19 May 2005 The Gift of Surprise
19 May 2005 The Surprise
I was sinking into that overwhelming feeling. Mother taught me you ought to feel overwhelmed this time of year because, have it all done RIGHT NOW. The thing is, it can't all be done now. Making art in the garden builds on itself. What sprouts and grows is not always predictable. I don't like to garden in a mechanical way. I wouldn't garden if there weren't surprises. I like the interaction, the tension between how I envision it will look and how it does look. I like the unpredictability of it. Anyway as I was sinking into thinking about all that needed to be done, how little time I had and how much I had to do, something visual struck. My mind made a connection on how things could go together. I could stack some pots in a certain way, and they looked good and would facilitate watering later in the season easier. The blues had no room.
The top pot acts like a mulch, blocking evaporation of water. The bottom pot is full of soil, so water that flows from the top pot isn't wasted on the sidewalk, but goes into the bottom pot for the plats there. Plants stick out the sides of the bottom pots and have the benefit of the wet soil there. That way, they need less ground area to grow more plants, as in a strawberry pyramid. My small stack creation on the back porch has five levels of succulents. When I water the top, water percolates into the layers. The bottom doesn't get much water. ones at the top get much more, making the thing top heavy. I figure four levels is about the limit. More layers would require son type of a center tube take water to the bottom layer.
If last year was the year of the standard in my garden, this year is the year of the stacked pot. I have two strawberry pyramids, a stack of succulent pots on the porch, three Kale stacks, several geranium stacks, three lettuce stacks, and a few other miscellaneous pot stacks. I am calling these things pot stacks, as I have no other name for them.
It was a phase shift that took me into right brained thinking and I was lost in gardening for a long and productive time. I emptied some pots, geraniums needed transplanting and pruning and the beans I'd soaked were in need of planting. One long window sill pot was in a container full of water and beginning support smelly anaerobic bacteria. All these little things were in need of attention.
The Rev's retirement dinner table decorations were starting to weigh on me. I thought of some ways to do center pieces. In stacked pots, the bottom with Carasula, that I have a lot of and can root by July and the top with cute little annuals that I can start soon and have ready for the event. If the annuals are not flowering by July 10, I can purchase some that are and put them in the inner pots without disturbing the Carasula. The Carasula was taking over all the pots on the window sill this winter. I may as well use it, as I have so much of it. I need to find pots and inner pots. They don't all have to be the same and it would be good if they were recycled, as the crowd at church would be appreciative of that. I may have to start robbing recycle bins, as it is getting over late for me to assemble so many containers out of my own houshold. I think I will need at least 12 table deco places, one for each table. I need to start the outer pots soon to give them time to look "naturalized", like they had always been that way.
Maybe I just had too much caffeine today, but I'm feeling quite productive. I was glad to get the beans planted before the rain came. It was a long soaking rain, the kind that is good for spring gardens.
I was sinking into that overwhelming feeling. Mother taught me you ought to feel overwhelmed this time of year because, have it all done RIGHT NOW. The thing is, it can't all be done now. Making art in the garden builds on itself. What sprouts and grows is not always predictable. I don't like to garden in a mechanical way. I wouldn't garden if there weren't surprises. I like the interaction, the tension between how I envision it will look and how it does look. I like the unpredictability of it. Anyway as I was sinking into thinking about all that needed to be done, how little time I had and how much I had to do, something visual struck. My mind made a connection on how things could go together. I could stack some pots in a certain way, and they looked good and would facilitate watering later in the season easier. The blues had no room.
The top pot acts like a mulch, blocking evaporation of water. The bottom pot is full of soil, so water that flows from the top pot isn't wasted on the sidewalk, but goes into the bottom pot for the plats there. Plants stick out the sides of the bottom pots and have the benefit of the wet soil there. That way, they need less ground area to grow more plants, as in a strawberry pyramid. My small stack creation on the back porch has five levels of succulents. When I water the top, water percolates into the layers. The bottom doesn't get much water. ones at the top get much more, making the thing top heavy. I figure four levels is about the limit. More layers would require son type of a center tube take water to the bottom layer.
If last year was the year of the standard in my garden, this year is the year of the stacked pot. I have two strawberry pyramids, a stack of succulent pots on the porch, three Kale stacks, several geranium stacks, three lettuce stacks, and a few other miscellaneous pot stacks. I am calling these things pot stacks, as I have no other name for them.
It was a phase shift that took me into right brained thinking and I was lost in gardening for a long and productive time. I emptied some pots, geraniums needed transplanting and pruning and the beans I'd soaked were in need of planting. One long window sill pot was in a container full of water and beginning support smelly anaerobic bacteria. All these little things were in need of attention.
The Rev's retirement dinner table decorations were starting to weigh on me. I thought of some ways to do center pieces. In stacked pots, the bottom with Carasula, that I have a lot of and can root by July and the top with cute little annuals that I can start soon and have ready for the event. If the annuals are not flowering by July 10, I can purchase some that are and put them in the inner pots without disturbing the Carasula. The Carasula was taking over all the pots on the window sill this winter. I may as well use it, as I have so much of it. I need to find pots and inner pots. They don't all have to be the same and it would be good if they were recycled, as the crowd at church would be appreciative of that. I may have to start robbing recycle bins, as it is getting over late for me to assemble so many containers out of my own houshold. I think I will need at least 12 table deco places, one for each table. I need to start the outer pots soon to give them time to look "naturalized", like they had always been that way.
Maybe I just had too much caffeine today, but I'm feeling quite productive. I was glad to get the beans planted before the rain came. It was a long soaking rain, the kind that is good for spring gardens.
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