Gardening Themes

Do you come up with gardening themes each year? I like to — it helps me stay on track with what can sometimes feel overwhelming about tending a landscape. The themes help serve the overall design.

Last year the theme was “Access Everywhere.” In years past I had let areas of my garden overgrow, heal themselves and flourish while I focused on building my pond, maintaining areas closer to my home and attracting a variety of birds to the yard. With the theme of Access, I worked on building out the pathways that had already been established, as well as discovering new paths that revealed themselves. My goal was to be able to walk comfortably and feel welcomed, invited to wander.

This year, the theme is an extension of last year’s and is a bit more of a directive — “No Duck or Dodge.” While wandering last year I would frequently fold into an explorer’s pose and push through the brush, crawling through the thicket and lush greenery while trying to avoid the bristly, pokey thorns reaching out onto the trail. By the end of “No Mow May,” there had been significant growth, and I just didn’t want scratches on my legs or bumps on my head anymore. With this directive, I decided I should be able to walk tall and proud along the paths.

With a pair of automatic shears I walked around creating Chase-sized arches and angles in branches and vines. It felt really nice to shape the plants this way, and now there’s a lot more ease of movement. Noticeably absent is the feeling of being grabbed from behind by a thorny blackberry bush.

New residents to my yard include a herd of squirrels, which research tells me is called a scurry. This particular group is large — 15 or so — and they move in chaotic unison. It feels like I have monkeys in my trees, which I kind of like. Though the chittering can get quite loud as the scurry of squirrels scamper and scuttle through the trees.

This year I'm planting birdhouse gourds, in hopes of one day crafting sculptures with them. I really like the idea of self-sustaining art materials. I've been taking classes on using the wood lathe, which has caused me to look at the piles of sticks and logs I've been stacking a little differently

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