The Syringa

The vegetable garden in my parents’ yard in Rochelle filled the space between our driveway and the low wire fence that separated our yard from the Lamars’ yard to the east. The garden expanded and changed over the years as my father turned the soil each spring with his pick-mattock, shovel, and pitchfork in preparation [...]

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Buddha and the Birds

This house has a patio, a stone-paved area edged with an iron railing, and raised on stone walls one story above the ground to make it level with the house’s first floor. Windows on the west wall of the dining room overlook the patio, making a pleasant view from the dining table, and a French [...]

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Lawns

A lawn, as long as it is not pointlessly large, is a kind of surface upon which to look. If a garden with an open center of grass is considered old-fashioned, well, does it really matter? – Stephen Anderton, Rejuvenating a Garden

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In Defense of the Lawn

Today, many of us feel lawns are environmentally wasteful green deserts in which no creatures live. To some extent that is true. But in a moister climate, grass grows in open spaces where trees have no chance to grow. It is the vernacular groundcover in such a climate, where gravels or hard landscaping look less [...]

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Everything at Once

Badly neglected gardens are difficult to handle because so much needs attention all at once. Emergency injections of time and energy, and sometimes money, are needed. The only way to manage it is to prioritize the work, so you don’t feel that you have to tackle everything at once. Start with those things that matter [...]

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The Moon Flower, Again

A storm was predicted for last night, so we forced ourselves to complete several yard tasks yesterday that would be best done before the rain came. We altered a contour in the front yard to help direct water away from the house and down into the grass below, and removed still more English ivy from [...]

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English Ivy

English ivy (Hedera helix) loves an old garden. It would like a whole garden to itself. You will find it on the ground in shade, climbing up walls and trees, and wound deep into hedges. Most of the work required by ivy in an old garden is removal, to put it within useful limits. In [...]

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Weeds or Wild Flowers

According to Saint-Exupéry, the Little Prince’s little planet was constantly in danger of being overwhelmed by baobabs. I mention this only because we spent another morning pulling English ivy out of another part of our yard, and I have developed considerable sympathy for the Prince’s plight. I know that there are those who love English [...]

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Cultivating our garden

We really haven’t started cultivation in earnest yet. We are still watching the land for signs of what was planted before, or what grows here on its own. We don’t want to destroy something just because we didn’t know it was here. In the meantime we try to prepare as well as we can. Our [...]

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We should cultivate our garden

“I also know,” said Candide, “that we should cultivate our garden.” “You are right,” said Pangloss, “for, when man was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was placed there ut operaretur eum, to dress it and to keep it; which proves that man was not born for idleness.” “Let us work without theorizing,” said [...]

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