Finding Hope in the Hopeless

by Tami Gallagher

My garden this year has been trying to say the least.  I have had many losses, bugs, and mishaps:


Dead Dahlia

~ One day I had beautiful magenta dahlia blooms, the next I had a completely dead plant.  Who knows.

~ My cute little tabby grass in my early spring container grew to be about four feet tall when transplanted into my sunny window box but my Kong Coleus must have been mislabeled because it isn’t so much as Kong as it is all of three inches tall.

~ I haven’t had a single ripe strawberry.  The rabbits and I both think, “Oh, that will be perfect tomorrow!” but they must get up earlier than I do so now where there used to be strawberries, I just have crunchy brown leaves.

Insects!

~ We adopted a four-month-old dog, Toby, last December and he has been wreaking havoc in all his puppy energy. He ate the cucumber plants, ran through the Hydrangea shrub destroying all the big beautiful blooms, peeled all the bark off of an Ash tree like it was a banana, broke off all the lower branches of my Japanese Lilac, and then there's all the holes... I had to give up my plan for re-designing the backyard this season. 

Blossom End Rot

~My first bag of potting soil had some grass/weed seeds in it and they of course sprouted in their new happy environment.

~The trumpet vine I removed two years ago seems to have gathered force underground last season and decided to sprout up shoots all over my garden; I'm giving up on the battle for now, but not the war!

Unwanted Grass in Potting Soil

~My Roma tomatoes have blossom-end rot.

~The Mugo pines I put in last year died.  OK, maybe I should have watered them more…

~The Sea Oat grass I put in last fall didn’t even make an effort to come back.

Dead Mugo Pine

~With the early spring, I pinched back by false indigo too late and only had two blooms.

~The kids are as bad as the dog and big portions of my dianthus were sacrificed in a neighborhood game of capture the flag.

~I have aphids on my Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, Japanese Beetles on my Basil, and squash bugs on my zucchini. The squash bugs on my zucchini were so bad, I had to pull all the plants out.    

It was the squash bugs that sent me to adding up my garden troubles this year.  With all these trials, I wondered why I keep trying.  

But I know ultimately it's because I love gardens. They bring me hope; hope for the future and that I can always do better. Every season is an opportunity to grow better and brighter. Next year I will be more vigilant, I'll cover my new fall plantings better, and I'll watch for bugs more attentively.

And Toby will be the wise old age of two.

Example of what the Gallagher Gardens look like in a good year

ShowSpaces- S. Minneapolis

by Jeanette Torkelson

It is late afternoon and as the sunlight yellows around me, I am reminded that in a few months we will be sitting in darkness at this time, our gardens blocked from view by the reflections of our lamp lit interiors.  It might seem early to think of autumn but I am seeing signs of it in our flowers.  The late fall blooming sedum is already flowering, leaves are starting to build up in the nooks of garden beds, and the mornings have been almost chilly.

As the oppressive heat of summer gives way to cooler nights and days, it is a good time to think about changes we want to see in our gardens.  You've heard it many times, but fall really is a great time for planting and for rearranging!

To help inspire all of us, we are starting a series showcasing gardens that we maintain throughout the Twin Cities metro area.  From grand poolside gardens to cozy urban patio gardens, we will share what you guys have been creating- and with the little bit of maintenance help-how it stays beautiful year round.  

This is a garden we have maintained for years in South Minneapolis.  Even though the owners had a very small backyard and most of it taken up with a concrete patio, we have still helped create a beautiful environment.  

 

It is a lush space.  Ferns and hosta provide leafy structure along the walls and paths.  The ground cover is allowed to creep between the plants and grow along rocks.

The colors of the garden warm as the season progresses and even without many blooms the backyard is lovely.

 

One of the key reasons this garden is successful is the diversity of plants.  The varying heights and leaf textures provides interests year round. 

 

The patio has sharp corners that we softened by letting the shrubs stay a little looser.  

 

 This garden works well for this particular space but any gardener can take away some lessons.  Remember to use variety!  Notice the deep red of the hibiscus in the photo third from the bottom.  It is just one bloom, but it adds a lot to the space.  It brings your eye to the farther corner of the garden and helps the space feel a little bigger.  To do this, we did have to trim away some of the blooms from the hydrangea tree but WAIT!  Don't toss those lovely blooms out.

  

Ever Evolving

by Tami Gallagher 

Last fall Jeanette and I were doing a clean-up on a particularly large property.  The job took about 25 hours (our average property is 4 hours.)  After working about 6 hours or so, Jeanette looks up and says with a sigh, “Wow, there’s a lot more to go.”  I told her to look down and focus on what was right in front of her. Then, ever so often, look back and see how much she had accomplished.

I was struck by a metaphor for the grief I was then, and still am, enduring.  My brother killed himself 9 months ago, a few weeks before the weeding session mentioned above, and every day requires mental and emotional fortitude.

My brother and I were very close.  I am overwhelmed at the thought of living the rest of my life without him.  However, my words to Jeanette echo in my mind.  In handling my grief I must remember to do today’s work, feel and process the emotions that come about today and then, ever so often, look back and appreciate how far I’ve come.

Like a garden, we should never be complete or stagnant but rather a work in progress; ever evolving. I am a different person than I was 9 months ago.  There is a heaviness in me that may always be there in some form, but I am not broken. In fact, I am wiser and more aware than ever the awe as well as the fragility of life.

Thank you to all my wonderful clients and employees for the amazing support and patience you’ve had with me over the last 9 months.  I am so blessed.