Compost Confidential

Challenges and Delayed Gratification add to a Satisfying Landscape

I’ll tell you right up front, this is hard to admit.  My family and I have now been in our new (to us) house for just over a year.  The landscape (and I use that term loosely) was less than “curb appealing” to the eyes of an expert gardener such as me or to any passerby for that matter. 

Anxious to utilize my skills, I quickly went to work, ripping out inappropriate shrubs, concrete statuettes and scalloped edging, eradicated the weed infested lawn and scooped up the many loads of granite mulch.  The end result was a perfectly blank slate ready for the master’s touch. 

One year later, I still have a perfectly blank slate.  Well actually the weeds moved back in so the lawn area appeared to be green thanks to a carpet of crabgrass.  But since recently removing that, I’m back to square one, ready for that radical front yard makeover that is now more than one year overdue.

My overall plan called for a modest kidney shaped island of turf surrounded by mounded raised beds, filled with perennials, mixed shrubs, conifers and three strategically sited Japanese maples.  A curved fieldstone path welcomes guests as they make their way to the front stoop, flanked by large containers of seasonally striking plants and cascading vines.

Finally, an understated picket fence envelops the front yard, softened by a wide swath of perennials which fill the void between it and the street.  To complete the picture, two barn red Adirondack chairs, angled slightly towards each other, sit open to the street, perfectly placed under the shade of the large oak.  It is truly a stunning site.  Unfortunately that image exists only in my head, where it has lived for the last 13 months.

Now it is time to finally make that vision a reality.  With a relatively light travel schedule over the next two weeks, I’m on a mission to complete (alright…start) this long overdue renovation project.  The work has commenced. 

First step, prepare the center island for the lawn seeding.  First problem, there seems to be a large root mass buried just under the surface, right in the middle of the new lawn area.  First dilemma; do I take the easy route and cover it with soil, or do I attempt to dig out this mass of unknown size and solve the problem for good?

Having never been one to run from a challenge, I choose the latter.  After two painstaking days, using every tool in my arsenal, I reluctantly surrender my first battle, completely exhausted.  My joints ache, I’m so tired I can’t even speak legibly and my hands are covered in blisters in spite of wearing protective gloves.

On Monday morning I call my friend Kelly at Southern Horticulture and plead my case.   Five hours later Mike arrives with heavy equipment and promptly extricates this beast from its subterranean home.

I feel better about my decision.  Although the benign looking stump seemed as though it could eventually be removed by this stubborn and determined army of one, after seeing what ultimately came out of the ground, it is clear I made the right decision, albeit about two days too late.

Tomorrow I fill the void left by this massive root system, regrade the area and spread the grass seed.  Other than consistent irrigation to keep the seeds moist, I’ll be through with phase I.  That is assuming of course I don’t have any surprises tomorrow.  But with gardening and landscaping, there are always surprises and challenges. 

I can’t honestly say I enjoyed this first challenge, but it will add to the memories and enhance the satisfaction and pride I’ll have when this landscape is finally complete.  But as gardeners and weekend warriors, you know as well as I, it’s never truly finished.  And that’s what keeps us young, excites us about tomorrow and frankly makes us so tired…but isn’t it a good tired?  I think so. 
JL

An Eco-friendly Garden is Good for All

Assuming all goes well, in just over two months, I will have completed my latest book of tips and information for creating an eco-friendly garden and landscape.  Recently, I sat down to write the introduction.  That relatively simple assignment allowed me to slow down long enough to put into words why this book is so important to gardeners.

Sure, ‘going green’ is in these days.  But I believe it is especially important for gardeners and weekend warriors to recognize the impact we have on this whole concept of being eco-friendly.  As a group, we are one of the largest offenders-- yet possess the ability to make one of the most positive and measurable changes. 

Take me for example.  If you were to find yourself in my garden shed years ago, it would look a lot different than it does today.  Back then, the floor was crammed with every gas powered tool on wheels, the walls crowded and draped with gas trimmers, clippers and blowers. The shelves were a storehouse for every pesticide, herbicide, fungicide and fertilizer a gardener could have on hand to handle any real, perceived or potential problem. 

Over the years, I’ve come around 180 degrees.  Before ‘going green’ was trendy, I began phasing out my own personal arsenal of chemical weapons used to wage war on anything in the garden that I didn’t put there myself.

Today I still have plenty of tools but I’ve done away with the worst environmental offenders.  My big manly blower has been replaced by a less powerful but more convenient rechargeable model.  Two of my three noisy, air polluting lawn mowers have been recycled and the fate of the third is in jeopardy as I look to trade it for a push-powered reel mower.

I can’t put my finger on a single event leading to this turning point.  I think for me, it was more of a series of personal observations, all independent of each other yet collectively working together into an ecological awakening.

One of the first things to go was the pesticides.  During my transition, it really hit home when I learned how few bugs in any garden are actually considered pests.  As it turns out, it’s only about 3%.  And yet, how often do we want to eliminate all the bugs, just to get the few real offenders.  And if that weren’t bad enough, if the directions on the label (assuming we read them) said to use one tablespoon per gallon, we use 2, 3, 5 or even 10 times that because we think “more is better”.

In the process of our non-selective, all out assaults, we are killing entire populations of beneficial insects, there to control problems naturally.  Then we felt the need to eliminate certain types of ‘green vegetation’ that didn’t quite meet our standards for appropriate lawns or garden-worthy plants.   

In an effort to get and keep those very lawns and gardens looking green and lush, we have carpeted them with herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers.  Then we water them to excess wasting an increasingly precious resource in the process.

As we apply chemicals of every sort to solve any potential problem, we rarely think about the consequences.  The water we waste on our lawns and gardens has led to critical shortages in many areas.  Even the mowers and power equipment we use in a single hour pollutes more than scores of cars at rush hour. 

As well intentioned users of products meant to promote beautiful landscapes and gardens, we have become the abusers.  It’s time for all of us to be more accountable for the footprint we are leaving behind. In fact, even if the only change each of us made was to change how we use what we have, collectively we’d make a significant difference in the positive impact on our environment.   

It all adds up.  Some will do much, others very little, but if we all do something, we’ll be well on our way to creating a more eco-friendly garden, not only for ourselves but more importantly for the one we all share and cultivate together.   
JL