Through the Garden…Through the Garden!!!

It was last September, Labor Day weekend, and my neighbor was diligently working in her front yard to create a new garden space. Well, as most gardeners know, in September we still have plenty of time to get things in the ground, but to tackle a brand new installation, maybe a little ambitious!?! I was sitting on my front steps, watching Rita work. She was planting an area that butted up to a front garden bed of mine when the light bulb went off! I walked over to her and in a quiet sort of way I said, “Rita, I’ve been thinking…..”

I told her my thoughts of merging our gardens together, she was always teaching me knew lessons in gardening and one of them was, “Anne, we must walk THROUGH the garden, not just look at it! THROUGH the garden!!” So she listened patiently, I shared my ideas, she interjected with hers, and in no time at all she looked at me and said, “This is not the time for something this big, I have all this work to be done here, to start something this big, it’s September!” ….I knew I had her! She continued with, “But now I as I sit and look at the space, I agree, it has to be done and doing anything else will simple not be good enough. And thank you very much missy!” …or something to that effect. She would be able to tell you verbatim the conversation as her memory is sharp and mine is more “fuzzy” around the edges. But we now had a Garden to get to!

We (mostly Rita) worked to prep the area last fall and lay out the pathways. We knew we wanted a garden arch with benches on both sides that we could sit on and walk through- “Through the garden Anne! Through the garden!” is the mantra that repeats over and over in my head. We dug up perennials, added a few, moved around urns and laid stepping stones. We thought we had an arch, but everyone we found was not quite right. Then Rita spoke with Ted over at The Cottage House and viola! he found us the perfect centerpiece to our front garden! It is gorgeous!

Now we have 90% of the garden done (but it will always be evolving as it blooms and thrives!). We can sit in our archway, admire the plants and enjoy the view!

Wishing you a day surrounded in beautiful!

-Anne

(Our “Selfie” taken about halfway through the work. We are grimy, full of dirt, mulch and everything else: But we are having a ball!)