THE GRATEFUL GARDENER

by Tim Kennelty

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery (and Announcing Ecological Landscapes Open Days)

I remember my mother telling me never to bite off more than I could chew. I mostly ignored that advice throughout my life and in spite of some recent health challenges, I have completely disregarded it in my garden. Last year, working with Phoebe, my amazing garden helper, I eliminated my front lawn, replacing it with a large bed on a slope with a wide variety of native perennials in plug form, such as pussytoes, pearly everlasting, penstemon, fleabane, mountainmint, spotted bee balm and rudbeckia. I left a struggling flowering raspberry shrub and added a few trees like tupelo, pin oak and redbud for good measure. Like many of my garden adventures, I had really no idea what to expect this spring, especially considering the nasty winter we just lived through. To my great surprise and delight, in spite of poor soil, a steep slope, a band of marauding deer, and a questionable technique to smother the lawn, the new bed is flourishing. In fact, I’ve somehow achieved the impossible with a newly planted bed. It looks like it has been established for years. 

Now I’m anxious to share this project with my fellow gardeners. A little success has also made me giddy and hopeful with the possibility of creating more habitat, in other words, biting off even more. Last month I had a rough area behind our house filled with with dead ash and a multitude of invasives completely cleared. It’s a dangerous thing to have a big blank palette to plant, when you’re a tree and shrub fanatic. A  kind friend has made planting options even more tempting by installing deer fencing. Like a kid in a candy shop, I’ve had great fun planning and purchasing bird-friendly native trees and shrubs to fill the area. It’s still a work in progress, but, I’m anxious to share the two projects with other curious gardeners, not so much to show off (well maybe just a little), but more to impart whatever wisdom that I have gained. And who knows what next year will bring.  

I have an admission. Over the years, I’ve copied  plantings, combinations and techniques of the many gardens I have visited. It always gives me great joy when I open my garden to the public.  I love meeting fellow  gardeners, and I hope I am affording them the opportunity to learn from and even copy aspects of my garden.

So, I have decided again to open my garden in July. Even better, this year I have cajoled and recruited other friends and neighbors,  who are similarly working to achieve beautiful and beneficial habitats in their own landscapes, some much more ambitious than mine. So, Peter and Charlene can tell you about their project to manage invasive plants with a grant from the DEC, and Joshua and Robin can show you how they not only learned how to manage many invasives, but also created habitat by seeding and installing plugs, and Linda and Andre can share the secrets of how they created their nearly perfect native wildflower meadow. And so on…If you’re trying to make a real difference in your landscape, this is your chance to connect with other like-minded gardeners and see what they are up to. 

I’m pleased to announce the first annual Ecological Landscapes Open Days. It’s all happening the weekend of July 18-19.  There will be eight open landscapes in our area (including mine) with both owner-guided and self-guided tours. For all the details, follow this link: https://taghkanic.gov/garden_walks

It’s going to be lots of fun!  I hope to see you on  July 18th and/or 19th.  

That’s it for now. Have fun in the garden. 

For comments about this column, gardening topics you’d like to read about, or general gardening questions, you can reach me at: tjkennelty@gmail.com