Monday, June 10, 2013

The North Garden


Do you have names for different sections in your garden?  Some designations are essential and obvious, such as the vegetable garden or patch, the front hedge, the cutting garden.  I have lots of names for different sections of our four acres.  It makes things feel more intimate and a little bit easier.  The North Garden is my favorite.  When we first moved in, there was only grass.  First we separated it from the front with a rose hedge and arbor.  Then we created beds.  We made lots of mistakes the first few years, but we are finally getting past them. 




I like the North Garden because it is easily accessed from our back patio and because of its location.  There is only one tree and it's along the fence line, but being on the north side of the house does mean that it has its shady spots.  I remember how surprised I was when I first realized that people living in milder or colder climates than ours seek southern exposure.  In our climate, the south side of a home receives the sun's sizzling, unrelenting glare all day.  Thanks, but no thanks (although our South Garden is lush by midsummer).

Even my small vegetable patch appreciates a little shade from the harsh afternoon sun. 


The orchard is in the distance.  We have had a hard time with the orchard.  The first year we moved in, we spent a great deal of time, money, and surely our sons' goodwill filling the field with one or two of every fruit tree the county extension recommended.  What we learned was that a citrus tree that might do well in a protected backyard would freeze to death in an open field, no matter the recommendation.  We lost approximately twenty citrus trees.  So now the orchard hosts grapes, which my husband hopes to expand upon eventually, and brambles, pomegranates, pears, jujubes, figs, and Mexican plums.  These are tough trees, for even though we installed an irrigation system, it's hard to irrigate the caverns that form in the clay during a drought.  Our peaches did not survive last summer.  On the other hand, we planted lemon trees in protected areas closer to the house and they are thriving.  We will probably do the same with peaches next year.  As for the fig trees, the generous amount of rain so far this year has done wonders.


 
Many of our friends have asked us what were we thinking to move out of town, so far outside the city.  Some have even laughed at us; from what they've observed, we are hardly farmers.  But those who have seen the tranquility of our surroundings tease us no more. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 


18 comments:

  1. Anastasia,

    Thank you for the tour of your North Garden. It's lush, open, so beautiful. I don't know why I thought Texas was drier. We've had so many tree deaths here too. Strangely, the fruit trees on the South side are doing great - and even casting some much needed shade on the house this year! I'm watering the heck out of them now as I write. Even though we're on a pretty big piece of land, the cultivated area is small. My "North Garden" is a 10x10 foot space with a bench and a Japanese Maple. One of my favorite places to sit. Even with all the lovely things that agree to grow for me here, my favorite part of our garden will always be the "Bat Trees".

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    1. Kate, thanks so much! Your North Garden sounds beautiful, a perfect spot to sit and relax. As for your fruit trees, that sounds awesome! We are considering planting more citrus in the South Garden. It's a slightly protected area, it's irrigated, and we would definitely appreciate the shade you mentioned. But now you have me googling "bat trees". Do you have bats on your property? That would be fascinating. Or is it a reference to the shape of tree leaves?

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    2. The Bat Trees are a small group of hollow oaks just outside our big window. In the evenings we watch the bats fly out of the holes one by one. Early in the mornings we watch them go back in the same way. It's definitely very fascinating!

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    3. Wow! Kate, do you have photos of them on your website? I looked but couldn't find any. It was a nice hunt, though; I got to enjoy your great photographs.

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    4. It's pretty dark when the bats come out in the evenings (and when they go back in too). I'm afraid I would need a much better camera and a lot more skill to get bat photos. Maybe someday!

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  2. Your garden has grown so much since I last saw it! It looks wonderful. What a sanctuary you have there.

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    1. Thank you, Dorothy! I'm so glad you've stopped by!

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  3. Anastasia
    what a great area to explore, many thanks for posting about this with all the pics. I have to say it is not at all how I imagined Texas! Still less the Houston area about which my only idea was images of the NASA control room. This looks fantastic

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    1. Richard, thank you. You made me laugh! I'm so glad you're checking in now and again.

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  4. Your garden looks lovely Anastasia. Interesting to read about your trials and tribulations with the orchard. Sorry you lost so many citrus trees. We have a couple of waist high mandarin trees we planted last year. Hoping to see some fruit on them one of these years! Our garden is really too small to have names for the different areas except "The back border" and "the island bed"

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  6. Thank you, Jayne! Mandarin trees sound wonderful and I think that "the back border" and "the island bed" are perfectly fin names! Although I must say that I think your island bed could easily be called "the awesomely beautiful bed"!

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  7. I love your statement at the end. Since I, too, live out in the country, I love the peace and quite and as you say - tranquility - of being out of the city. And yes, people laugh at us, too. Your North Garden looks like a beautiful place to wander around and see all the beauties in it. Love the arbor going into it. What a gorgeous entrance. My great-grandparents had an orchard, and there is a place nearby that was obviously an old orchard, though no one takes care of it now. I think that is a fabulous pursuit, and I hope you find what will grow well in your particular climate.

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    1. Thanks very much, Holly! I thought you would understand. The orchard is challenging but fun. We just plunked a crabapple tree into one of the vacant spots. I hope it works; I would love to have crabapples!

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  8. Great I found your blog :-), but too bad I can't add you as you only have google + friend list; otherwise I was going to be a follower of your blog. 4 acres! wow! that would be my dream piece of land -- so many things to grow and do. Do you have a pond?

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    1. Hi, KL! Hooray and welcome! I didn't realize that about the follow button; thank you for mentioning it. I hope there is something I can do about that. As for a pond, we don't have one or, to be more exact, we only have a very tiny one. We keep changing our minds -- gazebo, pavilion, wildflower field, pond, a small woods -- and then we had the drought and a few years when we thought we might move. You get the picture. One of these days. . . .
      Thanks so much for taking the time!

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