garden thots

moving ..

2009-03-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

hi .. i just wanted to let anyone know who would like to continue reading this blog, that i have moved it to my new website: www.gardenthoughts.ca ..

thanks for reading
j

a trio of hazelnuts ..

2009-03-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

i was recently asked if i could write a bit about hazelnut trees .. the person who asked said she was always so taken by the catkins that cascade down from slender stems .. sounds so poetic, somehow ..

i can remember catkins on trees from when i was a little girl, living on the prairies .. i didn't know the names of the trees, or even that the hanging clusters were called 'catkins' ..i learned that later on in my life .. catkins .. an essential aspect of the winter flowering garden ..

my more recent experience with hazelnut trees and catkins was with phil .. i must have walked into his yard more than a hundred times without even realizing the trees were there .. then, one late december, early january day, phil introduced us .. he took me to see a trio of spindly, yet graceful small trees growing along the side of the golf cart shelter, on the boulevard .. their branches were adorned with catkins .. he said the trees probably wouldn't do very well, as they were overshadowed by a towering maple .. not enough light .. nonetheless, he loved that they were there as they are, indeed, among the hardy entities of the winter flowering garden ..

now, years later, as i watch for them, it seems one day they are not there, and the next time i look, they are .. poof .. another pleasureful display of magic .. catkins stretching out .. loosening .. transforming into fluffy cat tails ..

and then, miracle of miracles .. miniscule flowers at the tips of buds ..

the trees produce a few nuts, as well, although really it is the presence of the catkins and the tiny red flowers that make the biggest impression ..

january flowers ..

2009-01-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

the other morning, clothed in a multitude of layers, with scarf, hat and gloves covering my extremities, loading up my wheelbarrow in readiness for heading down the road, i was suddenly struck with a curious wondering about how other people might view me as i head out to garden in -1 degree celcius weather .. (with humour, hopefully) .. not that it really matters .. i mean, there aren't many other gardeners on this island venturing out in, what is to us, frigid weather .. most are content to stay indoors until things warm up a bit .. understandably so .. but not me .. this time of year, particularly, i'm so excited to get out and see how everyone over in the winter flowering garden is doing .. after all, it's been more than three weeks since i was last there .. so much has happened .. temperature isn't really even a factor as to whether i'll go, or not .. i'm gone ..

naturally, my first task will be to clean up needles and a few errant maple leaves .. that's a given .. yet, once done, all the better to see the garden .. this was always my first priority when phil was alive .. as i saw it, he was the artist, the plants were the medium, and i was the brush .. it was important that he be able to see his creation .. so, i was always busying about, tidying up, raking, sweeping, cleaning the canvas so he could sit in his chair at the sliding glass doors, attached to his oxygen machine, and see how the garden was growing .. because you want to see this winter flowering garden .. it is a miraculous, growing, living work of art, whose initial intent was to bring colour to an otherwise drab, and dormant, winter surround .. and so, the main attraction for phil and me then, and for me now, is watching the picture appear .. and it comes .. slowly .. subtly .. through the decidious shrubs .. the witchhazels, the sarcacocca, the hazelnuts, the winter flowering cherries, and more .. and through the perennials .. the cyclamen coum, the hellebores, the primula, the mahonia, and more .. over the past three weeks, despite the snow, there has been a lot of growing going on, and as i walk over to the garden, the previous wonderings of my curious mind falling away behind me as i fill with anticipation for what lies ahead ..

although it's only a five minute walk from home, the change in atmosphere is tangible as soon as i step into the driveway .. suddenly, it feels like spring .. in this yard, plants are coming into bud, and even blooming .. the effect of their presence is astounding to me, even though i've witnessed it winter after winter for over 10 years .. i am immediately greeted by the witchhazel .. its crumpled up tendrils of yellow emerging from the tight buds of three weeks ago .. its fragrance wafts around me .. man, i love this garden!

and there's more ..

many of these cyclamen 'coum' grow beneath the witchhazel .. they come leaf first .. then, tight to the ground, wee little magenta buds show themselves, slowly lifting up on three inch stalks (like little soldiers, phil used to say) waiting until just the right moment to flower .. until then they are furled, like this one ..

and snowdrops .. who doesn't love these guys .. so sweet ..

here is a helleborus 'niger' .. a christmas rose.. it's the first of the different hellebores to bloom in this garden .. phil loved hellebores for their reliability in the shade .. we planted them all over the yard ..

