Welcome to 50Fabulous.com. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share with you my love and knowledge of gardening. In the following months I will focus on many of the issues associated with this pastime: limited time, limited space, how you can nurture yourself with nature, how you can relieve stress and grow your life as you grow your garden. This month I’ve chosen to focus on one of the transitions many of us will embrace…that of downsizing. I look forward to my participation in this Fabulous new site and I encourage you to share your thoughts, ideas, and tips with me. Also, if there is something you’d like me to cover, please let me know.
I think one of the many reasons I enjoy gardening is because I am basically a nurturer: I love being a mother and I derived a great deal of satisfaction from being a secretary/executive assistant. When I buy a plant, it’s almost always the runt of the litter. “Why?” my husband would ask in some despair; “Because it needs me”, was the constant reply.
But it was only after I had retired that I began to concentrate on plants and landscaping. Before that, I had simply put some pretty things into the ground here and there. Now, I began to see a canvas with not only color, but shapes, structure, harmony, whimsy, sound, fragrance and artwork. Each component brings its own joy and balance, and needs its own research, which, in turn, fuels greater and widening interest in the whole subject.
Moving from a house with a large garden to an apartment with a small courtyard – or vice versa – is challenging and should be looked upon as fun, apart from the fact that this will free up some time for other pursuits. Remember, small plots are like small rooms; they look larger when they have a lot in them. Buy some good books on gardening (you can find many at second-hand bookshops) and do some thorough research on small trees which will grow comfortably in large pots, actual dwarf varieties for smaller containers, shrubs which will perform well under the same growing conditions, and structures like trellises and obelisks for vines, and holders for hanging plants. The British have a strong belief: “If you have weeds, it’s because you don’t have enough plants.” In other words, weeds cannot grow if they are choked out by plants which you would prefer to grow.
Walls and fences are ideal for growing vines, but make sure you are not trespassing upon someone else’s property (the dividing line), and do not select a vine where the stems will thicken over the years and possibly get into brickwork, causing great damage, or which will strangle a host tree. In California, I was in the happy position of having two neighbors who loved the fact that my flowers bloomed on their side and who were quite upset when the plants were severely cut back every few years in order to strengthen them.
No matter how confined the yard might be, it is important to make room for a small table and a few chairs, even if they have to be brought out of hiding at the last minute. It is serene indeed to sit in the sun, dappled sun, or even shade, with a drink of some kind, and read. It is equally delightful to pile some food and drink onto small tables, a wall’s edge, an upturned tub… and cozy some friends in for a visit. Think it through, and enjoy!
