Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
Posts about the yard and gardening
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 […]
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 […]
Designing and building woodland paths is a fun and rewarding experience. No matter how arduous the preparatory work to make the paths, upon completion the feeling is one of amazement and satisfaction. The woodland paths in my garden are designed to make all parts of the garden visually accessible. Additionally, they are necessary for transporting […]
Even in winter progress has been made on the woodland garden. We have had some slightly warmer and sunnier days this week. I hired a local landscaper, Lynn Warren, to help me with the removal of all the debris I generated over the summer and fall in the woodland garden. I had large piles of […]
