A garden is a friend you can visit any time…

I’m going into my seventh year of gardening season with the 88 m² plot with a variety of over 90 plants! I now understand why the English are such big gardeners because while in Spain, it struck me how different it is when dealing with no rain and rock hard soil. It’s very difficult to have variety. 

It takes careful planning and a budget to arrange a landscape where perennial, shrubs, climbers trees, and annuals bloom every month. There is also, learning…. What soil do they require, how much sun or shade,  what depth do they prefer to be planted, growth rate and how much and when to prune, which are poisonous for birds?

Insect hotel. Still need to drill holes in some logs 

I have of course made some mistakes over the years and like humans, plants also get sick. They react to weather patterns. For example last year, my hydrangea through all the rain went completely brown, all around the leaves edges. It’s a 2x2 metre bush so its haircut took quite some time. Google supplied the remedy. A plant can also suddenly skip a year in blooming , a five year old Lupina is tired and gives up on life, wisteria gets a root disease, or mites attack. And of course there are nature’s happy mistakes where pollen-carriers drop seeds somewhere and your bed has a new resident! 

Others begin to outgrow their space or crowd other plants. So there is often a shifting task, ( in the right month) dividing or hard pruning. Pruning needs precision and timing. I have pollarded a Eucalyptus and pruned some small trees.  Maybe next year I will dare to conduct the Infamous Chelsea chop on some plants.

 

I’ve now cut to about half the initial lawn size, creating extra beds starting in the winter, with cardboard down to kill the grass and then slowly each year piling up the Earth, so a deep rooting Acanthus can grow. Fortunately, I no longer mow a huge lawn or every week. It’s  much smaller and I learnt that it’s better to let the grass grow for 2 to 3 weeks with a few dandelions and wildflowers as it leaves more  insects for the  birds. 

I’m very happy to have finally got some nice bamboo to go with my little mini Japanese temple and rain catcher, a beautiful big palm that survives winter and a baby Olive tree this year. I try to work with some evergreens so that the garden is not too dismal in winter, but of course it’s the perennials that return every year in fresh bloom that really provides spring colors in beautiful, bright pink, yellow, and white. 

Beautiful purple Iris in bud and first bloom - it propagates itself every year 

Water lilies 

Summer is rose time of which I have in each colour, hybrid, bushes and climbing. The latest addition a baby pink climber which will be beautiful in three years. Nature takes its time but if we inspect daily there is always growth. I have gone for afternoon walks and seen buds open in the time I’ve been away. I always find it miraculous!

Peony bud below  

And first Rhodendron bud, becomes massive 

A beautiful garden requires time love and care mulching the ground, watering when there’s no rain, and turning the soil when there’s too much. Once all is well landscaped, weeding is a small in between task and good landscaping results in practical maintenance. Still, with over 90 plants it needs time and care. But for all the touching the rewards are high. Visually, auditory, and scent wise.  It is a race between the birds and I to see who gets to the ripe strawberries or grapes first but I don’t mind. I can always shop. I think they will leave new carrots, baby dog tree and snack cucumbers alone. 

Tiny grapes beginning 

A garden really is a friend you can visit at any time. There is always something to do. Yesterday I saved another poor fledgling stuck on an awkward branch still unable to fly. Today i saw it with its parent and it had flown. I recognized it from its wing movements and fluffy body. They fall out of nests every year as they grow and one has to help, for there are a few  cats lurking and they’re a sitting duck low down. Birds aside, a well landscaped garden is a hive of natural activity. Bees buzzing from flower to flower, unusual creepy crawlies and birds bouncing around from branch to branch. They also crowd the porch when the feeders are empty. Smart creatures.

See how it’s wing is awfkwardly around a pruned branch (in between) about 60 cm from the ground 

To swim or not to swim… 

Native to Caribbean parrot. One of the flock who can’t wait for late summer berries! 

Although gardening means sweating sometimes, muddy wellingtons, a sting or two, often walking through spiderwebs, dirty nails and aching muscles, I believe it is the best hobby for the middle aged.  I love the outside activity, smelling the soil and watching something new happen every day. There is always a surprise and something new. A constant reminder that life is a journey and not a destination. Happy gardening you all!