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Post by gifted on Apr 8, 2009 9:00:27 GMT -5
I was thumbing through a book today, Home Landscapes Planting design and Management by Martin and Melby. It felt like a smack on the hd when I read this:
"What can be discouraging about one's gardens and landscapes is the overwhelming amount of time required even to make them look ordinary."...
"... a balanced landscape is one that requires the absolute least amount of attention in order to perform well and look its best."
I realized that this is PRECISELY the distinction between gardening and yard yard for me! Gardening is the stuff that I do for relaxation and enjoyment, and yard work is the stuff that I feel NEEDS to get done BEFORE I "allow" myself to enjoy being outside.
Not that I actually ever get it done. Because I really don't know what it is! And meanwhile, the gardening I try to do is unenjoyable due to the niggling voice of guilt over the yard.
I feel like I am clarifying some important ideas for myself.
YARD:
REQUIRED by convention, keep the city from posting nuisance, feelings of guilt.
GARDEN:
Feelings of abundance and bounty.
Joy at watching the insects go about their business.
I will continue these thouts later!
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Post by creativechaos on Apr 12, 2009 3:16:18 GMT -5
simplegifts, you're onto something here! this is a great revelation! i don't own land, but in my own garden i had a lot of lawn that had to be mowed. i could never start the $#@ mower and i have a bad back. little by little i dug up all the sod but a tiny patch to lie on or have a picnic on. i never have to mow it because i walk on it plenty. since i hate mowing the most, now i made work for myself, but it is work i love. and there's a lot more room for the flowers and insects going about their business!
a few things i consider when designing a landscape are:
use: how will i use the space? spot for eating and relaxation? cooking? (then i need a "patio" of some sort and thus can get rid of more lawn)
water needs: i put the stuff that *needs* more water closest to the house and water source. then i go more drought tolerant/ less fussy plants out from there.
i generally avoid runners and ground covers and go with clumping plants, which fill the space and are easy to weed around. and i mulch with something like nutra-mulch. pots are also wonderful if you don't have enough soil, as are fun garden acoutrements.
how fun that you are thinking of these very important things! here's to your figuring out how to have your yard be a garden and easy and pleasurable to maintain.
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Post by eagle on Apr 12, 2009 10:02:00 GMT -5
Yes, there is a very distinct difference between Garden and Yard.
We have a huge yard, both front and back. However, I have very little garden space. That's because Hubby seems to really love taking care of lawns. In the winter there is no lawn care here in the Midwest, as the lawn stops growing until spring. Of course there isn't any gardening that can be done either in the winter, unless we build a hot house or cold frame. But here, there is no need to water a lawn any time of the year, which is quite nice. In fact, very little watering is necessary to keep plants alive after they are established. That was a real shock to me, coming from California.
Anyway, in our last house in California, we had a huge yard, but a lawn the size of a postage stamp. I had a garden large enough to be called a mini-farm and often spent about 8-10 hours per day in my garden. Not only was it something I loved, but I also produced a lot of food I loved to eat.
Here, you are right, certain yard work must be done to adhere to municipal ordinances, such as weeds cannot get taller than 6 inches (maybe it's 4, now, as it was changed last year), lawn clippings cannot go into the street, bushes cannot extend out over the sidewalk, etc. Fines are involved if violations such as these occur and expensive bills if the city does the work the home-owner won't/can't do. Annoying for some the home-owner in question, more annoying to the neighbors who have to walk around scratchy branches off the sidewalk and into the snow or mud or whatever; also annoying when the plumbing in a neighborhood backs up when lawn clippings clog up the sewers, or to the neighbors whose living areas overlook a weed-ridden yard of their neighbor.
So there are two sides to the story about the yard work to keep the city off our backs. I've been on both sides of that fence.
But the garden work, I so agree. It is a labor of love, provides peace and serenity, nurtures the soul, the mind and the body, as well as sustaining the environment around us: the birds, insects, other critters, and the soil, etc.
My garden space will increase this year as Hubby is building two large raised beds for me today. I am very pleased.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Apr 20, 2009 14:33:42 GMT -5
Gardening was the first project that allowed me to experience transformation. When I moved in with DH (Dear Howard, in my case) in late 2001, he had done yard work only when the city sent him a letter! Our house looked as if it was abandoned. I had never done yard work before, so I left it as-is for about a year. I really didn't know how nice it could look.
In late 2002, I was helping DH clean the gutters, when I had to prune a tree so he could reach. Then I pruned another branch, and another, and another, etc.
As I was pruning, the most amazing thing happened: people started reaching out to me. The garbage man gave me a pair of durable gloves. The mailman gave me advise on how to prune the mugo pine. A coworker gave me two pruning saws. Neighbors started talking to me. I got invited to a neighborhood party. When I commented to one of them, "Nowhere to go but up," she replied, "Have you ever seen the show 'Curb Appeal'? Most of what they do is exactly what you're doing: cleaning up and taking away stuff that doesn't belong." That comment still makes me feel warm inside.
After about 6 months, our front yard was no longer the neighborhood eyesore. Both the front and back yards are still a work in progress, but always look nice--for the past two years, I have had something blooming every day of the year.
After I got the yard presentable, I started to feel more acutely the difference between the inside and the outside of our house. I'm quite certain that if I had not started gardening, I would not have started desqualoring.
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