Commentor & master garden-builder Dan B:
These are pictures of my partner’s garden.
I designed it and supervised the grading, pond construction, rockers, soil amendment, plants and planting, etc.
But my partner, Mike did much of the work — after 250 cubic yards of soil were moved, and ten tractor trailers of soil hauled away.
This garden was designed for garden parties, for spontaneous conversation groups.
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What’s going on in your gardens, this week?
OzarkHillbilly
Hey Dan, if you’re done over there, I can use a hand here.
Baud
That certainly doesn’t put my yard to shame.
J.
That is a gorgeous garden! Hope you’re keeping cool!
Steeplejack
Lush, beautiful and looking “untamed.” That’s the kind of garden I’d like to have.
Spanky
Looks almost as good as my Invasives Garden! The wisteria and kudzu are exceptional this year.
Sigh.
Don
Beautiful! So green. Everything here in Central Texas is yellow to brown and mostly dead.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: I’ve got the “untamed” part down pat. I’m still working on “lush and beautiful” tho.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
One out of three is a start! 👍 And it’s the easiest one. 😹
Lapassionara
Wow! How beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
raven
Awesome! I’ve probably mentioned it but, about a year ago, we got a film of my wife and her garden that was shot 20 years ago. The “before” picture reminded me of how glad we were to see what it looked like back then.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
That’s so pretty I want to be buried there
kalakal
What a great garden! I wish I had your talent. As well as being inept I’m also a plantaholic rather than a true gardner
Baud
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Beats being buried at Trump’s golf course.
BRyan
Oh my. Lovely.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: The town dump would be better than a trump golf course.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
Dan B
Mike sold his parents’ 9 bedroom house that was a block from Kurt Cobain and Howard and Sherrie Schultz and I persuaded him to buy this very plain ranch and joked I turned it into a split level. The finished downstairs had only one exit so was dangerously in violation of code. 250 cubic yards of soil movement and 100 yards of soil export and there were two doors on grade downstairs. It’s great for parties since there are lots of areas sized for groups of 5 to 8. It’s been good in the heat because of the heavy planting and noise from the two fight paths, freeway, and helicopter path are also muted.
rikyrah
Gorgeous pictures🤗😍
eclare
Beautiful!
Dan B
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I’ll ask Mike. At this point it’s “boot hill” for all of Mike’s departed kitties and a couple of mine.
I hope your corpse would enjoy several “big gay parties” a year.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning! 🙏
OzarkHillbilly
Speaking of graves: This Grandma’s Dying Wish Was a Giant Dick on Her Grave
eta forgot to add this:
Dan B
@raven: The garden was started in 1999. Nearly every plant was removed, Junipers, and struggling roses. A Hemlock was left and two pines. Only one pine remains. The Hemlock died of Wooly Adelgids and one pine toppled from the effects of being topped in the 80’s.
Dan B
@kalakal: Loving plants is a good thing!
JPL
@Dan B: It’s amazing. How many years did it take? I see that you answered above. It’s definitely a labor of love.
Dan B
@Dan B: Mike’s folks bought the “Big House” in ’56 when people were fleeing the city. They moved out in the 80’s. Mike and his partner took over and rented out the rooms. The maintenance got to be too much for Mike. The neighborhood got to be very desirable so they did well. Now the new house has become very desirable as the neighborhood has gentrified. 1/4 acre double lot 10 minutes from downtown is a draw.
raven
@Dan B: We have a pine that snapped at about 25 feet five years ago and it’s still alive!
OzarkHillbilly
As far as my own gardening is concerned, I have given up any hope of harvesting any maters out of the veggie garden. The sustained onslaught of woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice has decimated the plants. Not just the fruits, the plants. I took care of the woodchucks but I may need to hire an owl for the other pests.
Dan B
@JPL: MIke took almost two years doing the hardscape: paving, rock retaining walls, geoblock retaining, pond, rill, and gravel paths.
Dan B
@raven: The pine that fell over lived 40 years after being radically topped. We hope the remaining pine hangs on. They were topped in the belief it would reduce the danger of their being blown over in a windstorm. Oopsie!
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: even without the rampaging critters, the hot nights have kept me from having any tomatoes yet, though there are some green romas that aren’t very big. Every year I wonder why I bother, I would probably save money just buying the overpriced heirlooms at the market.
@Dan B: Everyone would enjoy big gay parties!
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I thought big gay parties are the best kind.
Spanky
@Dan B:
This cis het male thinks those are the best kind.
Spanky
@OzarkHillbilly: There ya go. It’s fact.
Dan B
@Spanky: There was a “Big Gay Party” for 60+ in May and 20+ for Mike’s birthday in mid-June when these pictures were taken. Pictures were after the party was winding down.
Scuffletuffle
@Spanky: Ifeel your pain, mine is bittersweet and sumac. Added bonus, I discovered…the hard way, naturally… that I am extremely allergic to sumac.