this rhododendron is beginning to make its presence known .. big, fat buds .. i think it's rhododendron mucranulatum, but i'll have to check that to be sure ..

a mahonia, whose name i believe is 'charity' .. we have native mahonia here that grows closer to the ground .. this one, however, stands tall on a five foot stalk .. beautiful .. actually, there's a picture of one blooming, and covered in snow, in a previous post .. also fragrant ..

phil and i moved this witchhazel over to the fence where it tangles up with a winter flowering jasmine .. the jasmine doesn't really get the kind of sun it likes, but nonetheless, there are always a few brilliant yellow flowers mingled in with the rediness of this guy .. a wonderfull combination .. (it's working, phil!)

this witchhazel grows by the back of the house .. i believe his name is 'arnold's promise' .. a bright lemony yellow with a citrusy fragrance .. he comes just a bit later than the 'pallida' of the first pictures ..

another kind of hellebore .. foetidus .. the stinking hellebore, although i've never found it offensive .. i love the greenness and roundness of its flower buds ..

a close up of the winter flowering cherry (prunus subhirtella 'autumnalis') although not a very clear picture .. hopefully, i'll get sharper as the flowers open .. such a soft pink on this one ..

here's sarcacocca 'humilis' .. it's so delightfull that it has berries and flowers at the same time .. they contrast beautifully with the green of the leaf .. the berries are actually red before they reach this deep maroon colour .. the tiny dangling flowers are full of fragrance .. another wafter ..

and, i discovered this little fungi growing on the inside of one of the half oak barrels that line the driveway .. i almost mistook it for a very moldy cedar needle, at first ..

having been witness to these early january wonders, i look forward to what will greet me next week .. more magic, no doubt ..

into our third week of snow ..

2009-01-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

i'm feeling a bit antsy .. i'm happy for having the time off from gardening, however, i'm also looking forward to puttering around again, getting a sense of what's been growing over the past three weeks while the snow's been here .. in the winter garden, in particular, a new season is beginning .. before long, the atmosphere will be spring-like there .. flower buds are already expanding .. soon, i'll be greeting old "friends" i haven't seen for a year .. imagine, if you can, a winter flowering garden .. let's see .. it's january now .. who will be the first to show ..

hmmm .. think i'll go for a walk ..

random snow thots ..

2008-12-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

i'm sitting here, listening to jack johnson's 'sleep through the static' .. i've only recently been introduced to his music and lyrics .. i'd heard reference to 'banana pancakes' a couple of times during conversations, as though it were a code of some sort .. not knowing jack's music, i couldn't begin to understand .. then, i heard 'in between dreams' and there it was .. 'banana pancakes' .. take a break .. leave the busyness of your immediate world and pause .. sigh .. relax in knowing all you need is right here, right now .. ah, banana pancakes .. i get it! .. i simply hadn't thought it in terms of pancakes .. well, who is to say what words need to be used to refer us to the present moment .. where "we have everything we need .. and everything we need is enough" ..

makes me think of christmas .. when is all we have enough .. this year, as in many past, i observed that the spirit of christmas has slipped from the heart to the pocketbook .. sad, really .. sad that we humans get so caught up in buying to fulfill perceived needs .. sad that children have come to believe that getting more stuff (adding to the mountains already accumulated over such a short time on the planet), is somehow fulfilling .. i feel sorry for us .. in my own random thots, it occurs to me that we are way off the track .. heart to pocketbook is a drastic shift in consciousness .. not to say that it is "wrong," because who is to say what is wrong or right .. i tend to think of it more in terms of spans of time .. as in, it took a span of time for us to get where we are now, i wonder what span of time will pass before we get back on track .. being here, now, where everything we have is enough ..

christmas is so not a now situation .. at least, we've built it up to such a disproportion that as soon as hallowe'en has passed, we are being prompted to think about christmas, about those we love, and about how we have to spend money to demonstrate that love .. money equals love ..hmmmm .. i'm not sure i'm convinced on that score .. however, i don't mean to bore you all with these seemingly disgruntled philosophical ramblings of my own mind re the spirit of christmas .. on the flip side, i observe that there is a more intensified love between us during this time of year .. in my own experience, my heart seems to open a little wider to include people beyond my immediate scope .. i drop a few more dollars in a busker's hat .. help more elderly cross the snowy road .. smile more .. i am more aware that love is demonstrated in a myriad of different little things i do .. but is it christmas that brings out this sensitivity to love .. or would it be here regardless .. could it be here regardless of the season .. perhaps it is always here, now .. maybe we just aren't .. yet ..

i believe we are on our way .. may we glide gently into the new year ..

a winter wonder land ..

