  
Our garden quest began on June 1, 1994 when we purchased
this, our first home.
The back-yard was empty except for the 3 pine-trees at
the back of the yard
and a desolated vegetable garden behind the 2 storage
sheds.
Rhubarb had grown rampant in the garden:
strawberries and
raspberries were sneaking in under the fence from the neighbour's garden.
The
rhubarb was transplanted, as were the strawberries and raspberries.
All are
now thriving in their new locations and the vegetable garden is now under
control and fruitful.
The 3 pine trees are located in the very back of our
yard and there are 2 more pines lining our drive-way.
Since our back-yard is
what we consider huge, our property measures 64' x 132' approx 0.19
acres,
I, naturally, had to plant more trees and dig out some flower
beds.
You see I had a dream!!
So did my hubby and our kids...
oh yah, an inground pool,
a basket-ball court,
every whimpering, snot-nosed kid in the neighbourhood
would be invading my privacy.
'Back Off Guys'
This is my
heart - felt
thought - provoking
sweat - making
back - breaking
dream
'sound familiar to all ya gardeners??"
*giggle*
Just to give you a peek of our yard as a
work in progress,
I included this ugly picture.
It was taken sometime in the
summer of 1995.
My dream vision was slowly coming to life,
with the help of hubby
of couse!!
This was all being done as cheaply as possible,
being new home-owners that was the 'key' word.
cheap, cheap, and more cheap
There was a
rather sandy spot, where the previous owner had a pool at one time.
Where
better to install the arbour and an herb garden.
My knowledge of herbs is less
than, well, it's not the best.
So..... I planted the perennial herbs and
they're actually doing quite well.
Tarragon, winter savoury, lemon balm,
feverfew, and lemon thyme are just a few of the herbs that have thrived
here.
Oh God how my yard looked,
naked, not finished
there was something missing!
Yup, another garden.
So I set out in the heat of '96 digging from the arbour back to the pine trees.
"Dead twigs" were purchased by
mail-order,
from Rockwood Gardens here in Ontario, Canada
30 shrubs for about $35.00,
you do
the math!
They included: Forsythia, Cardinal shrub, Rose of Sharon, White
& Pink Spirea.
The amusement of my neighbours was rather obvious
as they came armed with a glue-gun and 'hens & chicks'
to help the twigs look 'life-like', at the very least.
Of course, not all of the twigs lived thru that drought
of a summer that we had,
but what do ya want for "cheap"?
They are now all
progressing nicely.
Climbing roses were propagated from the old rose growing
wild beside our pine-trees by the drive-way.
These were planted all around the arbour,
to provide shade on those hot summer days.
But, *giggle* the arbour is facing the wrong way
and we still sit in the hot sun!!
Our neighbours have donated
iris, astilbe, and hostas to our gardening cause.
My mom's farm was the source of wild tiger
lillies, black-eyed Susans, Sweet Williams, Poppies, and a few lilac
bushes.
Even a trip to the city dump netted me 4 peony shrubs.
Ah the vision was growing
yet somehow the yard
still lacked something.
So the saga continues......
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