Van Buren
@OzarkHillbilly: Here on Long Island, we are getting plenty of tomatoes, but the squirrels/chipmunks have decimated the pumpkins. Somebody tears them off the vine when they get to the size of a golf ball and doesn’t even eat them. Pure vandalism.
delphinium
What a beautiful, serene garden-all of you & Mike’s hard work really shows!
OzarkHillbilly
@Van Buren: Sometimes I find the remains of a tomato of top of my garden gate. Just a little F U middle fingered salute from the neighborhood delinquents. I don’t think I will be greeted with such a sight this year.
oldgold
My garden, West of Eden, is overly Woke and I have grounds to blame Anne Laurie and my neighbor Phil Anders.
Immanentize
Beautiful space, Dan. Thanks.
I could imagine it in Miami, but never near Boston. It would be all toasted dead leaves and critters and snow crushed plants. Or maybe that’s more a reflection on my current garden status. But I certainly could use a garden party!
Then again, maybe I better not go.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: my damn squirrels do this too! They leave a nice ‘mater with ten nibbles on the fence top right outside my back door! I try to pick them now when they first blush.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: I have a serious roofing question: on an old farm house (late 1800s?) The current roof is sturdy lath (but not lap) with a layer of cedar shakes covered with two layers of asphalt shingles. If I was going to re-roof, should I get all the layers taken off and deck? And if I deck it, should I deck on top of the lath? Or take that off too?
satby
@Immanentize: Did you get it??? COOL!
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Yes, you have to take that roof off, 3 layers is the absolute max. (with Boston snows, I’d have said 2 layers) As far as the sub roof goes, that depends on what kind of condition it is in. Generally a roofer will only replace the rotten boards. There is an advantage to going over it all with plywood/OSB in that you get good lateral bracing across the roof. Don’t remove it all the old boards unless you have a lot of rot.
Wapiti
Very nice job with the Dan B regrade. Thanks for the pictures!
Chbnna
@Immanentize: yes remove down to deck….architect speaking here, 3 layers of roofing is not good, you should not add another layer. Remove down to the deck, inspect to ensure there no water damage and re-roof. I had a similar condition on my garage, the decking was in great shape so we didn’t have to replace any of it, but all the layers of roof on top were removed. That will give you the chance to install new felt paper(waterproofing), new flashings, and new shingles. It’s a better installation. Good luck!
oldgold
Even though my garden is located in the heart of the Hardy Twilight Zone, not even Rod Serling would believe the surreal horrors of an overly Woke West of Eden.
For instance, I am dealing with saucer- eyed moles tunneling at rate not seen since Kevin Bacon was running for his life in Tremors. And, butterflies flying at speeds that would make a machery of Tom Cruise’s aerial antics in Top Gun.
MazeDancer
Splendidly gorgeous garden!
Jeffery
But is it enough?
stinger
What a wonderful garden!
munira
Beautiful
Kristine
Wow. Gorgeous garden. I don’t think I’d ever go inside if I lived there.
Rose of Sharon are blooming here at Chez Smith, along with the cardinal flowers. The liatris are just starting to hint at opening. The Kalm St John’s Wort that I moved two years ago out of the way of the ever-encroaching bulk of the Fragrant Sumac That Ate Chicago is dotted with yellow flowers, which makes me happy. Last summer it looked so bad that I thought it was lost. I should’ve realized it needed to rebuild its roots before it could leaf out and flower. The patch of volunteer goldenrod is too big and needs to be thinned, but in late summer/early fall it’s one of the few things still blooming and all the pollinators hit it. They like the Autumn Joy sedum, too–that’s close. And finally, the patch of Sweet Joe Pye Weed in the far SE corner by the compost bins is OMG. Most of the plants are taller than me and a few are blocking access to one of the bins. I should’ve moved them when they were tiny but Life and then they were too tall. Should’ve just sacrificed them, I guess, but I have a real hard time culling.
Oh, and one of the cultivar hydrangeas came back from the dead. It hadn’t bloomed for a couple of years, so I dug it out. But it had been there since the early 00’s and the root system was extensive–shoots would emerge every spring, and I would cut them back. Then I planted a hosta and some Jacob Cline monarda in its place and forgot about it. Next thing I know, I see short stalks/branches complete with flower clusters. So, it’s back and after everything goes dormant I’ll extract the hosta and monarda and give it some room.
zhena gogolia
@Dan B: It’s so gorgeous! I love it!
BigJimSlade
Dang! We just have a small patio with a few plants around the edges, and every couple of weeks I have to wipe the spider webs off them.
Dan B
@zhena gogolia: Glad you, and everyone else, like the garden. The very wet May made everything grow. It felt as though it matured this year.
OzarkHillbilly
@Dan B: It certainly looks like it came into it’s own to me.
Dan B
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s been over 90° every day for almost a week – zero rain and a grand total of .18 inches of rain for July. The tenants are watering like there’s no tomorrow. Many of the original plantings are low water but the tenants have added water hogs nearly everywhere, sigh. They can afford the thousand dollar water bills but one low snowpack winter and there will be rationing and fines.
susanna
This is an enchanting garden and I’m thinking that being in it is like seeing nature display her glories while giving whomever is there a taste of nurturing-by-nature.
It’s stunning.