2008-12-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

right now, we're enjoying a winter wonder land here .. it's quite an unusual occurrence for us to have over a foot of snow on the ground (not sure how many centimeters .. lots) for any length of time .. this year the snow has been falling for over a week .. that's unusual, too .. often what happens is we get a big dump, and then it rains .. not so this year ..

the walk to and from the ferry now means stumbling along the ruts previously made by others with vehicles .. trucks and cars, mainly, as likely, golf carts would just get hung up on the snow between the ruts .. so, getting around is a bit different for us .. in town, it's a whole other ball game .. there isn't really enough snow removing equipment to make much of a dent in what's graced the island .. however, i think, things could be so much worse .. for this, and for what's occurring with the weather in other places on the planet these days, we can be thankfull ..

in all of this, i am feeling a little bit smug .. as a gardener i am out and about, puttering around in some fashion, in some garden, on any day that it isn't pouring down with rain, or blowing up a storm .. now that the ground is covered in white, there isn't really anywhere to garden .. and so i sit .. and i read .. or i knit .. or i get up and bake .. i've had so much time at home that i managed to get christmas gifts made, packed up and shipped out to varying places in the country with time to spare .. and still i have time to sit, and read, or knit or blog or not .. it's such a pleasure, really, and every winter in times of snow i get more comfortable, in myself, with just sitting .. and reading .. or knitting .. or whatever else suits my fancy .. i am revelling in my non gardening time .. how lovely ..

oh, and i get outside at least once a day .. because i can get cabin fever after a few hours of being inside .. i take my camera and off i go .. if i can't be out there gardening, then i can be out there taking pictures of gardens under snow .. someone has to do it, i suppose ..

winter flowering magic ..

2008-12-04T20:37:00.001-08:00

below is a photo of helleborus niger flower buds .. this is the first of many different hellebores that will bloom in this winter .. hellebores were one of phil's favourites for the garden because they are able to tolerate varying amounts of shade and, of course, because they bloom during winter months ..

i attempted to get a good close up of one of the hellebore's buds .. i wish you could see it the way i do ..

and, i've been watching this witchhazel (hamammelis intermedia) for a few weeks waiting to see just what i'm seeing here .. this crack of colour is stunning .. what a performance this one is starting to put on for us ..

november blooms ..

2008-11-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

this flower is in bloom today .. it is a vibirnum bodnantense .. there are two of these flowering shrubs in the winter flowering shade garden .. one lives in a a light filled area that gets a bit of sun from time to time in the afternoon .. the other lives in the front yard, at the base of a small cedar tree, in a relatively shaded raised bed .. there was more light there until the cedar branches started growing longer and sweeping downwards .. now there's a bit more shade than this little guy likes .. so, time to prune back cedar branches ..

it's always interesting to me to see how different plants respond to different environments .. for instance, in this shaded garden the amount of light makes all the difference between how these two vibirnums perform .. the one that receives more light has maybe 30 blossoms on it this year .. the most i've seen on it .. the other has three .. i just read some notes i had from 2000 and this same vibirnum, with three blossoms, had fifteen that year .. and, i know of another vibirnum bodnantense that lives in full sun, and explodes with hundreds of flowers, usually a bit later in the season .. so interesting .. the subtleties of this garden have endeared me to it since i first began to recognize them with phil .. even now, seeing a witchhazel bud cracking open to reveal the tiniest bit of colour puts me into a state of complete wonderment ..

this vibirnum that i took the pictures of put out flower buds weeks ago, and they are slowly, slowly opening to eventually show us what they've been hiding in there .. a deciduous shrub, vibirnums drop their leaves in autumn .. the round, plump pink and white flower buds stretch out eventually forming little circlets of flowers dangling, as if in mid air, from the tips of branches .. and the fragrance .. oo-la-la .. when i came around the corner of the house this morning a wafting of intense perfume curled around me .. how delightful to bask in the fragrance for just a few seconds ..

here's a shot of buds opening .. another flower on the same shrub .. i love these guys ..

and, although not blooming yet, here is promise of many blooms to come on the witchhazel (hamammelis mollis 'pallida') .. she is loaded with these curls of flower buds .. i can hardly wait until december, january, or whenever it decides to open .. naturally, i'll be taking photos ..

now, on to a wider view .. today was the day that i managed to clean up the last of the leaves and fir needles in front and down the side of the house .. the leaves go into the bins, and the fir needles onto the pathways to make them soft for walking, and keep the weeds at bay .. and still there are many thousands of leaves and needles to rake on the other side of the house, but they'll be there when i get back next week ..

dividing primula .. or is that polyanthus ..

