Several years ago, I completed the Master Gardeners course in northern Arizona. The main thing I learned from the course is that I will never be a “master gardener.” No matter what region of the country you live in there is way too much to learn for most home gardeners to honestly embrace the title. One thing I did learn is the difference between dirt and soil, the operative difference being “amendment.” Almost 10 years ago I brought my husband, Paul, back to my hometown to see “from whence I came.” During that visit he got his first glimpse of the lake area of my future dream and, by extension, his future partial year residence. Paul grew up in high rise apartments in European cities so he isn’t much of a country boy. Having already had both hips replaced he had also declared himself a “non-gardener.” The first neighbor we encountered driving down our lake road was headed out to collect dried cow pies for his garden from the nearby pasture. With gardening, specifically soil amendment, on my mind, I quickly instructed Paul to join him as this would be one of his first “husbandry” tasks at the new lake house. A heated discussion ended in the realization that we were not living in parallel universes on this matter and his collecting of cow pies for the garden was quickly “put to rest.”
I was home alone during the first month of my first full summer at the lake house. The landscaping had been done the prior fall and I quickly learned that it can be a long road to a nice green lawn on a new construction site. There are a lot of rocks along the lake and good dirt work, proper seeding, snow cover, winter kill, spring rain or lack thereof along with reseeding, weed control and fertilization are all known and unknown variables affecting the outcome. A month of hauling hoses around ended with me in tears and serious overuse pain in my arms/hands. At that juncture, I made an executive decision and instructed my landscaper to install an irrigation system. My husband, Paul, out of the country at the time, balked at my decision until upon his return he hauled hoses around for only one week after which time “silence prevailed” regarding my decision. The turf finally filled in and I didn’t have the heart to tear any of it up for a garden so settled on raised beds in the driveway and am helping a neighbor with her garden. My perennial bed is still “work in progress.”
We can now move on to “mowing” which is big business back here. It is loud, constant and starts way too early in the morning. I can now see how long time family friend, Gus Guenther, stayed busy repairing lawn mowers all summer long during his work life. Our homeowners association recently assigned all owners lawn mowing responsibility for the side of the road leading up to the Highway. I have never owned or operated a lawn mower and don’t plan to start now. I am pretty sure Paul feels the same way. Lucky for us, we have a mowing service and helpful neighbors with big riding lawn mowers who always seem to be looking for more lawn to mow. Hopefully, for a few beers and a home cooked meal, they will cover our assigned weeks. “Coming home” on the gardening and landscaping front has been nothing but humbling…but I do have lovely greens for my salads and smoothies this spring! 2017