The Garden

I have to say that I am very pleased with the progress I made in the garden this year. I repaired the "levees" by the weir where the pond empties when it overflows, and I am pretty sure that I overdid them such that they will not fail absent a flood of Biblical proportions. Just to be sure, I replaced the perennial beds by the weir with sod. The grass never seems to wash away no matter how much flooding we get. The perennial beds by the pond (them as did not get washed away) have thrived so much that I have expanded them all. I terraced the far side of the pond where the sides were steepest and put in plants, most of which I moved from the flooded beds or got at sales.

In order to repair the damage alongside the weir, I took sod and detritus from the front of the house which I turned into a long planting bed instead of weedy grass. I had success with geraniums, bee balm and day lilies, but I overestimated how much sun part of the new bed gets and foolishly transplanted some flowers there that clearly want full sun. I have since dug up many of these and transplanted them yet again to the terraces and to a new bed that gets lots of afternoon sun. I used to have wildflowers there. I aim to transplant some of the abundant ferns from the woods to the shady area as well as to other shady areas by my mailbox and driveway. I have done this elsewhere to good effect. The ferns are attractive, and they are free.

The pond itself has done well, but the heron has finally eaten every last comet. The koi are too big, and the shiners are too small, so maybe he will leave us be for now. The pickerel weed that I once counted as lost has thrived beyond all expectations now that it is no longer in the path of Dogzilla the Mighty Frog Hunter. The hardy water lilies have propogated frighteningly well. They hide the common snapping turtles quite well.

Next year, I aim to plant native plants almost exclusively. I would especially like to grow persimmons, lingonberries, high and low bush blueberries and fraises du bois. Of course, I will continue to encourage the raspberries to expand, and I want to keep adding to my concord grape vineyard (I have two vines at present). If the laws change, I aim to replace my entire back lawn with marijuana plants.

I would like to put in a greenhouse in the sunniest and swampiest part of the back yard, but Mrs Vache Folle is going to pooh pooh this.