Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
Posts about the yard and gardening
Most gardening advisors will tell you to design your hardscape and then your plantings. I usual do this by putting in paths, building structures or walls and then plant around them. My latest garden is developing in the opposite manner. I have placed a few plants to see how they will grow and will then […]
Winter is so much bleaker than the rest of the year. In Spring and Summer, flowers are lovely and make for wonderful photographs. There are new projects outside to write about and photograph. In Winter, the landscape is barren and largely gray. A dear friend of mine, Tim, commented the other day, that it was […]
This may look like any other tree decorated with Christmas lights, but it represents much more. A few months ago, my neighbor approached me about decorating a 4o foot Canadian Hemlock tree in my yard with Christmas lights. She would buy the lights and have them installed, if she could use my tree. I immediately […]
Autumn has been spectacular in New York this year. Contrary to the opinion of many people who speculated the summer drought would leave the trees brown, they have instead displayed a rich palette of yellow, orange and red. The views, framed in the windows looking out of my home, are like impressionist paintings of vibrant […]
Names are arbitrary and this is certainly true for the names we use to describe areas in our yard. With so many different areas it is helpful to have distinct names so that Andrew and I can more easily discuss them. Naming each area provides us with an ability to be creative and in some […]
Welcome to No. 1 Old Oak Tree Path. The woodland garden is home to an elf, sometimes many elves. The elf’s name is Dobby. Fans of Harry Potter may recognize the name of the character from J. K.Rowling’s novels, where he was a house elf. A few years ago, my lovely goddaughter, Amy, and her […]
Last year, I had my old garage doors replaced. They were wooden and had seen better days. A ground hog had decided to visit one evening and thought it would be a comfortable place for an overnight stay. Unfortunately, his check out time did not coincide with when I would next be opening the garage […]
The most strenuous and difficult projects are often the most rewarding. I know this, but I still agonize over them. I wonder – what if I can’t complete the task or what if it doesn’t turn out the way I expected. Rarely am I satisfied with my work, so the later concern is always topmost […]
Autumn leaves take the spotlight in the Hudson Valley this time of year. Miraculous displays of red, yellow, gold and brown provided stunning vistas in all directions and surprises of color around every bend and corner. It was truly a gorgeous season. Rains in the past week have caused most of the leaves to fall, […]
It is nearly November and still the garden is yielding vegetables. While the number of things we are gathering from the garden is small in comparison to the bounty of late summer we are enjoying those few things still available. Small black tomatoes, rosemary, sage, basil, chives and hot peppers have gone into seasoning wonderful […]
