Tuesday, June 11, 2019

God Landscapes My Garden - Yours Too. Big Project Managed by Ranger Bob and Sassy

 Hidden Lily was killed by the zero temps last winter, until it came up again.


A constant lesson of Creation Gardening is this - God does the landscaping. No matter what we plant, the forces of Nature (as some call it) will dominate the final outcome.

Our neighborhood is blessed with nut trees, squirrels, and rabbits.
Plenty of living space is above for the squirrels and in the bushes for the rabbits.

Birds built the green fence that blocks the view of our unused backyard (the farthest segment) and our neighbor's yards. All I did was build a rustic fence from logs. The birds perching there planted their favorite foods, and the rains boosted the growth. I added two elderberry plants, which are now nine feet tall and filled with sunflower like blooms, ready to convert into berries. Ranger Bob, who is an experienced landscaper, said it is perfect.

 Sassy is not a digger. One dog park friend taught his dog to dig, and that dog never stopped digging.


In the past I did a lot of mulching with newspaper, cardboard, and shredded wood. The heavy rains have proved that newspaper simply turns into soup and leverages weed growth. Cardboard does not last much longer. However, they do add plenty of organic mass to the top soil, and the soil creatures never complain.

The hay bail garden worked great - for the slugs - since I refused to poison everything to keep down slugs. I even wore a giant slug inside the house, after bending over near the wet bushes one night.

The butterfly garden was another success - for the rabbits. They ate most of the young plants I set out last fall. Comfrey, Joe Pye, and the Hidden Lily survived. That patch is so remote that rabbits gather there for food fests, socializing, and shelter.

Ranger Bob argued for a metal strip to edge our mulch-rich rose garden on two sides, to keep the driveway and sidewalk neater. That was the intended project yesterday. Sassy took up her station, in the shade, and watched everything happening on the block.

But lo, Bob brought his weed-eater, after deciding to cut back the grass growth in the rose garden. He kept the lethal line away from good plants and leveled the luxurious growth of the weeds. Our last rainfall was about six inches, and we have one more rain expected this week. His mechanical work gave me the freedom to removed some dead rose stumps and weeds intertwined with other plants.

We finished by installing some of the garden-edge material along the driveway.

Some spectacular results from the Creator so far this year:
Wild Strawberries are well established and large in the front and back;

  • Roses are growing fast, attracting pests, which will attract more beneficial insects and spiders;
  • Fever Few is blooming and five feet high;
  • Daisies are ready to bloom;
  • Bee Balm is especially tall and blooming;
  • Borage (bee bread) and Buckwheat are blooming;
  • Cat Mint bloomed early and continuously.


Hardly anyone grasps the concept of sheltering beneficial bugs and spiders to wipe the pests, which are in the minority. Plant it - and they will come - Fever Few, Daisies, Sunflowers, and mints.