My Woodland Garden

7 Jul '06 9:13 pm

Hi
This is my first post here but before I say more about me I want to congratulate everyone here on thier incredible gardens. When I first started gardening it was helping my Grandmother in her yard down in Miami Florida. I won't say how old I was at the time but man had not walked on the moon yet.

I noticed some of the gardens that are pictured are quite large and some of them tiny. One thing I did notice that seems to be a common thread amongst them is that they all seem to be a favorite spot for those that tend them. This is what gardening is and what it is really all about. I have a website really more of a blog and what I tell my visitors on every post is to go and spend a little time each week in thier gardens it is amazing how that little bit of time can change your whole attitude about the days events.

Well enough of me being philosphy major let me give you a brief history about myself.
I am a proffesional groundskeeper have been for over 30 years. My current position is tending an Urban Garden about 2 miles from downtown Chicago Illinois at the oldest chartered hospital in the City of Chicago. We also own a small piese of property we visit on the weekends about 90 miles west of Chicago that is Our Little Piece of Paradise and that is my Woodland Garden. Here is a couple of shots from this last weekend out there.

A View from the Street In Front of Our Lots

Here Is My Favorite Spot

No Matter What Troubles On Your Mind 5 Minutes standing Here They Seem To Melt Away

I hope I did not bore you too much. I will post again Soon and share a few more shots of My Gardens. Please have a great week and get out and spend sometime in your garden.

7 Jul '06 9:29 pm

What a lovely place - -In the second photo there appears to be water - is it a stream or perhaps run by a pump ?
What sort of trees are growing - were they already there?
So beautiful and peaceful .
Dixie.

8 Jul '06 6:46 am

Welcome, GB. Looks like you have a real nice spot to stop and think. Reminds me of my dad's old cabin on Sheridan lake in the interior of B.C.

I like it a lot.

I would be interested in seeing some pix from your work as well. Do you tend flowers as part of your duties?

Keep the pix coming. Very interesting indeed.

Christopher

10 Jul '06 8:01 pm

It sure seems paradise in that lovely woodland garden of yours, Gbronner! So serene and peaceful, and the beauty of sunlight filtering through! Looks very well-maintained too. Looking forward to more pics. Smile

Thanks.

10 Jul '06 8:45 pm

Hi
dixie
Garden Gnome
jacqueline

First let me thank you for the nice comments. I truley enjoy my woodland garden. It is not huge but it is 100 feet by 80 feet.

There are 35 red oak trees on it and a few hackberry.

The waterfall is from some things I had scrounged and is powered by a 1hp sump pump. The pond itself is a 25 lerio tree tub. All the flagstone came from a patio I removed as a side job.

It is a bit of a challenge as the soil is about 80% sand and 20% organic material so I have had to amended it with a lot of firepit ashes and compost. The biggest problem is moisture rentention of course. If we do not get an inch of rain out there every week then everything gets a good watering on the weekends.

Even with the shade there is a good amount of sunny spots to tuck some of the more sunloving plants into. I may have mentioned befor I have a website that has more pictures posted on it and which I try to update at least once a week. If you would like to visit here is the url.
http://glenns-garden.com

This week will be very busy at work as we are finishing phase one of the final new parking lot we are installing. I have 20 semiloads of topsoil arriving Tuesday and a semi with 60 trees Wendsday and the irrigation is being installed today and hopefully it all goes as scheduled. LOL

There will be some new posted pictures on my website and I will try and get a few pictures from work posted here showing some of my flower gardens there.

Again thank you for the nice comments and I will spend some time at your gardens this week.

10 Jul '06 9:16 pm

I have just visited your website - it is so interesting and I will keep looking in at your writings -I especially liked your enthusiastic encouragement to grow roses ,and the idea of a 'serenity 'garden.
Dixie.

20 Jul '06 8:26 pm

It is a hetic week to say the least in the midst of a big push to get the new parking lots open at work. Today the wroght iron fence guy will be there along with the irrigation contractor, trying to put on the finnishing touches and tomorrow 3000 perrienials arrive for instalation so it is a bit of a mad house at work. I can not wait till Friday night to head out to the woodland garden.

