Tales From the Garden

This week's tale is all about the happy ending.

I keep a little gardening journal every year. It's pretty much . . . pocket size . . . if you have a biggish pocket. I keep lists of plants I want to buy, tasks I need to take care of, notes and measurements and ideas and garden-y resources . . . that kind of thing. I carry it with me when I'm working in my garden or shopping for plants or attending/listening to a gardening seminar. Here's a page from my journal that lists my . . . 

Big. Goals. For. This. Year.
I'm doing pretty well with my list so far, actually. (There ARE years where I cross nothing off, sad to say. ) (And I can also cross off "new garden solar lighting” now, too.)

Today, I want to talk about the first item that's been crossed off: "Rejuvenate pond area in the SCOD." For regular readers, you may remember that the SCOD is our acronym for the garden zone known as the Semi-Circle of Death. (It's a long story. And I don't want to go into it here, today. Suffice it to say . . . there have been many iterations of this particular section of my garden over the years. You could even say that . . . I've learned my most important gardening lessons right there in the SCOD.)

Anyway. Back in 2009, Brian and our foreign exchange student, Dominik, installed a tiny little pond in my garden as a Mother's Day present. (You can read all about it here . . . in a VERY early blog post from 2009.) Since then, the "puddle pond" (as it's come to be known) has changed . . . but not for the better.

In fact, here's a photo of the badly-in-need-of-rejuvenation puddle pond from May 24 of this year (we'll refer to this photo as the BEFORE) . . . 

Overgrown.
Invasive ground cover.
Weeds-a-plenty.
Can you say . . . NEGLECT?

And definitely in need of "rejuvenation."

Tom agreed to help. While I directed, Tom dug out all the plants and weeds. We piled up the rocks. (Yeah. The rocks you couldn't even SEE until Tom started digging.) Tom even dug out and relocated the tiny pond, leveling it in the process (something the boys never did).

Now it looks like this (we'll refer to this photo as the AFTER). . . 

A bit stark, but so much better!

Those are little miniature hostas there on the edge of the pond. They'll stay quite tiny, although they'll definitely fill in a bit. (It won't look quite so stark next year.)

And I ordered a special memorial stone for Jenny . . . who loved the puddle pond AND the hostas (miniature or otherwise).

I "transplanted" the duck weed from my other (slightly larger) garden pond.

All in all, I'm really happy with my SCOD-rejuvenation! It's so nice to finish off an item on your garden-to-do list.
A VERY happy ending to this tale, indeed!

 

 

Comments

[Mary]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! What a serene place in your yard, where before all you could see was a 'to-do'. Must feel wonderful to gaze at that as you sip your beverages on the patio!

[Carole]

That looks wonderful! And your photos make it seem simple and fast, which I'm sure it was NOT. I love that you're memorializing Jenny this way, too.

[Bonny]

I've been asking for a water feature/pond for almost 30 years, but I can see that I might have to ask Brian and Tom for help! I've looked at small pond liners and thought about digging it myself, but that hasn't happened either. Your puddle pond is absolutely perfect! I didn't know that hostas came in miniature sizes (I do need some of those) and I love Jenny's stone. Job well done!

[Vicki]

Oh, that's beautiful!! I love hostas - miniature or otherwise! :)

I'm impressed with all the crossing-off on that list! Yahoo!

[Bridget]

See, I think that is perfect! I love all that you have done with it and think it looks so lovely. I'm glad that not only can you cross it off your list, but now enjoy seeing it as well.

[Sarah]

Your little pond is so beautiful! The memorial stone for Jenny is an especially nice touch and a lovely way to remember her in a spot she enjoyed.

[Mary]

The AFTER photo is lovely, Kym - how fitting to have a marker for Jenny right close by. I hope you get the Bee House done, too - can't wait to see it!!

[kim in oregon]

Oh it is absolutely charming!

[kat]

Love! Really... it is just so awesome! But the Jenny memorial... perfect! XO

[Chloe]

Beautiful! You have some real landscaping talent, Kym. Noted elsewhere, but especially here.

[Margene]

The pond redo is really beautiful and looks so peaceful and calming. Jenny will be happy there forever.

[Jane]

Your gardens are all beautiful.