L. is interested in planting southern border of her back yard in Leeds. The area, conveniently located below a slightly terraced sloping lawn, has good baseline soil moisture and is relatively flat and stable. In our wooded grove, a small wooded hill of boulders and dense tree cover is constant […]
The kitchen garden needs to be redone – the asparagus patch was never built for easy maintenance, and so I never maintained it. It turns out asparagus doesn’t enjoy neglect, and I am moving it to behind the tomato bed. Also other stuff, like the raspberries, which have turned out […]
The 25-year-old snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue/sansevieria has decided to put out a flower. I hear they smell lovely in bloom; guess we’ll find out. Nice end to the houseplant-focused season. In a month or so they will all be outside, or most of them, which is great because by March I’m […]
This is the first time she’s shown much of an interest in horticulture.
I’ve come to love using trees as anchoring points for developing new garden areas; a starting point to build from that a messy brain can latch on to and think, ‘Yes! A starting point.’ Planting under established trees is challenging. It’s far easier to buy a young tree, plant it, […]
When we moved here in 2012 I was drawn to a granite outcropping in the featureless center of the backyard. There is something appealing about massive, half-buried rock lying around like a geological shipwreck, and I wanted to “do something with it”. Inauspicious beginnings: (L-R above): November 2012, three […]
Should probably think about starting seeds I guess.
Most of my phalenopsis orchids have bloomed reliably after summering outdoors for the past three years. They hang in shady areas–either in the grove, under a tree, or nestled in with some rhododendrons. Houseplants, including the orchids, go outside around May 15th or a bit earlier. The orchids aren’t that […]
I love the living room so much. There is snow on the ground outside, lots of it, and we have fires in the fireplace most nights and it’s such a cool combination of tropical rainforest/cabin in the woods/post apocalyptic garden/home of feral nerds. And all those plants do a […]