Garden, Landscape, and Yard

I use the following terms a lot, and often interchangeably: garden, landscape, and yard. The words do have different connotations for me, and here’s what I think of each term.

Yard: A piece of land surrounding a house. Nothing is required here except for physical space.

Landscape: The features of a yard or outdoor area. A landscaped yard is purposely planned out and filled with various hard-scape and plant material. 

Garden: A place for plants. In a garden, the highlight is the plants and how they interact and grow.

When I think about the area surrounding the house, I often think about it in three tiers. The bottom is the yard. If you have a yard you have a bunch of land that is not devoted to any purpose, including aesthetics. Think a dirt pad, weed patch, or even a run-of the mill lawn with boxwood foundation plantings. Nothing special or desirable here.

The next is a landscape. The area is purposefully planned out to be functional and beautiful. There can be good or bad landscaping and a slew of different styles…but there is always some thought and effort behind it. Most commercially done landscapes fall into this tier (with a few exceptions). These usually have a “before and after” type approach, with a one time installation and only minor modifications after the initial installation.

Finally, the most desirable tier is a garden. A garden is all about plants. There almost always has to be a gardener attached as well, someone who appreciates and cares for the plants. A garden changes dynamically through the years as plants are appreciated, cultivated and experimented on. In the culture where I grew up, a garden usually meant a kitchen garden with vegetables and such. Most people only cared about their vegetables too…the rest of the landscape was not cultivated by a caring gardener but occasionally hacked at with a mower and pruning shears. But there are also flower gardens, mixed borders, meadows, and more that can accurately be described as a garden.

I said that a garden is most desirable, but I think a lot of people aren’t actually looking to have a garden. They want a nice landscape, something that is functional and pretty, but avoid the effort and knowledge that is necessary for a garden. There is always something missing from these landscapes though: no piece of land can reach it’s full potential unless it is treated as a garden.

Spring Break

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I had a spring break vacation this year, even though nobody in my family had spring break. But my little brother did and he and my parents came out and we had lots of fun. On Saturday, after picking them up at the airport, we had an easter egg hunt and dyed eggs. The eggs all looked horrible, but Peter had fun.

Sunday we blessed Curtis and had a nice dinner, complete with sweet potato Souffle. Monday we went to the Aquarium. Joe took the day off and came too. He took the pictures, so I’m actually in a bunch of them.

We stopped by Waffle House on the way home for a quick lunch. (You shouldn’t visit the south without visiting Waffle House. Oh, I just googled it and found out it is headquartered in our county, not too far from where we live.)  Tuesday was a more relaxing day. Disc golf in the morning, and the kids and I stayed home to nap while my parents and brother went to the MLK historic site.

Wednesday we went to the Zoo and saw pandas. This was cool mostly because my sister is obsessed with pandas. She wasn’t actually here…but her enthusiasum about pandas has apparently worn off on me a bit.

We went to all you can eat pizza that night. While we were at pizza and nobody at home, someone signed for a package I was waiting for. I still need to locate it, I’m hoping the apartment office might have it. I dislike mail. After pizza, I had a fun date with Joe. We actually had no idea what we wanted to do, so just got in the car and drove and talked. We ended up at the lake up north, looked around, and drove back. Sounds boring…but it was wonderful.

Thursday was my favorite day. We went out to Stone Mountain and stayed there from 10 to almost 5 and had a blast. I re-discovered my nerves about heights, Peter had a blast at the barn, and we ate really good food. We went on the skyride to the top of the mountain, and then my parents walked down and I took the skyride with the kids. We met at the car, at the same time. (There’s a mile walk back after you get off the mountain too. So either my family was booking it (and knowing them they were fast) or the skyride is pretty slow when you have to wait (which we did)). The best thing is my parents ended up buying Joe and I season passes, so we can go back whenever.

Dropped the family at the airport Friday. That night Peter had the worst tantrum of his life…he was so very tired.

Baby Blessing

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Curtis was blessed in our church last Sunday. My parents and brother came into town to meet Curtis and where there for the blessing. Curtis went through a bit of a rough spot for a while (lots of fussiness) but he’s been much happier the last few days. He’s growing and getting nice and chubby. We all love him lots, except for Peter who is still deciding.

