A Gardener’s Gospel - week 22
The Hound from Hell has struck again - the flippin’ dog has just decapitated my tiger lilies! I’m furious! There was a crop of about a dozen of them, in full bud and ready to bloom. Then this morning I checked on them and saw that all but one has had their heads chopped off. Chomped off, is more like it. I didn’t actually see the mutt do it, but I know it’s her. Last year I caught her in the act with petal entrails stuck to her muzzle. Last year I forgave her as she was only four months old, but this year I really didn’t expect it; I thought she’d grown out of it.
Continue reading ‘When the Enemy Strikes’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 21
One of the most depressing experiences I ever had was going to a Bonsai exhibition. There were rows upon rows of ‘adult’ trees – maples, oaks, juniper, cypress, beech - no bigger than table-top Christmas decorations. I was horrified to discover that some of these trees were hundreds of years old, but unlike their free cousins in the wild, towering proudly over the earth with their branches stretched heavenwards, these stunted trees would never be allowed to reach their full potential.
Image courtesy of Nicola Whitaker Continue reading ‘Bonsai Christians’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 20
I learnt gardening from my dad. When I was three we moved into a newly built house, or, as they say in these days of poor grammar, a ‘new-build’. Like most new-builds, the patch of ground attached to the house was more a builder’s dump than a garden, with broken bricks, cement powder and general rubble thinly covered by a layer of poor quality top-soil. Undeterred, or at least that’s how it appeared to my three-year-old mind, my dad set about turning the wasteland into a place where flowers could grow.
Continue reading ‘Passing it on to the kids’
A Gardener’s Gospel – Week 19
Last weekend two of the neighbourhood kids – Jessica and Rosa – knocked on the door and asked if they could pick some of my flowers. They were making perfume. They didn’t care about the overgrown grass and the spreading weeds (I’ve been busy the last two weekends and haven’t had a chance to mow); all they saw and smelt from the road were roses and lavender. Continue reading ‘The un-ornamental garden’
A Gardener’s Gospel Week 18
In the first post in this Gardener’s Gospel series I mentioned that when I first took over my garden I enthusiastically pulled up a whole lot of ground foliage thinking they were weeds – among them St John’s Wort and, what I’ve only recently discovered, were Spanish bluebells. Well fortunately for me (and them!) the Spanish bluebells grew from bulbs and despite me decimating them above ground, they’ve now made a comeback. Once these pretty blue flowers started flowering again, I realised my mistake and after searching my book of ‘Flowers by Colour’ by Jan Wilson, I finally identified this holocaust survivor. But it was only when they began to flower that I was able to recognise them.
Continue reading ‘By their fruit you will know them’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 17
About six years ago I planted a handful of chili seeds, and within six months I had two beautiful indoor pot plants that continued producing fruit for over four years. But then, for reasons I still have not been able to fathom, they died. Undeterred I planted another crop last year and was very excited to see some young plants sprouting up.
Continue reading ‘The ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have nots’’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 16
The garden is going through a growth spurt. Andre, the lawn, is showing signs that his bald patches may soon fill in, the St John’s Wort is growing like a triffid and the box wood is sprouting shoots faster than a postman clocking off for lunch. It’s time to get out the power tools.
Continue reading ‘Power Tools’
A Gardener’s Gospel – week 15
I opened my curtains this morning to the beautiful sight of a Norwegian Whitebeam bursting out in full leaf. The silvery green clusters are like fingers on a flexed hand that seemingly, overnight, have been flicked from a clenched fist. But you know what? I knew this was going to happen. While the rest of my garden doesn’t always seem to live up to its promises, the Whitebeam, that towers over everything, can be trusted to come through year after year.
Continue reading ‘Promises, promises’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 14
Well I’m back from holiday to a disappointingly patchy lawn. If you remember, the morning before I dashed off, I did a manic repair job: spreading compost and scattering seed. The instructions on the box said: guaranteed growth in seven days. Mmmm, should I ask for my money back? There’s definitely been growth, but in the wrong places. The existing tufts have sprouted up and now look a bit like Andre Agassi with a comb-over. I suspected this might happen; but I hoped it wouldn’t. I realised that I hadn’t prepared the soil as well as I should have, but with limited time, I prayed that what I did would be enough. It wasn’t. Continue reading ‘When Prayer Doesn’t Work’
A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 13
At last, my long-awaited holiday has come. Seven days in a farm cottage will do wonders for my emotional, spiritual and physical health. It should do my lawn some good too. The Hound from Hell is also going on holiday – not with us. So yesterday morning, with the dog shipped off and the family about to ship out, I slipped outside, grabbed a bag of compost and strewed it over what was left of my lawn. A quick rake and scatter of grass seed and the lawn was prepped for recovery.
Continue reading ‘Parable of the Sower mk II’
Welcome to my site - I'm Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, author, playwright and writing teacher. This site contains thoughts and articles I've written on a range of topics. I hope you find them useful.
