My Troubles with Landscape Cloth: Part 2

It's been a little over ten years, and while my garden continues to evolve, the bulk of my original design has finally been executed. This year for the first time I faced maintaining the full expansive garden, and dare I admit this, especially to myself, I was having trouble coping with the workload.

Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

The fact that I used typed in the word "workload" is telling. Gardening is work, but it should be also be fun. Relaxing even. This summer gardening has felt too much like drudgery.

Something has to change to bring gardening back into the realm of enjoyable.

I began to consider eliminating a few flowerbeds, even though the thought of that was heartbreaking.
But when I really started to pause and examine what was demanding the most labor, I realized the garden itself wasn't the thing dragging me down. It is the network of pathways in the garden. This summer I swear I have spent more time weeding the paths than I spent weeding the flowerbeds!

Lets step back in time and see what has got me into this mess.

The very back part of the garden as it was when we moved in. 

This view shows only half the full length of the backyard.

When we moved in there were perennial gardens down the sides of the long, narrow lot and a circular herb garden at the back (which was more weeds than herbs).

It was really nice, but when you stood on the porch and looked down the long stretch of grass, the backyard as a whole, looked somewhat like a bowling alley.

Four years ago

To foreshorten the perspective and make the lot feel wider than it was, I designed a partial fence to obscure the view of the herb garden. In the centre of the fence, I created a doorway in the form of an arbor.

Through the new arbor there was a view of a traditional urn and a glimpse of the herb garden beyond. The area surrounding the herb garden became a gravel courtyard with an underlay of landscape cloth. When the instillation was complete, it was amazing how much wider the property looked.

A few years later came four raised beds for vegetables and herbs.

The area around the 4'x 7' raised beds was tight, so grass was not feasible. We installed landscape cloth and this time I wanted a softer covering, so went with natural cedar mulch.

Two years ago

In front and to the the right of the raised beds we created an area where we plan to build a little gazebo in the future. 

Again, we created a little courtyard by laying landscape cloth and covering it with pea gravel.

Very rough garden plan before and after 

Present day in late August.

Cimicifuga 'James Compton' has deep eggplant colored leaves, which my camera does not do justice.

The flower (seen below) smells like honey.

Hydrangea 'Little Lime'

A tall native plant called Ironweed. You can see it just behind the white bench.

Wild Bergamont or Monarda fistulosa

Agastache 'Blue Fortune'

Lobelia x speciosa 'Dark Crusader'

Phlox 'David's Lavender' in the afternoon sunshine.

The view from the back looking toward the house.

Rudbeckia

As you can imagine, we began to learn quite a lot about laying landscape cloth along the way. 

Too late, we began to realize its pitfalls....

I hate to do this, but I think I am going to have to send the rest into a Part 3, 

but I promise not to make you wait a full week to read it.

Surprises

 

There is a lot of waiting in gardening. 

And then there are the surprises both good and bad.

I have been patiently waiting 3 or 4 years for the Chocolate Vine, Akebia quinata on the backyard arbor to bloom. 

I actually picked this vine because I liked the foliage and the fact that it was a vine that didn't mind a bit of shade. 

At the time that I bought it, I would even have been content if it never ever bloomed...

but after a while curiosity began to kick in and I started to wonder what the flowers on a "chocolate" vine were like.

Finally this spring, there were a few tiny flower buds. "At long last!", I thought to myself. 

Hopefully this is going to be good!

Imagine my utter disappointment when the tiniest, most drab colored flowers opened up a few days later. There are no pictures here because there was simply nothing worthy of a picture! 

Maybe when there is a greater abundance of flowers I'll be impressed, but for now, I have gone back to liking Chocolate Vines for their foliage.

Early this morning I was picking roses for the house when I got another surprise. The first of the Japanese Beetles were lurking in among the scented petals!

They are late to appear this summer and I even started hoping they might be a no-show. Maybe that full-on Canadian winter we had this year did them all in? 

That has proven to be a bit of wishful thinking! 

Sadly, this Canadian Explorer Rose above happens to be one of a Japanese Beetle's favourite snack foods.

The surprises aren't all bad though. 

There is a climbing rose on the same back arbor as the Chocolate Vine. For years it has been rather pathetic and scrawny, but this summer it has come into its own and it is simply glorious!

Then there is this Agastache 'Blue Fortune'. I was pleased that it took off so well in its first summer. This is it blooming last August. 

OMG! You should see it now! It is the size of a small shrub after just one year. 

What was I thinking when I put it in a tiny spot in a narrow flowerbed!

'Blue Fortune' is not the only thing out of control. There has been so much rain that the 

garden at the side of the house is a veritable jungle. 

There is actually a path leading to the front door in there somewhere!

This clematis on the picket fence is reaching skyward.

I have always found the view along the front of the white picket fence lacks a little color in early July and so last week I added some hot pink Veronica, 'Red Fox' to the present mix of soft pink 'Fairy' roses and cobalt colored Meadow Sage, Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' .

I also bought this beauty to add in there somewhere. This roses start of deep maroon and fades to a deep mauve. ( Wild Blue Yonder Rose, Rosa X 'WEKisosblip')

Along the driveway, these two roses have been putting on quite the show this summer. 

(The deeper pinky-red rose is Hybrid Musk rose 'Marjorie Fair' and the lighter pink 

is the Hybrid Musk rose 'Robin Hood')

 Close-up of Hybrid Musk rose 'Robin Hood'

Who dosen't like that kind of surprise?

Here is wishing that all your gardening surprises are happy ones!