Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
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 […]
Living in the northeast one must be prepared to appreciate all seasons. It is only the beginning of December, so winter is not officially here yet, however our first real snow has blanketed the ground with a layer of snow and ice. It surely looks more like winter than any other season. Snow allows your […]
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare famously wrote these lines in Romeo and Juliet. In my woodland garden I have altered them. A multiflora rose by any other name would still be a pest! New York has a list of invasive plants, […]
The Harcourt’s installed a walled picnic area. The enclosure has a stone floor and short stone walls, with gates at each end. The former owners told me when they moved in it contained a 12 foot picnic table. The far end had a stone barbeque, the prior owners dismantled. The picnic table is long gone […]
