Making the earth laugh

"the earth laughs in flowers" -e.e.cummings This blog is a journey into that laughter. From my childhood when my job was weeding the dreaded vegetable garden (which I despised with every fiber of my being) to my very early adulthood when I planted my first impatiens (which promptly died) to now - a gardening lover and business owner; gardens have made me feel something. This is my tribute to the hard work, the boring work, the failures and the immeasurable joys of gardening. Yes, I continue to garden...and laugh.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

So much to do, so little time in which to do it....

It has been CRAZY around here for me this spring!  Which, in this economy, is good thing.  But I'm finding myself stretched pretty thin (figuratively speaking, unfortunately) and anxious about doing a good job for my clients.  One day at a time...

I want to jot down a few quick thoughts while I am shopping for pots online and before I run out to work on this glorious rainy, windy day (dread, dread, dread).

If you haven't worked your soil yet, please stop planting and do so.  By this I mean, turn your soil over and mix in all the left over mulch from last year - dig deeply enough to ensure you're mixing actual soil with the mulch.  Also check the quality of your soil; if it seems dry and used up, consider adding some top quality compost to it.  I mix in about an inch of mushroom compost to my gardens every few years - it does wonders.  This picture is pretty boring, but this is what mine looked like last week: delicious.






Now for the fun stuff!  One of my clients has a huge, awful looking retaining wall.  After much thought, I decided to do what I could to incorporate it into the garden rather than just try to hide it with plants and flowers.










So we knocked some holes in it                                                

   (see http://thecottagegardenerblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/beauty-is-in-eye-of-beholder.html) and I began using it as my backdrop.







With good watering, these flowers will take root and grow beautifully in the wall.

Take time to think about what you are trying to hide and consider the possibility of using it as a canvas instead.   It could be a new beginning of wonderful, creative ideas!

Well, I'm off to slog through this downpour...gotta plant!
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2 comments:

  1. dianacthornMay 17, 2011 at 3:58 PM

    i've seen those wall plantings and i love them. I wish i could wack planting holes in my ugly wall ...but john might divorce me haha. But I did buy Bacopa and am going to plant them in boxes and put them on either side of the driveway under the porch...hopefully they will trail down.

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  2. The Cottage GardenerMay 17, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    They will! I love my bacopa. This year, however, I'm using the Snow Princess alyssum in it's place where it's super sunny; it's just too much watering otherwise.

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