Week 21 > You are reading Week 22 - May 29th, 2023 > Week 23

Private Sanctuaries

A garden's enchanting allure is found in its little surprises: a bench tucked away under the rose arbor, the table and chair under a tree, a terrace on the side of the house, a flat boulder to sit on by the pond, a secret nook hidden behind a flowering hedge.

We keep rediscovering these surprise nature escapes and never get tired of them.

You don't need much to set up your own backyard sanctuary, place some garden art at the end of a view, a place to sit under your favorite tree, two big shrubs or a flowering trellis to give the impression of an entrance, allow branches to arch overhead along a garden path.

Successful garden design is an open secret: it makes use of rhythm, repetition, coordinated colors, intentional lines of sight, unexpected elements to be discovered while walking, stonework and water features.

All that stands in the way is finding the time and enthusiasm to do it.

Fitting In

It took me quite a while to acknowledge that some plants just didn't work in my garden, in spite of the label on the pot and how well they appeared to fit the conditions, and that discovering plants that would thrive in that spot was a matter of trial and error.

Every gardener hopes the struggling plants will adapt to their new environment eventually and become healthy, but the truth is you know instantly if a plant will survive in your garden or not.

The telltale signs are fast growth, healthy foliage, bloom, and propagation.

When a plant is so content in a location that it produces babies, that is the ultimate sign of success; its offspring will flourish in your garden as well.

Sometimes that turns into a monoculture, because when plants thrive, they like to let you know: lemon balm, spider flowers, larkspur, hellebores, lily of the valley, will fill up all the space available to them.

No planned planting can match the enthusiasm and excess of resident greenery when it decides to expand its territory.

This gives the garden a mature, rich, and balanced look even if it's a bit of a mess, but that's life. I can't expect it to fit my rules.

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