Gardening in My Rubber Boots

Jul 27

What I’ve Learned About My Gardening Style

I recently had an ‘aha moment’ about my gardening style and decided I need to work on my patience and organization. I figure by sharing some of the mistakes I’ve been making, others can hold me accountable and maybe learn a little in the process.

Here’s a list of my more common gardening mistakes, followed by the plan I’ll follow to become a better gardener.

If I love a plant, I buy it. This is only a problem when I don’t have anywhere to plant my new treasure and end up putting it in the first open spot that’s big enough. In most cases I end up moving the plant at a later date.
I don’t plan before I plant. I do this mostly because I need to get it in the ground quick before it dries out. As a result, I get clashing bloom colors, taller plants in front of smaller plants or plants getting too large for the space. Again, I end up moving the plant at a later date.
Instead buying three or more of the same plant, I buy one. I’ve noticed lately that I have a lot of single plants scattered throughout the garden instead of plant groupings. This makes for a messy look in the garden. I really love the way plant groupings look — clean and uniform.
I get plants from other gardeners or plant sales. In other words, I have a lot of random nameless free plants. This is okay until it’s time to get more of the same plant or someone asks me the plant name.

Being a Better Gardener Will Take Patience & Organization

To start, I’ll do a little reorganizing and create a garden plan. This includes flagging plants NOW that need a new home in either my garden or a friend’s garden. Since I’ll do most of the moving in the fall, I have plenty of time to evaluate the new location to make sure it’s best.

I will document all plants in my garden and create tags with plant name, size, bloom time and color. This new labeling approach should help me from planting orange poppies next to pink peonies again. And by having the plant details I can purchase more of the same plants I’ve grown to love.

In the future, when purchasing new plants, I will carefully evaluate what I need and where it will live in the garden. If a plant will look fabulous as a grouping, I will sacrifice getting other random plants and purchase multiples of the same plant instead.

I’m glad I finally realize what I’m doing wrong. The chaos of blooms, colors and random plant heights finally pushed me over the edge this summer. Now, it’s your turn to hold me accountable.

Jul 17

Chickens are Like Fluffy Little Pigs

I tried kicking the chickens out of the coop today, since it was coop cleaning day, but they didn’t make it any further than the doorway.

Apparently the cool dirt was calling to them, so they dug a hole and rolled around in it like little pigs. What a beautiful thing to watch.

It was so cute that I shoo’d them into the yard and removed some pavers from their coop floor. Now they have a little dirt patch in their coop and don’t need to wait for their weekly yard visits.

Notice how the hens and chicks are a family now and the chicks are getting bigger and fuzzier. Even the hens are looking healthier being away from roosters.

The picture above is of the chickens rolling in the dirt. Below are pictures of the dirty coop and the chickens taking a stroll around the yard.

Jul 16

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What’s Blooming this July 15

Here’s everything that’s blooming in my garden this July 15, 2009. I thought about cheating by taking pictures of flowers that were almost blooming – but I didn’t. Enjoy.

Jul 13

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Bainbridge Garden Tour – July 2009

On July 11, my friend Sara (pictured in many of the photos) and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to visit five unique gardens featured in the island’s 2009 garden tour. This year’s tour included the Huntley House, Church, Parker, Sultan and Holt gardens.

I put together a quick bio of each garden that includes a slideshow of the pictures I took. The gardens are in order of how we visited them.

Huntley House Garden

A large five-acre garden with an outdoor living area, ivy front steps, multiple berry patches, a fruit orchard, a wooded area and a cottage cutting garden.

Click here for a slideshow of the Huntley House Garden; click here for thumbnails.

Church Garden

A Japanese style sustainable garden with a 20 second view of the water – according to the homeowner this is the length of time boats are in view before they disappear. A large bed of nasturtiums also added a bit of whimsy to this otherwise formal garden.

Click here for a slideshow of the Church Garden; click here for thumbnails.

Parker Garden
A very Pacific Northwest style landscape with many evergreen shrubs and trees planted around two creeks and a pond. I especially liked the style of the fences and gate at this home.

Click here for a slideshow of the Parker Garden; click here for thumbnails.

Sultan

We spent a lot of time wondering the pathways of this diverse garden. There were paths, pots, urns, patios, benches and flowerbeds with great plant combinations everywhere you walked. They also had an old cabin on site and the most amazing view of Puget Sound.

Click here for a slideshow of the Sultan Garden; click here for thumbnails.

Holt Garden

I was an excited little kid wondering through this magical formal garden. It’s really what dreams are made of – at least mine. There’s a weeping willow next to a pond, a pool surrounded by a large perennial garden, a brick secret garden with espalier fruit trees, a view of the water, a labyrinth and a maple with a witch’s broom hanging at the end of a limb.

This garden was also featured in the September 2007 Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Click here for a slideshow of the Holt Garden; click here for thumbnails.

Click here to watch the dizzy video I took in the secret garden.

Jul 6

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Front Entry Mini Makeover

Front Urns

Back Yard Urn

Every couple years my front porch starts to look a little shabby. To spruce it up this year, I painted the porch a nice black color and replanted the urns. One of these days I’m going to resurface the front porch with stone and replace the front walk with a more natural walkway. Until then, a new coat of paint does wonders.

Left (front yard urns): Boxleaf Hebe, Aurea Heather, Black Mondo Grass & Scarlet Leader Cotoneaster

Right (back yard urn): Orme Hebe, Spring Torch Heather & Scarlet Leader Cotoneaster

In just a couple hours I went from hating my front porch to accepting it – almost liking it. I bet when the urns fill out – I’ll love this spot even more.

What’s funny is that last time I painted the porch I pretty much just painted it the color of concrete. Then because I picked a laytex paint it scratched off the show the green paint underneath – I hated it from day one.