Thứ Hai, 24 tháng 1, 2011

Change in the gardens... the last chapter?

I've been sharing posts of late about changes in the gardens, but something tells me the biggest changes are yet to come, and I've been thinking about them a lot lately. The changes are not so much for the sake of change, but rather because of changes in the gardener. I really don't want to discuss health issues but they are at the root of why I'm feeling as I am. I've always been very much driven... in my work, in my interests, and in life in general. I'm afraid to admit it, but I'm getting tired and I don't feel well a lot of the time for (I'm quite sure) reasons that are diagnosed and that I can live with if I use good judgement. The point is, I'm at a place where I actually enjoy just sitting in the garden or my home, and soaking in the results of years of hard work. I remember my grandmother in her 80's sitting in her front yard in the beautiful hills of Vermont  and enjoying watching the world go by, soaking in the natural beauty around her, happy for the occasional soul that stopped to say hello. Please do not think that I'm depressed... I'm absolutely not... in fact I'm very happy and life is good. It's just that things are different... I can't be the person who does ten years of projects in one year any longer, and it feels oddly strange to sit and come up with ideas and yet realize that I may or may not ever act on them. I grew up around a lot of folks who had dreams, but never acted on them... perhaps the dreams were impractical or because there was no real intention on following through.... just a lot of talk. This always drove me crazy and I vowed to do more than just talk about the goals in my life. I was pleased by my teenage son telling people "my dad's got more ideas than years!" I enjoyed being that way, but I guess there comes a time when things need to change. I'm not all that old, but unfortunately my body is...


So this begs the question... 'how will this affect the gardens'. Probably not a lot this year as I have lots of things ordered. Down the road though I want a different sense to pervade the gardens at Oak Lawn. My friend "Frog Pond" always talks of certain plants having a "quiet presence" in the gardens. I want that to become the general feeling here...  I want my gardens to have a "quiet presence" in the larger world... one where folks who visit find a sense of peace... a place where people want to come and "sit a spell". I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of that here now because there is... but for this gardener and his bride of forty years, the amount of work is quite intense. It needs to be a place where the gardeners themselves can "sit a few more spells" without feeling like they should be at something else. It also needs to be a place where we aren't enslaved to the maintenance and can have the freedom to leave when we desire to do so.


And so the changes have begun... last season perhaps twenty shrub roses were removed because they involve more care than I wished to provide. Beds are being filled with dwarf conifers. Instead of annuals, we will start to intermingle ground covers that don't take over the world in a single bound. And after this year greatly fewer numbers of annuals will be planted and shade beds will become woodland gardens without the benefit of one season plants. The twenty-thirty 16" baskets on the arbor and other spots may become a half dozen surrounded by more clematis. Adapt, adapt... it becomes part of one's life eventually.


I've been spending a lot of time researching martagon lilies and plan on planting large numbers of these in the coming fall. Plants of the woodland will become more prevalent... phlox divaricata and stolonifera. I will inject more spring ephemerals. I have a good start, particularly with the hostas and helebores, but far too many gems are missing... gems that could take the place of labor intensive plantings. Gems like lots of trilliums and dodecatheon and scores of others that will appreciate the maturing shade of this place.


"Frog Pond's" style and gardens have had such a profound effect on me over the last few years. When I visit his gardens I just love how we can spend an hour in ten square feet observing and discussing all the intricacies of nature that he has incorporated throughout even a small portion of his gardens. There's a sophistication that comes with age... I want to be more sophisticated as I age and I want my gardens to reflect that in a positive way. Too often I am a blast of color that appeals as in meeting someone for the first time and being sick of them soon after. So often it's the person that you don't immediately take to that turns out to be  the person of depth. I want the gardens at Oak Lawn to have more depth and character, even if some with less experience may find them less because of added subtlety.


In the final analysis, I want these gardens to be about people... we get hundreds going through every year but I want it to be more than "going through"... I want this place to be where folks can rest their minds and hearts, and yes, see a bit of God's good grace in a little two acre plot.


In closing, I'll share just one photo... an example of a part of the gardens where this plan is already making a foothold. A spot with good bones in my estimation and where subtle baubles (such as beautiful swaying martagons) will be just the touch that brings it all together... I guarantee that each of you who is a true gardener will get to this place where I am at some point in your gardening life... embrace it even though it may be a bit frightening... these are no longer superficial changes in the gardens... they are changes that reflect the soul of the gardener, and sometimes the revelation that the gardener is no longer the same person they once were... they've grown right along with the gardens... Just my two cents, Larry


p.s. I'm sharing a link to my favorite garden in the entire world... not that I've actually visited that many about the world, but I do visit a lot and study a lot of picture books! The link is on the right and it's to a small nursery and gardens in Cady's Falls, Vermont. This is a place where I visit and sit for hours... soaking it in. This is the garden of my dreams... this is what I long to experience here at Oak Lawn.


The photography on the Cady's Falls site is exceptional... take the time to navigate through the site's photos (you'll love it!) and please let me know your reaction... L


I like the feel of this area... it reminds me of hiking in a
natural pine mulched forest in northern Wisconsin



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