Gardening ‘R Me
You may know that I fancy myself a gardener, i.e., one of
those hobbyists who digs holes in his lawn and puts money in them. Or at least
it seems that way, especially if you count the holes around my house that
should have something beneficial growing in them, but don’t. Since August is
here and most of the growing season is behind us, it is the time of year when
we gardeners brag about the number and size of our tomatoes, or other growing
successes, so here is my report. Before I get into the details, I need to give
some explanatory information about gardening in the North Woods, in other
words, I’ll now give excuses for my little tomatoes that are few in number.
First of all, you should know that there are three types of soils:
good soil for growing things, bad soil for growing things, and horrible soil
for just about anything. My soil is in the third category. It is most like
beach sand – terrible for growing anything, but the only soil I have. I have
better soil at the Memorial Garden I manage at our Methodist church. It is
gravel, the kind that contractors have left over from building projects, but it
is what I have to deal with at the church. It is better than beach sand, but
not by much. The good thing about the church garden is that the grassy area surrounding
my garden includes a sprinkler system that waters most of my garden, the Lord
be praised.
The new thing I added to the church garden last fall is an
extension to the original garden for burying cremains. This portion of the
garden is at the farthest end of the garden, accessible by an extension of the
paved walk with the circular sunrise pattern in the center. The burial area is
separated from the other area of the garden by the generous supply of black
mulch. The mulch surrounds two crabapple trees, two hydrangeas, and an
assortment of large rocks that I artfully placed in the mulched area. The
sidewalk is graced by four urns. I plan to keep track of who is buried where by
putting the ashes in the gravel under the rocks. As long as no one steals the
rocks, I’ll know where everyone is interred.
The church garden seems to be doing OK this year. I have
lots of flowers that are putting on a nice show, including two tomato plants
that I stuck in two of the urns that feature wave petunias. So far, I haven’t
buried anyone, their cremains, that is. I am hoping that soon someone will pass
on and bequeath a generous donation for the church garden allowing me to dig a
hole and push the deceased into eternity.
My gardens at home are another matter. We have suffered a
prolonged drought this summer and it shows. I have spent lots of time in
watering the plants, but each time I leave for a few days the gardens suffer.
Another significant problem this year is the lack of a bobcat or fox who will help
control my rabbit, chipmunk, and squirrel population. These critters have been
especially hungry this year, both with my vegetables and now my flowers. I
would also like to announce that marigolds don’t discourage critters from
entering gardens – I know this since many of them have themselves been eaten.
Until this year, I also didn’t know that squirrels liked acai berries until I
watched them eat mine.
So those are the high points of my gardening report for this
year. But just as hope springs eternal, I planted several new native plants
this year in the expectation that they will be easier to grow if I can get them
through this year’s drought. I’ll let you know next year.
