What I’m pushing today are double wide borders with paths down the middle or winding through them. The ones here are just mulch, flat rocks, or the 6" concrete pavers with leaf impressions, but there are lots more good-looking options for more money.
So my testimonial is that these simple, demure paths let me really see all my plants and they let me mother them. They let me get close enough to hand-water and to stay on top of the weeding. Close enough to prune away branches that are crowding other plants. Close enough to keep order, in order words. And as naturalistic as we get in our design and plant choices, gardening is all about being in control.
For me, tending to plants is so much like tending to my pets. In taking care of these other species I live with, both flora and fauna, I worry about their drinking enough water and not getting trampled on. And I could just look at them all day.
Is it the Live Simply Movement or am I just using the old smell-the-roses bit as an excuse to slow down? I can go either way on this one.
A passion was born in Dylan Dukes when, at the age of 3, he was shown a watermelon seed and told it would turn into a watermelon. So he grew a few and when that wasn't enough, his smart mom started a real veggie garden with him at the Youth Garden of the National Arboretum in the heart of D.C. Now 6 and nuts about gardening, Dylan may be the gardening world's youngest blogger; he's already documenting his garden and will soon be uploading his photos. Dylan, send us the link!
This community garden for kids and their parents is just one of the amazing places I've been visiting in my job chronicling the work of D.C. Master Gardeners. I got to meet Dylan's mom, who told me her favorite thing about gardening there is meeting and exchanging vegetable recommendations and recip
es with gardeners from different cultures – Asian, Caribbean, African American, white and biracial families all have plots. It's part of a program called Seed to Supper that guides families through that whole process, ending in a glorious meal in celebration of their own harvest. And even a hopeless noncook like myself can tell that's way cool.
What I’m pushing today are double wide borders with paths down the middle or winding through them. The ones here are just mulch, flat rocks, or the 6" concrete pavers with leaf impressions, but there are lots more good-looking options for more money.
