SPedigrees
Garden Addicted
While making up my 2025 garden plans, I've come to the conclusion that the only container gardens I have that bring me joy these days are my raised bed of tomatoes and squash out back of the house, and the collection of flower pots on my front porch, as seen here:
So I'll be retiring all the other containers spread out across my land. It's as if all the vegetation in the affected areas have concurred with the new plan. Trees, formerly just seedlings have grown and transformed their domains into little mini-forests which need no care, while this island of rugosa roses and rudbeckia laciniata (below) has also become self-sustaining. I encourage jewelweed to engulf these plants in late summer because the pollinators love their tiny flowers. This whole area is buzzing with bees and hummingbirds until it all goes dormant in the fall. The most care it ever needs is removal of some of the dead rudbeckia stalks and snipping some rose branches in early spring.
I've relented about retiring this whisky barrel planter (below) with cosmos planted each year from seed because it looks so pretty, and it doesn't require much care.
I've also been doing a major cleaning and reorganizing of the barn, cellar, and back porch. All are still a work in progress, but I'm already enjoying the effects of being able to access these places and find things again. A lot of stuff I can't bring myself to part with, either for the memories they hold, or because they could be useful or repurposed, but all these things are now better organized and tucked away.
This (below) doesn't look like much, but I managed to get new tubing installed (with help from youtube videos) on my air conditioner to replace the old rotted tubing, and fabricated this outdoor cover for it out of a U section of small ductwork. Its purpose is to funnel the water from condensation out into this colony of irises, and I know it works, because my feet kept getting little showers as I worked. This project was hanging over my head for a long time, so it's a relief to be done with it
A lot of my collection of garden decorations don't look quite right anymore, so I've limited my colony of garden gnomes and other decorative things to the brookside gardens, and garden cats to the front porch. I'm comfortable with clutter, but even hoarders like me need to minimalize stuff from time to time. I'm hoping that I'll be able to enjoy next year's gardens more with less of a work load.
So I'll be retiring all the other containers spread out across my land. It's as if all the vegetation in the affected areas have concurred with the new plan. Trees, formerly just seedlings have grown and transformed their domains into little mini-forests which need no care, while this island of rugosa roses and rudbeckia laciniata (below) has also become self-sustaining. I encourage jewelweed to engulf these plants in late summer because the pollinators love their tiny flowers. This whole area is buzzing with bees and hummingbirds until it all goes dormant in the fall. The most care it ever needs is removal of some of the dead rudbeckia stalks and snipping some rose branches in early spring.
I've relented about retiring this whisky barrel planter (below) with cosmos planted each year from seed because it looks so pretty, and it doesn't require much care.
I've also been doing a major cleaning and reorganizing of the barn, cellar, and back porch. All are still a work in progress, but I'm already enjoying the effects of being able to access these places and find things again. A lot of stuff I can't bring myself to part with, either for the memories they hold, or because they could be useful or repurposed, but all these things are now better organized and tucked away.
This (below) doesn't look like much, but I managed to get new tubing installed (with help from youtube videos) on my air conditioner to replace the old rotted tubing, and fabricated this outdoor cover for it out of a U section of small ductwork. Its purpose is to funnel the water from condensation out into this colony of irises, and I know it works, because my feet kept getting little showers as I worked. This project was hanging over my head for a long time, so it's a relief to be done with it
A lot of my collection of garden decorations don't look quite right anymore, so I've limited my colony of garden gnomes and other decorative things to the brookside gardens, and garden cats to the front porch. I'm comfortable with clutter, but even hoarders like me need to minimalize stuff from time to time. I'm hoping that I'll be able to enjoy next year's gardens more with less of a work load.
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