Sometimes as we rush and hurrry to get things done we are so caught up in making it perfect we forget that Mother Nature is not perfect. That is why I enjoy the woodland garden so much. The pressure of a perfectly trimmed lawn weed free is not there. I do not have to worry if the shrubs are a bit scraggly hey they grow that way.Besides Creeping Charlie can be very attractive in the right setting.

I see those formal gardens in europe and I marvel at the straight lines and the trmendous effort that goes into maintaing them keeping all the shrubs trimmed and the mazes all in perfect shape. And they are truley impressive. While technically it is gardening I really feel that it is an art form. I do not take anything away from those that are maintaining and overseeing those wonderful gardens as they are so marvelous. But a simple planted pot like this can also be inspiring.
{See Attahment Pot1}
Often times I have people saying things or making comments I Do appreciate the compliments I usally tell them that as long as I like it it really is all that matters. This is really cumbersome some times when it is a member of the administration and they have just balled me out because they did not like something. I usaaly extend a garden trowel to them and say "Hey it is My Garden and I like it thats all that matters. I am not here trying to impress everybody. If you do not like it well why not spend a little time out here and make it the way you want it." Usally get a bit more grumbling from them and they wander off. Seems like suits and garden soil don't mix well. Only once in my over 30 plu years has any of them taken me up on it. Back in the early 1980's I was working at a High School. After I had that conversation with the High School Principal I got a memo the next day requesting a trowel and weed digger be sent to his office.

Sure enough on my way home some afternoons I would see him out on the front lawn digging up stray dandilions.

I guess the whole point is what ever your garden looks like as long as you are pleased by it. A garden should always be something that brings enjoyment and excitement to it's caretaker. Gardeners never really get tired of being in there gardens and they never get tired of planning and dreaming of changes they want to make.

One of my favorite pictures because I think it is simple but if you ponder on it for a while you will see it emodes my ideas about gardening.
(see attachment chair and flowers)

Have A Great Week In Your Gardens!

21 Jul '06 3:40 am

Seems like you have your hands full, alright. 3000 plants is a daunting task. I know all to well what it's like to have a full plate, so to speak.

You like the same flowers I do. I have purple cone flowers this year and last year I had black-eyes Susan's in the same bed. I'll include some pix here for you.

My wife went "planter mad" this year and now we have just over 65 planters all over the yard. check out my "The Gnome's Gardens" thread in the Diaries forum to see more.

Christopher

21 Jul '06 6:00 am

I enjoy your philosophy very much .I have a chair just like yours ...two chairs in fact -they are called 'cape cod' here.They are not on the lawn because they would have to be moved each time for mowing . I would like to see pictures of the finished parking lot project ...3000 Perennials ! ! !
Dixie

21 Jul '06 10:00 pm

Quote: "I guess the whole point is what ever your garden looks like as long as you are pleased by it. A garden should always be something that brings enjoyment and excitement to it's caretaker. Gardeners never really get tired of being in there gardens and they never get tired of planning and dreaming of changes they want to make."

Well said, Gbronner and I'm 100% in agreement!! Most of my free time is spent joyfully either in my own garden (intermittently or for hours on end, even though it’s just a small one Wink

) or facing the pc, admiring other people's garden, yet at the same time, with thoughts intertwined never far from my very own paradise!

Thanks for sharing that lovely mix planter of yours. I’ve observed that this is the latest craze locally too, at hotel lobbies, shopping malls and hypermarkets, along motorways, plant nurseries, etc., displaying an assortment of colourful blooming plants mixed with foliage plants in a wide-open pot. It's really beautiful, similar to style and artistry of floral arrangements.
Have great fun gardening at your woodlands this week-end!

Dixie: Wow, that’s a beautiful garden you have with very comfy chairs to relax in and enjoy your labour of love, well-presented with lovely flowering plants and shrubs. Love the profuse white blooms on the right, cascading onto your lovely walk path!
Hmm...having the same type of chairs as Gbronner's! The world isn't so large after all Rolling Eyes

. Thanks for sharing.

My Woodland Garden

My Woodland Garden

Woodland garden.

Woodland Garden

Welcome!

Thank You For The Nice Comments

glenns garden

Very Busy Week But A chance to share a picture

Pots and Plants

chair and flower

Our very own garden