They Like It; They Really, Really Like It

I did a ton of work last week clearing the lower branches from the smaller trees, weeding, trimming the hedges, planting, and most importantly I mulched. My friend Kevin helped me heap the mulch into his flatbed at Lowes and unload it at the church. It would have taken several trips or I would have had to rent one of their trucks if it hadn't been for his generous offer to help. So, thank you Kevin J.* for helping on Saturday!

Anyway, it took me four hours to do all of the mulching and limb clearing on Saturday and I was exhausted when it was finished. But, it was totally worth it because the mulch really makes the plants pop. In fact, on Sunday at the early service, Dorothy M. stood up and thanked "whoever had planted the flowers in the pots out front." I wasn't going to get up and say, "I did it!" I had every intention of being the phantom gardener. But Celeste, our Pastor, said "I know who did it. It was Heather. And she's been doing all of the other gardening as well." So everyone clapped and I waved from my pew. It was nice to get the round of applause.

I also got this email the next day from Nancy D.:
" Hi! I think you are the one who did the planters at the church entrances? I just want to echo the praise that Dorothy M. gave at the early service today. What a difference it makes! The place looks much more welcoming, bright, cheerful, & cared for! Thanks so much for caring & being willing to do the work."

I'm so happy that the landscaping makes people happy. I don't do the work for praise but it is nice once in a while to get positive feedback. I don't really garden and landscape at the church for any particular reason. I just see it as a way I can give back to my faith community and my fellow parishioners. It's also a healthy outlet and a stress reducer. I can go up to the garden and get a full body workout and be alone with my thoughts for a few hours. Plus, it's nice to do work with tangible results at the end. It's exciting for me to watch things grow that I've planted. It's also exciting to see things grow that I didn't plant and wonder what will pop up next and what it'll look like when it's matured. There are setbacks, mysteries, and a little bit of heartache as well. But, it's all a part of gardening  in a very public setting. The joys far outweigh the pains so I'll keep coming back. 

* all last names have been changed to initials just in case people don't want their identities floating around in cyberspace.  

Pumpkins for Sale and Planting the Pansies

So the annual church pumpkin sale is on. The prices are really reasonable so I think I'll get my pumpkin from the church again this year. Plus, they have more varieties than the grocery store so I can't really lose.

While people are perusing the pumpkins I have been trying to make the church pretty with new flowers. I put in some pansies in the areas on either side of the elevator entrance. I also got some mums and put those in the pots flanking the doors. For the shepherd hooks I bought some hanging baskets and put violas in two of them and a mum and pansies in the third one. Then I put the single hook near the tower entrance and the double one near the elevator entrance.

I decided that I wanted to put as many perennials in the memorial garden as possible. That area is a pain to haul the hose over to and is also the hottest garden bed in the whole churchyard. I got some daisies and some purple flowering plants to go with the purple pin cushion flowers and pink bee balm. I think I need some more color in there. I may look for something to add in. I think I saw just the plants I need at Lowes last night. But I better get what I have planted first.

I also bought a ton of garden soil. I'm mixing it in when I plant the new perennials. I'm also going to mix a couple of bags of it in the children's garden to prepare the ground for next year. I want to plant more veggies next year like green beans, peas, eggplant, squash, and of course more tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. I don't think I'll plant anything that trails all over the place like watermelon again. The vines tend to get trampled. I might do strawberries though and see if they'll take over this one barren hill near the day school entrance. I really dislike that space right now including the weird mushroom cloud, half-dead boxwood that inhabits the area. I tried putting in bee balm plants but I think they don't get enough water there. That space needs a hearty plant that will spread out but won't be as destructive as ivy. I'll have to think about that.

The Party's Over - Let's Garden!

So the wedding went well. There were no major disasters and everyone seemed to have a really great time. It really was one heck of a party.

It's been hard to get back into my gardening now that the wedding is over. the weeds are starting to take over again and I can't seem to drag myself up to the churchyard to do anything about it. I did go up and harvest the head of the sunflower. the petals were dry and falling off and the head was drooping so I figured I would cut it off and hang it up at home to dry. If all goes well then I will have a ton of sunflower seeds to plant and eat.