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The Garden on the Balcony: Beginning

This is what the balcony looks like right now:

Not a lot going on, but I spent less than $20 and under 2 hours. Not too bad for the amount of time and money I put into it. I was a bit creative with pots–I’ve got a canvas bag with seeded flowers, some left over terracotta pots from another project and a couple of baskets from the thrift store. I used the terracotta pots for herbs, and I love how they turned out. I saw this post over at the Timber Press blog about dressing up terracotta pots. I tend to not be so craftly– the quiker and more fool-proof the better. So I skipped the whole painting of the pots, and just used to chalk to label them. Still cute, but it took basically no time.

I planted up a couple of begonia and a dusty miller in a thrift store basket. I love the grey and purple foliage combination, I tend to use it a lot in my garden designs as well. This should also do well in the shady patio. I’ve given up the notion of planting any vegetables besides some seeded lettuce–I simply don’t think I have enough sunlight ot get a good crop. The lettuce might not do anything because of heat, but I’d thought I’d try. So for now it’s a few herbs and a few flowers–easily and cheaply done. I might get around to more, but if not at least I have enough to call it a garden.

Family Pictures and Advice to Myself

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Life is very busy, mostly because I’m attached to a small baby. (Although he is growing quite rapidly–he gained 3 lbs in as many weeks.) We went to the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve before Conference on Saturday and took some family pictures. Here they are:

Here’s some advice I’ve been writing down in my journal for myself. It gives a good idea of how life is.

  • Go outside 🙂
  • There is no greater work that I could be doing than being a mother to my two boys–but it can also be exhausting, discouraging and lots of hard work!
  • More important than doing is enjoying.
  • I love being on top of things…but I’m also trying to keep realistic expectations and enjoy the wonderful moments like a nice day at the park and quizzical new eyes.
  • I am blessed!
  • I can get frustrated or accept life and do my best…meet the challenges, find solutions, and mostly maintain happiness and optimism.
  • It’s easy to get down when I focus on what’s good only for me.
  • Strive for the middle ground between laziness and over-reaching. (see here)
  • Listen and pay attention to Peter more: enjoy him more.
  • Act don’t respond.
  • Formula can be very wonderful at times.
  • Visiting is fun.
  • Have relaxed days.
  • Enjoy life, take what comes. Life is not a formula to fill out after which I get happiness. Life is more dynamic and special.
  • I’m happy…even when things aren’t necessarily perfect because the good outweights the bad.
  • Sacrifice clean home & tasks for my children–so I did. I let the bathrooms alone and played Legos.
  • Come what may and love it. (see here)
  • Be grateful and ask for help instead of trying to do it all myself.
  • I love my family. Its fun to spend time and play together.
  • Be watchful and pray always.
  • I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Wildflower Center of Georgia

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Spring is in full swing, and it is so gorgeous here. Streets are filled with flowering trees and shrubs in much larger quantities than I’ve seen before. I wanted to go visit a public garden, but not pay a lot or travel far. I finally found the Georgia Perimeter College Botanical Gardens, and headed over for a visit last Saturday. They feature a native plant and fern garden. The gardens are small and I enjoyed the naturalized layout and feel to everything. They also had a plant sale that was also going on and I was sad that I didn’t have a garden to buy carts full of plants for. It looked like a great place to get Georgia natives though, and also to get ideas on using them.

The azaleas and dogwoods were in full bloom making it a great time to visit. I loved the look of the fern gardens, backlit by filtered shade from trees just starting to gain their leaves. It was a great time to take a load of pictures, and I hope you enjoy them.

*Visit the site linked above for visiting information, along with plant sale dates, and free native plant talks and garden walks.

Books

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I like to read…though sometimes it’s hard for me to get into serious how-to gardening book. But I will read them straight through (not out of necessity just because I like it), even if it takes me a while. The most recent one was The Well-Tended Perennial Garden. I should have read it eons ago. The main complaint was it was a library copy so I had to return it after I had maxed out my renewals.

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is the bible on maintaining perennial plants. If you are taking care of perennials, you should have a copy of this box. I don’t necessarily agree with or follow everything she recommends…but the book is an excellent place to start and then experiment on your own. I read straight through the first half, which is a how-to on installing and maintaining perennials. Even after maintaining perennials professionally, I learned a bunch from this guide. The second half is an encyclopedia with specific maintenance instructions for individual species, and that is why I want to own the book.

