I managed to paint at least the section of the gazebo where we had to pull vines away and then sand. I put one coat of paint on the exposed areas. I was hoping to repaint the entire gazebo but it will have to wait for spring. I forgot that even painting is tiring work. At least, all the wood is protected.
We decided to cut down two "Dwarf" Alberta Spruce in front of the den windows. They grew too large and at one one end the Korean Lilac and the Inkberry (Ilex glabra [sp?]) really wanted to expand ... something had to give. We decided that if we took down one it made design sense to take down both. Actually, it looks very nice now. I might plant a rose bush. It will look nice against the house and since I only buy fragrant roses, the scent will be nice by the open window.
Our tree man came to discuss trees to take down/neaten. On the property line in back of my new summer border is the tallest, ugliest, poison ivied, decrepit Pine. It has been dropping its branches all over the place, so I decided to have it put out of its misery and save myself constant cleanup from it. We also found a few tall, skinny trees with "rugs" of leaves 35 foot up -- they also will come down. This should also let a little sunlight into a needed spot. I think we are finally making a good setting for the magnificent trees: oaks of all kinds, hickories, Stuartia, Black Cherries, American Elms (yes, I actually have some in perfect condition!), Tulip trees, a European Linden, an Ash, a Purple Beech, a Sourwood, and some nice looking Sassafras and Birch. Most of the trees were on the property when we bought it, or Nature planted after we moved in. We will try to keep a "managed woodlot".
If anyone living in this area of Connecticut, I have a great tree man: Robert Finch of Finch's Tree Service in Wilton.
I just read an emailed letter from Fine Gardening magazine. Two articles were of great interest. I will talk about them in the next post -- it is time to clean up and make dinner.
I was introduced to gardening by my maternal grandmother Giuditta, and in her garden I spent the most idyllic days of my childhood. By the time I grew up and wanted a garden of my own, I had to find substitute grandmothers. I found Gertrude Jekyll and Jim Crockett. Through their words and with my memories, I am attempting to create another idyllic garden.
Down the garden path ...
...and strolling through a garden of memories
~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!
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!
~Gertrude Jekyll, Jim Crockett, Grandmother, & I~
~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.
*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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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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