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| Homage to the South |
This photograph (one succulent planted in an outgrown dog toy) represents 100 percent of my gardening during the past three years. It sits on the front porch railing and is a nod to my roots, where petunias are sometimes planted in old tires.
We have very good grass cutters and leaf picker-uppers but it was time for more than maintenance. Shrubs were overgrown, ivy was reaching under the back porch of my workshop, and rose bushes were buried under hollies and camellias. I found master gardener
Kathy McNulty and asked her to stop by. After walking around my yard, she told my neighbors (who were visiting on the porch) that she might be finished in 2012. Kathy is quite the comedienne. She showed up Tuesday at 10 a.m.--as promised--and set to work.
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| Kathy McNulty |
She pruned the prickly hollies, shaped the camellia without disturbing the mockingbird's nest, unearthed the roses (which I replanted), shaped the unidentified huge shrub outside the kitchen window and left some shoots for the birds--they like to bounce after their baths and I enjoy watching. We transplanted irises; she trimmed along the driveway and pointed out which trees and shrubs are beyond help and need to be removed. She pulled everything to the curb--the town picks up. While Kathy was doing the heavy work, I pulled up gobs of ivy that I had planted--underneath, I found two antique Bayonne NJ fire buckets, my practice golf balls, two croquet balls, and a bird bath.
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| The Garden Ho |
I moved my Bob Currier sculpture to the front yard. Why was I working six straight hours a day alongside Kathy? I'm uncomfortable letting someone else do my work.
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| November on Commerce Street |
I don't rake, though. After
all the leaves fall, we'll have them picked up. I'm off to the workshop and back to painting as soon as I can move without pain. Kathy will be back in the Spring!
My small southern town--Clarksville VA--did a great job of picking up the debris.
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Hi Hallie
ReplyDeleteYour tire garden is a hoot!!
As soon as I saw the name of your gardner I went to her website because I was quite sure that I knew her from seeing her at my gym...Bayside Rec. Center....ask her...it may have been a year or so since she's been there...but small world.
She also worked on a garden on my street..ask her...Lakeside Rd. Virginia Beach.
Your home looks so sweet and I love your scuplture moved out front.
Small world indeed.
Hi Donna. Glad you like the tirescape. Kathy mentioned Virginia Beach so it is a small world after all. I had planned to put the sculpture out front since we fenced three years ago--takes me a while to actually get moving.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post Hallie! I loved the succulent in the dog toy and your sculpture, Garden Ho- too cool.
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks like the two of you got tons done and I bet it feels great.
Your home is picture perfect. I want a red roof now.
Glad you get to paint soon.
Your house is tres charmante! How long has it been since you saw it last? Just look at all that oxygen and sunlight swirling around. Stand back come spring; your garden should absolutely rocket out of the ground.
ReplyDeletePerfect scale on that succulent parked in the tire on your porch. Where I come from, folk stick geraniums in tires along driveways along with rocks painted a cheerful reflective color. Add a whirlygig and a gazing ball in a birdbath, and BAM! you've got dump ranger chic. Obviously, your garden ho elevates your project well beyond that. Personally, I love yard art.
Hi Pam. The sculpture was made and named by a neighbor who has since moved to Florida. He left it with me; it's made from old garden tools. The rolled tin roof just got a paint job; and the painters used gloss--I don't like shine but we've gotten compliments. I didn't walk Kathy down to the back of the yard--it's overgrown but I can get to the dock. (Critters, I'm sure, like it that way.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, SamArtDog. Actually, the holly was growing so tall we couldn't see what the neighbors up the street were doing. I have many plants that rocket out of the crowded ground--irises, day lilies, hostas (maybe a job for next year). Before I buy a plant now, I consider the dead-heading, the watering, the weeding, the pruning, spraying for bugs--then I don't buy it. Yard art is much easier. I have several tire planters that I bought from an older artist--first I had to get past his big dog. He leaves the rim; pulls the tire up, then paints them with scenes--folk art. They weren't cheap and neighbors thought they were beautiful ceramic pieces.
Tires are in--Design Within Reach had some recycled tire planters; I also read about seats made from three tires held together with hemp. We can make us some (I actually liked them). Painted rocks--there's a good idea! You missed my decorating blog last Christmas; I hung be-ribboned hubcaps instead of wreathes.
We should have seen a "before and after"! Well, I can imagine. We have a similar thing.... where there is a couple years of yard work to be done. You and Kathy did a wonderful job--I mean, your yard (and house) are just picture perfect! Love the little succulent and the sculpture. It is all super charming!
ReplyDeleteHi Celeste. To be honest, most people won't see much difference. Had I been smart, my first project when moving here would have been the picket fence--no one notices the plants and weeds from the street. (I still have some weeds but, hey, the cold weather will soon wipe them out.) I always think: Do I want to paint or do I want to work in the yard?
ReplyDeleteHi Hallie, You're an excellent and fun writer. You make gardening and fall clean up so much fun to read. And, I laughed when I saw your homage to the South and Garden Ho; fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peggy. Writing is a lot more fun than yard work. I don't know when I've had six straight hours of fresh air--so much oxygen I found it hard to sleep (& two days in a row). That can't be healthy.
ReplyDeleteGood results for lots of hard work! I can relate to thinking about what work is involved in a plant before you buy it--simple is good! We need time to paint, yet, inspiration from plants is well...so inspiring.
ReplyDeleteLove the sculpture--will it get some Christmas adornment??
