Loaded up the "dog car" with the tools that I would need and a cold drink of lemon water. I was bound for new beds ... rock beds. This was going to be a breeze. The gardens that normally require my undivided attention are sprawled out over acreage with boomin' orchards and vast veggie gardens ... this was three beds the size of my MPV. This was goin' to be three hours of fresh air, like a sea breeze blowin' in on hot summers concrete.
The neighbor hood is an adventure all by itself. If you have ever seen the show Weeds and listened to the theme song then you would understand the tiny little boxes coverin' a hillside. This is not the richest of hoods when it comes to money and that clearly shows in the little garden spaces that were alloted to each home.
People are growin' veggies and attitudes along fence lines and in boxes crammed in any spot and crevice that they could find. Flowers were bustin' out of flower boxes and old cracked tires but the one thing that captured my attention was not the look of the entire landscape ... but the people. This is a community that is rich in tradition, in culture and in family. That settled any issues of where I was, if there was any.
Rollin' in at the top of the hill was the three beds that I was goin' to work through.
Three beds the size of my van! Did I say that already? Still amazed.
Rock garden of roses!
When lookin' over each bed and makin' mental notes of what was needin' done I started to notice the smallest of details. It's a wonder what you can learn about people by workin' over their garden spaces. This was and will be a garden for the #tweezerweeder or was it? I was a little confused. Everyone has there own version of a clean house and believe it or not everyone has their own version of a clean garden bed. Thank gawd, there are no sheets to fold in a garden.
Yes the gentleman that lives here had worked through one of the beds prior to my arrival but the other two were a mess but out of the mess was growin' the most amazin' roses. Could I measure up to the cleanly side of things the way he did? The bed on the left side of the driveway that he cleaned out was pretty tight. By tight I mean nothin' touchin'. Nothin' growin' into another. Crisp lines on the ground cover. Perfectly buddin' roses. Then BOOM unruly peppermint. Confusion set in.
Beauty lies within the heart.
The right side of the driveway had a rock garden that was unruly. Big plants that were pruned to fit. Ground covers that spread like wildfire and succulents that were bein' choked out and dyin' off. I had to stop in the middle of the driveway at one point and look to both sides. I probably looked like a bobble head to any of the spyin' neighbors. How was I going to get the right side to look perfect as the left side did. I resigned to think that it wasn't going to happen and did my best to pull the weeds.
There are a few things that top the list of great satisfaction and I can think of a few right now that would be better then writin' this blog post but I will restrain just for you. For me #5 on the list is crawlin' around under bushes for the instant gratification of a well weeded bed. Little did I know what I would find under the limbs of the bushes and lurkin' in the shadows.
Nakedness.
White, Naked Ladies to be exact. 2 of them.
What was I to do? Admire them and move them. So, that I did. Works of art they were really. Special ladies that were perfectly place in a spot of prominence but still covered by their green curtain so that they had a little modesty. I moved them closer to the sun but still kept them hidden from the gawkers.
My hours ended with a clean-up of rakin' out the leaves, left over weeds and spreadin' a bag of compost buildin' mulch. Addin' a layer of fresh mulch gives a garden that finished polished look as a freshly waxed sports car. Last thing on the list was tuckin' the nakedness in for another warm summer, a long cold winter and walkin' away from the lovely ladies leavin' them undisturbed and quiet. The garden now looks tended and loved.
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