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NEXT TIME, I'LL CREATE A GARDEN 'THE RIGHT WAY'
There's a right way to create a garden. I have seldom done it the right way and each time I have paid the price in unwanted consequences.
If I create a new perennial garden next spring, here are the steps I intend to follow so it looks and performs like the gardens pictured in the glossy magazines.
First, I'll choose a site that has sunlight and drainage that suit the plants I intend to grow. It will most likely be in a space that is currently growing turfgrass. My first step will be to apply Roundup to kill the grass. (Note: Gardeners who prefer not to use chemicals of any kind would need to find some other method for eliminating competing plants.)
Next, I will ring the area with some type of border (stones, plastic edging, etc.) to prevent the surrounding turfgrass from invading the new garden space. Then I will purchase sterile soil (no weed seeds) and form a mounded contour that is at least 1 foot deep at the center.
Options at this point include placing boulders for visual interest, stepping stones for paths and a covering of porous landscape fabric to prevent weed growth.
With soil in place, I will plant the new perennials, spacing them to achieve the pattern and look I decided upon earlier when I drew up the garden plan (a step I've tended to omit in the past).
After everything is planted, I will apply 2-4 inches of landscape mulch. The mulch could be shredded hardwood (about $18 per cubic yard) or, if I I win the lottery, cypress or red cedar mulch (about $40-50 per cubic yard).
Can you begin to see what this garden will have going for it? It will have the right soil for optimum plant growth, good drainage, a barrier to prevent weed growth from the perimeter and from below, spaces for walking so the soil doesn't get compacted, a mulch covering to preserve soil moisture, and a mixture of plants that is aesthetically pleasing to the senses.
Why, then, if this is the right way to create a garden, have I never followed this sensible approach in the eight years I've lived at my current address? One reason is because I've usually been in too much of a hurry.
Let me give you an example. One day towards the end of the last century, I was working in my home office and my mind wandered to a small flower garden that surrounds an outdoor septic tank. The lid of the tank is 4 inches under the soil surface and it has a white pipe that sticks up a few inches above the ground.
My inspiration was to expand this garden to twice its size using 8-inch rocks I had stockpiled for future use. Great idea. Such a good idea I couldn't concentrate on my office work. So, out I went. With a shovel, I dug up sod and juggled the rocks into place. To fill the expanded garden space, I used a combination of compost and average soil I had in a pile. I hurriedly dug up some plants from other spaces and then drove to town and bought several additional perennials. The entire project was conceived and completed in five hours.
Now, three years later, this garden has turfgrass growing in through the spaces between the rocks, a spruce tree on the east side is extending its lower branches into the garden, and the soil is clumpy and dry.
If you've read this column over the years, you know about some of my other gardening mistakes. I've tried to grow perennials in unimproved soil under a grisly old basswood tree, for example, and it has proven to be a lesson in frustration. This tree's threadlike root system sucks up all available moisture and contributes to a constantly dry garden.
I've transplanted many plants without first eliminating existing vegetation, including the root systems. Plants like quackgrass, poison ivy, gray dogwood and wild violet were here first and they don't quit growing in a space just because some new neighbor suddenly gets plunked down beside them.
I've tried establishing plants in ground that is predominately clay and the results have always been frustrating. There are a few plants that are happy in heavy clay but it's a short list.
Another mistake I've made is to site a garden too close to young trees and shrubs. Young trees and shrubs soon become mature trees and shrubs that compete with garden plants with their lateral roots and they also soon rise up to cast shade on what initially was a nice sunny spot.
I guess the point of this discussion is that the perfect garden requires a plan and the patience to execute the plan in the proper sequence. What are your garden plans for next growing season? My advice is to think through the plan this winter so your gardens will perform better next yearÖand five years down the road.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
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by Cliff Johnson |
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