Book Review: The Unfinished Garden
When asked to review of a new novel, I accepted the challenge. I’m not really much of a novel reader, generally I prefer something I can glean information from or biographies. Novels should appear on my list more often and what a better way for it to happen.
The Unfinished Garden arrived at the perfect time, just after we finished our upstairs project. I had no mental capacity for learning much of anything and needed something that wasn’t tedious to read. One afternoon, I sat down with a cup of coffee and settled in for some much needed reading time.
This novel has a gardening theme woven throughout seem more engaging to me, being a gardener myself. The author is an avid gardener and you can really tell. I e-mailed Barbara Claypole White and asked d for a few photos of her garden to share with you. She happily obliged and even sent along this lovely image of her mom’s garden over in England. All the rest of the garden photos in this post are of her garden.
I have to admit that I was a bit nervous that this was going to be a cheesy romance novel, which are on the way bottom of my reading list, in fast they never make it on the list. I nervously cracked the book bracing myself for the worst. The book was finished in just a few sittings, generally the mark of a good book. If I find myself wanting to continue reading way past my bedtime, it’s an engaging story.
This story intrigued me for a few reasons. One being that the main character is a widow. I have a very dear friend who lost her husband after only a few years of marriage at a young age. She definitely came to mind often while reading this book.
I won’t be telling you all about the book here, I am the type of person who doesn’t like to read descriptions before cracking the cover of a book. I like to fully discover the story without any preconceived notions about the book.
I will tell you, if you enjoy a good novel and enjoy gardening, I think you’ll find this book engaging.
Now that I have read the book, I no longer need my copy. If you’d like to find a copy of this book in your mailbox, comment below and I’ll choose a winner next week. Winner chosen. Kimberly who said: “I would love to read the book – it sounds wonderful! What lovely pictures of the garden!” As an added bonus, I’m sending this book along to Barabara Claypole-White the author, she’s going to sign it and send it along to you Kimberly. Enjoy!
What’s your favorite kind of book to read?
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Hitting the Road
This morning we were up early and ready to hit the road. Mr Chiots is driving the big moving truck towing the MINI behind. I’m following in our other car with all four cats and Heather, one of our neighbors.
No doubt it’s going to be a LONG day, but we have walkie talkies so we can chat and audio books to listen to. On the recommenation of a friend, Bossypants on the iPod as is Travels with Charley in Search of America (my favorite all time listening material for traveling).
If you’d like to keep up with our trip and the adventures that follow in upcoming days, I’ll be posting to the Chiot’s Run facebook page when I can throughout the day!
Do you like road trips?
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Garden Tour: The Pond
A few years ago we put in a small garden pond. We’d been wanting a water feature for quite a while. When my parents put in a larger pond, they passed their small pond along to us. Mr Chiots dug the hole, we added water and fish, planted a few plants, and we had a pond garden.
Now that this garden has been around for a few years, it’s starting to look really nice. Our fish have sized up and are actually a good size. We don’t feed them or anything, they get enough food with what grows in the pond.
This little pond provides valuable wildlife habitat in our garden. We’ve had toads use it for breeding, birds use it for drinking, and we now have a few water insects as well. It also provides a nice watering hole for the Chiots and the outdoor cats.
The pond is located in a part of the garden that gets afternoon shade. It’s overshadowed slightly by a mature dogwood tree. It’s surrounded by goatsbeard, Japanese Hakone grass, hosts, various low growing sedum, peppermint, creeping thyme, and a boxwood. I also have a beautiful waterlily that blooms during the early summer.
The pond has proven to be a valuable addition to our garden. Since we put it in we have noticed an even greater number of insects and animals in the garden, particularly amphibians. I’d highly recommend adding a small water feature to your garden.
Do you have a water feature in your garden?
Chiot’s Run Garden Tour
The Middle Garden
The Side Garden
The Front Hillside Garden
Mr Chiot’s Mailbox Garden
Garden Tour: The Front Garden
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The Organic Lawn
Just like the rest of my gardens, the lawn here at Chiot’s Run is organic. It doesn’t require much care, mowing a few times a month and a top dressing of chicken manure twice a season. Other than that, it’s left to fend for itself. I’d describe the lawn as “a mixed herbal lawn”. Whatever grows is allowed to stay.
The lawn area has shrunk by at least half since we moved in. It was replaced with food and seed producing plants. We’ll never be without a little spot of lawn though, I really love the look and I think if you allow mixed herbs and wildflowers to grow it does add a beneficial habitat to your garden.
As a result, I can count about 15-20 different species of plants; different grasses, white Dutch clover, plantain (both tall and short), creeping charlie, wild violets, and a few other various species of “herbs”. The lawn is also full of insects of all shapes and sizes, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, spiders, moths, and many other things that creep, crawl, hop, burrow, and slither.
To some of my neighbors, this would be a travesty. They’d douse their lawns with chemicals to get rid of weeds, kill bugs, and to make the remaining finely bladed grass lush and green. Organic lawns really are healthier, the mix of plants provides an ecosystem all it’s own. My lawn is teeming with life, even after this summer’s drought. My neighbor’s perfectly sprayed carpet of green on the other hand, is mostly dead. This was their lawn last week:
This was my lawn last week:
So what can you do to help your lawn and go organic?
- overseed with some white dutch clover
- allow herbs and other plants to grow
- add rock dusts according to your soil type, like gypsum, etc.
- use natural fertilizers like chicken manure, bone meal and blood meal
- top dress with compost or other organic matter
The proof is in the pudding when it comes to tough summers like this one. My lawn was lush and green most of the summer. A few varieties of grass and other plants went dormant, but other ones kept going strong. Because I don’t add chemicals, the soil gets better each year and thus the lawn looks better and better each and every year, even when there’s a drought.
Do you have any area of the garden dedicated to a lawn?
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Quote of the Day: Walt Disney
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
Walt Disney (found at Brainy Quote)
Moving forward, that’s what will be happening this week. On Wednesday we’ll be headed east, down a new path to our new home.
I’ve had so many people asking if I’m going to miss this place. Maybe I will, but probably not. I grew up accustomed to moving and leaving things behind. As a result, I find myself more often excited about the possibilities ahead rather than bemoaning what lay behind. I find change to be rather exciting and exhilarating.
I’ve always said that change is good because it keeps us from getting stagnant.
Do you like/enjoy change?
