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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

Gardening projects have been going well lately and I have seen a big change in the back garden. Ever so slowly we are turning back the out of control trees and plants and exerting some control. As with any good garden, though, we try to allow for a certain amount of synchronicity. The volunteer that just happens to come up in the edge of a path; The vine that has reached out to cover a new section of fence; The yellow rose reaching over from the neighbors yard. It always helps to remember that we are more custodians of our gardens than military generals. I am sure there are gardeners who would disagree with that assessment, but this is how I like to think of my role.

The Back Garden

Overgrown with trees in the past, the back garden is now starting to receive much more sun as we carefully prune and edit out trees that were encroaching on other trees and plants. Unfortunately, there are areas that appear to have become almost sterile. Nothing seems to grow there, even when regular watering is applied. I am guessing that the lack of sunlight, combined with the overabundance of tree roots has left the soil with too little organic matter to grow smaller plants well, or even retain water. Even after a heavy soaking the ground turns dry very quickly.

My first plan for these areas is to compost them heavily to try to develop a nice bed for new plantings. It seems fruitless (all puns intended) to try and place new plants without first doing some preparation. I have the ability to visit my local city composting center and pick up an entire truckload of compost.

Of course, I need to make the time to pickup the compost and then also to spread it. The holiday season is not the best time to make plans like this with all the other activities. Of course, this time of year is exactly when most of us would benefit from spending some time in our garden or greenhouse, just to help center us and let us relax for a few hours. This will probably have to wait until after the turn of the New Year, but I can, at the least, plan for it. Planning is sometimes the best part of gardening, after all.

Several of the beds will need to have their edging reinforced or replaced completely. The previous owners used the typical brown plastic edging around everything in the garden. We have removed much of it, but that which remains needs to be set back into the ground. Most of it is merely sitting on the surface and this allows any mulch or amendments to spill out into the gravel paths. Even if I can't get the compost right now I can work on replacing this edging in little sections as time allows.

If you have any ideas that might help me rejuvenate these areas in the back garden, send them along to the AGN Mailing List. I am sure everyone there would be interested.

The Front Garden

After removing the pine tree last week we added it to the collection of other tree trunks we have been gathering since we started the tree editing project. With this last section we were able to finally line the entire front garden bed, along the street, with these 4"-6" trunks. We like the look of using natural materials for lining beds, but these tree trunks also serve a practical purpose. Our neighborhood has no sidewalks so the area in front of each property is used as parking space by ourselves and our neighbors. Unfortunately, every so often a driver will try and get a little too far off of the street and drive into our flower bed. This tree trunk edging will give people a clear indication of where the parking space ends and the garden begins.

It is always so nice when we can re-use the products of our garden to improve the garden itself. We keep a small compost pile of our own and regularly use leaf mold and other trimmings for mulch on the rose beds. A year ago, a neighbor chipped up an entire tree that they had removed from their yard. We gathered 30 or more garbage bags full of these wood chips and mulched every bed we could. Some of this mulch is still in place and doing its job today.

A Few More Holiday Book Ideas

Outwitting Deer
by Bill Jr Adler

The Pressed Plant : The Art of Botanical Specimens, Nature Prints, and Sun Prints
by Andrea Dinoto, David Winter

Also: Plant Press by Educational Insights

Ancient Trees : Trees That Live for 1000 Years
by Anna Lewington, Edward Parker, Anna Levington

Gardens of Obsession : Eccentric and Extravagant Visions
by Gordon Taylor, Guy Cooper

Shocking Beauty : Thomas Hobbs' Innovative Garden Vision
by Thomas Hobbs

Designing With Plants
by Piet Oudolf, Noel Kingsbury

The California Landscape Garden : Ecology, Culture, and Design
by Mark Francis, Andreas Reimann, Yan Nascimbene (Illustrator)

Dried Flowers for All Seasons : Creating the Fresh-Flower Look Year-Round
by Jan Gertley, Michael Gertley

The Hummingbird Garden: Turning Your Garden, Window Box, or Backyard into a Beautiful Home for Hummingbirds
by Mathew Tekulsky

Gardens of the Imagination : A Literary Anthology
by Sophie Biriotti (Editor), Peter Malone (Illustrator)

A Contemplation upon Flowers: Garden Plants in Myth and Literature
by Bobby J. Ward

Until next week…

Keep digging!