I also tried harvesting one of the watermelons that was getting really big. but when I cut it open it was still mostly white inside. So I guess I will need to be patient for a little while longer for the rest of the melons to grow and mature. I find it amusing that watermelons are seen as a summer fruit when they mature in the late summer and early fall. If anyone can explain that to me I would love to know why that is.

Soon it will be mum and pansy season. I'll also need to mulch everywhere and maybe edge the beds around the church sign so my spring bulbs aren't mowed down again. I was hoping to plant some bulbs around the cross also. I need to find some lavender tulips. I think someone mentioned that they had a big bag of crocus bulbs. Those would be fun to put in the lawn. They usually come up way before the guy starts mowing (and killing my plants).

Sad news, the evergreen trees I planted in the big pots on the patio have died. I think it was too hot and sunny for them up there. I might try something a little more hearty and better suited for our Virginia summers. I was thinking boxwood or something of the like. I'll ask at the nursery. The vinca I planted with the evergreens has grown out of control. They almost make up for the hulking dead trees behind them. I'll wait to pull the trees out until the vinca has gone for the winter. I might just keep annuals up there but I like the look of an evergreen or shrub flanking the doors. I guess I'll try shrubs and if they don't work then we'll go to annuals.

MIA

Sorry that I have been MIA for most of this month. My sister is getting married in a few days and August has been our crunch time.

The garden is doing great for the most part. the watermelon are bouncing back. there are three melons that I have found so far and one of them is about 4 inches tall already. We lost one to the animals but they haven't bothered the others. The sunflower that I grew from seed is huge and has bloomed. I've seen sunflowers all of my life but I will never get over how glorious they are when they bloom. The tomato plants are nearing the end of their growth cycle. They're still producing tomatoes but the plants part is not as lush as it was early this month. The cucumber plant is still churning out cucumbers. There are two that are almost ripe for picking. The basil plant is huge. I heard from two other friends who planted basil this year that their plants grew out of control. They really love this hot and humid weather!

The only issue I am having right now is with erosion. the dirt is washing away where I planted the bee balm at the edge of the main garden. it needs mulch but I haven't made the time to buy any. there are also six plants waiting to go into the ground. they will unfortunately have to wait until after my sister's wedding. I don't want to get poison ivy again or ruin my hands and nails before the big day. I also don't want a ton of mosquito bites all over my arms and legs. I'm being selfish but in this case I'm going to allow it. She's the only sister and sibling that I've got and I want her wedding to be awesome! I would say perfect but perfect wedding are usually boring:)

I'll post pictures of the overgrown garden as soon as I can. It's amazing to see how everything has grown and sprawled across the beds.

Poison Ivy

So as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I got poison ivy while gardening this week. It's mostly on my forearms and there's a little bit on the right side of my face. I have no idea where I came in contact with the poison ivy. I can only guess that it was on the hill behind the main (memorial) garden where there is a lot of brush and other weeds. I always forget to wear long sleeves when I'm clearing brush. I will just have to be more careful I guess. Anyway, I am going to the doctor today to get it checked out. My neighbor said that when you get it on your face, you should see a doctor just in case it gets worse or gets into your eyes or throat. I have a spot on my eyelid which is close enough to my eye for me to be concerned. I'll let you all know how it goes. Wish me luck!

I Could Just Cry

I went to water the garden tonight and I found utter carnage. The guy who we pay to mow the lawn had taken his weed whacker to my garden beds. Any part of the watermelon plants that was spilling over the garden border in the children's garden was chopped all up. I found the the baby watermelon below chopped from the vine and trompled.

Then when I walked over to check on the main garden plants my heart sank further. All of the lillies of the valley were completely gone as well as that flowering plant I couldn't remember the name of. Who takes a weed whacker to a garden bed? I walked over to Barry's house and he walked with me around the beds to survey the damage. I asked him to kindly ask the lawn guy to keep his machines out of my garden. I thought we had already made that clear but I'm wondering if the guy didn't understand. I'm trying not to be angry. I am more just disappointed and sad.

In happier news, I planted the three Minuet Weigela plants in the back of the main garden. I can't wait to see how they grow. They're supposed to get 30 inches tall and 30 inches wide and have gorgeous pink flowers. I also transplanted the Roseum Pink Rhododendrum from the main garden to the playground. It was getting too much sun in the main garden. I might eventually move the hydrangea over there also but I might not. Oh, and a bit of clarification, the plants I put in the pots flanking the main doors are emerald green arborvitae, asiatic jasmine, and vinca.

