My Garden Landscaping Project
I promised some readers that I’d upload some pics and video of my latest garden landscaping adventure. From rocks that won’t budge to a quick look at the trial nursery and holding beds, this is a fast and dirty look at my own garden.
The Princess and I refer to this year as Year Zero – the year we started landscaping. You can see a few of the historical shots in the video – watch for the shot of the cottage garden in April of this year and then watch the video of what it looks like now. 
Just a wee bit of a change to be sure.
Doug … it looks like you have been VERY busy indeed !
Are you actually going to open a little nursery for customers … like me ?? LOL
I can’t imagine how tired you two must be at the end of the day .. but it will look spectacular eventually : )
Joys last blog post..Red, Green, & White = Xmas ??
Looks like a huge project you have underway. I appreciate your showing the rough side of things as you progress toward your grand plan. I will admit that I am shy about showing the less picturesque sides to my work–but probably shouldn’t be for instructions’ sake, huh?
Robin
Robin Ripleys last blog post..Treating blossom end rot in tomatoes, peppers and eggplants
@Robin Ripley -
Robin – glad you chimed in and you’ve hit the nail on the head when it comes to garden writing. How much do you show your readers? What’s important in our writing?
Here are some important points that I’ve come around to accepting.
1) I’m not the world’s best gardener and I have a ton to learn – some days it simply seems overwhelming what I have to learn yet about my gardening world
2) My readers seem to like it when I’m showing what I’m doing and what I’m learning and what I’m screwing up – makes me somewhat more human I’m told
3) It keeps me humble to show what’s really going on (see above)
4) It makes me do something because if I don’t…. you know you have to walk the walk if you’re going to talk the talk (and Lord knows I get to talk the talk enough in this garden-writing world that we share)
I also believe gardening is the slowest of the art forms and it’s performance art – this is just part of that artistic performance.
So yeah, it took some getting used to showing the good, the bad and the downright ugly along with the gorgeous shots but I no longer have to pretend I’m something other than what I am. And my readers get to take me for that – or not. It’s their call. I could go on about this but you likely know what I mean.
@Joy -
Joy – been there, dug that. It’s been suggested more than once that I do something like that on a micro-nursery scale and I admit I’ve considered it once or twice but when I look at the work involved, I cringe and decide it would be much more fun to go sailing.
Thanks Doug, I very much enjoyed a look at your garden in progress. I think the “ugly” shots are the most useful since it gives my hope that one day my garden will be “finished” too!
I didn’t notice any driveways or parking areas in the video. What do you do for parking? I ask because I am very close (ok in the winter) to ripping out the huge slab of cement that is my driveway and replacing it with something water permeable and that doesn’t get to a thousand degrees in the summer. Any thoughts?
@Katharine -
It will likely show up in future pics.
Those were the garden developments. The parking is actually a bit of gravel in front of the garage – and we’ll be extending it (as soon as I move the pile of topsoil)
I am in search of the hydrangea “shannon”. It was cultivated by a Mr. Klein in louisville, Ky. Do you know where I could find one? And by the way, I like the idea of a holding bed – I would call my a trial bed. Some plants look great on the picture but don’t come close to that in reality.
@janat vanmeter -
Don’t track plant sources very closely – but am posting it here in case any reader does. And yeah, there are a lot of plants that don’t live up to the marketing hype. Which is why I try to test and grow any plant I write about. Otherwise, I’m just printing off the press-release.
Good afternoon Doug
Looking great. Reminds me of our first year five years ago when we moved into our new house. We moved in October and the whole summer I spent moving some of my plants from my other gardens into a make shift in the empty garden in the front and makeshift in the backyard for the following year. Now it is looking great and I just keep on adding. Love your blog and have gotten many wonderful tips.
Dianne
@Dianne -
Yep – ya gotta start somewhere and we had a Year Zero garden party the other night with friends to show ‘em where the starting point is so we can all say “Wow!” in another 5 years.
Wow, that is such a beautiful garden and your hard work shows. I one day wish I can have a garden of that size when I get a bigger yard than the one I currently have.