Bloom where you're planted

Big news in the Barnesyard: we’ve had the backyard re-landscaped, in that there was some previous attempt at gardening - but we got a total overhaul.

A bit of backstory, as usual.

When Bob bought this house in 1997, there was no garden to speak of. A couple of raised beds in the front.with nothing in them, and a line of hostas along the North side. I moved in spring 1998, and Bob and I have gradually added huge amounts of garden beds – including a boulevard garden. We found that gardening was one of the few interests we had in common (he is musical, I am more crafty, etc.) so we spent lots of time planting bulbs and a few perennials here and there. Neither of us were experienced in gardening in this pesky zone 4 (Zone Envy is a legitimate diagnosis here) or had the ability to hold on to a vision long enough to guide year-to-year efforts.

What resulted is a garden described by neighbors as “that’s um…. ambitious.” This is one of those patented Minnesota Polite TM phrases, much like “interesting” and “different” but not to be construed as a compliment.

Enter the life-altering children.

I tried to keep up with the garden at first. I even have one of those handy pop-up dome tents so our first born infant could nap outside, under the tree, while I weeded. In lieu of napping, she learned to roll over… and over and over, taking the tent with her, down the hill, across the sidewalk and toward the street. It was like Mummenschanz from Mother Hell. It’s one of her favorite stories, and recently became one of her writings at school – somewhat marred by referring to her “dumb tent” which sounds punitive.

That was when the garden went downhill too. Combined with a neighbor’s incredibly bad luck with trees, (presto – we’ve got a full sun garden!) and some tough winters, there was so much to address that we were paralyzed. Weeding and mulching lost their appeal, I couldn’t figure out what was surviving and where, and the daylilies, St. John’s Wort, and invasive campanula took over.

It’s terribly decadent to have experts design and install a new garden. Bob did a bunch of prep and bought the plants, we worked alongside for two days, and poof – we are looking at maintaining a lovely backyard full of edibles and perennials, designed to be low care and lovely throughout the seasons. Arctic kiwi, apples, chokecherry, Nanking cherry, raspberries, blueberries, serviceberries, strawberries, lupines, butterfly weed, lavender, flax, prairie sweetpea, and too many more to mention – it’s truly amazing.

Yes, we could have conceivably hired them to design and then did the installation ourselves. We are, technically, capable. But I know how difficult it would be to complete, we would have taken months of frustrated fumbling, half-ass attempts in between other tasks. They also have an amazing commitment to soil preparation – loads of compost, digging through the beds by hand, removing every last root they could find of invasives and pesky weeds. Once they were done, you could sink up to your calves in well-tended earth. It has allowed us to embrace the abundance of possibility without the flailing in decision-making. And hey – we supported a neighborhood business and didn’t buy a thing – as plants are consumables.

Yes, we cheated. And it was worth every penny.

I heartily recommend Elise and Thea at www.UrbanHomesteadGardening.com. Check them out. I’ll post pix of the gardens once we put in the last few plants.