Garden

When I lived in Massachusetts my yard — both front and back — was surrounded by very tall trees making it impossible for me to actually cultivate much of anything. I would characterize my gardening there as simply mowing the bit of lawn that existed, battling invasive sumac growth and dealing will leaf raking in the fall. Though now that I think about it, I received many compliments on my ferns that wildly grew about the perimeter of the yard on the tree line — though I had nothing to do with this at all.

In Manhattan, on West 89th Street, it was so shady even the impatiens and hosta languished in our alley of a back yard. Though the ivy, of course, did just fine.

So here in Brooklyn its been fun to work on establishing a “real” garden. I’ve been trying to establish as many perennials as possible, dealing with what was already planted in the yard by the previous owners. I’ve been learning by reading and experience in addition to talking to other people — with no real plan in mind. The goals with which I started the garden are:

  •  To establish as many different interesting plants as possible.
  • Attempt to have something in bloom at all times
  • Create a pleasant retreat.

These pages are primarily a means for me to keep track of garden progress, what works, and money spent.

You can investigate my urban garden through these links:

You can, of course, read my intermittent gardening gripes and victories from “My Life in Brooklyn” by simply clicking on the Gardening category.