Читать книгу The Right-Size Flower Garden - Kerry Ann Mendez - Страница 10

INTRODUCTION

Ahhh, the gardening bug. I know how it feels to have it. There are a lot of us out there – unsuspecting folks who caught it too. And then it took over. We relished digging our lawns out to make room for plants we just had to have: a cutting garden here, a shade garden there, and there’s always an adorable rock garden somewhere! We gardened anywhere we could – including up! This wonderful obsession worked fine for a while… before “life happened.”

Our bodies “suddenly” seemed to age, we discovered new hobbies, adorable children or grandchildren arrived on the scene, job demands changed. We gardened ourselves into a corner. Like deer in the headlights, some of us chose to remain motionless as we watched our gardens slowly fall into disarray. Or we made a frenzied dash and doubled efforts to keep up with maintenance, almost burying ourselves in the compost pile in the process!

Here are just a few of my gardens before I slammed the garden cart into reverse and started downsizing. My overflowing perennial garden is just out of view here. (Pictured on page 35.)

Midway through right-sizing my perennial garden. Friends helped me dig out the plants and fill in with sod. I did leave a small area next to the garden shed for growing vegetables.

This picture was taken in early winter, right after the perennial garden was right-sized. There are two small veggie gardens surrounded by Belgian block stone and a comfy teak bench for relaxing! Just waiting for spring…

I always thought of myself as a low-maintenance gardener. My first three books focused on tough-love plants and practices. I was doing fine until August 27, 2011, when my husband had an accident and broke his neck. By God’s grace, he was not paralyzed, but his ability to help me with the gardens and lawn was dramatically impacted. He had to retire and I needed to get a full time job with benefits for the family. That abrupt bump in the garden path forced me to take a new look at what I considered to be low-maintenance.

This book shares the successful, transforming steps that “decluttered” my landscape. In some ways the exercise is similar to spring cleaning or decluttering closets and rooms. The end results are exhilarating!

This messy, unattractive area alongside my garden shed screamed for attention.

Same space, after the makeover, looking alongside the shed, which is on the right, just outside of view. A privacy cedar fence was installed running down the side of the property (the left side of these two photos). The new “garden room” has clematis climbing on the fence and low-maintenance, drought tolerant plantings on each side of a bluestone path. The “alleyway” between the fence and the shed is about 8' wide. I also put in a cedar arbor to mark the entrance into this new “room.”

We’ll walk arm-in-arm as I help you re-evaluate each area of your garden space: what can stay as-is, or be downsized or – gasp – eliminated! Next, we’ll take a look at the plants: which ones stay, or are switched for higher-impact, lower-maintenance varieties, or…Finally, I’ll equip you with design solutions to create a garden that is as close to auto-pilot as you can get (without sinking to the use of artificial plants). These solutions will work for all of us: the time-pressed working gardener (me), the older gardener who just can’t get out there and dig the way you used to, and the urban gardener who has only a patio or deck to play with.

After implementing the recommendations in this book, you’ll spend 50% less time on chores and your landscape will be more beautiful than ever! I still love my time in the garden, always will. But now a healthy balance is back. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too!