Create a paper plan?

With three cats and a dog, gardening is never lonely!
New Garden Taking Shape

Create a paper plan for the new garden design? Perish the thought! But I will lay all the path edges and look at the positive and negative spaces and shapes thus created. Ha! Impressed?

Where Are the Paths Going?

And to follow the garden design process further, where exactly are the paths going? One must provide a thoroughfare through the Leyland hedge to get into the front sheep paddock, while another just takes a wandering little journey through the woods...

Thursday 25th February

Here's some garden maintenance I must do today - dig out the wet ash from my burning heap (lovingly called 'the volcano') and spread it on the new garden. The circle of garden life - rubbish to ashes, ashes to soil, soil to rubbish...

Aargh!
Gum Tree Bark

Rake Up the Mess!

And I must rake up the gum leaves and bark, at least from around the pond, before my gardening visitor from Wales arrives (hope he does). Then I can take a deep breathe and say with honesty and integrity 'Welcome to my tranquil late summer garden'. At the moment harsh crackling sounds underfoot rather spoil a gentle glide on the pond's waterside path.

Much Later...

Oh boy. I think I know what I'm doing - this new garden is going to be HUGE!!! Planting it will be a challenge. I'm thankful for the big Easter nursery sale, at which I am allowing myself to spend money. I've made a good decision - the main new path passes between two rows of gum trees (an avenue) and joins the Shrubbery path. I am thinking BIG. I've started to mulch and spread wet ash around, and I've pinched lots of logs from the woodshed (oops) for the path edges.

With Minimus the little grey cat...
Afternoon Sun on the Pond

I've just taken afternoon tea behind the pond, watching the water sparkling in the late sun. Very nice - my pond is beautiful. The Carex trifidas in front of the white wire seat are growing well, and all the garden gnomes look pretty pleased with their location. My gardening magazine has caused a few giggles, though - it's a back issue of The English Garden.

'A garden can be big enough and wild enough to absorb some untidiness''
-Helen Yemm, Sussex.

One sensible writer almost tells me off. I should 'start new gardens in manageable chunks' and do warm up stretching exercises. Hmm... Another I like better - her garden is 'big enough and wild enough to absorb some untidiness'. I like that phrase. Bet she hasn't got gum tree leaves and pieces of bark everywhere, though.

I moved onto a relaxed Piet Oudolf 'planting inspiration' which used 12,000 plants, and then found a page of tree seats. The one I liked cost 10,000 British pounds (must show it to Non-Gardening Partner). Feeling like a poor colonial I've returned the magazine to the coffee table where it belongs. I should know better.

I have lots of Cornelias, all grown from cuttings.
Pretty Cornelia Rose

Garden magazine envy aside, I've had a great day. I refuse to start being sensible, though - it's far too late for any of that nonsense.

Friday 26th February

Lilli-Puss my reclusive grey cat finally came when I called her this morning - first time I've seen and patted her in three days. I wonder if my other fattie cats have found her secret feeding station in the Stables? Hope not. And Lilli's name sounds awfully like 'Minimus', so guess who often turns up when I call her? Minimus, Lilli-Puss...

Flowering in the Shrubbery.
Pink Grootendoorst Roses

When one looks forward to the smallest, simplest things, then life is good. Having conversations with a doting dog, drinking pure, cool aquifer water, having freshly washed hair, making silly garden plans... Nothing too complicated. Today I'm spreading more wet ash and mulch on the new garden. I've got a list of plants I can sneakily pinch from elsewhere in the garden, too.

  1. Dwarf Agapanthus - from the edge of Middle Path.
  2. Renga Renga - from the path near Rooster Bridge.
  3. Astelias - from pots on the patio.

And some recently planted Pittosporums can be shifted - if I water them. Their roots won't have done much yet. Right. It's time to go outside - where's my dog-companion? This water tastes wonderful, by the way...

Much Later...

I've only worked for three hours, consolidating the layout of the new garden. I've wheeled in loads of ash and mulch and wheeled out burnable rubbish. I've laid edges to the path which goes through the hedge to the paddock. No planting as yet has been done. These things I'm doing are not particularly photogenic, so please excuse the random rosy photographs on this page which may or may not have anything to do with the text!

Top