{"id":1044,"date":"2022-07-26T09:35:46","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.ca\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2022-07-26T09:35:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:35:46","slug":"gardener-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2022\/07\/26\/gardener-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden(er) Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I am spending most of my free time in the garden this year as I purposely do not have any other projects on the go. While this makes me very sensitive to the weather, it also focuses my thoughts on the garden: the good, the bad, and the problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been gardening here in Garden Bay for seven years now, and the yard has been transformed. I started by adding shrubs for structure and solving the deer problem with fencing. Then I started my rose collection which stands at 48 varieties and 60-odd bushes. I then greatly expanded the perennial beds in the front garden. Today there is a solid design and the whole yard is garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I am propagating my favourite roses instead of buying new ones. I have a handful of problem rose bushes that *maybe* would be better on their own-roots. Before I “shovel prune ” a rose I ‘d like to give it a second chance. I have learned what gives me the most joy in a rose and replacing non-performing roses will probably start this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After seven years I’ve had to learn how to prune shrubs as I prefer a light touch and many have grown to become problems. I’ve got books and the Internet, but trial and error is how I’ve learned the most. And yes, I ‘ve killed a shrub or two along the way. I did a lot of pruning this year and now have a clearer annual pruning plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great example of evolution is the wisteria that came with the house. I enjoyed cultivating the plant on a trellis. The light touch soon got me in trouble and I had to learn how to prune and train the beast properly. This year I realized that for my garden the wisteria was too much work with insufficient reward and was in the way of my real interest of growing roses. I recently removed the wisteria and have no regrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example is a row of three lilacs that I planted at the side of the house for structure. I chose lilacs for their fragrance and memories of growing up. As the rose collection expanded I planted roses in between the lilacs. Now the lilacs are large, shading the roses, and occupying prime rose territory. I have decided that shovel pruning those lilacs is best. I do have two other smaller lilacs in the garden anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our annual summer drought started late this year and we are in the middle of a heat wave. There is lots of colour in the garden but most of the roses are resting. The climbing roses that I planted for the pergola are putting out strong new canes \ud83d\ude42 There’s not a lot to do in the garden in the summer but watch and enjoy, and add to my TODO list for the fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am spending most of my free time in the garden this year as I purposely do not have any other projects on the go. While this makes me very sensitive to the weather, it also focuses my thoughts on the garden: the good, the bad, and the problems. I have been gardening here in … Continue reading “Garden(er) Evolution”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-garden-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}