The Squint School of Garden Design Strikes Again

I was not planning on making a garden today. In fact, had you asked me, I'd probably have said that until we can get the side yard slope terraced, there really are no good places for starting new gardens in our yard - unless I finally want to tackle the front (which I don't.)

But my husband has been complaining that as our antique Cub Cadet ages (and as my husband ages) mowing some of our extremely sloped side lawn seems downright dangerous. A few weeks ago I persuaded him to dig up the Mugho pines I've wanted to get rid of for years, because I persuaded him that they would be perfect to plant in the steepest, trickiest mowing places in our front yard.

He did, and carted them down the slope, returning only slightly out of breath from trudging up what every year feels more like a 90-degree slope. He surprised me then, saying that he thought with a bit of work and a few more shrubs the problem area might even become something interesting. Naturally I perked my ears up immediately.

To start with, I had several more evergreens that I wanted moved or composted, and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to accomplish that. And second, of course - I never can resist the opportunity to create a new planting area in the yard.

So, I trudged down the hill with him, clutching my pruning shears and wishing I had golf spikes to keep me from sliding down the slope and into the busy street. And we started cutting down all the maple and sumac seedlings and miscellaneous weeds and overgrowth that cluttered the area.

When the overgrowth was gone, I stepped back to give it a good squint - and I saw something wonderful. Several years back an old pine tree apparently got tired and decided to lie down. Its bare trunk ran practically parallel to the ground, so that it looked more like a fence than a tree trunk - until it exploded into a mass of long green needles at the far end. Fence - or maybe a rustic log seat. I got my pruners out and began to trim off dead twiggy growth and sure enough - it looked like the sort of rustic seat one might find in "Little House on the Prairie." I could almost picture a girl in her gingham frock perched next to a little boy in overalls starting their first flirtation.

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