By Robert Woodman, Plant Specialist
Nearly two years ago, my dream finally came true. I got a garden that I could call my own.
Since leaving England in 1998, I’ve only worked in other people’s gardens, creating their visions and caring for their plants. Now it was my turn to build my own piece of paradise, a sanctuary where I can escape and put life in perspective.
Of course, this isn’t totally my own space. I share the garden with my worm-hunting, 3-year-old daughter. My baby son will soon join us when he begins to explore. Life is full of compromise, so why should gardens be any different? Play sets and sand boxes are just a few of the new landscape elements that I have to work with. I’ve restricted my plant palette to only those that can take the misplaced foot of an inquisitive daughter hunting for bugs.
When my wife and I moved to this property during the winter of 2009, it had a basic frame to work from and lots of potential. The previous owners had planted a row of four ornamental Callery Pears that I suspect are ‘Chanticleers’ to divide us from the neighbors and various Skip Laurels, Burning Bush Euonymus and Wax-Leaf Privets. They’ve all grown to a good size and provide the yard with some ‘bones.’
We spent the first spring and summer observing the garden, seeing where the light fell during the day and discovering where storm water would flow across the gently sloped yard. The standard method of creating a garden is to draw a plan, but I didn’t have a set palette of plants that I wanted to use.
So I spent the beginning phase spraying white, curving lines in the lawn around the garden to visualize bed layouts. One lesson I remember from my days in design school is that bed layouts should curve in a simple fashion, without the temptation to wiggle the edge. Rather it should be done so that when you push the lawn mower it glides around the borders with ease. The paint allowed me to step back and look at it from a different angle before I pushed the shovel in the ground.
Fall was the time when planting moved into top gear. I had acquired a few plants through the year, but now was the time to start developing the beds and dividing the space. I needed to work on a low budget. Moving had depleted the ‘Rob Account’ - an account that’s strictly managed by my wife! So my main target was sale trees, shrubs and perennials, something that she couldn’t argue with.
Sale plants are a wonderful opportunity to pick up plants at great prices. These plants are typically overstock or have slight flaws. They just need to be planted and allowed to push out their roots. Some of these plants are now the bones of my garden, others are the show stoppers.
This year’s recharged ‘Rob account’ has allowed me to go after some of the plants I’ve always wanted. That and I’ve learned how to sneak plants past my wife under the cover of darkness!
I’ve learned that gardening is a study in patience and not about having it all now. I’ve had to fight the temptation to create a finished look straight away. I’m having a lot of fun planning my first garden, and finding just the right plants for it. Please check back as I’ll be writing more blogs about my journey.