Garden
Ownership and location of garden space. This is a new house for me. Ihave owned a house for over 20 years. Now I am living in a rental. I have permission to plant what I like. I now live at 709 Frederick St NE, this is the on the east side of Olympia, just off Bigelow St. and very near Ralph's Thriftway.
Step 1: Maps and Photographs of THE garden.
This is a small garden space, only 7'x7'. It is flat, square and holds water pretty well - at least during the winter it does. I have only lived here a month, so I do not know the full cycle of this little space. It is of an easterly exposure. Probably gets just the morning sun, 3-5 hours, then is in shade or light shade. It is right in front of me as I go out my front door and it has said it needs planting, that's why I chose it.
The Soil is loamy, perhaps a bit more clay than I am used to, drainage seems good. Color is good now. Not sure what it will look like in the warmer months. Although since it is an eastern exposure, moisture is usually better than in other exposures.
The principle plants present are as described in the above maps (though I am having much trouble getting my first two maps to carry over to the web page...). It is a small piece of ground void of major plantings. There are a few tulips, that I doubt will flower, a few crocus, some grape hyacinth and/or Spanish bellflowers. There are also some California poppy. Not to be left out are mostly dandelion and a some thistle.
This is a new garden for me. I have lived at a different home with a completely different garden and many micro-gardens among them for about 20 years. I suppose this is fitting to get a small, easily worked space given my huge transition from that garden I called home to this rented square plot of land. This rental has a nice yard though, something to walk around in and have different things to contemplate - and even plant. I have plants from home (on 19th street) to fill and make pretty this tiny plot.
KEY - 3/4/06 
Step II & III - What I visualize in my little plot.....................
As mentioned earlier, I have plants from my other house - I had a habit of hoarding plants I love, thinking that there would always be a place to plant them, even if it meant over-planting or removing something no longer thriving. Now I have a bunch of perfect things for an eastern exposure, since I had a lot of shady areas at my last place.
1. Pieris japonica, Little Heath - 2
2. Helleborus spp.
3. Miniature Azaleas - 3
4. Primroses
5. Sarcococca ruscifolia - have to dig this up from home...
6. Barrenwort
7. Nandina domestica - could be Gulfstream or Moyer's Red, again this depends on what I find at home.
8. I have just brought over a low growing Rhododendron called Winsome.
All of these plants can be safely planted now.
First thing I need to do is work the soil and remove the weeds. I will wait until all the bulbs there have bloomed and then replace them somewhere more appropriate. I will add some granular Alaska Fish Fertilizer to the soil and work that in.
I love laying out the plants to see how they fall into place. I will photograph how I think they might go in.
All of this will lead me further around the yard and all will have to have a bit of Allyson's touch on it. I am planning also to bring over my abundant collection of pots/planters from home as soon as I can.
I am really, really sad to leave my other garden, it has been a very wonderful, therapeutic and social aspect of my life on 19th Street. I am sure it will always be cared for in someone's own special way. My husband and kids want to grow lots and lots of vegetables where I have a lovely bed of ornamentals, bulbs, perennials, grasses, etc. I will just have to move them with me. Like I said, this is a very hard thing for me to do. I just cannot imagine myself NOT gardening. Part of why I thought leaving my other house in the winter was because I could not possibly be pulled away from the magic and peace I feel there in the spring and summer - even if I always say, something else needs doing and this or that spot needs help.
