Ideal Garden

It's Fantasy Time. It's Dream Time. A Painting by Renoir. A Play by Cocteau. A Quintet by Schubert. Heaven! Nirvana! The Elysian Fields! Yes, I at last have my Ideal Garden and it's all in my head and today we're going to tour it.

Firstly, from the outside, it looks like nothing in particular. I think everyone knows by now that gardeners are some of the worst gentrifiers of neighbourhoods, however inadvertantly they go about their improvements.

Outside a gate, a large, mass-planted stretch of native plants draws the eye. In nature, plants grow in groups of 2 or more species. This ideal setting would be perfect for native wormwood and grey-green dune grasses. Here garter snakes hide and the soft yet acrid smell of the wormwood fills the air in spring, summer and fall.

A foreboding gate welcomes those willing to go further. The gate is made of two 6-foot tall black plinths topped by a rusted bedhead. In this ideal garden, this congolmeration of found things will not fall down, or be pushed over by deer.

In this ideal garden, the fence blends in with the surrounding scenery.

Inside the gate, a system of overhead wires guide vines along and provide stakeless support for tomatoes and the three sisters; corn, beans and squash.

Vines would be chosen for ability to attract hummingbirds with flowers and songbirds with berries. Wild native honeysuckle and Celastrus come to mind, although many others would likely make their way in. In this ideal garden there would always be more room for vines, and some, such as wisteria, would be chosen to exemplify weak fenceposts.

Within the fence, simple raised beds form a framework of paths, with areas left wild for the cultivation of beneficial insects. A hose runs throughout although use of it is rarely necessary.

This ideal garden includes a persimmon tree, two apple trees (Northern Spy and a suitable green one) and one asian pear tree, such as '20th Century'. 2 kinds of blueberry are reproduced in many areas of the garden -- 'Bluebird' and 'Dixie'. Anywhere where the ground is moist and rich, blueberries take precendence. In the dry and hot section of the garden, several varieties of raspberries, loganberries and currants grow well.

There is no Japanese Knotweed

There is no Morning Glory

In the middle of the garden, there is a central point with three paths leading away. One goes East and leads back to the gate you came through. Another leads west, past the chicken house and through another gate, into the cedar forest.

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