Hi Indigomar. You're right--simple is much better when it comes to landscaping. I do a great job with hens&chickens--pull a baby off; stick it in a pot; give it to a neighbor. I hadn't thought of Christmas adornment for the sculpture--now I am--great idea. She already has a large chandelier crystal hanging from one of her rusty fingers.
ReplyDeleteYour house and fence look charming and cozy nestled under those huge wonderful trees (with all those falling leaves). Do you ever paint your house as in a portrait? Maintaining a garden is something I used to love doing when I was a home owner and I miss getting distracted and worn out from the maintenance. How was the workshop you went to?
ReplyDeleteHi Robin. I included my house in a painting of the street--March 23 blog, "A Quiet Street." I've used parts--porch, fence, trees, etc. in other paintings. I was referring to the workshop, a separate building, in my back yard--I should probably call it my studio. For whatever reason I'm more comfortable calling it a workshop; I'll always have trouble with the title "artist." (I just paint in my workshop.)
ReplyDeleteI love your house. Love it. And I want a garden ho. For the garden part, not the ho part - just so you don't get the wrong idea. And I give your 100% gardening, a 100%. Cool idea and nice home for a succulent. Work like you've been doing is hard, but satisfying. I can smell the soil and vine.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan. I should say that I hate yard work and gardening. I grew up in the country; my parents had an acre vegetable garden. I once purposely cut my leg; squeezed it so blood would run, and limped to the house. That got me out of the hot, buggy garden and back to my drawing and reading (I still have the scar). Yard work, like housework, never ends--just keeps piling up.
ReplyDeleteI was very into gardening while I worked and as a result I created a monster which is now quickly becoming overgrown and making me feel overwhelmed. I don't know what to do to keep it all in check. My solution last year was to sell the house but Don thought that was a bit extreme!
ReplyDeleteI need a Kathy obviously.
Hi Margaret. It is an overwhelming feeling when you don't know where to start. In MD (a contemporary house)I had the yard under control, thanks to a book called "The Yard that takes care of Itself." Ground covers, perennials, mulch, and boulders meant no trimming; grass could be cut in 30 minutes. Here, in this small Queen Anne style, I decided to sculpt the yard, defining planting areas with bricks, laying weed control cloth and mulching before planting (I spent 6 months). The crabgrass, weeds, poison ivy and briars love that cloth; and they get embedded in it. Luckily I did not "beautify" the back yard--mostly moss and trees. Dave and I may have reached the point where we need a couple living in the guest house--one can house keep and one can yard keep. I just want to paint and art around; Dave just likes sitting in his recliner--thanks to a bad back. Selling is just a bit extreme.
ReplyDeleteHallie, I understand your sentiments completely. All while I worked, I did my own housecleaning. Now that I'm retired, not only did I hire a more complete yard service, I hired a housecleaning service. I still don't have enough time to paint! I'm happy because it's more than I would have had. Charming house, love the "ho," and your writing is right up there with Pam's on the entertainment scale.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary and thanks. I've hired a housekeeper several times--in Maryland and here. I find myself running around straightening up before they get here; they clean and put everyithing away--then we spend a lot of time looking for things. Paperwork stacks up, and that's my job, too. I must learn to delegate--next life maybe. There are times when I have to chuck it all and disappear into the workshop for a week or so; those periods keep me semi-sane.
ReplyDeleteHallie, Your home is beautiful and makes me a little homesick for the Southeast. I can almost smell those leaves on the ground. (That's my favorite smell of Autumn.)
ReplyDeleteDelegate? What's that?
-Don
Hi Don. Those leaves aren't just on the ground; they stick to Willie and are brought into the house.
ReplyDeleteDelegate? That's my husband's talent. I'm from a family who'd rather die than ask for help (not good).
Love the post and your charming home. It looks like a place I would be happy in.I say that, but I bought my old brick ranch because it had an arbor covered with ivy and trees that hide the front.The succulent gardening is my style too. No weeds and requires little attention! I saw a on TV, a woman with a lawn care business without mowers, she brings her goats and she just sits in her truck and lets them eat!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eva. If my whole yard were fenced, I'd have goats. Of course, then I'd have to be careful about hiding treasures (junk) in the back yard--and I'd have to build them a little house and let them ride in the car.
ReplyDeleteI'll take painting over working in the yard any day! The extent of my gardening are the plants in my pots on my deck and at my front door. Each spring I do them up and I am exhausted by the end of it. Off to the studio!
ReplyDeleteI also resent anything remotely resembling housework.
Davida, I'm with you--I hate housework; it never ends. We just hired someone to come in twice a month; I'm trying to neaten up the house before she gets here and I'm usually uncomfortable having someone here. Maybe the answer is to live in a hotel and rent studio space! Or I could live in my workshop/studio.
ReplyDeleteHi Hallie
ReplyDeletewanted to mention how much I enjoy your painting...'1963'.
Her cape clearly says it all:-)
No, no having someone coming in is a must have-even if having an outsider around isn't comfortable. When they leave, I'm so glad they were here. Housework is overwhelming except for cleaning my studio. Gardening I adored till the bum knee hit. Mine is getting overgrown too. I've already tagged a few "weed trees" to be moved out to the woods where they can spread as they should in the spring.
ReplyDeleteI love your artistic sense of humor. Very fresh. Delightful.
Thanks Donna. When I watched Mad Men, I was reminded of the early sixties.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I'll try to remember--I've tried this before. My mother enjoyed gardening and ironing; my genes came from the other side. I enjoy your blogs--both of them.