one year of gardening down

Now that we have been in our house for a full year, it's exciting to see how our efforts have altered the overall look of the house, and also to daydream about all things we'd like to do in the future. Of course it's a little daunting this time of year, seeing aaaaaaall those leaves fluttering down. (Really? We have to deal with those leaves again? Already?)

Matt and I might just be the perfect yard maintenance team. I get to fuss around with the flowers and pretend I am the master gardener, while he does all the real work. It's a very good deal for me. He keeps the grass just so, trims all the edges just so, deals with our mountains of leaves, and whistles while he's at it. I've never really thought about it, but gardening is like any work of art. The shapes and colors and balance are important, but it will all look like crap if everything runs together willy-nilly.

Monday, Matt was home from work (he got the day off, the stinker) and when I came home, I saw that he had worked his magic. You see, he apparently has a magic wand that blows away the leaves, trims away the weeds, and neatens all the edges. Who am I to question his magical ways, or discover the source of his power? It is best left to the imagination, I think.

He even took down the two spindly cedar trees that had been choked by neighboring trees into a brown, half-living state, and which I have been eyeing unsympathetically for the past year. I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

I have so many plans. We need ferns, hostas, solomon's seal, bluebells, and muscari in our shade bed. We need azaleas, rhododendron, asarum, and arum in our wooded border. We definitely need more vines on our fence -- carolina jessamine and star jasmine. We're planning a new sun perennial bed in the front yard. (I haven't even explored sun-loving perennials yet.) I dream of japanese maples and cherry trees.

All in good time. For now, I am learning to care for what is here. I divided my first perennial this past weekend, and I think it went well. I want to raise some succulents indoors this winter. We're researching vegetable gardening.

I do love our patch of earth. Even more than I thought I would.

P.S. The new season of This Old House started this weekend on PBS. I love that show SO DARN MUCH. They are working on this odd-duck of a house from the 1940s on the Charles River. In the first show, they busted up the old boiler and discussed asbestos abatement and river conservation. Among other things. It is all so fascinating. You should check it out.