2008-11-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

i was dividing, and moving and replanting primula today .. they are a stunning blue colour with a brilliant yellow eye .. there were clusters of them here and there throughout the garden desperately in need of being separated .. i pulled five or six single plants from each cluster i dug up, and planted them in a number of different places around the yard .. the beauty of perennials ..

i'll have to look up the difference between primula and primrose .. for some reason, i believe they are different .. ah, found it in "primroses and spring" by doretta klaber, written in 1966 .. she says: "primrose is the english or common name for primula" .. actually, the other name i was thinking of is polyanthus .. these are the primroses that we can buy in the grocery stores and nurseries early in the year, to add bright colour to our gardens after many grey, overcast, and often rainy days of winter .. so, to carry on .. today i was dividing, and moving and replanting polyanthus .. as i went through the motions i recalled having read somewhere that primula like to have their crown above ground .. and, i've noticed, in the past, that when i happened to bury the little crown a bit too deep that the plant started to get moldy .. unless i lifted them right away they just disappeared .. so i am careful to keep the crown just above the ground .. i dig a hole, three or four inches deep, let the roots fall into the hole and then fill in from the bottom of the roots up .. as i firmed the soil around the plant, i was reminded of when i was twenty something, working in an nursery in ontario, and the fellow who owned the nursery instilled in me that plants need to be firmly planted so as not to be falling over, or wobbling about .. i took his practical advice to heart, and have since planted plants securely, firming the ground around their stalks .. i believe this does give them a strong foundation from which to grow .. it's good to have these gentle reminders come, more often than not, at just the right time ..

this, i believe, is a true english primula .. i don't know which one .. i found it last year in a garden, with about 100 others, and brought it home .. this coming spring (2009) will be its first performance in my garden ..

yesterday, i spent the afternoon building another bed in our yard, and planting about 30 primula 'wanda' around the base of a rhododendron .. i feel excited to see the outcome in the spring ..

it's the little things ..

windy day ..

2008-11-21T15:43:00.001-08:00

i love my vocation .. there's nothing like going out to the garden shed in the morning, loading up the wheelbarrow with gardening tools, and then heading out the back path, through the woods to work .. or, down the gravel roadways .. how fortunate i feel i am to be in this position, rather than heading off to the 9-5 every morning in the midst of so many other bodies .. i have done that, in the past, and it was perfect at the time .. however, i have since managed my way to where i am now, and am so pleased with the outcome .. this photo below is of the path through the woods at the back of our house .. there are a couple of small trees down across the path further along, but i'm able to lift my wheelbarrow right over top .. after that, we're free wheeling ..

it's raining today .. and windy .. i was in a garden down the road doing a bit of cleaning around a few shrubs and trees (i.e. pulling weeds, loosening soil, by hand) and putting down a circular mulch of compost around the base of same .. they are out on the boulevard near the road where they pretty much look after themselves .. a little extra attention always helps i find .. anyway, it hadn't been windy when i arrived, but boy, big winds started up about a half hour later, and i began to wonder if it was wise to be working under the swaying trees .. i headed out to the front of the house to watch the waves coming in from the southeast, small caps of white foam adorning their curls .. i don't really mind being out, on land, in big winds, however, i stay alert to any crackings of large branches above, or nearby .. despite the force of it, i decided that i would stay and finish mulching .. the wind blew in a rhythm of subsiding, then surging .. by the time i came to the last of my task i saw a familiar little red truck approaching .. frank and beau had come along to take me and my wheeelbarrow home ..

this is our canine friend, beau .. short for beauregarde .. he's been with us just over seven years, and is a wonder dog .. when we got beau as a pup we decided he would go with us wherever we were working .. he's turned out to be a great companion for me while i'm gardening .. or for frank when he's off landscaping .. we take turns having beau with us .. once we arrive at a yard, beau takes a tour around to sniff out any important messages, then finds himself a spot, lies down, and watches, and waits until it's time to move on .. such a patient soul ..

bulb preview ..

