Skip to main content

The Long View

When I first started gardening, it was great fun seeing what would or wouldn't grow.  I collected cacti and scented geraniums (pelargoniums), and had a wide assortment of culinary herbs.   Little forethought went into any design or view of the yard as a whole, and you would have been hard pressed to call it a garden.  Playin' outside is exactly what I've always done, with little attention paid to the longer view of gardening - design.

Gaining proficiency in propagation and some skill in keeping plants alive did not lend cohesion to my chaos.  Local garden centers never talked about design but were always happy to feed my addiction to the new and unusual.  Being a master gardener put me in the company of others who shared my fascination, but who also rarely if ever discussed design.  So I gathered more plants but it's fair to say my yard looked MUCH better in close ups.   Chaos continued to reign. A gardening friend calls it "cramscaping".

It's not until I began to see design concepts repeated in both private and larger public gardens that I developed a creeping discomfort with the chaos at home.  Creeping discomfort became shame as I learned the depth of my garden's serious deficiency.  Design had seeped into my brain enough to know I didn't have it.  Books reinforced the idea that a lot of money and labor would be required, and that made it seem all the more unattainable at home.  If only I'd known at the beginning how much money a design, a longer view, would've saved.

But two things happened.  It became clear what my overall interest is and I began to hang out with a group of garden bloggers.

First, the bloggers.  There's a larger group of nearly 100 who meet up in different cities once a year to visit public and private gardens.  Seeing all those gardens over the past 12 years, and forming friendships with the bloggers from all over the world, has affected me and my approach to my own little garden.  We actually talk about design.  We see examples of incredibly well-designed gardens.  From that group, we also have a smaller local group who get together monthly.  More than anything, this has probably been my best resource for how to improve - as a gardener and as a person.
Then there's my biggest reason for gardening.  I want to feed pollinators throughout the seasons and provide host plants for their young.  This gave me focus.  That cool plant doesn't feed pollinators or serve as a host plant?  I probably don't need it - unless it's a deep rosy chocolate color and evergreen.  I'm still always on the lookout for those.
Step by step, literally brick by brick and one stone at a time, garden beds have grown from the fences in.  The pond anchors the back and a mulched path now pulls the eye from one side of the lot to the other.  Where you would naturally begin to look for the next point of interest, something is usually there to pull you on - a bit of metalwork whimsy, a limestone snake, or a big blue pot. 
On the side where the fruit trees and herb garden grow, it's still the land of the big green clumps.   It's challenging because fruit trees and herbs tend to be green.  Yes, up closer you can see the interesting bits and have fun smelling all the herbs.  But from a distance, it's easy to imagine getting lost in there.  Construction continues ...
My education in design is being made easier by a local series of talks by renowned landscape designers.  It's called Garden Spark and is the inspired idea of Pam Penick, author of several gardening books, a founder of our annual Garden Bloggers Fling, and a dear friend.  Whether you need help with design concepts, or just like to hang out with people who speak your language, Garden Spark is your answer.

This year's Fling is coming up, and I can barely wait to see old friends and gather new ideas.  Who knows?  I may find the cure for big green clumps. 
 All material © 2019 by Vicki Blachman for Playin' Outside. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Comments

danger garden said…
"a creeping discomfort with the chaos at home"... I distinctly remember returning from the SF Fling and feeling that same emotion. I spurred me to make changes but I'd never actually thought of it in this way. You rock and I look forward to seeing you in Denver!
Pam/Digging said…
I'm really glad you enjoy Garden Spark, Vicki. Thank you for spreading the word and for being a regular attendee. I look forward to touring more gardens with you soon at Denver Garden Bloggers Fling!
Gail said…
I loved visiting your garden and home. They are both charming. So glad to have you in my life. Fling has brought us all so much! xoxo
I love your garden and can't wait to see you in Colorado!
You bring up good points about plant chaos and clumps of green throughout...I am in need of a steady hand for design. With new goals in mind- deer resistant plants and pollinator friendly gardens I am on my way.
Lisa Wagner said…
What an interesting post, Vicki.

I bumbled into design through my years of hearing talks, in our Winter Lecture Series that I organized at the Garden where I worked, then realizing I had a knack for design having an artistic bent. It was totally a path back to creativity, too.

My hubbie and I have always had nature in mind in our landscapes, so mimicking nature has been a good teacher! We're doing that again in our Quebec garden (and least my hubbie is! He's doing all of the landscape gardening.

Look forward to seeing you in Denver.
Holly Salmon said…
Your garden is spectacular, clearly demonstrating your understanding of design. So lovely!
Maggie C said…
I ran across your blog when I was on Rock Rose, and have really enjoyed perusing your posts! I've recently moved from Austin to Dripping Springs and now have a lot more room for gardening. Like you, I'm learning more about design, and hoping that my new garden will be the best yet. I had a 3000 gallon rainwater collection at the last house, and will be getting a 5000 gallon system here soon. And a fence. Then the fun really starts! I hope you'll continue to share your experiences. Thank you for a great blog!

Popular posts from this blog

Ho-hum to Habitat: My Path to Native Bees - Resources

San Antonio's Festival of Flowers will resume this Saturday, June 3, 2023, after a break of three years.    I've been given the opportunity to share how I garden, as well as a general overview of our native bees.   A link to a Google doc containing my handout (the info dense slides from my presentation) follows this list of resources.  Note that if you didn't attend, some of the handout pages may not make complete sense.     Hyperlinks to more resources: https://www.wildbeestexas.com/ https://w3.biosci.utexas.edu/jha/research/native-bee-communities https://www.wildflower.org/collections/collection.php?collection=TX_central https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/BeginnerBeeFieldGuide_11March2022_LowRez.pdf https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/native-pollinators/bumblebee-id.phtml https://www.pollinatorphotos.com/ https://www.homegrownnationalpark.org/       https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yOIlJFjzgAlhc5nfTXkqrVutPxWHLwfQ/vie

A Plant with Purple Leaves

There are a couple of groups on Facebook where I lurk and occasionally dip my opinion into the fray.  They're places where people with knowledge of unbelievable scope can be observed, deftly identifying this obscure native plant or that scraggly left-behind orphan found in the backyard of a newly purchased home.   One such backyard orphan recently was posted in need of identification.   If it were a native plant, two people on "Texas Flora" would've named it within minutes.  Even the taxonomy of those impossible grasses is typically put to rest in seconds.  Not so with this poor guy.   At first I was fairly certain it was one of the purple leafed basils, maybe 'African Blue'.  It's fairly impossible to find it still thriving in a Texas January, but two plants in my yard are still hanging in there.  They even look like they'll come back if we don't have a deep freeze before spring.  BTW, this basil has one heck of a botanical monik

Ho-hum to Habitat

  For lack of a better way to reach everyone in person and online who attended my presentation to Williamson County Master Gardeners on 08 May 2023, I'm posting a handout here.  These are only the slides that were particularly info dense, so forgive the lack of context if you weren't an attendee.  Note that the list in the handout is only suggested for Travis and Williamson Counties - the Wildflower Center will have suggestions tailored to your specific location, and NOT just in Texas! These are live links to some of the items shown:  The Wildflower Center , The Jha Bee Lab , NPSOT's plant lists by Texas region , NPSOT Wilco ,  and finally, Lynne & Jim Weber (their books are available at your local bookstore & on Amazon.) T here's a world of other resources, too!  Check out Sam Drogge's incredible photography at the USGS Bee Inventory , follow Heather Holm on Facebook and read her books, follow Carol Clark on her blog "Carol's World" .  Seri