Monday 23 July 2012

Vision- Blessing or a Curse?

Allium GlobeMaster


Sometimes the very quality that defines a true Gardener can be as much of a curse as a blessing. That ability to see beyond the obvious, to plan for the future, to envision the potential, can also prevent us from attending to necessary day-to-day chores and allow areas to 'escape' untended or forgotten.
My husband and I began a total renovation of our Fort Langley home five years ago. Our original plans included an addition off the back which would have encroached on a small hill we had created that was to eventually become a waterfall feature with pond.
In preparation for that we dug up and moved most of my woodland/shade plants to a 'temporary' position in my much sunnier Alpine garden. As fate would have it, our Architect/builder let us down, and we are no longer planning an addition. In the meantime, the unplanted hill has become overgrown and weedy, as has the bark-mulched area that is to become a stone patio.
We are also going to replace the soffits and eavestroughs, so last fall we had dug up all the gardens next to the house, and forseeing that plants would become trampled on, had just mulched the area with ground-up leaves. However, we haven't had the soffits installed yet, and last week, I couldn't stand looking at the bare Earth any longer, and so planted a few annuals in one of the beds beside the house.



The problem with the unkempt 'hill' and 'bark mulch patio' is that they are right outside my bedroom window, and the first thing I see every morning. Finally yesterday, I couldn't stand viewing that mess anymore, and implored Hubby to help me clean it up a little.


See what I mean, guess I stopped seeing the mess, and was picturing the future!


Today, after an afternoon's work, vast improvement in my view!








<div><a href="http://www.blotanical.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.blotanical.com/images/banner_small.png" height="60" width="180" border="0" /></a></div>
            

8 comments:

  1. Lol,yes I know exactly what you're talking about. It's the same with our pergola area at the moment. We have visions of what we want, but it's been a disaster area for nearly six months now ... a work in progress! Eventually!

    You have definitely made a vast improvement in your 'work in progress' areas. The view is so much lovelier now. Well done!

    I'm visiting from Blotanical where I saw your comment in the Forum area. I do hope you get it all sorted soon. So far your blog is looking terrific, so keep up the great work on that as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for visiting Bernie, and I appreciate the compliment on my Blog. I hope to meet lots of fellow gardeners to learn from and commiserate with! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. I saw your questions on Blotanical forum page (and excellent members' answers). Just like the garden, it takes tweaking and patience until it all comes together. A garden is a never-ending challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I always find that once I start a garden project, I accomplish it much more quickly than I thought. It is just hard to get to the right place mentally.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This reminds me of when I put down a path made of pavers from the back door to the gate to the alley - then for various reasons we had to put in a new door in a different location, and our path ended in a blank wall.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello there ! You stopped by my blog page on Blotanical a while back .. and I just saw the message now .. I am not on Blotanical very much at all so I miss messages.
    I think we can all relate to some degree for what has happened to your garden and planning .. I am still waiting to get some stone paths through my gardens .. now that you have yours a little more tidy I hope you feel a little better about it .. my gardens need some TLC badly so I am hoping to work up to major tidy mission !
    Joy : )

    ReplyDelete