The Lake House

[lighter]

The "dummy arch", as my brother's friend calls the 💍 arch, is planted with micro clover, and 32 Creeping Jenny plants...... they'll eventually cascade over the stone retaining wall.

The clover seeds are tiny, so mixed with 3 parts sand, 1 part seeds.

Water morning and night.

The sun is burning, so cover with straw.

Water morning and night.
In a drought, so not enough water pressure for sprinklers.

All things considered....will be ok if everything grows.

We have beautiful ferns, and wild growing forest things to transplant in the rain.....this weekend?  Hopefully.

The lake's SO far down. 

The dummy arch has an old bell mounted inside....must have been in my family 100 years.  It's big and has a lovely patina.

I'll start another post regarding choices on walking meditation garden, using old tiles.

[lighter]

The driveway has a central planting area, where the drive goes around at the house.

We cleaned out lots of the dead things.  Will clear out more.  3 pink hydrangea will go near the overgrown azaleas.....but then.... I'd like to use the beautiful big terra cotta baseboard/assorted other til s, to lay out a meditation garden.  Trails to walk.

Any ideas, ladies?

[Hopalong]

The UU campus here has a stone path labyrinth, Lighter. I'm no good at it (squirrel in head will not meditate) but I think it's a lovely idea for your lake place.

I like the idea of using broken stones like I did for my patio, which really has a beautiful visual texture, if there can be such a thing. Weed cloth beneath, plus sand.

Create away, your joy is audible!

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

I'm not good at it either, but I'm tenacious as hell, Hops.

Even a small labyrinth would be nice.

Lighter

[sKePTiKal]

Draw a squiggle. Each area between the lines becomes it's own mini-garden; mini-moment. The squiggle lines are "no particular place to go" - which is the POINT of meditation.

Does that make sense?

[lighter]

No, but I'm super intrigued!!  It sounds most doable, and not at all exacting.......so enticing to my brain!!!!!

Thanks.....keep'em coming if you think of more ideas!

Lighter

[sKePTiKal]

Well, in my case, I have a random bunch of boulders. With the addition of a short rock wall on the open side between them, this closes in a rustic "raised bed". Add soil, compost etc and plant the mini-bed. Because of watering and weeding - it's necessary to also leave paths between them. I'm working underneath some tall trees - yet there's plenty of sunlight for growth most of the day. (I watch/make notes of how much sun/shade there is at various times of the day.)

I have LOTS of rocks. And I put them to work this way. Some boulders are perfect seating around the fire pit and provide access to adjacent beds. I'm slowly creating a hedgerow just outside the trees of flowering/fruiting shrubs. Color, texture, and of course medicinal uses determine what I plant. And yes - this year I need to buy a dump truck of compost because rock & shale are poor growing material except for the native (very useful) wild herbs. We have many.

[lighter]

I'm a rock hound, love'em too!

Lots of them here.

Lighter

[sKePTiKal]

If none of the paths are straight lines, then one HAS to be mindful to move between the gardens!

[lighter]

The shape of the planting area is a teardrop, with various trees and bushes....2 puffballs with white flowers.

I need a break from watering seedlings.......a relaxed break to figure this out.

Lighter

[Dirty Hippy]

The driveway has a central planting area, where the drive goes around at the house.

We cleaned out lots of the dead things.  Will clear out more.  3 pink hydrangea will go near the overgrown azaleas.....but then.... I'd like to use the beautiful big terra cotta baseboard/assorted other til s, to lay out a meditation garden.  Trails to walk.

Any ideas, ladies?

Not really any ideas only that there's always beautiful gardening/design books at libraries. I've never had a use for them but maybe you do? Visual inspiration often helps I think for a target and it always ends up being uniquely your own anyhow in the end.

[Hopalong]

After these enticing descriptions I dunno if I wanna get married by the lake or buy a tractor.

The risk of either is vanishingly small (as in, nonexistent) but i have SO enjoyed all this vicarious digging and planting, y'all! Everything's already blooming and fruiting in my head.

happy hugs,
Hops

[lighter]

Haven't seen the Puerto Rican neighbors since the wife picked up the bedrail yesterday? And left us a basket of eggs.  The dh had a kidney stone, flat on the floor.  It's been pretty peaceful here, till I saw the clover was rotting at the roots from the straw contact....wet. Too wet, and by now matted under the clover and throughout.

We spent the entire day pulling up straw.....sewing bald patches with more seed.

A storm just came up fast, purple lightening flashing.....we ran to the back porch and watched the rain start.

Our backs will be wrecked tonight.  And our hands....elbows, from leaning on them.

Here's a pointer ..... don't plant in a draught. There are I'll be back breaking regret involved, IME.

Lighter

[lighter]

I'm baiting rat traps with peanut butter.  Not bc I think we have rats, but bc there are mice, and all traps have, once again, been deployed.

Meeces seem to be mostly on back patio and mechanical room......the traps are set around 2 suspicious holes in the exposed insulation, where drapery tassels have been stolen and stockpiled.

I ripped part of a nail back today.....nutsy heavy king mattress flip..... there's some regret involved.

The yard's clover is lush and happy.....almost everywhere.  Some root rot, but that's been replanted.  Don't put clover in without asking me what NOT to do first, is my advice.

I'm pleasantly exhausted.....oldest DD and bf drove in yesterday morning.  We had a nice dinner out BIL suggested, and covered. We went through photo albums, the kids both on DD's baby grand for a while.....DD played Hans Zimmer's, Davy Jones Theme.  The bf improvised in a style DD recognized.  I did not, but it was heaven.

We watched Practical Magic, sleepy and nestled together with the pug.......a good time was had by all.

Lighter

[Dirty Hippy]

That sounds very nice Lighter. Good luck with the meese. Have never had a meese infestation though I have seen some wild footage of meese mobs.