The Vermont Garden-Full time!
It's officially Spring! By that I mean I can go outside and work in the garden without freezing my tush off. Vermont has been absolutely beautiful of late with weather in the low 60's quite regularly. Its been pretty dry too. Don't worry though, this is Vermont and we have some precipitation coming our way. We are expecting 6-12 inches of snow tonight. Yes, snow. I hope the garden fares okay.
I am both excited and overwhelmed at the thought of gardening on this property full time. It's something I have not been able to do before. My excuse of not being here full time has been taken away and I'm more than a little nervous about it.
The truth is, when I had perennial gardens both here in Vermont and in New Jersey it was really difficult keeping them both up in the way I would have liked. Nothing was ever in tip top shape. I just couldn't keep up with it all. I'm only one gal after all. Both gardens looked okay, but they never looked great either. The pressure is on for sure. Here are a few pictures of this garden from last year.
I am going to try to be realistic about my garden this first year. I have plans for sure but also kind of want to see what the garden DOES. Live with it so to speak and then decide about more substantial changes and improvements both wanted and needed. This will be the Spring, Summer, and Fall of eradicating some pretty nasty weeds that have snuck in (some disguised as flowers) that I hadn't the time to eradicate or the expertise to know they were weeds. I declare war on that Dame's Rocket and Garlic Mustard Weed. Thankfully, I like to weed. Be gone!
Some things I will definitely be doing include dividing Hostas and Autumn Joy Sedum. Boxwoods will be purchased and placed in various places throughout the garden as there are none here at all and I really love Boxwood in the garden. They give your eye a place to rest amongst all the color and blooms. I will be relying heavily on annuals as they will help me fill in the gaps where I plan to put more permanent plantings later. I've had great success with tall Verbena and Gomphrena in my old garden and would love to use them up here. Nicotiana will definitely make an appearance so long as I can find it. I've also wanted to try directing sowing some seed for annuals so what better year to do it than this one?
The wish list plants include Veronicastrum, bush type Clematis and Bronze Fennel. Oh, and Hydrangeas. Definitely more Hydrangeas. I've got a hillside I need to stabilize with plant material so if you have any ideas for that I would love to hear them!
The planting season will start here in earnest in about a month. I am so excited about what this garden can become. It's got really good bones and I hope I can do it justice. While I feel like it's a big job and loads of hard work, I also know that time is on my side. Great gardens aren't made in a season. They grow. They evolve. They become. Stay tuned......