Drenched to the Bone

This heat and humidity is trying to kill me! I went to Home Depot on Sunday after church to buy some small trees or shrubs to go in the big pots I got on sale at Target to flank the main, upstairs entrance doors. I wasn't outside more than 10 or 15 minutes and I felt like I was going to faint. I did manage to purchase two spruce trees, four plants with trailing vines to put at the base of the trees and four pink impatiens for seasonal color between the vines plants. I also grabbed two delphinium because I love them and they were on sale and some flowering tree that doesn't get too big and loves the sunshine.

So I went inside to checkout so I could cool off and get something cold to drink. That helped a bit but I started to get overheated again when I had to put everything in my car in the hot parking lot. I tried going to Target on the way home to see if there was anything else on sale for the garden. But, the lines were long and I was starting to really feel like I might faint. I'm sure I was turning pale. I managed to get home and I cracked the window for the spruce trees which were lying down in my back seat. I left the other plants in the trunk, parked in the shade, and hoped for the best. It took me two Nalgene bottles of water and a three hour nap to feel like myself again. That heat is awful and I was definitely not prepared.

I managed to offload the plants later that night as the sun was going down. It was still really hot and humid but at least the sun wasn't high in the sky making it worse.

Yesterday I mustered the will to plant almost everything. I drank a lot of liquids before I went to the garden. I also had a light dinner and I dressed in lose and lightweight clothing. With me was my Nalgene bottle with a mix of water and Gatorade. I started with the delphinium which I put behind the geraniums in the tower garden. I learned from the tag that the delphiniums will come back next year which is awesome. I might have to go back and get another one to really fill out that area. After that relatively easy job I started working on the big pots for the main entrance. I began by filling the pots one-third full with soil from the compost pile near the garden shed. Then I mixed in potting soil and put the spruce trees in the pots and arranged the other plants around them and filled in the empty space with more potting soil. I had to take a lot of breaks while planting these pots. It seemed like such easy and quick work until I started doing it. By the time I was finished I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. But the pots look really good and I'm happy with the finished product. It was dark when I finished and past 9pm. The humidity was still very high which made it feel much hotter than it was. I can't tell you how happy I was to get home and be back in the air conditioning and to get cleaned up. I definitely do not take A/C and running water for granted! Be careful out there in the heat and I will do the same! 

Anchors Away

Okay, so the title for this post is a bit misleading. I didn't somehow combine gardening at the church with sailing. However, with all of my work with hoses, reels, and water I feel like I was coiling and uncoiling ropes on a ship for the past few days. Specifically it reminded me of the time Amy, Marcin, and I went sailing on a replica tall ship and helped pull the ropes to raise the sails.

Last weekend I bought two new hoses and two more hose reels to keep things organized. One of the hoses was tentatively going to be connected to the spigot I found on the front of the old chapel to the bottom left of the old stained glass window. But, I think the water has been shut off to this spigot and the wheel to turn the water off and on has been removed. I found a replacement wheel which didn't fit so I had to use a wrench and that's when I realized that the water wasn't going to come out.

So, back to the drawing board. I needed some way to get water to the main garden which is across the driveway from the old chapel. I'm not good at estimating feet but I'm going to guess that it is over 100 ft away from the spigot in the children's garden. I cheated on this estimation because I attached a 100 ft hose to the spigot and tried to reach the main garden with poor results. That's when I realized I could connect the 50 ft hose I already had to the spigot and stretch that to the playground fence and attach it to a hose reel just outside of the fence. Then, I could attach a 100 or 150 ft hose to the reel and stretch that to the main garden. This was all done of course during our heat wave. It was 102 degrees F at the hottest part of the day! So I waited to do all of the work until after 6pm so the sun wasn't adding to the mix. I also took frequent water and air condition breaks. It was well worth the effort though. Now I don't have to make several trips with the watering can from the playground to the main garden and I can give the plants a good soaking which is important in this heat. 

