DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH

Things are ever changing in life and in the garden.  There is a natural order of things that are incomprehensible.  We humans polish stones from the earth along with our friends and family while we are experiencing the whisper of life here on earth.  Sometimes we start something that becomes so much more meaningful as it develops and we wonder 'How did that happen?' 

This Memorial Day weekend my husband and I finished a planting that will become a place of remembrance for a member of our family that enriched our lives by his very being for 69 years. Jeff unknowingly showed me what to do with a garden space that had become the last piece of frustration in the design of my Gardens in Woodlands.  

Let me tell you how this garden has evolved. It first lived its life as a 30' buffer between a tobacco field and south facing forest edge. For me it became a perfect place to plant and watch grow a 100' long mixed border of large trees and shrubs including Cleyera japonica, Cornus mas, Lagerstroemia faurei, Osmanthus fragrans 'Aurentiacus', Nyssa ogechee, Magnolia grandiflora, Spartan Juniper, Loropetalum'Blush' and Cryptomeria japonica 'Gyokuru'. Finally, beautifully mature, it has provided a dappled shady respite where once grew a sunny perennial bed. 

The Victorian swing was added as a destination / focal point evoking memories of childhood. 

  Arching over the swing is an oval of six  50' tall native Cedar trees planted as 2' tall saplings found on the surrounding  tobacco farm.  The bower of Cedar came about after reading a story in which Andrew Jackson planted such a formation for his Grandchildren to play under.  

An oversized diamond patterned trellis complete with a stained glass panel depicting the moon and stars was constructed for privacy when the tobacco field was sold and filled with a beautiful big white house.  It has been this trellis that became a point of contention in my mind. The strong pattern never seemed to settle visually into the space. It provided a sense of privacy and let cooling breezes through in a most pleasing manner. 

All the plants in the mixed border along with the towering Cedars now give the space a magical quality of moving shadow shapes throughout the day.  But the trellis still dominated the scene.

The perennial bed became a calming oval of shade tolerant White Clover and Red Fescue. At one end of the original perennial bed there was (and still is) a patch of tough drought tolerant Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger' happily spreading in it's dry shady home filling a triangular shape. I had the idea to use this plant mixed in with the Clover and Fescue. 

The diamond pattern still loomed. 

Jeff emerged into this world not as a Diamond in the Rough but as a rock - steadfast, tough, full of promise and fully faceted with shining surfaces that gleamed and glowed for all who were fortunate enough to know him.  The Diamond pattern and shape had strength and meaning to go forward with a ground sculpture dedicated to Jeff. 

I marked and started digging 4" channels with a spade in the shapes of diamonds.  There was room for three diamonds of varying sizes. 

My happy go lucky German Shepherd helped me in this first phase by holding a board down to make sure the cuts were straight. 

I had 6 flats of the Carex making a total of 144 plugs to be planted.  There they are waiting on a bench behind the turquoise containers.  The Sunday Jeff left this earth my husband put aside his research and suggested we plant this garden in his memory and honor. 

I mixed up 1 1/2 bags of Pine Bark Soil conditioner with 1/3 bag of Permatil and 1/2 bag of Daddy Pete's Plant Pleaser for backfilling around the plugs. 

We made sure the channels and surrounding soil were moist by watering for an hour. 

We began the installation by breaking up the roots of the Carex plugs. 

We placed them side by side in the channels gently backfilling with the specialized soil mixture. 

An hour later we had our 'DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH'. 

It is interesting to see them in the turf from a distance and walk toward the patterns on the ground as they gradually reveal their shapes. The diamonds are compass's marking North, South, East and West. Another reminder of one of Jeff's many passions for travel by sailboat, plane and car.  He took his whole family, immediate and extended,  with him on so many adventures. 

These diamonds are subtle,  placed as they are to grow in the ground, reminding us of what life can be if you let yourself go and trust the mysteries of the world unfolding before you. 

Keep your dreams alive and enjoy your life to the fullest in your Garden in Woodlands.