The Lady Garden Takes Shape

Three years ago we finally gave away the playground equipment that spread over a clearing in the woods down from the patio. There were a lot of good memories attached to those swings and slides and climbing towers, and I was sad to see them go. But now I had space for another garden, and so, like a person that gets a puppy when the old beloved pet passes away, I turned my energy and affections toward this new project.

I envisioned a formal space, or at least the best attempt at order that my topography and woodland setting would allow. I bought a large urn for the center of the clearing. That was the beginning. Then I laid flagstones on one end of the area and hired a carpenter to build an arbor over them. I put a path around the urn, and we hung a swing from the arbor. Nearby I placed a birdbath. And I added a beautiful lady head pot, which gave the garden its name. It was a great spot for relaxing amidst the trees.

Last year I bought some rocks and outlined planting areas on the four corners of the garden. I placed shrubs and perennials with the idea of creating an outdoor room. On one side I put in boxwoods, and the end opposite the arbor I outlined with tea olives. Sigh! A limited budget meant the plants had to be small. Right now the "hedges" are dots that will eventually grow together to provide a sense of enclosure.

Here are some photos of the Lady Garden, taken earlier this year:

This past week I worked to add more structure to the Lady Garden. The single row of rocks around the planting areas needed more impact, so I added additional rocks to create low walls. I extended the rocks to form another border in front of the tea olives. This rectangular bed connects the two corner planting spaces on that end of the garden.

This is what the space looks like with the new rocks and planting area:

The Lady Garden has a long way to go before it meets my vision, but the best part of a vision is the creative effort required to capture it. I am looking forward to next year and the changes it will bring.

You may also enjoy Rocking Along in the Lady Garden, A Crisis in the Lady Garden, and The Good Snake.

Sounds I Hear in the Lady Garden

Have you ever concentrated on the sounds you can hear in your garden? Sometimes I sit in the swing in the lady garden, close my eyes, then identify all the sounds I hear. Without visual cues, sounds become more prominent and interesting. 

So here I am, in the lady garden, eyes shut. It is late afternoon, not quite sunset. Earlier there was some rain, and the temperature is refreshing. The damp air brushes against my face. The rushing sound it makes sounds like a far away waterfall.

I hear the  music of wind chimes. I have four different wind chimes in this one area, and they all make different melodies, from the perfectly tuned chimes of the blue Corinthian bells to the loud clang of a heavy copper and brass bell behind me. I have been enchanted with wind chimes since childhood, and four is not enough.Overlooking the arbor and lady garden: All the plants in this new garden are still small. On one side there is a row of tea olives, and on another there are boxwoods. Someday this will be an enclosed garden room.wind chimes in the lady garden

Cars. A reminder the highway is just over yonder.

A branch snapping in a tree. A clatter along a limb. I take a peek. It is a couple of squirrels, chasing each other.

Children playing. I think there are two of them. They are hollering at each other, but not in a bad way. They are playing a game of some sort. Tag?

Music from a radio. Down the road a neighbor is playing country music in his workshop.

The prolonged whistle of a train, sounding like horns harmonizing in a symphony, the beat of wheels on the tracks like drums. You can't get in or out of Helena without crossing railroad tracks. The community that became Helena was first established by the L&N railroad. Before we moved here I wondered if I would dislike the trains. Not at all, except for the rare occasion I get stopped by a slow moving train when I'm already running late for work! But I like the sounds of the trains; and I like to watch them go by, when I'm not in a hurry.Set of train tracks near Buck Creek in Old Town, Helena. This photo was taken last fall.

Birds. Lots and lots of birds. Chickadees. Cardinals. Bluebirds. I am sitting close to the bluebird house. That must be daddy bird, warning me to keep away.  

There were eight baby bluebirds in this house!

The piercing cry of a hawk. We have had a nesting hawk family for several years now. Recently I was startled by a hawk who swooped to the ground not far from me and grabbed an unfortunate chipmunk. The little ground squirrel made one cheep and that was it. The hawk carried his meal to a tree above me, and I was slightly horrified to see him pulling intestines out with his beak. I remembered my oldest son saying, long ago as he fed a grasshopper to a lizard, "It's the food chain, Mom." Our particular hawk is a Red-shouldered hawk.

Crows. The harsh call of a crow is answered by another. Now more crows join in. They are making a racket. Hawks and crows are natural enemies.

Whoo-whoo! Who-hoo-hoo-whoo! The deep, otherworldly call of a barred owl. The owls live in the woods near our vegetable garden. We have a lot of predatory birds. We once were overrun by chipmunks, but not any more.

whoo-whoo! who-hoo-hoo-whoo! My eyes pop open and search the woods. This was a high pitched, juvenile version of the other one. A baby owl! But I can't find him in the trees. I think it is the strangest, cutest sound I have ever heard. I make myself close my eyes again.

Somewhere, a siren. An ambulance or a police car. Someone is having a bad day.

A door slams. Kids going inside for supper?

Bugs in the trees. The sound rises and falls with a regular rhythm. Soon summer will be here, and the sound will be deafening, if one stops to pay attention to it.

Ouch! That was a mosquito bite.  I hop out of the swing and take a quick tour of  the lady garden. I need to sweep the stone path and pull weeds!  I yank a handful of weeds, but I will save the rest of the work for another day. The hostas and ground covers are growing nicely, and although the lady garden is in its infancy, the lushness of the surrounding woods gives it a tranquil feeling.Hostas in lady garden clockwise from top left: Sum and Substance; Blue Angel; Francis Williams; Royal StandardRecent images from the lady garden

I inhale the cool air and head for the house.This is the hillside beside the steps leading from the lady garden to the patio.

Happy gardening, and I hope your garden is filled with sounds that please you.