HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Rural Voice, 2006-07, Page 44Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
Gardening
The moving tale of a garden
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
It was a gardener's dream and a
nightmare too and it all started over a
cup of tea in the shade of an old poplar.
There are a handful of favourite topics
that are inspired by warm weather and
gardening ranks right up there with golf
and laying about in your favourite
hammock .
A group of friends sitting outside for
a quick break from work did not take
long to turn the conversation to
gardens. One had bought a wonderful
home with a mature perennial garden.
No, not a garden, a veritable sea of
perennial joy. The drawback was that
she has two young children and needs
some lawn or just a garden -free area
where they can play unencumbered by
watching where the ball lands or where
the dog runs,
So she was pulling everything out.
Seated at the other end of the tabs
was a woman who was at the other end
of the gardening experience. She has a
home with two little front beds flanking
her porch and a handful of handsome
young maples lining one side of her
drive. She has already enlisted the help
of a landscaper to draw up some plans
which will include a seating area,
decking, pergola, trees, and wide
borders of perennials around the old
stone foundation of their home. What
an opportunity to be able to help rescue
this garden and get a head start on the
landscaping. But wait, the plans, were
not ready yet, and the foundation still
needed to undergo some repairs this
summer.
Undaunted we embarked on a plan.
The first place called offered a manual
sod cutter for $10 a day. Sounds like it
could be just a sharp shovel. The
second place offered a power sod cutter
but it would take four strong men to lift
it into the trailer and how could she get
it out when she got home? It helps to
have a husband interested in the same
project. This one loves heavy
40 THE RURAL VOICE
equipment and came to the rescue.
With a quick pass over the area with a
front end loader he managed to skim
off three inches of grass and roots.
Then he dumped top soil they had in
reserve behind the shed into the strip. A
quick till and the 6 -foot -by -36 -foot bed
was ready.
The next job was digging the
perennials. The mature garden was
located in a backyard under dappled
shade conditions. We arrived at 8:00
a.m. one Sunday morning in June with
a small trailer and eight old metal wash
tubs. We were -stunned to say the least.
The garden was packed with lilies,
echinacea, poppies, roses, day lilies, tall
campanula, phlox, hydrangea, iris,
columbine, rubeckia, coreopsis and
working its way through all this was
wooly apple mint, violets, and creeping
Charlie. It had rained,a few days before
and the soil was a sandy loam and the
digging was easy.
The roots on the larger plants were
thick and heavy but a quick jump on
the shovel severed that connection with
the yard. I must tell you here that the
new owners contacted the previous
people and asked if there was anything
they wanted from the garden. A
wonderful gesture. I am sure I would
want the opportunity to strip my
favourite plants out if they were in the
way too.
We raced to the new home and got
everything in the ground. The day had
started cool but quickly built up to one
of the hot humid days. The plants
began to wilt despite the watering but
by week's end they were looking much
better. Our job was to get them to live
until next spring.
One week later we were back with a
considerably larger trailer and more
tubs. We finished digging out all that
we could salvage from three beds.
What was left looked like a mini -mine
field.
This time the weather was cooler all
day but the ground was so very dry. We
had to make a stop in Londesboro to
check out another garden that needed
some plants removed too. While there
we checked out the neighbour's yard —
a beautiful acreage of trees with
perennial borders deftly tucked in here
and there. Gardeners never fail to live
up to my expectations. They have to be
among the most generous people. This
fellow took us on a tour of the property
and showed us a very neat trick. The
land is very gravelly around there and
they have been amending the soil for
years. They throw a handful of
shredded paper into each hole before
they plant anything. From trees to
perennials, everything benefits from
this trick. Not too deep to restrict
decaying, the paper decomposes, holds
moisture, invites worms to do their job
and becomes a wonderful soil
amendment.
Armed with this new idea we made
our way back to the new perennial
border that was shaping up along the
back fence and started planting. First
the paper, then the water, then the
perennial and, after tamping in
carefully, more water.
June has to be one of the worst
months for moving perennials. Most
are primed ready to bloom and do not
like being moved. It is way too
stressful. To help reduce the stress, pick
the coolest time of day and be prepared
to be vigilant about watering. Trim
back any blooms or new seed heads.
You can enjoy the flowers next year.
The plant has to concentrate its
energies on rebuilding its roots and
settling in.
While planting I passed on a few
tips my dad taught me when I was just
learning how to garden. During the
summer always water close to the
ground. Water sprinkled on leaves
during the hottest part of the day invites
sunburn through the droplets, and can
be an- open invitation for fungus and
molds. We all can get bored just
standing there watering. Just when you
think you are done, take your finger
and drag it as deep as possible through
the soil. If it turns up dry you are not
done watering. Of course if you have a
manicure you may want to use a wee
sturdy stick or a tool of some sort to
drag through the soil.
Two last points we learned from this
adventure in June gardening. Support
the large plants with stakes. They don't
have a developed root system which
would normally keep them erect.
Mulch is a fabulous solution to help
keep the soil cool and moist. It has been
a week now and every thing is looking
a little ragged but still green and full of
promise. I can hardly wait until next
spring to see this instant border and the
look on the new gardener's face when
the beauty unfolds along her fence.0