MY personal garden:
my traveling garden
My backyard garden
outside my window
backyard more
clover and rhodendron
pretty
illumination
back
Garlic and Maidenhair ferns
beautiful and noble
Bordering the front of the house
garden in front of my house
more backyard space
YAY 4 SPRING! these just popped up in the garden so quick!
my bedroom windowsill
more favorites
This is another plant very dear to me.
February 20,2007
Garden Vision Step 1
Garden Site Description
1. I live in a rented home on 1519 Farwell Ct Nw. I am located close to the co-op on the west side of Olympia. Farwell is off of Division and Bowman.
2. My front and backyard contains a nice mowed lawn and a garden that is well manicured. While i find it lovely, i plan on moving in a few months so i plan on creating a separate potted garden to take with me.
Garden Site
1. The backyard is fenced in. It is about 200 ft long and 100 feet wide. I would estimate that over half is consisting of garden and the rest grassy yard.
2. it is shaped like a rectangle.
3. the grassy yard is flat. the garden is undulating in the backyard.
4. My house is south and the garden is north. I would say the slope is only ten percent from level.
5. I would estimate my yard gets eight hours of sun right now.
6. The dirt is brown and drains well. It is firm in the yard and looser in the garden, but still compact.
7. Water features include lots of rain and a hose.
8. Principle plant species present: Many rhododendrons that are four feet tall and healthy. A moderate amount of lavender that healthy, but only about ten inches by ten inches. ( a small patch). There is a great deal of ivy along the fences that is so healthy it might be taking over too much. Very healthy maidenhair fern grows abundantly, about 2 feet tall in one area of the yard. I am growing a moderate amount of garlic, which is very healthy. There are a few young rose bushes. One appears to be less healthy than the others. There are a great deal of trees that are very healthy. These trees include: a palm tree that is over ten feet tall, Evergreens over ten feet tall, a sitka spruce over ten feet tall, and a sycamore tree over ten feet tall. Pansies, tulips, and petunia's grow moderately. They are still young and healthy. There are many plants in my garden i have yet to identify.
9. animal activity: we have bird houses and bird feeders so birds frequently are in the yard. I often have my friends' dogs over to play. I am sure we have mice because i have seen one run across my porch. Fruit flies occasionally are drawn to our compost pile. I am always seeing beetles and worms in the garden.
10. I only know i have lived in this home since September and most of the garden plants were already here. I added potted plants and pretty much tend what has already been created.
11. I love my backyard and garden. It is fenced in and private and has such a diverse plant range. Flowers, and trees, and shrubs, and ivy's. There is always something new blooming or dying. I feel very grateful and blessed to be able to witness and notice the subtle changes occurring all the time. I would love to be able to build onto what is already created, but i must make a potted garden because i will be moving shortly.
I would like to plant many plants that will go well with just water. I drink a lot of tea and have been recently reminded of the whole healing energy of water. I feel that getting to know each of my plants, one at a time, in the purest healing waters will help me develop a closer relationship with each plants essence and energy form. I would like to be able to make tea from herbs i grow. That is my goal.
In order to get to know each of my herbs' uniqueness and develop a closer relationship with each of them, I plan on only planting a small group to start out with. I want some peppermints, thymes, and rosemary. Have to get rosemary for the beauty more than use.
Preliminary Design and Plan
February 26,2007
1. Specific Plant Species:
Thymes
Lemon Thyme. Thymus citriodorus Full sun. can handle -10 Fahrenheit. grows 6-8" high. plant 10-14" apart. Tiny golden green lemon scented leaves. Light lavender flowers in summer.
Thyme- English Wedgewood Sun 9x14" round growing good for cooking and deer resistant.
MINTS (vigorous spreaders) great for teas, potpourris, deer resistants
Peppermint Full sun 18-24" apart. Grows 24-36" tall,
French Peppermint sun to partial shade Grows 24-36" tall, 2-5' wide Cold hardy -30 F
Spearmint sun to partial shade plant 18" apart grows 18-24" tall
OTHER
Rosemary great as a hair rinse FULL SUN can grow 4 ft space: 24" shrub with needlelike leaves and little blue leaves in the spring. Needs well drained. Cant cut back after frost or leave standing.
Sage purplish green and magenta blue flowers in summer. FULL SUN 30-36" apart grows to 36" tall
2. my design will group the mints together in a pot, thymes together, and others together. The pots will get smaller in that order.
3. I can cut them back after the frost or allow them to stay as they are. Water all year. Bring them inside when the weather is really rough.
4. Materials and Tools needed: potting soil, pots, rocks, herbs , Maybe some worm juice
5 I have a compost pile
6. watering system is consisted of lots of rain and a hose.
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