For quite a while I’ve longed to have an English garden––or as close to an English garden as I can get in America. My perfect garden would be an oversized one, with flowers that grow tall, bushes that grow thick and full, and it would have non-symmetrical flower beds.
I image a garden that at first glance appears to grow wild––but on closer inspection it becomes clear that this garden is subtly partitioned. Herbs, flowers, and vegetables would be placed together with their Latin-named family members, but each of the three groups would share the same soil. I went to CVS a week and a half ago on some mundane errand. Before entering the automatic double doors, I noticed something miraculous. Giant dahlias!
I hadn’t seen those since I volunteered at the Green Gulch Zen Center, an experience that further ignited my desire to start my own garden. Green Gulch had acres and acres of organic vegetables gardens, flower gardens, and well-manicured fields of lavender. The people who worked these gardens were extremely knowledgeable about plants, and I learned proper weeding, harvesting, and composting techniques. It was at Green Gulch that I first laid eyes on these giant dahlias. Giant dahlias can grow to be 7 feet tall, and the flowers look like they grew right out of the pages of Alice in Wonderland. I almost expected them to speak or break out in song. When I saw these same flowers at CVS I was shocked. I had to buy some.These dahlias are what encouraged me to actually begin work on my new garden. My mom and I had the clay-like earth rototilled and mixed with fresh soil. After that, the ground was just begging to be planted in. However, there was still one dangerous problem: Dogs!
I have two golden retrievers that love to dig, rip, stomp, and chew on anything and everything in sight. Having a freshly planted garden with two dogs running around is like unleashing an epidemic. They will destroy it, without a doubt. For the last three days my father and I have been working on building a dog-proof fence. In theory this project is flawless. In reality there are endless un-seen obstacles. Damn you, reality! Despite our countless trips to Osh and Home Depot, we’ve hit a brick wall in our progress. Originally we planed a beautiful, lightweight wooden fence, but as we started to put it together I came to a depressing realization. I looked at the wooden swing, the wooden corners of the deck, the wooden arms of the deck chairs, and I saw matching chew marks on all of them. There was no way this lovely, spindly fence was going to withstand the wrath of our monstrous dogs.
I spent yesterday afternoon with my dad at the dining table, poring over fencing websites. It was the most frustrating day ever, because we came to the conclusion that we had to start over with stronger wood and wire fencing. Our previous hours of work had amounted to nothing. My dad was irritated. I was irritated. Only the dogs where happy that they could still dig in the garden.
I’m still trying to figure out our next step. One option is to get 2x4’s and dig 2 foot holes to put them in. But that would involve torturous digging and messy cement. Our other option is to stay with the petite redwood poles and try our best to find a light-weight wire to mount on them. I’m leaning toward option two. Hopefully I’ll make some progress by next week, because those dahlias are itching to be planted!
In the mean time, though, I recommend that everyone go to Filoli Gardens. If you’re like me and get tired of the hustle and bustle of city life, you need some beauty in your day to center yourself and re-awaken your inspiration. Filoli is a 600+ acre estate with breathtaking centuries old mansions and gardens that you can lose yourself in for hours. It’s only 30 miles south of San Francisco, so you don’t have to fly all the way to England to see some lovely gardens. Grab a friend, put on a pretty dress, pack a picnic lunch and go! It’s still summer, so make use of it and do something nice for yourself. Have a secret garden adventure! It’s a lot easier than trying to create your own…
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