m-lewis's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAGAZINE PERFECT YARD I have a friend, Paula (Yarnsmith.diaryland.com), who lives near Chicago. She has a gorgeous yard! I suggested she should take her camera for a walk around the entire yard, and send me lots and lots of pictures. She has a fairy house (yes, it's a real rock fairy house), raised vegetable beds, a birdhouse on a tree post, red bleeding heart plants, a cute little gardening concrete man -- just the symmetry of her whole yard is inspirational. It's just the kind of thing that home and garden magazines look for. Have you ever seen the feature, "Let's Take A Walk" in Birds and Blooms? I would love to have a beautiful yard. A showplace. See? Dwain grew up in the country and was taught to be practical. My dad grew up the same way. It took Mother most of her life to train him to think in terms of pretty rather than practical. I grew up in town where all the women in my mother's circle of friends were members of the garden club. Gardens = flowers... and shrubs and exotic trees and lovely, symmetrical borders. At my childhood home, summertime back yards were for patios, huge terra cotta pots spilling over with assorted greenery. There were giant umbrellas and shaded pagodas and soft, soft, soft grass to run barefooted through without fear of stepping on a wild cactus or a burr or a sharp rock. The smooth concrete driveway rolling from the street into the carport was a place to roller skate and draw hop scotch games and bounce balls and ride bicycles. As far as teaching Dwain the importance of a lovely yard, I realized ages ago I would have to be patient. Digging in the soil was genetically built into Dwain's DNA, so at least I know I have something to work with. Making a garden look pretty is not something that comes naturally to him though. Growing flowers is also not something he understands. Like so many of the farmers around here, in their minds Gardens = vegetables. As far as Dwain is concerned, a country vegetable garden is supposed to be functional; an undefined plot of tilled up soil where vegetables are planted in mounded rows. To hold the weeds back you are supposed to mulch between the garden rows with whatever you have handy -- old carpet, newspaper, shredded documents. Dwain's mulch of choice this year is empty feed sacks. Some good friends (a dentist and his wife) recently came out for a visit. When Dwain proudly showed them "our" garden, the dentist just shook his head and laughed. He said, "Dwain, Dwain, Dwain. You can do better than this." I could have kiss him. Finally, someone besides me has given him a head's up. This doctor and his wife also reside in a rural area and enjoy a rather large vegetable garden. It's a hobby they both love. The borders in their garden are well defined by using flowers and wood posts (the kind one would find at Home Depot), the rows of vegetables are as straight as taute string and mulched in between with red cypress. They have provided sturdy little fences for the athletic little climbers like cucumbers and beans, and a variety of little bird houses are whimsically positioned here and there throughout. Their garden is MY dream garden. Vegetables, flowers. It doesn't matter. I want mine to look like that. I guess the important thing for me to remember... this is Gardener Dwain's way of de-stressing. Normally he's not much of a nurturer, but when it comes to those little plants, he's as proud of them as if they were his own little babies. As soon as I come home he wants to show me the weency little green tomatoes that just popped out or how good our abundant lettuce crop is doing. If it's after dark when I arrive home, we trudge out with a flashlight. I just wish I had more daylight hours to help him. So, as far as my dream garden goes, my mantra is: Some day. Some day. I've asked him to at least try and construct a border around his garden's perimeter. Please try and make it pretty, I beg over and over. And to his credit, he's at least made a concerted effort by layering a flat rock wall along one edge. I've suggested marigolds or zinnias for the remainder. At least they are pretty. So far, that hasn't happened. Wait! Here's an idea. I could purchase some pre potted ones at the garden center and set them out for him. I wonder how many I'll need? 10:42 a.m. - 2007-05-25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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