My Greenhouse Garden
My backyard gardens are almost cleaned up - piece of cake! Now it's time to start on my greenhouse garden. That should take me - hmmm.... until fall??
This garden is at my son's house; he's the 4th generation to live here. The garden is inside the foundation of one of my grandfather's greenhouses. It blew down many years ago; he rebuilt it only to have it blow down again. (Perhaps there was a big, bad wolf lurking about.)
Gramp had a vegetable garden here for many years, but when he died in 1987, the garden was abandoned. In 1994, I decided to take it back from the goldenrods. At that time, the only other plants in here were 3 forsythia bushes and some spring bulbs. Thanks to the help from my mother and her trusty rototiller, I was able to get most of the goldenrod out that first summer.
I took any and all plants people were giving away; many of my first plantings were plants I knew would spread quickly. (More about my spreading plants in another blog.)
My first "daunting task" is to thin out the ornamental grass - it has grown to a diameter of about 4 feet. I attempted to dig some out last week but only succeeded in getting 2 little clumps out. Does anyone have an easy way to dig this stuff up, short of a backhoe?
Once I complete this task, I will begin the major cleanup. I'll post pictures during the year of the many seasons of this garden. It doesn't look like much now, but when things start blooming, it's very pretty. My grandmother enjoyed watching me work in this garden and looked forward to seeing each plant as it bloomed. The time I spent gardening with her (and for her, as her health deteriorated) was very special to me. She died in 2004. My son purchased the house in 2005. My daughter-in-law attempted to keep the garden up, but I know how much work it takes. I spend as much time out there as I can, but it will never be perfect and it will never be weed-free; and that's okay with me.
Once it's somewhat under control, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, I need to start on another garden I have at my parent's house around their large pond.
Does anyone ever regret starting too many gardens? Sometimes there isn't enough time to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Hi Bonnie. Nice article about your Grandma's garden. I know how much that means to you. I have a plant that Delos from the Phoneix Flower Farm planted when he did my back patio and I don't know what it is. Is there any way I can post a picture on here so you can see if you can identify it for me? You know you're my go-to girl with gardening questions!
ReplyDeleteBonnie ... this is a big task and will take a lot of time and hard work .. but .. with the history of your family involved with this .. it is amazing girl !
ReplyDeleteTry to divide it into manageable sections .. stop when you need to stop for breaks don't run yourself into the ground with it or you will be frustrated and want to give it up .. look at it as a life long connection with family history .. bit by bit it will begin to click for you ! The pond .. I bet you have frogs .. peepers ? I envy you so much !! They are so special , I love their song : )
Try not to let it overwhelm you .. it is a good thing we have winter .. we need the rest in between our garden adventures !
Joy : )