The New Shade Garden

I spent the last week working on and off on the new shade garden . I had ordered compost and three pallets of stone the previous week for the project.  The hardest part was digging through all the tree roots.  With its southern exposer and high shade this area will be ideal for many of the spring emphemerals that I grow.  I had saved quite a few plants from my old garden which were wintered over in a friends garden.  I  put a small water feature  in the lower wall  which will add a nice sound of water in the background and give the birds a place to drink.

Early Spring at Berkshire Botanical Garden

 

Yesterday I went to hear Page Dickey speak at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge Massechucetts  She gave a great talk called Embroidered Ground (which is also the name of her new book) which delt with her 29 year old garden and how it has changed over the years.  After the program I walked around the gardens checking out the early bulbs and hellebores in bloom. 

Spring

Spring has finally reach us in upstate New York.  The early bulbs are blooming and the snow has departed.  My wife and I have cleaned up most of the yard and I have started some new gardens.  My plant orders will be arriving the second week of April.  The next step is to order soil and compost for the new beds.

Cold

This winter has been snowy and cold so far. We are supposed to go well below zero tonight.  The month of January has been a snowy one with at least one storm a week.  As much as I dislike winter it does give me time to read other blogs, study garden catalogs and work on upcoming talks that  I am giving this year.    I am having a half dozen  trees cut down that were in bad shape or in a bad location.  This will allow me  room to add  shrubs and smaller trees to help form the bones of the new garden.  

  

Moved In

We moved into our new house two weeks ago but just got Internet today. My first project was setting up my plant room in the basement.  The little cuttings and stock plants are now happy under lights waiting for Spring. The yard here has a lot of potential and I will spend the next few months planning the new garden. (also repainting the inside of our new home) The first big job next Spring will the front the house which will need a complete make over.  I still don't understand why people allow their foundation plantings to become overgrown..  The yew on the right blocks part of the garage door.  I will save the Rhododendron and make use of it somewhere else in the yard.

Moving On

After 22 years of living and gardening in the same place my wife and I have decided to move.  We are relocating less than an hour  away to live near our grandson.  Moving the contents of a house is hard enough but add the possesions of  a passonate gardener and life gets complicated.  Garden tools, pots, and other things are being stored at different places till Spring.  I potted up some plant material before the house was sold and heeled it in at a freinds garden for the winter. Many choice plants are being left behind but generous freinds have offered me divisions from their gardens next Spring.  Some  people think that I am crazy to leave my garden but I am looking foward to designing and building a new one. The new place is ideal for a shade garden which also happens to be my main interest. I will keep the garden smaller so my wife and I will have more time for family and travel.(Visiting other gardens)  The hardest part will be restraining my urge to keep adding more gardens and aquiring to many plants,                                                                                                

Sunday in November