A DOG’S DINNER
You Can Only Shoehorn-in Holes in Your Garden so many times Before a Redesign is Needed, otherwise it looks like a dog’s dinner!
A Dog’s Dinner—a Term I learned from Rosemary Alexander, Founder of The English Gardening School.
It’s been seven years since I did a redesign, so it was due. Given I started with this in 1998, there have been five redesigns. During this time, there were two constants—building the soil and gardening for wildlife.
A Dog’s Dinner is a term I learned taking a course from Rosemary Alexander. I’ve never forgotten it, and now I have one!!! Ms. Alexander is referring to a garden that is just a hodge-podge that has lost its design.
The bed is part sun, part shade. I’m just on the edge of having enough sun to grow favorites here, such as coneflowers, Echinacea spp. More would thrive with more sun. In 2005, I build a covered porch, and that took the Mixed Border from full sun to only partial sun.
This year’s redesign is brought to you by COVID-19! Something good had to come from this! Throughout the year, I had time since my work provided paid lockdowns. Given that I was being paid, I made sure I didn’t squander a single hour. I worked inside and out.
I also had a second set of six days of lock due to a 24-hour bug. Yes, that’s right, everything has to be treated as COVID-19, so when I had a fever, headache, and tummy bug, I was sent home until I tested negative. My fever broke that evening, but still couldn’t return until I had a negative test. This takes a while. I returned for one day before the Holiday break where I took off until the new year.
I managed to finish the redesign before my return to work, and now I’m at the Cottage on Emerald Isle for an entire week!
The day after Christmas as way departing day, but not before my son, Aster, gifted me a load of mulch and laid it for me! This was super special. And guess where it was laid? You got it in the new redesigned Mixed Border.
The redesign took four days. To do it right, these things take time. I had it, so I used it. The weather also cooperated with temperatures in the 50s. Without this time off, and for the record, I wasn’t happy about it; I wanted to finish the year with a bang as Anna and I were working on a similar redesign of Mordecai! Thankfully I was able to attend the meeting at the Joslin Garden, where I will transition from the Historic Gardens to Joslin Garden in the new year! More on that later.
HERE IS WHAT I DID:
Existing
Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘'Shishigashira’
Japanese Maple, Acer ??? From MrMaple need to find out name
Golden variegated sweet flag, Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’
Gordo boxwoods, Buxus × ‘Conrowe’, Gordo™
Native canna, Canna glauca ‘Panache’
Coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ + other cultivars
Grasses (3) add 2 or 4 more—need name
Heliotrope, Heliotropium amplexicaule
Lenten rose, Helleborus × hybridus
Anise shrub, llicium × 'Woodland Ruby’
Bee Balm, Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’ + other cultivars
Garden phlox, Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’, ‘Shortwood’, ‘Laura’ and various others
Blue woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata
Pomegranate, Punica granatum
Flowering apricot, Prunus mume ‘Bridal Veil’
Cherry, Prunus avium ‘Stella’
Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba
Sacred lily, Rohdea japonica
Sage, Salvia leucantha
Sweetbox, Sarcococca confusa
Arborate fern, Selaginella braunii
Lamb’s Ear, Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’
Viburnum, Viburnum obovatum 'Raulston Hardy’
Snowball bush, Viburnum plicatum ‘Popcorn’
Corralled
Coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, various others
Lenten rose, Helleborus × hybridus around the Prunus mume ‘Bridal Veil’
Phlox, Phlox paniculata ‘Jenna’ + other cultivars to go with ‘Sherwood’
Salvia, Salvia longispicata × farinacea ‘Mystic Spires Blue’
Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba
Added
Eastern Blue Star, Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Blue Star’
Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea
Joe-pye weed, Eutrochium purpureum from the front gardens
Icelandic poppies, Papaver nudicaule
Hollyhocks, Alcea rosea
Eradicated/Tamed
Sedum ?? Taking over!
Strawberries, Fragaria × ananassa moved to Food Forest out front
Salvia, Salvia guaranitica
You’ll have to wait until June when the redesigned Mixed Border will strut her stuff. I promise, it will be worth the wait!
Until soon, Helen
#WeCanAllBeeBetter!