How Does Your Garden Grow?

Maybe it comes from my living in the woods for so many years or it could just be my somewhat off center nature, but no matter how hard I try my garden always ends up looking wild and woodsy. Not for me those neatly trimmed hedges and borders marching along in perfect formation. If I plant something it’s bound to spring out and do something crazy. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a well sculpted garden look, I do, but I find myself drawn to the more natural woodland style. I like feeling as if I just stepped into a clearing that no one has ever been in before.(in the case of my year end garden that’s often how it DOES look!)

So today I went out armed with my trusty spade and trimmers to wage war on the rampant growth. Even though I say I’m not going to tolerate that wild morning glory, every year I weaken when it starts to bloom. How can I chop it away when those beautiful flowers are there every morning? This year we compromised, I trimmed when needed and it was polite enough to stay in bounds……for the most part. One year (we call it the kudzu morning glory summer)it took over everything. We clipped and trimmed four lawn bags of the stuff.

Necessity dictated that I get out there today. That and the fact that I bought a bunch of perennials. I know, I know !!How to find room in my heavily planted city garden. What can I say. We had a HUGE sale at work, all perennials were $1 each, and the fever came upon me. Til all was said and done I had purchased $130 worth of plants for a mere $11.No one can blame for that surely! So by moving the daylilies and eliminating some flower pots I was able to fit in purple asters, black eyed susans, sedum, several kinds of ferns and a hosta. The hosta is one of those gigantic kind, I’m a little apprehensive, but excited at the same time.

Part of my make room for plants plan was to get rid of my tomato flower pots. Next year I’m going to ground, or rather the tomatoes are. I have a perfectly good fence and I though, ”espalier!” I’ve never done it before, but since it works so well to train a fruit tree along a fence, why not a gigantic tomato plant? So Mr. Mortgage Lifter and Co. will be growing right in the soil and being carefully trained to grow along the fence. In theory I think it sounds like a plan, we’ll see how it works out in fact.

I was so glad to see that the earthworm population has really increased, a sure sign I’m doing something right. My soil isn’t Victory Garden quality yet, but it’s getting there. Compost, compost, compost!

We gardeners seem to always be looking ahead while also enjoying the present. Tidying up the garden for it’s seasonal sleep, enjoying the weather and smell of the earth, while dreaming of next years garden. Not to mention the anticipation of garden catalogs arriving in January! It’s all good don’t you think?