Garden talk
Hey, LJ! It's been awhile since we chatted about my garden.* In fact, I think I have a new garden since we last spoke. I thought you'd like to know that yesterday a permaculture consultant met my garden and talked with me about everything that is growing in it. Now I feel like my garden and I are getting to really know each other.
* From here on, when I say "garden" I am referring to my entire yard, both in the British sense and also in the sense that my yard is so puny, it's the size of other people's whole gardens. My entire lot is 0.09 acres, and my house, garage, and driveway take up most of that space. There is a stretch of grass that Avery has begged me not to dig up, and I think she has a point -- it gets used for gymnastics and juggling and all kinds of things. And there are three stupid large rocks that get used for jumping and leaping on, so I guess those are staying for now as well. If it were just me living here, the whole thing would be veggies and paths, but for now I think the grass and rocks can be considered part of the garden proper.
Here is the food that is currently growing in my garden:
- kale
- broccoli
- swiss chard
- lettuce
- sugar snap peas (haven't come up yet)
- blueberries (two bushes)
- black raspberry (one volunteer! will get more)
- sugar maple (three trees we'll keep -- one is coming down)
- daylilies (edible)
- chives
- mint
- thyme
- parsley
Here are the perennials/ornamentals that are growing in my garden:
- ornamental maple (turns out it's worth like $5000, but I like it, so I am keeping it)
- hostas
- lily-of-the-valley
- hydrangea
- pachysandra
- violets
- forsythia (to remove or relocate)
- violets (to relocate for ground cover behind the house)
- phlox
- sedum
- geranium
- creeping veronica
- daylilies (small and large)
- grape hyacinths
- Siberian iris (way overgrown)
- Jacob's ladder (3; one is variegated)
- lamb's ear
- rudbeckia
- primrose
- boxwood
- azalea/rhododendron (2, to be removed)
- artemisia
- celandine poppy
- bee balm
- forget-me-not
- bleeding heart
- ground ivy
- ligularia
- scilla
- chronodoxa
- snowdrops
- spiderwort (tradischancea)
- smartweed
- trumpet vine
- goutweed (agopodium) (invasive - remove)
- garlic mustard (invasive, but I might relocate and cultivate it)
- barberry (invasive - remove)
- wild aster
- euonymous (invasive - remove)
- daffodils of various kinds
- lilac (technically on neighbor's side; also one at end of driveway that will be removed soon)
- tamarack tree (being removed this spring)
Things I would like to add to my garden this year:
- oregano
- lavender
- nasturiums
- basil
- dill
- tomatoes
- red peppers
- eggplant
- cabbage
- scallions and/or bunching onions
- more greens
- zucchini/summer squash
- green beans
Things I would like to add another year, with appropriate preparations:
- garlic (need dedicated bed)
- cucumbers (need trellis)
- dry beans (need trellis)
- winter squash?
- fruit trees (some espaliered along south fence, and three trees on south side of driveway -- plum, apple, peach, cherry)
- raspberries or black raspberries (along south side of garage)
- grapes (along east fence)
- hardy kiwis (need superstrong trellis and more info)
- carrots (need deep, sandy bed)
- beets (ditto)
- leeks (ditto)
- onions and potatoes (perhaps after the kids no longer need the sward of grass)
- tulips (for cutting)
- rose
I will mostly leave the growing of corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, tomatoes, and winter squash to the many able farmers in the area who have more space than I do for growing.
I think this is going to be easier than I thought. Very exciting.
* From here on, when I say "garden" I am referring to my entire yard, both in the British sense and also in the sense that my yard is so puny, it's the size of other people's whole gardens. My entire lot is 0.09 acres, and my house, garage, and driveway take up most of that space. There is a stretch of grass that Avery has begged me not to dig up, and I think she has a point -- it gets used for gymnastics and juggling and all kinds of things. And there are three stupid large rocks that get used for jumping and leaping on, so I guess those are staying for now as well. If it were just me living here, the whole thing would be veggies and paths, but for now I think the grass and rocks can be considered part of the garden proper.
Here is the food that is currently growing in my garden:
- kale
- broccoli
- swiss chard
- lettuce
- sugar snap peas (haven't come up yet)
- blueberries (two bushes)
- black raspberry (one volunteer! will get more)
- sugar maple (three trees we'll keep -- one is coming down)
- daylilies (edible)
- chives
- mint
- thyme
- parsley
Here are the perennials/ornamentals that are growing in my garden:
- ornamental maple (turns out it's worth like $5000, but I like it, so I am keeping it)
- hostas
- lily-of-the-valley
- hydrangea
- pachysandra
- violets
- forsythia (to remove or relocate)
- violets (to relocate for ground cover behind the house)
- phlox
- sedum
- geranium
- creeping veronica
- daylilies (small and large)
- grape hyacinths
- Siberian iris (way overgrown)
- Jacob's ladder (3; one is variegated)
- lamb's ear
- rudbeckia
- primrose
- boxwood
- azalea/rhododendron (2, to be removed)
- artemisia
- celandine poppy
- bee balm
- forget-me-not
- bleeding heart
- ground ivy
- ligularia
- scilla
- chronodoxa
- snowdrops
- spiderwort (tradischancea)
- smartweed
- trumpet vine
- goutweed (agopodium) (invasive - remove)
- garlic mustard (invasive, but I might relocate and cultivate it)
- barberry (invasive - remove)
- wild aster
- euonymous (invasive - remove)
- daffodils of various kinds
- lilac (technically on neighbor's side; also one at end of driveway that will be removed soon)
- tamarack tree (being removed this spring)
Things I would like to add to my garden this year:
- oregano
- lavender
- nasturiums
- basil
- dill
- tomatoes
- red peppers
- eggplant
- cabbage
- scallions and/or bunching onions
- more greens
- zucchini/summer squash
- green beans
Things I would like to add another year, with appropriate preparations:
- garlic (need dedicated bed)
- cucumbers (need trellis)
- dry beans (need trellis)
- winter squash?
- fruit trees (some espaliered along south fence, and three trees on south side of driveway -- plum, apple, peach, cherry)
- raspberries or black raspberries (along south side of garage)
- grapes (along east fence)
- hardy kiwis (need superstrong trellis and more info)
- carrots (need deep, sandy bed)
- beets (ditto)
- leeks (ditto)
- onions and potatoes (perhaps after the kids no longer need the sward of grass)
- tulips (for cutting)
- rose
I will mostly leave the growing of corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, tomatoes, and winter squash to the many able farmers in the area who have more space than I do for growing.
I think this is going to be easier than I thought. Very exciting.