The other hoses I attached were over near the kitchen window and among the hydrangeas to the spigot Barry had told me was fixed (and it was fixed!). The kitchen window hose reaches to the tower garden and the roses as well as the kitchen garden and the flower pots in front of the elevator entrance. The hose among the hydrangeas reaches the hydrangeas. There isn't anything else planted on that side of the church as of yet. I want to put some pots on the porch outside of the upstairs, main entrance. No one really uses this entrance but the porch has a lot of potential. Ideally I imagine this space with big pots filled with miniature trees, shrubs, and flowers. I can also see some rocking chairs and/or benches for people to lounge in and visit with one another. It's a covered area and is quite large so it would be perfect for a little outdoor fellowship area. I think I already mentioned this but, I need to get onto some of the committees that deal with the landscaping and maintenance of the building and grounds. I don't want to start a project like that until I have an okay from the committee. I'll keep you posted on that.    

Please Don't Throw Me in the Briar Patch

I got a wild hair yesterday and decided to take on the tangle of vines and prickers that line the entrance driveway. I call this area 'my nemesis' for a good reason. I got a little bit of it cleared yesterday but came away with multiple scratches and a puncture in my palm from the thorns on some of the vines. An inch-long thorn went through my thick leather gauntlet gloves to poke into my left palm. It appears that I may want to wear long sleeves and two pairs of gloves for this area. Live and learn. In clearing some of the overgrowth I found an area that is edged with wood as if a patch of garden used to be there. It was a true Secret Garden moment; yet another surprise that hard work has yielded. I can't wait to completely clear that area and plant something welcoming and pretty to draw people in.

When I got tired of fighting the brambles I headed up to the tower entrance and tried to pound the garden edging into the rocky soil. That only worked in a few places. So the edging is lopsided and is driving me crazy. But, I didn't have the time or energy to straighten it out.

I brought the surviving seedlings to plant in the children's garden. I started out with about thirty seedlings and ended up with only about six consisting of five sunflowers and one basil plant. While I was planting them, the super sensitive stems of two of the sunflower seedlings snapped. I'd have to say that the dwarf sunflower plants did the best of the two types of sunflowers I tried to grow.

In happier news, I picked three cucumbers from the children's veggie garden and four baby yellow tomatoes. I'm hoping to have more tomatoes (there are only seven right now) so I can chop them up with the cucumbers for the Fourth of July cookout at the church on Sunday after the worship service. The pineapple heirloom tomatoes are ripening slowly so I won't hold out any hope that one of those will pull through for me by the picnic. It would be nice though.

Mysteries of the Garden

I knew going into this gardening thing that I couldn't control all aspects of the garden at all times. Plants grow and plants die. I was even prepared for plants to be eaten by animals or bugs. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining when I write this but some parts of my garden have been monkeyed with which has created a mystery for me that I can't solve. That nibbles at me a bit but I'm working on the whole 'let go and let God' thing so I'm trying to let it go.

Some of the mysteries are not really mysteries. For instance, some of my garden plots don't have enough buffer space between them and the grass. So when the man comes to mow the lawn, sometimes my plants get caught in the blades along with the grass. I understand that and I can remedy the situation by widening the buffer space and putting in bricks or some other border around the beds.

Other mysteries are slightly more baffling. The other day I planted some catnip that I had in my home as a houseplant. But it wasn't enjoying the air conditioned great indoors so I figured I would plant it in the kitchen garden. The plant was doing fine and seemed to be adapting well to being transplanted. However, I went to water the catnip yesterday and it was gone. It looks like something ate the catnip down to the ground. None of the other herbs around it were disturbed. My heart would just sink if it were a person who did this so I prefer to imagine a hungry deer sauntering over and nibbling it down to a nub.

The second baffling mystery is in the children's garden. My mom bought this cute little humming bird with wings on springs so they flap up and down. It's on a long metal rod so you can stick him in the garden so that's what I did. Some days when I came to water the garden I would find it with a marigold on its beak. Other days I would find it moved to other parts of the children's garden. I didn't mind any of this because to me it meant that the kids were enjoying the humming bird which was the point of it. But again, the other day I go in to water the plants and the bird is on the ground and the rod is nowhere to be found. I thought one of the kids might have played with the rod and dropped it somewhere on the playground (which is concerning since kids shouldn't play with long metal rods). But, I couldn't find the rod anywhere. So the poor bird is now perched on top one of the topsy turvey planters.

