New Plant Time
Well, the garden of the front porch is rid of the Turks Caps. They had a nice run, but I’m ready for new plantings. First, however, I need to amend the soil. It’s got too much clay, according to my arborist son, and needs a little something to break it up. We planted some red clover yesterday and that will help in the long run, but it needs something like rice hulls to make it a bit more friable so that oxygen can get to the roots.
This talk is most likely making serious gardeners blanch, because I should probably test the soil’s PH and chemical composition and be a bit more precise about what I’m doing. But, in fairness, I am taking into consideration how little sun the ground actually gets at most spots in the garden because the trees planted around the place have had fifteen years to be the glorious sun hogs they’re designed to be. The Eve’s Necklace that sits at the end of the drive by the west end of the porch, for instance, is a tall, full-canopied tree that casts a long shadow as is the crape myrtle at the east end, that once was so short and easy to miss it got run over one Christmas.
As I mull the technical work still to be done, however, I’m having fun thinking about new plantings. Low growing plants are trending. Grasses, for instance, feel right. But I want color, too, so perennials have come into play. Whatever gets picked, they all need to be shade lovers, and somewhat tolerant of my spans of inattention that can come without warning. They need to be able to deal with my many imperfections while knowing that I love them and want them to thrive, regardless.