~Grandmother Never Bought a Plant~
I suppose that is not literally true since in the beginning she bought vegetables and fruits for eating and then used their seeds to start plants.
Grandmother's garden was filled with many plants--I wish I could remember all of them--including Sweet Gum, Peach, Fig, Weeping Willow, and Magnolia trees; white and blue Hydrangeas, Azaleas, various Roses, Bleeding Hearts, Ferns, Periwinkle; Weigelia, Privet, and Barberry shrubs; succulents, and a vegetable garden.
Grandmother's garden was developed from "found" items, so to speak. My grandmother knew that plants could be started from the seeds they produced (no sterile hybrids for her). She also exchanged plants and cuttings with her neighbors. If she liked a plant, she made as many as she wanted from cuttings or seeds. Her neighborhood was filled with open fields (nowadays, almost gone for the rest of us), and these areas were great places to find plants.
Obviously, one of the things my grandmother brought to this garden and learned from it--was patience. In this era of instant gratification, we forget that good things are worth the wait, that patience really is a virtue, and that there is nothing wrong with frugality, either!
~Biographies~
*My grandmother started me down the garden path and Gertrude and Jim push me along. I do know that while all my mentors are deceased, I hear their voices loud and clear -- know the environment in which you want to garden, gardening is hard work, gardens take time to develop, start plants from cuttings, and that nature is not always on our side. In other words, be realistic, be frugal, and have patience.
*Gertrude Jekyll (1843 - 1932; photogragh from her book: Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden) has had the most pronounced influence on English and American gardening. She studied the landscape and designed flower borders, woodlands, and specimen tree and shrubery placement with regard to color, vista, soil, and year-round pleasure. Gertrude Jekyll approached the garden as a canvas. It has been said that Monet planted his gardens to paint them while Gertrude Jekyll's garden was the painting.
*James Underwood Crockett (1915 - 1979; photograph from his book: Crockett's Victory Garden) was the original host of PBS's The Victory Garden, then called Crockett's Victory Garden. I was fortunate to see his weekly shows. He showed that while gardening was work, it was also enjoyable with great rewards. While reading gardening books is informative, it was great to see and hear a gardener in action and see the results. It was good for morale! Jim made a statement on a show about asters that has become famous in my family because not only does it apply to gardening -- it applies to many things in life: Life is too short to stake asters.
*Painting of a child who reminds me of myself and grandmother in her garden: Monet - The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil.
~Gardening in Connecticut~
The Ice Age was not a good thing for gardeners in this area. On its march to Long Island and the sea, the glacier removed the soil down the bedrock and then when it melted, it dropped terminal moraine (rocks) in its wake -- except for southern Long Island where it was nice enough to deposit a glacial outwash plain (sand).
My family gardened on Long Island. When I moved to Connecticut and wanted to garden, I bought a shovel. What did I know? Quickly after that, my husband bought a pick axe.
Gardening here means "digging" out rocks and then going off to buy a truckload of topsoil--and while you are at it: sharp (not play or all-purpose) sand, and a ton of peat moss--to fill in the holes so that your plants may live long and prosper.
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I suppose one could just go out and buy some appealing plants and then come home and find a place for them, and I have done that. This sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. A better way, and a lot of non-back-braking fun, is to make up a plan. In my case, I am creating a Five-Year Plan since my landscape is in disarray, and this way I can get some things accomplished while still "planning" other areas. I have broken my two-acre property into three major design areas each with a number of sub-areas since my property besides being in disarray, is oddly laid out. There is a lot of work to do; fortunately, I intent to live to be 100.
Non-Back-Braking Fun Part of Project ******Know your Property******
-Need Accurate Size and Shape of Property:
I was fortunate to have my surveyor's plot plan so that I didn't have to create a measured drawing of my property (including house and driveway placement). I made a couple of copies of the appropriate area of the plot plan for me to use. I then added all the existing trees, shrubs,etc. I made a ledger size of the property to be landscaped and letter size of the main areas. These two sizes allow me to do detail or bird's eye work needed.
-Need Planting Zone Info:
Map is easily found in gardening books and magazines = Zone 6. This tells the theoretically accurate lowest and highest temperture expected in the zone. Any year's temperature may differ, and it is also good to know which month has the highest temperature days and which the lowest. Also, I needed to find out the first and last expected frost date. The actual date can be different (and has been) in any given year.
-Whither the sun, rain, and wind
I made charts of the sun and shade areas of my property on a two-hour basis throughout the growing season. My property had too many trees where I wanted to grow "sun" plants. so we have been taking trees down. In a couple of spots, I wanted some shade so we actually had to plant a few trees.
I also tied orange flagging on trees to watch the wind patterns.
Also, I researched rainfall patterns, except lately, the weather's been weird (temperature patterns also). I guess I'll try to expect the unexpected and be prepared.
-Find Planting Microclimates:
Properties tend to have spots where you may be able to grow plants that you didn't think you could. Sometimes you can actually make a microclimate to grow a plant you just can't live without. For instance, there are a couple of plants that I love that need more of a moist environment than I normally have. With a "cistern" and a specific watering plan, I can give a spot at lot more water than rain gives it. I also grow plants that need more warmth by planting close to the house against a south-facing wall.
-Test the Soil
Try digging holes. It is interesting to see how well the shovel goes (or doesn't go)into the soil and to find out how many rocks there are, and how sandy or clayey the soil is. Some of my property is sandy (a small amount), most if it is clay, and all of it is rocky. I also have some very large rocks just where I want to plant. My husband is very handy with a pick axe and we have gone through a number of them! Sometimes I just find another spot.
to be continued in Part 2 ...