I don't know what to make of it all. I know lots of people use the church. I also know a vast majority of the people really enjoy the gardens. So I'm not going to throw in the towel or anything and I'm not going to give up on planting new herbs or improving the children's garden. Actually I was just thinking that I should put signs in the children's garden identifying what is planted there. I think through understanding and education that perhaps we can come to a mutual respect for the plants and ornaments in the garden.

There's nothing I can do about the deer though. I decided when I started gardening at the church that I would really prefer not to use chemicals or deterrents. I think if the deer ate everything, I would consider using a humane form of deterrent. However, that hasn't been an issue yet. One catnip plant isn't the whole garden. So time will tell I guess and nature will be nature (and people will be people). And as my friends keep telling me about mysteries 'more will be revealed.' If it isn't than I am okay with that too. But, perhaps part of the revelation is learning to just let it go.

Topsy Turvy Children's Garden

I started work in the children's garden that lines the playground. So far I installed three Topsy Turvy planters on shepherd hooks. Two planters have tomato plants and the third has cucumbers. I had two extra cucumber plants so I planted them in the ground on either side of the topsy turvy as an experiment. Then I planted some marigolds around the shepherd hook with the tomato plants to add color and to deter pests. On my trip home from the beach this past weekend I bought some watermelon plants and I am going to plant those today since it has finally stopped raining.

Last week I also added some flower pots outside of the old chapel entrance. There were only empty pots stacked on either side of the door before. I just hope that people don't put their cigarette butts in my plants like they did in the empty old pots. I might have to put a pot with sand in it and a little scooper for the smokers. If you can't beat 'em you might as well give 'em a sanitary and acceptable place to extinguish their cigarettes. After planting the pots I ended up with an extra pink flowering plant who's name slips my mind. So I planted it on the edge of the main garden to add some color until the Dahlias start to flower.

5-4-10 Rearranging Things

So a little bad news, the seedlings I was telling you guys about don't appear to be coming in next to the tower entrance. I don't think they got enough water. Oh well, it was an experiment anyways. Growing things from seeds has always been a challenge for me.

I decided that instead of leaving that spot bare for another week that I would move two of the geraniums from the elevator entrance and the snapdragons from the big planters over to the tower entrance. In place of the snapdragons, I planted Martha Washington geraniums which go nicely, if not mono-chromatically, with the violet violas that are already in there.

After all of the planting, I walked around to check on the other flowerbeds. I found an orange gerbera daisy growing next to the mushroom-cloud-shaped boxwood. It doesn't look real but it is a nice touch of color in an otherwise boring patch of garden. The irises are also blooming right now in the main garden. They're gorgeous while they last which is not very long. It's a pity really. There are a couple of other things blooming right now but I don't know what they are so I couldn't tell you here.


The lilies of the valley are settling in okay. I might lose one or two of them. But, the beauty of lilies of the valley is that they multiply each year. So, in a few years that whole patch of garden will be filled. I also noticed the dahlias coming up. I haven't seen the freesia but it might not be warm enough for them yet or I might have not planted them right. I'm not sure what echinacea looks like when it sprouts so I couldn't tell you if that is coming up yet or not. It might not be getting enough sun now that the tree has leaves.

Stay tuned for my next post which should be about the children's garden. I am hoping to get that all worked out this month.

4-19-10 Finally, More Planting & Another Visitor

As promised I returned to the church to trim the plants in the tower entrance garden. Of course I ended up doing a lot more than that. When I started pulling some weeds away from the building I noticed the soil felt rich and perfect for planting. No wonder the weeds were thriving! How perfect then that I packed a bunch of my seed packets this time. I looked on all of the envelopes and found three flowers that like sun/partial shade. After clearing the weeds and loosening the soil a bit I planted a bunch of forget-me-nots,snowmen hybrid marigolds, and some cantebury bells.

I haven't done much gardening with seeds so this is going to be an experiment. I'm going to make sure to water the seeds every day as directed. I guess I should feed them as well. I'll have to remember to pack my Miracle Grow drops for watering tonight.  