2008-11-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

i planted 25 of these bulbs today .. it's a narcissus named 'jetfire' .. .. a splash of spring delight to look forward to ..

compost ramblings

2008-11-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

while many other maples have finished dropping their leaves, down at the pub is one lone tree which has only just begun .. consequently, as mentioned earlier, joe and i have our work cut out for us .. have had for the past few weeks, actually .. if nothing else goes into the wheelbarrow to take to the garden, a rake and broom are essential at this time of year .. 5' tall, 5' across circular wire bins are set up in each of the gardens i look after, all stuffed to the gills primarily with maple leaves .. many attempting to escape through the holes in the bins .. ah, well, in a year or two there will be lovely, workable material to spread among the perennials and shrubs ..

that's the thing i love about composting .. in just a matter of time kitchen scraps, leaves, garden debris, all work together and turn into beautiful, dark, crumbly compost .. magic .. living on a small island, it can be a bit of a chore to get bags or yards of manure or sea soil barged over to satisfy the gardener's lust for mulch .. however, the longer one lives and gardens here, the more apt one is to create one's own "manure," or compost .. easier, by far, than lugging 20kg bags ..

and, for every composter, there is a reason .. as you might well imagine, a large volume of compostable waste comes from a pub kitchen .. on a busy summer's day that kitchen can pump out four five-gallon buckets to be carried up the ramp to the composters .. maybe more .. so, in order to put that waste to use the owners of the pub have recently invested in five rolling composters .. my mission, as gardener, is to have beautiful, usable compost in "just four to six weeks," as the brochure implies, simply by filling and rolling .. well, fortunately, at least i have the winter to work out the kinks .. i'm already counting week 10 (or is it 11), and still no ready, usable compost .. obviously, the key is to get the right proportions of wet and dry .. so far, we're heavy on the wet side of things .. to compensate, i can see swinging way over to being heavy on the dry .. however, i have faith, and know that experience and practice will eventually win out and we will be rolling those composters across the lawn and mulching all trees, shrubs, perennials, vines and annuals to within an inch of their lives .. every four to six weeks ..

cyclamen hederifolium

2008-11-17T09:26:00.001-08:00

over the past twelve years i have had the pleasure of maintaining a winter flowering garden .. while the other gardens i look after are being put to bed at this time of year, this one is just beginning to wake up .. thus, my priority at this time of year is to set the stage for this winter's performance ..

in september, a couple of months before the witchhazel transforms to its autumn colour, cyclamen hederifolium begin to show themselves around the garden .. initially, they put up 3-4" tall stalk graced with whorled flower buds, all wrapped up within themselves, showing the lightest of pink or the whitest of white .. a few weeks later, butterfly-like flowers unfurl .. and later still, dark green points emerge, eventually growing into heart shaped leaves deftly decorated with lacey, silver design .. every leaf just slightly different from every other .. these little beauties go on and on, flowering right through to the end of october, often into november ..

the first time i encountered hardy cyclamen was while attending university .. i had a favourite bench in a quiet, woodland setting where i spent quite a bit of time quietly reading, or going over class notes .. .. .. one september day i arrrived at the bench, and lo and behold on the leaf littered ground at my feet were about a hundred of these delightful little flowers which reminded me of house plants i had seen, but much smaller .. i was in the presence of hardy cyclamen .. a few years later while working with phil in his garden these lovely little plants were re-introduced to me as they were one of his favourites .. and now, mine, as well ..

again, i see i'm late to go meet my gardening partner, joe .. she and i will be working down at the pub garden this morning .. no doubt raking more maple leaves .. our work is cut out for us this time of year ..

Hamamelis mollis "Pallida" (Witch Hazel) changing colour ..

2008-11-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

this witch hazel heralds the magic yet to come in this garden .. it was planted about twelve years ago by my friend, and gardening mentor, phil .. i have an old photo that shows phil standing beside this beauty .. he is taller than the tree .. he had no idea that it would become this large and expansive .. "a vigorous specimen," as he would say .. and every year this awesome tree goes through this lovely transformation as it wends its way toward flowering during winter months .. she is the first of many delights in phil's winter flowering shade garden ..

