Next Year's Garden - A Resolution

It's that time again. With snow blanketing the ground I can almost look out on my yard as though it were a blank canvas and start mentally painting pictures of changes that I can make to make the yard more interesting.

The canvas isn't totally blank because of trees, shrubs, gazebos, arbors, ponds and raised beds that create shapes even with all the snow. These areas already look interesting - and that's when I can look at all those areas that are very blank to see if I can do anything to make them look equally nice even under a thick white carpet.

The areas with the most interest are those with beds separated by distinct paths. Unfortunately, for me, those are all hidden by a tall stand of evergreens, and so I have to pull on tall boots and go stomping through the ice and snow to appreciate them. And I confess I don't do that too often, especially when it's icy as the trip is all-uphill.

But the main back yard is blank until you get to the far back where the main garden is, or the stand of evergreens that hides the pond/gazebo area from view. And the main yard is what I have to look at all winter.

Not all of it is suitable for planting. There are mystery areas where even grass doesn't grow well. And my husband is a firm believer in having at least one large open space in the yard, should he be seized with the urge to have a football game or something in that space. After 20 years he has had exactly one badminton game and a few rounds of horse shoes there, but it's his yard too, and who am I to interfere with his dreams? Isn't that part of what a garden and a home are about? To accommodate both the practicalities and whatever it is in your mind that makes the place feel like its yours?

However, I see nothing wrong with creating a few paths in that huge, blank area, simply to create some interest - and to give the lawn a break since they are the areas we inevitably take in getting from one spot to another.

The advantage of having spent 20 years in a single garden is that by now I know exactly which routes we take to get from point A to point B. You can always see them by summer's end, because they are more worn and trampled than anywhere else. So - why not lay a brick or stone path, set into the ground carefully enough that they won't interfere with that dream football game should it become reality?

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