Garden Restoration

We have owned this 7 acres of property for many years.  Actually for about 28 years.  My second child had her third birthday here shortly after moving onto this land.  However, we chose to rent our home for six years while we moved to another city.  And now we are back.  We are happy to be back.  It's a good place to live.  There are trees and forest animals, there is a creek, there is a quaint small town 15 minutes away and there are mountains and a lake nearby.  My cup overflows with beauty and nature.

I also have the opportunity to have a garden.  When we first made this garden we decided on the size and put a rustic split rail fence around it.  There are five raised beds and room around the fence for planting.  We have to think about the deer who are like goats in that they indiscriminately eat pretty much everything except maybe a few things like daffodils.  So as well as the split rail we have wire surrounding the garden as well.

I have really enjoyed my garden in the past and got a lot of pleasure out of planting veggies and harvesting them in the fall.  I planted perennials and loved the splash of color they produced throughout the seasons.  When my oldest daughter was married we used flowers from our garden to garnish the tables.

When we were away for the six years we didn't really have the time or ability to care for the garden so it now needs restoration.  I have been pulling wild oregano since last fall.  I have been pulling weeds of all kinds as they grew all around the walkways and literally took over the way weeds do.

I feel like I pretty much have that under control now.  Now we need to add the compost we have been building up all summer and some manure to the depleted soil.  I planted seeds but not much grew sadly.  Hopefully, with care, next year will be better. 



The rhubarb survived!


I transplanted some irises this spring.


My daughter's peony also survived and produced one beautiful bloom.


This bush needs pruning but produced lovely blossoms this spring.


Later in the summer the cosmos I planted bloomed.  I love cosmos.  They are gentle and wispy and colorful.
I will plant cosmos every year in honor of my dad, who passed away in the fall of 2008.  He was an avid gardener and green thumb and he loved cosmos too. 



The Russian kale was the most prolific as I grew it right in compost because the raised beds were short on soil.  Clearly, it was happy and I harvested many big handfuls such as this.



Our little apple tree produced a nice bounty this year despite being neglected for a while.


Apart from my main garden, I have a little patio garden that was really quite new when we left.  We had planted a few perennials in it and then the renters used it for the next while.  When we got back I had to get reacquainted with what was growing in there and remember back to what we had planted.
Darrell had always had the idea to create some kind of fencing to behind the garden.  This summer we decided to go with a whimsical fence made with bleached branches we pulled out of the creek.



I was quite pleased with how it turned out!


As the garden grew over the summer I found lilies, phlox, and our rambling rose.



I added in some nasturtiums, calendula and more cosmos.


Overall, considering the garden needed restoring, I was pleased to get anything at all.






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