The story of this garden began over two years ago... when the yard was a waste land of abandoned projects and scrap materials. One day we- my roommate and I- gathered our enthusiasm and wanted to start our own garden. We wanted herbs and flowers and food, but despite our yard's square footage, there really wasn't a good place to start tilling a garden. Until we discovered in the back corner, three concrete steps leading us down to a cracked and crumbling Koi pond. We felt like anthropologists discovering the luxurious layout of some ancient culture's backyard, even if it was only abandoned ten or so years ago. As we shifted leaves and weeds we found raised garden beds held up by rock walls, but unfortunately they were buried beneath about thirty or more 12 foot long pieces of white plastic '2x4' decking. We rallied my boyfriend into helping us move the heaping pile of plastic to the other back corner of the yard... and when we picked up the first board we discovered the ants. Yes, the plastic decking was making a five foot tall, twelve foot long ant colony.
Well, we didn't want to give up on the idea of having a garden and decided we could deal with ants crawling up our arms to get it. We moved as fast as we could, having two people carry white planks around a Koi pond and through brush and bamboo, achieving a dirty sweaty creepy-crawly feeling. Once we moved the bottom pieces, we uncovered something so strange, none of us had seen the likes of it before. Beneath this decking, with almost zero sunlight, were white-yellow, waxy, sweaty, limp, dying piles of leaves. We weren't even sure if they were alive at first. Then when we touched them, it was obvious they were alive--but barely. We wanted to revive them and give them the best chance possible but we feared the sun at this point might bake their tender leaves and we didn't expect much to happen with them.
They actually perked up and seemed like good greenery to keep in the garden as perennials. We worked the garden for a year (my boyfriend and I) growing tomatoes and peppers and some other things, but we noticed there isn't enough sun to grow food since the trees fill in mid-spring, partially shading the whole garden. Fall and winter passed and when spring sprang and back again, strong as ever, came the green leaves.
Though what happened next was totally unexpected by all, it was indeed very welcomed. It turns out the plants we were reviving are now flowering. I'm so proud of our raised garden bed I decided to show you some of this year's progress. I don't feel I need to label all the pictures, they speak for themselves and their message has grown alone with their vegetation. They are screaming "we're alive", and "thank you".
Well, we didn't want to give up on the idea of having a garden and decided we could deal with ants crawling up our arms to get it. We moved as fast as we could, having two people carry white planks around a Koi pond and through brush and bamboo, achieving a dirty sweaty creepy-crawly feeling. Once we moved the bottom pieces, we uncovered something so strange, none of us had seen the likes of it before. Beneath this decking, with almost zero sunlight, were white-yellow, waxy, sweaty, limp, dying piles of leaves. We weren't even sure if they were alive at first. Then when we touched them, it was obvious they were alive--but barely. We wanted to revive them and give them the best chance possible but we feared the sun at this point might bake their tender leaves and we didn't expect much to happen with them.
They actually perked up and seemed like good greenery to keep in the garden as perennials. We worked the garden for a year (my boyfriend and I) growing tomatoes and peppers and some other things, but we noticed there isn't enough sun to grow food since the trees fill in mid-spring, partially shading the whole garden. Fall and winter passed and when spring sprang and back again, strong as ever, came the green leaves.
Though what happened next was totally unexpected by all, it was indeed very welcomed. It turns out the plants we were reviving are now flowering. I'm so proud of our raised garden bed I decided to show you some of this year's progress. I don't feel I need to label all the pictures, they speak for themselves and their message has grown alone with their vegetation. They are screaming "we're alive", and "thank you".
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| Our garden this spring before weeding. and after... |
Oh WOW, that's a cool story! What victory! So glad you saved them, they're beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnd, is that Wisteria? I'm jealous if it is--always wanted some.
It is wisteria, it is curled around all of the trees in our neighbors yard that dip over our fence! It's one of the unmentioned joys of living in the warm climate. Neighbors all have good plants.
ReplyDelete