Where We Are and Where We're Headed...

The typical guy in many respects, I've developed the usual aversion to directions whenever the "figure it out as you go along" option presents itself.  Still, while trial and error will be a big part of what's ahead, a woodland garden of the magnitude we envision will be a lifelong journey.  Missteps in planning may not become obvious for half a decade.  While the fun is in the journey, Lord willing, I want to be young enough to fully realize and enjoy the vision at the end!

Fortunately, my wife Kimberly knows quite a bit about gardening and has forgotten more than I've ever retained.  But a half acre is a pretty big space and a woodland garden is completely new to us both, so we have a lot to figure out, draw out and plan!

We've been told to start with the "bones", the larger plantings like rhododendrons, that will act as a border for pathways and set off individual garden areas.  The smaller plantings will fill in more quickly, so we have more options for experimentation there, but we've got to decide where our areas and pathways will be and what we will grow to define them.

To do any of that, we've first got to figure out what we have to work with.  We need a clean slate!

Here are a few shots of how our future garden looked on 5/31/2012, before we started cleaning the blackboard.  There are lots of weeds, briars, wood debris and undergrowth that we need to clear:

 Kim in quiet meditation, contemplating the possibilities!

There are many places with quite a bit of undergrowth to clear!

And the best way to do it is to pull the weeds out by the roots wherever possible!  That's me, Scott, showing off my best side.

The Vision!

On June 10, 2012, we were given a wonderful vision, literally, of what our garden could become!  Kim and I took the Harford County private garden tour to benefit the American Cancer Society.  We saw many beautiful gardens, but there was one in particular - the Tiekert  woodland garden called Holly Oaks, that was just an amazing experience!

Everything was beautiful and perfect. They even had speakers hidden throughout their several acres of gardens playing soft classical music. I am still getting chills thinking about it!

It was also a wonderful witness.  One of the first things Mrs. Tiekert said was that God is the creator and they were merely the caretakers. 

These pictures don't come close to doing their garden justice, but they will give you some idea of the possibilities:

This garden was literally jaw dropping beautiful!  It was soul moving!  Just imagine what it would have looked like in the spring with the azaleas and rhododendrons in bloom!  I have never enjoyed any garden, commercial or private, so much in my life.

Some folks are moved by art, some by music and others by nature.  I'm moved by all three, but never more so than my experience at Holly Oaks!

The Tiekerts certainly raised the bar on our vision by a quantum leap!  We'll see if one day we will attain what they have, but we can miss by a lot and still have something we will thoroughly enjoy and be very proud to show.

Next time I'll show you how our clearing is coming along and the first "bones" plants we've selected, so come back soon!

Take care,

Scott