Let’s face it, try as I might, I am not a gardener. I read, I dream, I plan. But when the plants get planted, the inevitable result is death.
Too much water. Not enough water. Too much sun. Beetles. Not enough fertilizer. Be it tree or bush or bloom, my yard does not welcome any newcomers.
When a plant has thrived, such as a lovely rosemary bush a decade ago, something comes along to change its fate. When I redid my backyard, the rosemary had to be replanted. That lasted about a month before its life ended.
Now I dream of an English or French garden (maybe a hybrid of both). I have a Pinterest garden board brimming with ideas that could choke a dragon. I want to make it work. I want to get my hands in the soil and create a garden of which I can be proud. But I fear these plans will end with wasted effort and dead plants.
Plans include a new fence, lighting, a small tree allee, stone paths, a water fountain, sunken garden area, firepit, rooms created by high hedges, cutting area, herb area, raised bed vegetable garden, an outdoor kitchen, and a hot tub. Ambitious? Yes! Doable? Yes! Going to happen? Probably not!
Since there is so much to be done, my thought is to break it into phases, with the fencing being the first phase. Adding lighting, reworking the sprinkler system, installing the garden paths and planting the allee would be second phase. The third phase would include adding the raised beds and planting all the flowers, bushes, shrubs, and trees. The fourth phase would be the outdoor kitchen, hot tub, fire pit and any other building.
So for now, all I can do is read, dream and plan for the start of phase one. Notice I am starting with the items that don’t require actual plants!
Yes, I acknowledge that my thumbs are not green. My thumbs, like my dead plants, are black. Please pray for my plants!
Please note: None of these photos are from my garden! They are all my inspiration!