Garden Overview (As Seen From Above)

This has been a busy week in the garden. I have divided and transplanted daylilies and Japanese irises. I have pulled annuals that were spent, or had to be removed to make room for fall seed sowing. I have moved plants from holding areas into their new homes in the garden. I've been amending soil as I go since these tasks remove soil. I mixed new garden soil with organic compost to boost the existing perennials and refresh the soil for sowing seeds.

I moved a crepe myrtle that had been in a holding area to the fence line outside the cottage garden. Yes, I dug that big hole and moved that tree all by myself! I don't plant many things in rows, but we need some shade relief and front porch privacy, so there are now three crepe myrtles planted outside the front fence. I added Japanese irises and finished adding nepeta that was in holding for the area after a Lady Banks was removed.

In an effort to rid the garden of anything that has been bothering me - I dug out that overgrown Lady Banksia Rose at our front gate. The deer could reach it and it was just out of scale for that gate. I was constantly trimming it. There is another Lady Banksia over the gable gate that I'm going to have to trim by reaching outside the window of an upstairs room!

Since I've been writing about the changes that I'm making to the garden, Gail at Clay and Limestone asked if I had any photos taken from above.

This morning, I went upstairs and took photos. I also took photos on the ground so you can follow along two sections of the garden - the front, deer resistant garden and the cottage garden that is inside the fence. These gardens are in front of the house. Between the gardens and the road is our large meadow that must remain in grass (and kept mowed below 9").

Keep in mind that this is mid-October, so there isn't a lot in bloom. Zinnias, marigolds, salvias, a few mums and swamp sunflower are providing the only color right now. Also, I have removed so much to make the changes that there is a lot of empty soil, awaiting seeds, bulbs or future pots of plants.

The first set of photos was taken as I stood at the top edge of the front deer resistant garden, looking back to the cottage garden.



The next set of photos was taken from the upstairs windows.


Gail asked about the diagonal planting space that I mentioned when describing my seed-sowing plans.

Why diagonal? I discovered, through trying to get good photos of the deer resistant garden, that if I stood at the top left edge of the garden and looked diagonally down to the front gate, I had a better view. (As an example, see the photo at the top of my left sidebar.)

The garden is long, so strolling the path, it isn't easy to get a good view. By planting diagonally, I hope to alter the view as I walk the path at the bottom of the garden.

That said, the meadow is south of the garden. Therefore, the blooms face south. Taking photos from the top of the garden means that most of the blooms are looking at me! Not so, from the path at the bottom. This is why we start our daily garden walk around the top of the meadow and loop back around on the paths.

There are more gardens than shown here, and all are deer resistant. Those include the dry stream garden (being renovated), the parking island bed (it has been a catch-all and will be renovated in spring), the butterfly garden (hot colors, but includes some large plants that need to be moved), the waterfall garden, and the fragrance garden. Much to be done...




Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Home Gardens; October 9, 2009