Gardens through the seasons

28 Jul '06 1:27 am

Thanks for all the nice comments. Yes, I will probably put a climbing plant on the gate structure later on. We have the same gate in the meditation garden and I have a white clematis growing up one side. I will probably use a species clematis on the new gate. Our plans are to add six foot board fencing along both sides of the new gate to back up the gardens. The same fencing as that surrounding the meditation garden. It will be a nice backdrop to highlight the plants, but will serve a more pedestrian need. You see, we have four horses who graze in the pastures surrounding our home and gardens. They love to lean over fences and eat whatever cultivated plants they can reach. For the time being, we have stymied them somewhat by installing a temporary wire fence about four feet behind the existing rail fencing, but they still try.

Winter here in Alabama is really the best time for working on projects like fencing. We were a little insane to tackle building the gate structure over the July 4th weekend. Of course, we have been known to use this long holiday weekend to work on a number of outdoor projects over the years.

By the way, I have enjoyed reading about all your gardens and seeing your photos since the Forum began. Just took me a while to screw up the courage to stick my toe in the water.

Faith

29 Jul '06 8:23 pm

Love your garden scenery, look so well-kept and tidy and those lovely huge 'wholesome' trees truly complement the serene setting. Bet they'll look stunning in Autumn!! Thanks for sharing.

31 Jul '06 12:18 am

I've just discovered your posts - welcome on board and WELL DONE! You have a wonderful setting and have done excellent work - and you'll find that the results improve ever more dramatically as the garden matures... when I compare the first years of my garden with what I have now - WOW! I like not only your gate, but the interesting fence around the meditation garden; imagine that wonderful secluded spot a few years down the line! Tell us about Willie - an all black Border Collie? Or what?

1 Aug '06 1:38 am

Hello Jaqueline and Jack. Thanks for viewing my photos. To answer your questions, I forgot to tell about the gate "history". I actually saw this gate in a book about gardens. It was in a garden in Seattle, Washington. I loved the look of it, so when we built the fence and gate surrounding the meditation garden I copied the look. The meditation garden has a little Japanese influence, so it seemed to fit. You can't see it too well in the photos, but hanging beside the gate in the meditation garden is a Japanese Temple bell.

Willie, the dog, is a mixed-breed that was adopted from the Humane Society. He is mostly Flat- coated Retreiver with a little German Shepherd mixed in. He rules the house and has a pet cat of his own called Emmie Lou.

We have some lovely trees on the property. Most of them were planted by the original owners, so they are reaching maturity now. The row of fat trees seen in the rose berm pictures is a row of 26 Bradford Ornamental Pears, flowering in early April. They look like big fluffy clouds when in full bloom. In Autumn they turn red and put on a beautiful show.

Unfortunately, they are about 16 years old now and have reached the size when these trees begin to shatter in heavy winds. We live in an area that is prone to severe thunder storms with high winds and also hurricanes that pass over after hitting the Gulf Coast of the U.S. Two of them have lost big sections in the past year. Living in the southeastern U.S., we don't get the beautiful fall color that the northeast experiences, but the trees are lovely in the fall if we have had enough rainfall. I will try to get some fall pictures this year.

Faith

4 Aug '06 3:49 am

Hello Faith
I am a gardener in Wiltshire, in the South West of the UK. I visit Atlanta frequently where i have friends and business. I have really enjoyed looking at your Alabama garden and frequently have garden discussions with my friends in ATL. I sourced a Bradford Pear for my garden here, now 5 yrs old, and it has grown very quickly. We have pruned it severely this year and have been warned that it can snap easily. They are such pretty trees and I have noticed them all over the Carolinas and Atlanta region

good luck with your project, you certainly have enough land to play with! It looks lovely. A great climber to try on your fence would be Cobea Scandens the cup and saucer vine which flowers quite late in the year and is spectacular - the flowers are huge and exotic looking.

best wishes from the UK
Gail

4 Aug '06 4:10 am

Hello to you also Gail,

Thanks for your post. What a small world we live in. I think it is wonderful that you travel to Atlanta so often. I am actually originally from Georgia and still have family just southwest of Atlanta. I agree that the Bradford Pears are lovely trees, but they make an awful mess when they do start shattering. We plan to replace them eventually and I have been trying to decide with what. I am leaning toward Southern Magnolia. I would love to put cherry trees there, but am afraid the horses would feast on them too much. Any ideas there?

