Landscaping

Ah, exhale. It's been a really long and busy week. Last night, I felt my personal tolerance for stress slip gently over the edge, during the clean up of our chest freezer's meltdown. As it turns out, our toddler had found the temperature control on the freezer, turning it up to "rotten meat" mode. After extensive clean-up, our house went from smelling like a back-alley slaughterhouse to simply smelling like a dead pig in a swimming pool (Mike's words.) This, coupled with a very busy week at work has led me to need some "la la" time. By that, I mean time to stick my fingers in my ears, say "la la la la" and escape reality for a while.

What better way to do this than to indulge myself in fantasizing about landscaping our future home? La la la! So, where do I start? Let's start with what I like. I like "old fashioned plants" (peonies, bridal wreath spirea, hollyhocks, lilac, iris, lilies) that give a feel of an older garden, ones that you might see on an old farmstead. I love the idea of including as many edible plants into the landscape as possible. Not just in a garden set aside for edibles, but sprinkled throughout the landscape (herbs, asparagus, rhubarb, plum bushes, cherry trees) I like the idea of using plants and hardscaping to make outdoor "rooms," dividing up a yard into usable spaces. I'd like to have mysterious places, secret spots, and a little magic in my yard. I prefer perennial, or self-seeding, plants. One-shot annuals feel like a waste to me.

Now, on to what I don't want in a landscape. I really don't like landscapes that feel sterile and corporate. If it would be appropriate for a golf course, I don't want it at my house. This includes shrubs groomed into ball shapes and large tufts of grass. I don't like surrounding my plants with rocks (both because it looks "cold" to me, and because it's a pain to dig up in the future.) I'm not into landscaping that is meant to blend seamlessly into the surrounding environment. I realize that sounds bad, maybe even offensive to some. How do I explain this? I want a garden that, while it's in tune with the environmental and soil conditions of our area, stands out from the prairie landscape. Something that feels like a human creation, rather than a slight shift from what is already there. I want a garden that would look at home near an English cottage or an old American farmstead. Something with gorgeous color, wild and untethered. I'm not really a fan of subtlety.

Ah, exhale. Nothing like a little trip into la la land.