The Garden

As I stated in my introduction over one year ago, gardening is life and life is gardening. That gardening can be done anywhere! Literally and figuratively. Well today I thought I would share a definition of my garden with you. Some general facts and what is here at Tiger Gardens.

Mr. Fix-it and I purchased the house and property seven years ago. I am not sure how much area the hardscaping takes up, but the whole lot is 1 acre, or 43,000+ square feet. That is a lot of square feet when you think about it! If I were seeding a new lawn I would need 250 pounds of fescue seed-quite a bit!

I haven't counted the number of gardens lately, but they range somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 gardens total. The gardens names and areas include: Shade Garden, Woodland Garden, Perennial Garden, Hydrangea Garden, Northside Shrub Border, Greenhouse Garden, Foundation Beds, Redbud Garden, Center Front Garden, Front Walled Garden, Crabapple Garden, Hydrangea Garden, Driveway Garden, Cutout Garden, Sidewalk Garden, Vegetable Garden, Picket Garden, Weeping Redbud Garden, Wild Garden, Front Shrub Border, Mahonia Garden, Dogwood Garden, Cosmos Garden, Bottle Tree Garden, Witch Hazel Garden, and Mailbox Garden. I know, lots of funny names. The names are a must though in order to keep track of where I plant new plants. If you get into this habit early in your gardening career, it will make things very simple in the long run. These gardens probably take up about 13-15000 square feet of the property. Yes, I maintain them all-by myself. No landscapers here, and not even the teenaged son works in the garden.

I have designed my gardens around or in spite of or because of some kind of feature in the yard while keeping in mind traffic patterns and the way we use our garden. I have had issues with Mr. Fix-it's traffic patterns and have had to re-work my entire vegetable garden, but I am more careful now and have slowed down my expansion of the gardens so this will hopefully not ever be a problem again.

We are blessed with a multitude of trees, both mature and newly planted. I planted about two dozen small trees including: Japanese maples, crabapples, redbuds, dogwoods, and crepe myrtles. I have also transplanted several Eastern Red Cedars. The mature trees include: oaks, one pine, a couple of Easter Red Cedars, a Black Walnut and a few wild cherries.

There are approximately 400 different cultivars of perennials, shrubs, bulbs, vines, and trees that I planted. This does not include the mature trees on the property. There are many things I do not grow, but many more that I do grow. I am a plant collector, no excuses, just a fact. Plants come from everywhere! Friends, cuttings, seeds, birds, garden centers, garden shows, the wild and even gas stations. Most of the time I study books, magazines, AND blogs to learn more about gardening; in addition to actually doing. Many bloggers have helped me out when I have asked for it and even when I haven't asked. Just reading many blogs is a learning experience. I will be posting on this aspect of my blog tomorrow.

I have pretty much got the bones of my garden down. Now I am merely defining, maintaining, and designing (rearranging and moving of course!). My problem when I began gardening was not having enough plants, now my problem is having too many! I hate to get rid of any so I just tend to shift them around. My new wild garden is the recipient of most of the plants I can't fit in anywhere else. I also share a great deal with friends. No one leaves here empty handed. There will be a master gardener plant sale on October 11 for which I will be digging some plants (if we ever get rain). I am sure-POSITIVE- I will not miss any plants, nor will they miss me.

The soil is not rocky, it is a bit clayey but has been so well amended by the multitude of leaves and compost (most all from on site) that for the most part I am happy with the soil. The plants seem happy too. My lawn is mainly fescue. I am one of those gardeners who is as obsessed with the grass as I am with the plants. I tell you this about my grass and soil because if I gardened in pure clay or solid rock with Bermuda grass growing, I would have an awful hard time maintaining so many gardens. I realize I am very lucky!

This garden is forever. I have planted many trees and long after I am gone they will still be thriving. My youngest son appreciates all we do here and perhaps he will one day get the house and garden. It won't really matter to me though, because while I am here and have my family, I am very happy with my little one acre of property and all the gardens and plants. It is the only reason I blog. No garden or love for it, then no blogging. Clearly I have a great big love for it all since I do both so often!

The above flower is turtlehead. A favorite native in full bloom at this time. It has a long period of bloom and is a delight....

Don't forget about the contest if you haven't yet made a guess. You have until Friday. $10 is not much, but it can buy two whole gallons of gas!

in the garden....