I will definitely consider the Cup and Saucer vine. They are very pretty in the catalogues. I have Hyacinth Beans growing on the entrance arbor to my potager (the area just to the right of the new gate) and they reseed themselves every year. At the moment they are taking over the entire entrance and will strangle me when I try to slip through the gate one day. Time to get seriously mean with the clippers.

Loved hearing from you.

Faith

4 Aug '06 4:31 am

Hello Faith
i brought some seeds back from Atlanta a few years ago of the hyacinth vine, dolicos labab i think the latin name is. it grew quite well here but you need a long hot summer which we dont often get, and LOTS of space. I also discovered the lovely mina lobata in a garden centre in atlanta and grew it v successfully for a few years but this year i have only managed to get one going, i lost about 10 due to some leaf blight, along with my morning glories. i get a lot of seeds from swallowtailseeds.com in california - they are really good quality, you get loads of seeds in each packet and they are often seeds we dont have in uk. their tomotoes, especially heirloom variety, are fantastic - i really impressed my friends last year!

have only discovered this site today in a quiet afternoon at work, it's really great, and i will keep checking in!
best wishes
Gail

4 Aug '06 2:47 pm

I agree, the gate--and the fence--are so eye drawing. Lends a tone of the old days. And all the scenes seem so serene and nature-filled, be it your dog or the river or horses...serenity, with the flowers blending in.

I haven't made any posts for so long; it's been difficult finding time to get on the computer, but I had to say hi. What kind of dog is that, by the way? I'm guessing some kind of collie or collie mix, but yours is so regal looking.

5 Aug '06 1:09 pm

Faith what wonderful gardens you have. I really enjoyed the visit. I hope you will keep us updated as the seasons begin to change.

I must comment that I think my favorite picture is the one of the bench under the pines. It looks so inviting and just the right place to sit in the shade and do a little reflection.

Course it has been said as of late by more than one person that these days it seems like I am spending more time sitting and reflecting and less time working and toiling.

I think they are all jelouse of my ability to sit perfectly still for hours on end while I work out in minute detail all the componets of my next project.

It was a great visit to your wonderful gardens I will be dropping back by soon to see what else is new.

Just be sure to leave the bench under the pines I never know when I may have the need to do a little reflecting.

8 Aug '06 3:01 am

Hello to naturedar and to Glenn. Thanks for visiting my garden. To answer the question about Willie, the dog, he is a mixed breed cross between Flat Coated Retriever and German Shepherd. He is my special pal and I will pass along your comment about him looking regal. He will be so pleased.

Glenn, I agree that sitting on benches and contemplating is probably one of the most productive things gardeners can do. The bench under the pines is just one of the many benches that my sweet husband has built for me to go in various spots around the gardens. Just for you, I will try to do a photo essay of my garden benches. It will have to wait for a couple of weeks however. Today we have roofers beginning work on replacing the roof on our house and one of our outbuildings. As a consequence, we have had to move all the furniture off our two decks. It is now scattered all over the lawn and garden paths. Once everything is back in place, I will take some pictures.

The blue bench under the pines overlooks a small pond that usually goes completely dry in the late fall, but this year our early drought drained it dry by June. When the winter rains come it will quickly fill back up. It makes a lovely focal point when sitting on that bench. You can watch all the wildlife enjoying the pond. There are turtles, frogs, dragonflies, ducks, and sometimes small snakes even.

Faith

Gardens through the seasons

Gardens through the seasons

Hello Faith!

Hallo Faith!

Gardens through the season

Southeastern USA gardening

Bradford Pear Trees

Southern Climbers

gardens through the seasons

Hi Faith

Dogs and Benches