The resident gardeners winter retreat is some where between 75 and 80 years old. It was planted and tended by a farmer's daughter and former school teacher. Her husband mowed the lawns and grew a few tomatoes after he sold off the back 40 and stopped farming the land.
Huge drifts of Azaleas in triple wide beds make up most of the garden as they have long since crowded out most of the smaller competition.
Camellias, some of them tree size are scattered through out the grounds.
A mixed evergreen and deciduous forest rises above. The Live Oaks dominate.
I managed to clean five beds of the infestation of persistent perennial vines, weeds and sprouting oak trees.
That amounts to maybe 5% of the work that needs to be done. That might qualify as making a dent.
And the moss keeps growing.
Posts
10 comments:
Progress: One dent at a time.
OOOH! Love that curtain of moss!I am wondering how you can have live oaks on the mountain, or are you in Florida?
I think the mountains of NC are well outside of the natural range of Live Oaks. With Red, White, Chestnut and a few other oaks there I don't need to try to bring any Live Oak seed north.
That moss is pretty wild and wooly lookin ain't it?
Looking more closely at the photos, all I can say it DUH!!! Sorry for that.
That should have been all I can say IS DUH!!!, now double DUH
One dent at a time, baby! Beautiful...now perhaps you can help restore some rarely seen fauna that is desireable to pollinators, thereby helping us all. Or just do whatever you like, cuz' you are smart and cool....whatever.
Even without your photo editor that Camellia photo is lovely. How I wish we could grow Camellias in Northern IL.
Having tried to maintain gardens in 2 different locations (but only 60 miles apart) for many years, I will be glad to consolidate to just one this year. It will break your back.....perhaps the resident gardeners could hire one for the Fla garden? It looks like a beautiful spot.
That moss makes me think about hot weather. I usually see it when it is hot. Ha..
I love camellias. I have never seen any as big as trees. I guess I don't get down south enough.
5% is still better than before you visited, right? :)
What an amazing thing, to be able to go back and work on restoring the garden your grandmother made so many years ago. How did you make yourself leave? I would have been fighting the urge to really tear into it for weeks... of course, a sprained wrist may have put a damper on those thoughts.
Post a Comment