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AN OVERHEAD VIEW SHOWS A GARDEN’S ISSUES

October 20, 2015

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a few things you can do in your garden in fall to set yourself up for a great gardening year ahead. I accidentally came across another one: check out the sky-view of your garden to look for potential improvements.
While looking up something else on Google Earth, I zoomed up to our house and noticed that the picture had been updated since I last looked. I think it was taken early this summer.
Of course, since it was taken in what I think is early summer, the trees are blocking a lot of the view, but there are a few interesting notes. First, I love that you can see the “stripes” in the path to the garage even from space. (I used bluestone that I reclaimed from my grandmother’s house for parts of the path and flagstone for the rest.)
But there is one glaring issue that is driving me nuts. Do you see it?

Check out the garden to the north of the house. Do you see that annoyingly randomly curved edge? This harkens back to an earlier time in my gardening life, when I compulsively created new gardens on a whim without a lot of thought as to what purpose they might serve or what they should look like. And back then, curvy was interesting, regardless of whether those curves served a purpose.

In case you aren’t seeing what I’m talking about, I drew it in on photo below (in the middle).

To be clear, I’m not against curvy garden beds. It’s just that I’ve learned that curves have to have purpose, like around a show-stopper shrub or tree, or as part of a larger, bolder statement. Compare the random curves on the garden to the north with the back/side garden. Although you can’t see the whole yard because of the foliage cover and shadows, you can tell that the bold edge creates an oval of grass. The grass is the positive space rather than the negative space, which is the opposite of what is going on in the other bed.

Thanks to Google Earth, I know I need to deal with the shape of that bed. I’m not entirely sure what to do, and creating more room in the garden is probably not the answer (yes, I’ve gotten to a point where I realize that I need to keep my gardening space to a reasonable amount). I may even do something to break up that really large area on the right side of that garden. It is an insanely deep bed struggling for some identity. The good news, I’ve got a lot of winter to think about it.

edge garden
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
4 Comments

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Comments

  1. Becky says: October 20, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    Well now that you point it out, it does look messy. lol Your other edge has such a nice curve to it and that north one is a bit sloppy looking.

    Reply
  2. Heather - New House New Home says: October 21, 2015 at 11:32 am

    Oops I may have fallen into that trap too – get the garden hose out and just curve away.

    It's sad that we have a winter to think about how to change things.

    Heading to Google Earth to see if my house has been updated. Now that would be interesting as it was basically an open yard before.

    Reply
  3. Lisa Greenbow says: October 21, 2015 at 11:59 am

    It will be fun to have a look at mine too. You can see the footprint which can give you "ideas".

    Reply
  4. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: October 21, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    I would just square off the cuves on that north bed. Looks like one would line up with the house which would link it visually and you'd have similar size beds to what ypu have now.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

Are you as enamored with Nicotinana as I am?
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