2008-10-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

when i started writing here, what, almost a month ago, i thought that i would continue at least weekly .. well, a month has passed and here i am .. not even sure what to write about, yet babbling away as my fingers hit the keyboard in an attempt to keep up with the ramblings of my mind ..

actually, before i sat down here i was just about to head off to one of 'my' gardens to plant 120 bulbs .. i'm feeling pretty excited with that task .. planting bulbs always seems to bring with it the promise of spring, even as we are just heading into the promise of winter .. here that can mean a myriad of weather offerings .. rain, seemingly for days on end, sun or glimpses of sun, wind that can blow the 100 foot and taller cedars, firs, alders and maples in and around our yard, sideways, a bit of snow from time to time .. speaking of winter brings me back to planting bulbs, and the promise of spring ..

a beginning ..

2008-09-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

it's a beautiful, sunny day today, and although frank and i had thought we were going for a boat ride, it turns out we're staying home to play in the yard .. i'm delighted, as i just started to rebuild the soil in the beds yesterday, and now i can continue on ..

when we first started this garden frank built three roundish stone beds under fir, arbutus and cedar trees, respectively, and filled them with topsoil wheeled barrow by barrowful from the roadside .. then, i went around after him, dug holes, filled them with topsoil amended with compost, manure and bonemeal, and then plunked plants in .. that was a year ago last spring .. now, there is about an inch or two of relatively healthy soil above a foot (or more) of dry, dusty dirt that doesn't hold a drop of moisture .. consequently, the plants are not as happy as they could be in a more moisture retentive soil .. poor guys .. so, the project is to take plants out of the beds, pot them up, turn the dust and water the bed, add the compost mix, dig that into the somewhat dampened dirt, and replant .. i am intent on creating a healthy, happy garden .. and, as my friend, phil, used to say, the state of the plants reflects the state of the soil .. i agree .. healthy soil, healthy plants ..

i feel pretty excited as this project has been on my mind awhile .. i'm just thankful that the plants have hung in there with me until now .. another thing phil used to say was it's part of the mission of a gardener to make it as easy as possible for plants to grow .. makes sense .. roots attempting to take up nutrients from a dry, dusty base, are not likely to be as strong and robust as roots moving through friable soil taking up nutrients with ease .. so here i am digging out plants, potting them up, amending the beds, and re-planting in, what i have determined, is a more healthy environment .. so, we'll see what spring brings ..

altough i have worked in many gardens over the course of my lifetime, this is the first time i have had the opportunity to garden a whole yard .. i have done pieces of yards before .. i lived in an apartment block that had a tiny piece of workable land that i planted up .. and i've lived in places where there were gardens already .. and i've worked in numerous vegetable gardens .. now, however, i come to this place, which was, essentially, a house on an empty canvas .. inch by inch, bit by bit, it is being transformed into a yard with a garden .. fill and dirt have been left in huge piles by the roadside, to be wheeled in by frank and me to fill ditches, level the unlevelled, and create garden beds .. we just keep plugging away, playing (as we like to look at it), and things change .. the lot is changing to a yard, so far with woodshed, garden shed, garden beds, and compost bins .. everything we need is here ..

after frank built the beds, my main purpose was to get plants i had been carrying around for years, out of pots and into the ground .. i had dozens of pots, of varying shapes and sizes, filled with plants from friends, from cuttings, from divisions, waiting to get planted into the ground .. so in they went, wherever i dug a place .. when i started, i hadn't really taken the time to watch the movement of light through the yard .. so 'the guys' were placed willy nilly .. i'd thought there was a lot more sun where there wasn't now, i have a bit more of a grasp on sunlight and shade .. i learn as i go .. what i've learned over this past year and a half is that there is a whole lot more shade in this yard than sun .. well, hallelujah, i say .. shade gardens are my favourite of gardens i have worked in ..

for the past thirteen years i've made my living as a maintenance gardener .. the numbers of gardens and hours in gardens have changed over the years .. at one point in time, i was working in two gardens a day .. usually seven to eight hour days .. whew! .. i now have five gardens that i look after on a weekly basis .. add to that a cafe container garden once a week, a watering job every second day, and a year in a garden while the owners are away .. keeps me out of trouble, i can tell you that! .. in my mind, my job is to keep the gardens i look after as healthy and happy as i can .. that means weeding, trimming, dividing, pruning, deadheading, watering and mulching .. so, i do have the fundamentals under my belt .. the challenge for me is taking what i've learned over the past thirteen years and applying it in my own garden .. i am delighted ..