Dog's Lavender Garden
Dog's Lavender Garden
Three dog kennels sit at the top of the Frisbee Lawn. Each has a sleeping compartment and a run, and I've planted a small Lavender Garden around the edges. Just what every good dog wants and needs...
Go the All Blacks
Rusty was the first dog to have his kennel here. On the sides of his dog-run a New Zealand All Blacks flag would flutter in the wind. There were Rosemary shrubs, Cordylines, and Phormiums jammed in the garden behind the Lavenders. Everything was growing underneath a big gum tree, so conditions weren't ideal.
Sorry, Elizabeth...
A pale pink flowering Clematis (montana) called Elizabeth was supposed to be going up the gum tree - I even provided her with some wire netting. A daft idea, this. Peeling gum bark covered her up and made a big mess, and the semi-rampant Potato vine climbed all over her. Elizabeth didn't make it. Nor did several rescued roses.
Lost Lavenders
My first Lavenders all started life planted in other parts of the garden. I had a bit of a mass-purchasing blitz, but then chose totally the wrong situations. Many were in danger of getting totally lost under other plants. Lavenders need sun and space - hey, I knew that!
Rusty's Lavender Garden
Common sense prevailed, all the shrubs were dug up, and all planted around the dog motel. They were a bit scruffy to start with. And as I'd forget to prune them little and often they'd became very woody very quickly. Replacements would be purchased and duly planted.
The Lavender Garden is Bigger!
Further developments occurred in late summer, 2009, when resident Son-In-Law fancied doing a day's gardening. So I got him to dig and compost a larger garden area in front of the kennel. It's planted with - you guessed - more Lavenders, and some tough Hebes and Agapanthus plants. Nice work!
The Lavender Garden is Even Bigger!
In 2014 came the biggest development of all, one that Rusty couldn't have imagined. Another dog!
Winnie :- Welcome to Winnie, the latest Moosey dog.
Winnie the black and white Border Collie has her kennel right next door to Rusty's, with her own Lavender garden, filled with a special Hybrid called 'Princess Lavender'.
She also has some species Hebes and a Lavatera Barnsley. And guess what? When I was busy planting her garden she was just as busy digging holes and carting all the new plants off to chew them up.
Two Dog Motels
In 2018 big brown Escher came to stay for a couple of years. Naturally, his dog kennel came too, and it has stayed here, though Escher no longer lives with us. Rusty has passed on, and his kennel is now occupied by Pebbles, another black and white Border Collie.
Escher in his Dog Box