Monday, April 1, 2019

It's Gardening Season!

It is almost two years ago since we travelled to Vancouver Island to look at real estate and ended up making an offer on this house that is now our home. One of the striking features of this place is that it has a large property and a beautiful garden. When we viewed it in April two years ago, the garden was in bloom and it looked glorious.

The Garden Last August

The previous owners were avid gardeners with a great sense of aesthetics. The entire backyard is a decorative garden with flowering trees and shrubs, rockeries, and a pond feature. It also has deer-proof fencing, which is an important consideration on Vancouver Island. There are lots of deer here, and they eat almost everything.

Having now spent nearly two years here, we have discovered that the garden looks beautiful in every season.

I have always enjoyed gardening, but my expertise is more in the area of organic fruit and vegetable gardens. I have also grown small flower gardens, with both perennials and annuals. But I am not very knowledgeable about caring for our current type of garden. As well, I wondered where I might be able to grow some vegetables and herbs.

The first year, we decided to to not touch anything in the garden. We waited and watched to see how it changed with the seasons. We weeded, watered, and did a little pruning.

Last summer, we took out a few shrubs that had died in the previous summer's drought conditions. We moved some shrubs that were too crowded to different locations. We added drip irrigation hoses, and sea soil, especially to the rhododendrons. We pruned more confidently. We weeded and cultivated, and did a little mulching.

I planted pots of herbs and tomatoes on the deck. I tucked some strawberry plants, kale, carrots, and beans in among the shrubs. They all thrived -- except for the beans, which the bunnies ate. Vancouver Island is overrun with rabbits as well as deer.

This year, I decided that one way or another, I was going to build a vegetable bed. I really like to grow at least a little of my own food. It is very pleasing to walk out the door and pick something for supper. Home grown food is the freshest possible food. Also, because I use organic growing methods, I know that there will be no noxious chemicals in the food or soil.

The problem is, there really is no sensible place to put a garden. In the front, there is a long sloping lawn shaded by huge evergreen trees. There is a small side yard that is flat enough, but it is shaded on every side and never sees the sun. And in the mostly flat, sunny backyard, every square inch is planted already.

I did not want to detract from the aesthetics of the beautiful garden.

I finally decided to build a small vegetable bed in the corner of the fence by the gate. It is not the sunniest location, but I think it will be okay. It is away from the the long roots of the evergreen trees, and it was not a very pretty part of the original garden design.

So, this week, Rob removed a small decorative pine tree from that location. Behind it, he took out some kind of prickly shrub with bright yellow sap. I cleaned up the area and turned over the soil and added 75 liters of black garden soil. Today I planted it.

So now I have a small vegetable plot, about five feet by seven feet.  It looks fine to my eyes.

Watering the New Veggie Garden (Left of the Daffodils)

The strawberry patch that I planted last year looks like it will thrive. The kale plants made it through the winter and have put out new leaves. They now look like small bushes, but the leaves are quite edible, so I'll leave them in place for now.

Today, I also planted a magnolia tree. I love the beautiful tulip shaped blossoms of magnolia trees. But much of my life I have lived in climates that are too cold for magnolias. In our garden, there was a perfect space for the tree near a bench in the corner of the yard. A shrub, a kind of decorative pine that previously had been in that space, had not survived the hot dry summer. So now we have a magnolia tree!

I dug a Big Hole
Planting the Magnolia Tree

The next challenge is to create a compost pile or bin. There's more to come on that topic another day.


12 comments:

  1. You are putting in a lot of hard work - here’s to a fruitful growing season.

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    1. Thanks Anabel. Gardens are a lot of work, but I do enjoy them.

      Jude

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  2. So wonderful that you now have a new veggie garden and magnolia tree. I foresee lots of time outdoors for you to enjoy in the garden.

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    1. Natalie, I have been puzzling about where to put a veggie garden since we moved here. So I am quite excited about this.

      Jude

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  3. Hi, Jude - Congratulations on your new garden and magnolia tree. Lots of hard work which will undoubtedly pay off in multiple ways. I look forward to seeing them IRL!

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    1. Hi Donna. Yes, we need to make another plan to get together. Who knew retired life would be so full?

      Jude

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  4. Well done, you two! Your garden is so wonderful already, so I’m glad you managed to dedicate a spot for homegrown vegetables without losing the esthetics. It’s nice to be creative outside and to know that your hard work will pay of in a healthy way. I guess the whole process is healthy: the exercise and the organic produce! I think it was a really good idea to not touch the garden for one year and see how it would change or not. You two are pros!

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    1. Aww, thanks Liesbet. I have always been intrigued by the idea of being self-sustaining and raising my own food. I have never had the time or skill set to fully embrace having a big food garden or a small farm, but having even a little food garden patch is very satisfying.

      Jude

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  5. Your yard is beautiful, and hooray for vegetable gardens! We have a huge one - tons of work, but oh, so worth it! Like you, we came from a colder climate 2 years ago, and we've been like kids in a candy store with all the wonderful new things we can grow here on the Island! :-)

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    1. Diane, thanks for your comment. During the years that I lived in the northwestern part of B.C., I had a big vegetable garden, a greenhouse, and fruit trees. As I have moved around quite a lot, I have had the opportunity to garden in several different climatic zones, but none as warm and temperate as here on the Island. Where did you live before you moved here? How do you keep the deer and rabbits out of your vegetable garden?

      Jude

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    2. We came from Calgary where nothing but the hardiest plants can make it. Last summer was the first time in over 30 years that I've been able to grow cucumbers and watermelons. What a thrill!

      We put a 7' high page-wire fence around our acreage, and an 18" high rabbit fence around our vegetable garden. Deer haven't made it over the fence, and we don't get too many rabbits because there are a lot of larger predators in the area (we're out in the country). The bears walk right through the pagewire fence, so I'm not sure how that will work out when the fruit trees get large enough to bear goodies. But so far, so good... :-)

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    3. Diane, it sounds like you have found a good solution to keep the deer out. Our area also is semi-rural with cougars, bears, and a variety of other animals around, but there still are plenty of rabbits. This year I am planting veggies that I think the rabbits will leave alone, but maybe next year I will try wire fencing around the vegetables. I spent five years in Southern Alberta too, where I had great success with tomatoes, herbs, strawberries and raspberries, but not much else.

      Jude

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