Last Sunday we were invited to visit my brother’s home and gardens. He and his wife have been working for several years on their gardens. Originally the lot was a flat area that backed up to a railroad track. So, he trucked in some topsoil and they created a low berm that was edged with limestone.
Then they had a stone patio added to the back of the house with weathered wood rafters to support vines. There’s a fountain, and a grill, and the sidewalk meanders around the sides of the house passing through arbors with beautiful roses.
The berm was difficult to mow, so they installed a fence, and then trucked in more loads of dirt to create a terraced garden. The blend of plants is beautiful. There are shrubs and trees, annuals, perennials, herbs, roses….everything. My sister-in-law chooses the plants; my brother does the dirty work. She and I strolled along the path, and I would either call out the name of the plant, or ask her what it was. She’s a firm believer in mushroom compost, and you can tell it from the size of the plants. She has the biggest “Autumn Joy” seedum that I have ever seen!
I need to have them sign on to help with the renovation of my gardens! And while they are at it….I’d like a slate patio with a little brook bubbling through it on the west side of the house. We could trail a vine here…and one there…and RHODIES……we could plant rhododendrons! I can see the raccoons lounging back on the patio furniture, sipping tall drinks.
Arrrgh!!!
It's just my state of mind!
Pictures, I want photographic proof!
Buffy, wouldn’t we all like a garden like that? Problem is, I think that kind of garden means as much fall work as spring work — and by fall I only have enough motivation to pick veggies and dig potatoes. For me, spring gardening is a joy. Fall gardening is a drag.
And about the racoons? If I remember right, aren’t you the one with a roof access specially built for racoons. You’ve got them so spoiled that on top of all the extra fall work you’d have to maintain that kind of elaborate garden, you’d probably have to build patio furniture according to their size and preference.
I’m with you there, Roberta. I tend to tire of all the chores by the fall. I put a few of the plants to bed for the winter and let the rest take their chances.
The raccoons have been evicted. I’m not feeding them any longer. No lounging on the patio here….but that’s certainly a funny thought! *G*