Transformations in the Herb Garden

These days there's a little more sunshine in my herb garden. That's the good part.

The bad part is that we had to have an oak tree removed for that to happen!

Our neighborhood is a bit unique for the beautiful trees planted along the streets, and most of them are oak trees, tall & beautiful. The only problem is that, as one neighbor informed me, the developers planted the wrong kind of oaks. Apparently the ones they chose have a life span of only 100 years. Now that sounds like a long time to me, and I guess the developers thought so, too, but the trees are reaching their prime and some of them are dying or have a habit of dropping large limbs at inopportune moments.

One such tree resided in our front lawn, in a corner of my herb garden, right beside the driveway. On various occasions a large limb came thumping to earth. One time a large branch just narrowly missed Wesley's car and he became afraid to park underneath it. Another time, this past winter, a large limb came down in a shower of snow in a spot where the children had been playing just shortly before. 

The tree would have to go.

Now I don't consider myself a tree-hugger, but I do feel bad when a living part of creation and something that plays a special part in our ecosystem must be cut down. After all, that tree put years of effort into growing big and tall and it would be deduced to a stump in a matter of hours.

Fortunately for us, a neighbor across the street had several oak trees which were in need of some heavy-duty pruning, so they orchestrated hiring a guy who would give us a better deal by doing their work & ours on the same day. 

About a week before our tree was cut down, another neighbor directly across the street had her rotten tree cut down by an Amish guy who attached the tree to a truck and then had the driver of aforesaid truck pull the tree down with a gigantic crash that brought me up out of my chair (where I had been reading to Elasa) and running out to the porch to investigate!!! This, by the way, gave the Amish man a good chuckle.

Our tree came down by much less dramatic measures. The tree guy, along with several helpers, used a lift to go up in the sky and cut the tree down in pieces, first by cutting off the limbs, then by cutting the trunk by slices in a shower of sawdust and sending the pieces thumping to earth. 

My herb garden didn't look quite the same by the time they were finished, but at least it was the end of the season anyway!

The cutting down of the tree provided some great entertainment for the children! Not only were they fasciated to watch it being cut to pieces, but afterwards they had a new playset ripe for climbing and imaginary games. Elasa wanted to count the rings, but that didn't prove terribly successful.  

                         

About a week after the tree was cut down, the tree man came back and ground out the stump, leaving the spot where a tree once stood looking innocent of ever knowing one was there.

A man from church came and took the wood away and hopefully in a year or so it will prove useful in heating his house! We kept just a bit of the wood from the stump- some large chunks which are currently sitting on our side porch and the rest Wesley split & hauled back to our woodpile for some future use in our fireplace.

Now my herb garden in soaking up some extra sunshine as it prepares for a long winter's nap.

I thought I would share some late-season pictures of my herb garden. There are still a few things living and blooming even though it's definitely past it's prime.

My herb garden is not necessarily a large spot, but I've had a lot of fun with it! About three years ago- one year after we moved into our house- we took out a number of huge, unsightly shrubs that had surrounded the front lawn and sidewalk. I had dreams for the square of grass that was between the walk that runs up to the front door and the driveway, and Wesley helped me turn them into reality. We dug up the grass and some sod. put down a thick layer of sand, then placed bricks in a square in the middle with a short path leading into it from the sidewalk and dirt all around the edges and some in the middle for planting. We put a bench in the back corner next to the house and I have been enjoying it ever since!

The picture below shows the entire herb garden from the position of the front sidewalk looking toward the house. The corner of emptiness right in front is where the tree was. Oh, and a beautiful russian sage that was reduced to stubble was there, too.

What's in my teapot? In this case some cats & kittens! Or is it hens & chicks?!!

 I found this huge washtub at a neighbors's yard sale and if I remember right, I think they gave it to me for free! We put some holes in the bottom and it sits beside the bench as a fun place to plant flowers.

Wesley gave me this small hydrangea for Mother's day this year. It had beautiful pink blooms on it at the time, but apparently it suffered too much neglect, for eventually it turned all brown and dry and looked quite dead. More recently it sprouted new leaves, much to my delight, and I am hoping it lives and blooms again for me next spring!

On either side of the front porch, we placed tall chimney tiles, which are filled with dirt. On the one side I planted parsley & rosemary...

And the other side holds three different varieties of basil (African Blue Basil, Lemon Basil & Sweet Basil). The location of these herbs is extremely handy as all I have to do is step out on my front porch and pluck what I need for the pot!

Along the one side of the garden I planted some flower seeds which are currently blooming. There are also some gladiolas which currently are not blooming. I got them as bulbs and planted them a bit late for the season, so hopefully they overwinter and do better next year!

I love lavender and the four plants on either side of the walk leading up to my front door did very well this year, much to my delight! They look pretty raggedy at the moment, but I guess they have earned their rest.

As you can see, my herb garden would not win any awards, but it brings me a great deal of joy. In the absence of any type of vegetable garden this year, this was my spot to putter, to dig in the dirt, to inhale the wonderful fragrances that only fresh herbs produce and to swat away more than my fair share of mosquitoes!

Instead of treating my herbs as a fine science, I tend to follow a rather loose and spontaneous style! I water. I forget to water. I send the children out to water and they create floods. I give random haircuts, move plants around, buy herbs according to what looks and smells nice, put bulbs & seeds in the ground too late, and forget to fertilize for entire seasons. I determine to keep ahead of the weeds, only to discover that a nice crop of grass is growing up between the bricks. I get grand pictures in my mind that never quite come to fruition.

For the most part, my little herbs are very forgiving and I love them all the more for it!

I have found that dreams thrive in imperfect environments. Good thing, too, for around here, there's plenty of imperfection, both in and out of the herb garden.

And this coming spring, when it's time to remove layers of dank oak leaves and discover what survived the winter and what didn't, I am going to be rejoicing, because...

There's a little more sunshine in my herb garden.

And a little more space for me to play.