[gardeners] Weekend in the garden
Kari Whittenberger-Keith (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 24 Sep 2001 08:20:39 -0700
One of the things I've found in the last two weeks is that, as a way of
dealing with my emotions following the tragedy, I've been doing a whole lot
of clean up and organizing. Last weekend we tackled the house--a kind of
deep fall cleaning--as well as meal planning which had fallen woefully to
the wayside ever since we'd moved (a year and a half ago!). This weekend
it was the garden.
Now generally, I am a seasonal gardener. I love getting out there in the
spring and doing all the hard work; in the summer I do the maintenance kind
of stuff; in fall the clean-up and in winter I want a break (I guess it
comes from growing up in the Midwest; I still haven't gotten into the year
round swing that one can garden by in Oregon). So this weekend I got
started on the fall cleanup and getting things ready for the next round of
new beds and changes that will come either later this fall or early in
spring. So, I tore out a three areas full of old and ugly iris (about 8
wheelbarrows full), and got those areas ready for replanting. I pulled out
the sweet pea leavings and prepared that area for a naturalized herbal lawn
(it's part of an herb walk in the back). I cleaned out a couple of other
beds and prepared the area for having the adjoining sod removed to widen
the planting beds. I weeded the 135 foot border we have with a vacant lot
next door. I also pulled a goodly amount of the annual flowers and such
from the raised beds, which had seen better days.
In the process, I unearthed a variety of spring bulbs--narcissus, crocus,
grape hyacinth, and allium--which will get replanted next weekend.
Now if it would only rain, to help soften the soil so we can get started on
the new beds.
Kari
Kari Whittenberger-Keith
kariwk@oregon.uoregon.edu
Managing Editor, Old House Chronicle
http://www.oldhousechronicle.com