  My mom brought some lily of the valley plants over on Saturday that had been graciously donated by her friend Diana. I didn't have time to plant them until yesterday though which didn't hurt them at all. Mom had put the plants in long planters with potting soil loosely packed around the roots and then watered them once she got them to the churchyard. I planted three of the heartier lillies on the far edge of the old chapel garden where there was a big space of nothing. I planted the rest of them in a row along the main garden on the side facing the pastor's parking space. I had a little help planting. One of the daycare teachers and her three sons were leaving as I was planting and the boys were eager to dig holes for the plants, look for worms in the holes, and then use the watering can to give the plants a drink when they were planted. It turns out these guys are doing a project about earthworms at school. They had a covered plastic box to collect them in and I think when we were done they had at least ten in there including a little baby one (not a segment of one I chopped in two by accident; I know my earthworms).

Anyways, This little guy is of course not a worm but he was the visitor I was talking about in the title. I'm pretty sure he's going to turn into a moth one day but I haven't been able to identify him yet. If anyone knows what he is then please leave that info in the comments section. I'm just amazed at how good these closeup pictures are turning out with my new camera. Thanks again to my mom for giving me the camera as a birthday gift this year. I used to be wary of digital cameras but now I am beginning to embrace them. Working on this blog definitely helps with that.

4-16-10 I've Got Blistas on My Fingas

  No really, I do actually have blisters on two of my fingers on my right hand. But, it was totally worth it. I got all of those border plants trimmed along the old chapel garden, the elevator entrance garden (which I also call the kitchen garden), and along the church sign. I still need to trim the plants near the tower entrance but that can wait until Monday.

  If you look at the picture above you'll notice a few stray daffodils have popped up. I must confess that I planted them last month knowing full well that I was supposed to wait until the Fall to plant my spring bulbs. With our roller coaster Spring weather the bulbs can't tell which season it is. So, they've started to bloom...a month late (or later than the daffodils planted by other gardeners in the Fall). Some of my flowers were chopped down by whoever mowed the lawn. But, I was warned when I planted them that they might get trimmed by accident.

I've also included some before and after pictures of the old chapel garden. The plants sprouting up between the azaleas are irises I think. Whatever they are I remember them being beautiful last year. I guess we will all find out soon enough. 

The shaggy before picture

The tidy after picture

4-15-10 The Old Chapel Garden and a Surprise Guest

I could kick myself yesterday. I got up to the church and noticed that I had forgotten my clippers. One of my main objectives was to trim down the rest of the border plants. Oh well, I had limited time to garden anyways (the first Caps game of the playoffs was on at 7) so it was just as well that I had to weed instead of trimming. Below are the before and after pictures from my weeding in the rest of the old chapel garden.




I also found this little guy behind one of the azalea bushes. I had found another one down near the decorative grasses when I was raking leaves last week but I didn't have my camera. So I was pretty excited to find one again. He is a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar.

4-12-10 Before and After Weeding

I am a big fan of before and after pictures. So from here on in I am going to try to remember to take pictures before and after I do work in the gardens. Let's start with the less dramatic pictures of the garden in front of the old chapel window. I only managed to pull the weeds from a few feet of the right side. I also trimmed down the border plants under the old announcement board.



Here is the main garden that runs along the driveway. I pulled a ton of weeds and trimmed the border plants. If you look closely you can see the little crepe myrtle sapling that's in front of the big crepe myrtle. It just looks like a leafy twig right now.



And here are the shots of what it looked like after:

4-12-10 Weeding

Yesterday I pulled a bunch of weeds out of the main flowerbeds and a little bit of them out of the plot near the old chapel. I also trimmed the border plants. I can't remember what they're called (since I didn't plant them) but I noticed that similar plants in front of my condo building were trimmed down to accommodate new growth. I'm by no means a master gardener so I learn things as I go and by watching other gardens.

I didn't get a chance to plant anything yesterday but I should have with the rain coming.
I did get to plant some dahlias and freesia bulbs the other week. Before that I planted some echinacea bulbs. I have a little crepe myrtle sapling coming up in the middle of my flowerbed that I need to transplant to a better spot. I'm not sure where that would be but I'll weigh my options and bring my shovel.

Maybe next year I can suggest that the women's group put on a garden sale and we can sell any other crepe myrtle saplings that come up along with other surplus plants from the garden. I know some of the plants cost quite a bit at the nursery.

This weekend, if it doesn't rain too hard, I wanted to harvest some lilies of the valley from my mom's friend's yard. Right around the end of April and beginning of May is their peak blooming time.