Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
Inviting people to dinner to enjoy a nice meal and conversation is something I have enjoyed for many years. The original owners of the house, the Harcourts, surely entertained well. Alfred Harcourt, brother of Stanley Harcourt, who built and lived in my home, was a leading publisher in his day. He published, Robert Frost, Sinclair […]
A rock, A river, A tree. So begins Maya Angelou’s famous poem, On The Pulse of Morning. As Spring moves to Summer, the pulse in my yard shifts. The days of delicate spring temperatures, when a jacket might be desired in the morning and then cast off in the heat of the afternoon, are gone. […]
Planning and constructing a garden is exhilarating. There is no end to the possibilities, challenges and rewards from the garden. Gardens are nothing if not surprising places. A gardener can plan, plant, sculpt and otherwise attempt to influence nature, but it is ultimately nature herself who will decide what works best. Each generation of property […]
Spring cleaning in the yard can produce dramatic results, as demonstrated by my last big project on the property. Before and after photos render such an interesting, and for me, satisfying look back. Along the south western edge of the property is part of the old Catalpa Road that had not been uncovered in many […]
Nearly all aspects of creating the woodland garden have been challenging. From digging out large bushes to moving big rocks, every task has required not only muscle, but also some forethought – ingenuity if I may lay claim to such a skill. The old adage “where there’s a will, there’s a way” is something I […]
Easter Sunday surprised me with the first blooms of the trout lilies in the woodland garden. To some these flowers are known as dog-toothed violets. The scientific name is Erythronium Americanum. Nature surprised me with these delightful diminutive flowers. I did not plant them. With the removal of the invasive honeysuckle the trout lilies are […]
Every cloud has a silver lining, as the old saying goes. The downstairs bathroom is one of the smallest rooms in the house, but when it came time to give it a face-lift it proved to be one of the largest tasks. On the original house plans this bathroom had a dual purpose. It served […]
One of my neighbors has Parkinson’s Disease. He gets around on a motorized chair and uses an electric lawn mower around the yard. He is an inspiration, as he does not let his condition stop him. He is more active than most people in spite of the disease. His wife commented one day it would […]
Sometimes, simply by sitting the soul collects wisdom. -Zen Proverb This past weekend, we built another rustic garden bench. Building benches is fun, especially with the challenge of using found materials. The bench is sited to give our delightful neighbors a place to sit and see their home across the garden. Principally, the bench is […]
The Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, beauty in imperfection, is an appropriate design parameter for the woodland garden. Using tree branches and tree trunks is a great way to build rustic features. Over President’s Day weekend, Andrew and I built a bridge and an arbor using a combination of wood from Home Depot and wood gathered […]