Because I’m currently nursing a lot, and I read when I nurse, I’ve read a lot. The next book I read was Four Tenths of an Acre by Laurie Lisle. Not a bad garden memoir about the author’s garden in New England, though nothing stood out to me that much either.

I’ve also read The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels–a Love Story and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (Aladdin Fantasy) to polish off the week. Niether are gardening books, but both are good reads and at least have gardens in them. I read them faster and probably enjoyed them more than the gardening books too.

Computers Stink but the Weather Doesn’t

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It’s spring now…and it’s been hot. The AC went on, even when thoughts of a power bill kept me from turning the temperature below 80. It’s a little cooler today…it feels like perfect weather. The trees are getting their leaves which makes me happy inside. The kids and I have been enjoying the nice weather with visits to parks, trails, leaving windows open…today I even bought a few plants and seeds. I would love to spend more time outside but it’s a billion times harder to get out with a baby and tantrums over shoes.

Joe’s computer became quite ill at the end of last week. I have spent hours playing nurse on it…but it remains un-functional. I immeiditely start to get in a bad mood when I think about it. Luckily my computer is fine, and we’ve just been sharing. It’s not the greatest replacement though. Before, Joe would hole up in our bedroom to do his homework, but now he’s out in the main room. A certain little someone likes to see what’s going on…so Peter is learning the names of all the bones on the x-rays Joe is studying, and his homework takes a little longer to get done. We ordered a Kindle Fire as a cheap replacement and plan on sharing both the computer and it. We’ll see how it works.

Peter and Curtis vary between being completely adorable or dropping bricks on my foot and crying. I use a lot of prayers to maintain patience and love. Kids are a lot of lovable fun, but a ton of work too!

Blooms and Planning a Garden

Spring is rapidly in gear. Everyday I notice another fresh sign of spring. The leaves are starting to come in on the trees, we leave the windows open all day, and I even dressed my toddler son in shorts. Flower blooms are abundant. While I was going through my pictures its amazing to see how a plant can go from dormant to budding to flowering in a matter of days.

We drove over to go hiking today and the drive was more fun than the hiking. The streets are lined with flowering trees and shrubs. There’s flowering plums, crab apples, eastern redbud, forsythia, quince, and an abundance of azaleas. All the pictures I’ve taken are from mostly boring landscapes around my apartment and at a couple parks. But spring is making everything beautiful.

Even with a two week old son, I’m itching to get some plants growing out on the deck. I’m missing having a garden to work in (but at the same time I don’t have a lot of time for one). At least I have some outdoor space to work with in my apartment. I’m planning on some potted herbs, a few cherry-type tomato plants, and some peppers out on the deck, with a few flowers to enjoy.

The only problem I foresee with this is watering…I’ll have lots and lots of watering in my future.

Cuddles and Ditching Clocks

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Here’s my advice for the day. If you have a baby, ditch the clock. It’s easy to get distracted by how many hours, or lack of hours of sleep I’m getting. Or how long it’s been since baby Curtis nursed, or if he’s nursing long enough, etc. (He’s an incredibly efficient eater for how young he is.) But clocks and babies really don’t mix.

I am doing so wonderfully. I certainly don’t feel like I had a baby two weeks ago. I feel like I should be sleeping more–but in actuality I’m fine with the sleep I’m getting. I’m not nearly as tired as when I was pregnant. I went to take a nap today, and really couldn’t fall asleep. I’m still a little bleary from getting up at night, but not actually tired.

Peter’s been alright with everything–he skipped or shortened his nap for a while, but today he’s actually slept. He does usually like his baby brother, except I’m no longer available to meet his requests all the time. (It’s a good thing that he’s learning to wait a little more and do a bit more for himself.)

I’m very bad at taking things easy…the weather’s perfect right now too. We’ve gone to the park and library, but have spent a lot more time at home. It’s been fun to cuddle a lot.

My sister-in law took some of the pictures with my commandeered camera.  Looking at them, it’s amazing how fast babies change. Already he’s a bit bigger, much more stretchy, and more awake when he’s awake.