My garden odyssey: We make a plan

EPISODE VIII

HE SAID: Not long after our offer on our current house was accepted — and well before the closing — I drew the first plan for our new garden. Looking back on it after fourteen years is very instructive. The similarities and differences between that plan and where we ended up reflect not only the growth of our ideas about gardening but also the maturing of our relationship as a couple.

We began our landscaping adventure with a lot of different ideas about what we wanted to include; many of them at odds with one another. Linda wanted to build on what she had accomplished in her previous gardens. I wanted a Japanese garden and water. She wanted to continue gardening in the Western tradition. I wanted to look to the East for inspiration. We both wanted to be in control. 

AN AERIAL VIEW OF OUR FIRST PLAN: The house with ground-level rear deck is in the center of the picture with the long driveway out to the street. The edges of the drawing are the lot lines.

My initial impulse was to design not a garden, but a suite of gardens. Certainly, I told myself, there is enough room on a half acre to accommodate all our wishes. In the drawing above, you can see that in the center of the back yard (a 100 ft. x 100 ft. space) I drew a walled, raised area with a central, square water feature surrounded by perennial beds on three sides. Very formal, and placed where it would get maximum sun. That would be Linda's garden. (The "boot" shaped space with the dotted outline represents the actual size of our previous garden!)

SHE SAID: Our new neighbors had a yard of similar size and shape with a vegetable garden — raised up a few steps — in the same location we were considering for my garden, which gave me a pretty clear idea about how all this would work. 

THE DESIGN OF THE BACK YARD IN MORE DETAIL: The deck is at the bottom of the picture.

HE SAID: My garden, in a Japanese style, would go right behind the house on the right or west side (looking at the house from the front). It would be outside our bedroom; French doors and a small deck would give us instant access to the garden when we got up each morning. 

In the southeast corner we could build a pond. Our Pawley's Island hammock would be hung between two Austrian pines in the southwest corner shade garden. We'd add a dry stream with irises to deal with the drainage issues on the east side.

SHE SAID: Do you know how many cones are showered down daily by an old Austrian pine? Alas we learned the answer is dozens — and with enough force to be painful when they hit you. Our alternative hammock site — under a pair of mature apple trees — presented its own problems.

HE SAID: In front, along one side of the driveway, we would have a "long border" with a rock garden across from it. The major portion of the front yard would comprise a natural garden divided into sub-areas by strolling paths and stepping stones.

SHE SAID: I thought I'd died and gone to heaven at the prospect of a 65 ft. long x 10 ft. deep perennial border. I planned to call it the "Hendrix Border" because it would be a purple haze when in bloom.  

THE HOLDING BED IN THE MIDDLE OF LINDA'S FUTURE LONG BORDER: Complete with basketball sculpture cemented into the ground.

HE SAID: As anxious as we were to literally dig in, good sense prevailed. As with our previous garden, we created a holding bed for specimens we brought with us, along with plants given to us by friends. We chose a spot along the driveway — part of the long border area — with decent sun, that we (erroneously) thought would be out of the way of future construction. I re-assembled the obelisk in the front yard. And then we vowed to each other that we would make no final decision until a year had passed.

During that year we toured gardens, made notes, drew more plans, attended classes, and hauled endless books home from the library. But most importantly, we talked ... and talked and talked. In the end we decided that, no matter how difficult it might be, we wanted one garden, a unified whole, that we would build together as a team.

THE OBELISK: A new location and a new configuration which we nicknamed "American Screw." This design uses all the pieces from the previous shape but each pair of limestone "bars" is rotated a few inches off square.

Click on My Garden Odyssey in the categories column at left to read other episodes in the history of our gardens. Stop by on Wednesdays for updates. Next week: We find our inspiration.

Comments

[S. Adler]

You've left me hanging -- I want more - today - now - I can't wait until next Wednesday! I think it's great that there are two voices. Your Wednesday posts have become something I look forward to each week. My backyard is blanketed in snow and it's not letting up. Since it's still January -- Spring isn't quite around the corner.

[LINDA FROM EACH LITTLE WORLD]

SUSAN — glad you are enjoying them. We're having fun looking back instead of looking at the list of projects still to complete. Usually Mark prunes the apple trees in January but it's been too snowy and now too cold. You're right: Spring is a long way away for those of us in the Midwest. Stay warm.

[Daniel Mount]

Your bravery is amazing, though I think you made the right decision for your garden and your relationship. Nothing like togetherness. Can't wait to hear how it worked out. D.

[LINDA FROM EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Thanks, Daniel. I've been thinking of you and your garden and the flooding aftermath. That's something that we've been lucky enough to avoid — so far.

[Pam/Digging]

As Susan wrote, I'm left hanging for the next installment. How very 19th century--a weekly periodical. I can't wait to see how you pulled off combining your separate visions into one whole.

[LINDA FROM EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Pam — There were a few ugly moments as the two of us talked, cajoled, pushed and pulled. I think it really worked because we didn't do anything for that first year while we studied the property. Gave us breathing room and time to adjust to new ideas.

[Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening]

This is fascinating. I'll have to catch up on the earlier installments.