwood in a planter on the front porch so I bought some burlap (martha's advice) and am going to cover them to keep the frost off. Thats fine for one little planter but I can't imagine doing that to your entire yard! haha You'd need to buy a burlap factory!

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  4. Wow, that is just amazing...you are incredibly patient....that takes a ton of dedication. You go girl, I can't wait to see your progress on this amazing garden....yard.

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  5. Andie, when the heck do you have time for all that gardening? Now, that is really hard work. Love it all, and between us, after 30 years of gardening, I over plant every year.

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  6. Andie, It must be like having some a significant chunk of the Old World aristocratic atmosphere in your own yard. Very very lovely! I don't know where you find the time and energy. You must be an Eight-Day Wonder, as my Great Aunt Mary would have said. (She could very well have been speaking of herself, but hat's another sorry for another time. I am positive you and she would have liked each other. Anyone who claims women are the weaker sex, must be out of his mind!

    Dare I suggest you take up home canning in addition to all the other wonderful work you do, so as not to waste any more of next year's harvest than you have to? Either that, or open a roadside vegetable stand. ;-)

    Just imagine what the government would have to say about THAT. (:-o

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  7. MY Gosh girl , you will work your fingers to the bones doing all that gardening and planting LOL
    I would have taken some of those cucumbers and broccoli , lucky neighbors

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  8. Now I know what you were doing all spring and summer. GORGEOUS!! That potager is stunning, Andie. I want those fruit baskets. Cannot wait to see the parterre fill in - beautiful bones and design! Cheers

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  9. Your potager is just beautiful! You have inspired me!

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  10. Talented girl, smart girl, yard therapy produces the most creative juices!!
    Glorious! Sad about all you lost, but you can't tell! Those jealous neighbors! We'd be besties if I lived near you!! Love love love

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  11. Oh Andie, I so remember when you broke ground on your garden... It's beautiful, just so beautiful. It's grandeur and grace suits the beauty in all you create in your home and out. I bet your neighbors are green with envy.

    See you soon

    Xx
    Dore

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  12. Oh, my! What a difference a year makes! I remember seeing photos of your garden when you were just beginning. It all looks lush and gorgeous. You have amazing vision, not to mention your hard work and enthusiasm. Yes, a garden is always evolving and takes time, time, and more time. I have a friend who devotes at least an hour to her garden each morning. My mother did that too. One would find her in the garden every morning and some afternoons too. I'm more of a project minded gardener. Spend hours and sometimes days, then not in the garden for days or more. Gardening is never done! And a beautiful garden like yours takes real dedication. Kudos to you!

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  14. Andie, are you familiar with English Wattle Fencing? It occurred to me you might find it interesting to explore and possibly may find useful. Google brings myriad examples.

    Also, were you ever able to establish the Leyland Cypresses I suggested to you a while back? They are supposed to be one of the hardiest, fastest growing evergreens. I've known them o grow 3-5' in a single season. Just GREAT for screening out unsightly items in neighbors' yards, etc. They make a good green backdrop for more interesting, colorful plants and flowers too.

    Garden talk may be out of season, but it's always the right time to dream and to think things through, isn't it?

    Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

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  15. Hello everyone!! I'm back with a center-step Thank You card. I made this card for friends of ours, a wonderful couple who helped us so much in getting settled here.yard fencing

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