How lovely for you to get this surprise, and I almost forgot what it was like to live in a place with adequate rainfall after living 50 years in the southwest. Neither my husband nor I like to garden, and now age has meant even ten minutes spent weeding means a couple of days of aching muscles and pissed-off joints. Fortunately, our shared motto is whichever plants are willing to survive our neglect get to stay. That means one lone rose bush, lots of jade plants and lavender, and a bank of geraniums that were there when we moved in 30 years ago. Since then, some pitiful store bought thyme and rosemary we plunked into the ground have created huge bushes, and the square of lawn we water for 10 minutes 3 times a week is its usual brown, while an upper back yard is where gophers and weeds frolic.
However, this summer, from shame over the front yard which, after an extraordinarily wet winter, sprouted knee high weeds, making us the one terrible, horrible people in our nicely manicured neighborhood, we finally decided to do our bit and paid to have the front landscaped. We now have a a planter that is half those jade and lavender survivors with the rest succulents, and a front yard of sun baked rocks that with our one tree- an olive tree--feels very Greek to me. All very good for preserving water in what is really a desert climate getting hotter with each year. And it is my hope that except for an occasional water of the succulents in the planter in the front, I will never have to garden again, but I will not feel shame every time I go out and enjoy the neighbors yards in my daily walks!
Your yard--front and back--sound lovely. Yes, it's not lost on me how very wasteful these perfectly manicured lawns are, in all climates. My dad is always pointing out how much clover we have mixed in with the tiny spots of grass that are still left in our backyard. Oh, and violets. but I think the clover and violets are lovelier than the grass, which we are slowly replacing with raised beds to grow more veggies.
I'm lucky to live in Portland, Oregon where most people don't care if you have weeds in your yard and garden. (Some do, of course, and there are still places with neat and tidy lawns.) Many of us are aiming for Backyard Habitat certification (me included), which means growing plants native to this area. Along the way I've learned that many "weeds" are actually medicinal herbs. Also that dandelions are important to leave growing in spring as they are the primary food source for our pollinators. I'm no longer interested in a neat and tidy garden; I'm interested in meadows and woodlands. (My yard looks a bit of a mess, and still I am proud of it.)
Portland sounds like a lovely place to be a gardener. Or I guess, to un-garden. I love the idea of Backyard Habitat certification. We could use a lot more of that attitude in the Midwest.
This is beautiful, Robyn. So much truth here. I feel like the concept of (perhaps) being exactly where I need to be instead of where I think I should be is always resurfacing. Thanks for the gentle reminder.
How lovely for you to get this surprise, and I almost forgot what it was like to live in a place with adequate rainfall after living 50 years in the southwest. Neither my husband nor I like to garden, and now age has meant even ten minutes spent weeding means a couple of days of aching muscles and pissed-off joints. Fortunately, our shared motto is whichever plants are willing to survive our neglect get to stay. That means one lone rose bush, lots of jade plants and lavender, and a bank of geraniums that were there when we moved in 30 years ago. Since then, some pitiful store bought thyme and rosemary we plunked into the ground have created huge bushes, and the square of lawn we water for 10 minutes 3 times a week is its usual brown, while an upper back yard is where gophers and weeds frolic.
However, this summer, from shame over the front yard which, after an extraordinarily wet winter, sprouted knee high weeds, making us the one terrible, horrible people in our nicely manicured neighborhood, we finally decided to do our bit and paid to have the front landscaped. We now have a a planter that is half those jade and lavender survivors with the rest succulents, and a front yard of sun baked rocks that with our one tree- an olive tree--feels very Greek to me. All very good for preserving water in what is really a desert climate getting hotter with each year. And it is my hope that except for an occasional water of the succulents in the planter in the front, I will never have to garden again, but I will not feel shame every time I go out and enjoy the neighbors yards in my daily walks!
Your yard--front and back--sound lovely. Yes, it's not lost on me how very wasteful these perfectly manicured lawns are, in all climates. My dad is always pointing out how much clover we have mixed in with the tiny spots of grass that are still left in our backyard. Oh, and violets. but I think the clover and violets are lovelier than the grass, which we are slowly replacing with raised beds to grow more veggies.
I'm lucky to live in Portland, Oregon where most people don't care if you have weeds in your yard and garden. (Some do, of course, and there are still places with neat and tidy lawns.) Many of us are aiming for Backyard Habitat certification (me included), which means growing plants native to this area. Along the way I've learned that many "weeds" are actually medicinal herbs. Also that dandelions are important to leave growing in spring as they are the primary food source for our pollinators. I'm no longer interested in a neat and tidy garden; I'm interested in meadows and woodlands. (My yard looks a bit of a mess, and still I am proud of it.)
Portland sounds like a lovely place to be a gardener. Or I guess, to un-garden. I love the idea of Backyard Habitat certification. We could use a lot more of that attitude in the Midwest.
This is beautiful, Robyn. So much truth here. I feel like the concept of (perhaps) being exactly where I need to be instead of where I think I should be is always resurfacing. Thanks for the gentle reminder.
It's one of those things that I'm not 100% sure is true, but what does it really hurt to act as if it is? And maybe it even helps.