Start of my Willow Tree Stump Garden (Painterly Version of Photo)
This past week has been a time for taking time out from making and editing photographs to spend most of my time gardening and learning new Photoshop skills. My spirit feels so full and expanded from the combination of garden time and intensive new learning. As I gaze out the window at my green green back yard I feel a pleasant buzz from all I learned and accomplished in the last 4 days.
The week began with a trip to Shady Acres Herb Farm, a small farm near Chaska, MN that grows and sells plants from seeds that are non-GMO (many are organic). In addition to an amazing variety of herbs, they also sell a wide variety of annual and perennial flowers friendly to hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees, and vegetable and small fruit plants. These are not the usual flowers and vegetables you find at the big box plant places. Many of them are heirlooms or unusual varieties.
I bought parsley (curly and flat leaf), dill, kale, basil, bee balm, and numerous other flower plants that hummingbirds enjoy. Last year the flower plants I planted from Shady Acres helped attract a hummingbird family that entertained me with their beauty all summer long.
This year after observing the changes in our back yard since losing a large trunk of the big old willow tree to a storm 2 summers ago, I decided to start a garden around the tree stump of the old willow tree. My goal is to create a haven for butterflies and bees that becomes somewhat “wild” and self-sustaining. Since previous owners placed about 6 inches of landscaping rock around the tree years ago, planting anything without a major excavation is a big challenge.
“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
My daughter, who went to the herb farm with me, bought me a lovely shrub rose as a Mother’s Day gift which I planted in the front of my weeping willow tree stump garden. My sweet husband, Jon, helped me to dig the hole for the rose and ended up cutting out a 4 inch in diameter tree root that passed through the hole. I am so thankful for his almost endless patience with my initiation of projects that require his help to complete, even though gardening is definitely not his thing.
Rose bush bottom center of photo
The rose looks awfully small in that large area but it should grow to be about 3 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. I’m hoping the bee balm (in the mulched area to the right and behind the rose bush) will grow and fill in a larger space as it matures and self seeds. I also planted some Japanese Anemones, a gift from a friend who gardens, and another flower for the butterflies. You can see how this garden ties into my shade garden that is full of ferns, bleeding heart, hostas, and some other spring wildflowers and bulbs. I’m hoping to add swamp milkweed (for the monarch butterflies), hollyhock, and morning glories. I think these flowers will self-seed and create a happy mix of color and wildness.
I’m thinking about placing a bird feeder in this garden but will need to figure out if it can be done in a way that is both squirrel-proof and raccoon-proof as both are frequent visitors to our yard.
“By bringing a soulful consciousness to gardening sacred space can be created outdoors.”
― S. Kelley Harrell, Nature’s Gifts Anthology
My desire for this backyard area is to create sense of sanctuary and sacred space as that is how this yard first struck me when we first came to look at the house. Although we have lost a few basswood trees to old age (they often develop hollows in the trunks as they grow older and become unstable) another basswood to a windstorm (a huge part of the tree crashed down on our deck a few years ago), a large trunk of the willow tree in a storm, and an acer maple tree in front of the house in another storm, we still have a lot of trees. I don’t think we will try to replace most of those lost to storms. In the front yard we planted a Korean Lilac in the middle of the lawn to replace the acer maple as we could not plant another tree exactly where the maple had stood but in the back yard I am enjoying the more open feeling and additional sunlight from fewer trees.
The changing backyard landscape has made it possible for me to try a small permaculture experiment. We (Jon did most of the hard work digging and landscaping) planted red raspberries, black raspberries, blueberries, honeyberries, aronia berries, and a tiny cherry tree in spaces that now get more sunlight. Last year I harvested my first red raspberries—mmmm! And this year I think I will get a large crop of black raspberries—the two black raspberry plants have gone wild in their growth and we found ourselves putting up additional supports early this spring as well as moving several new plants that threatened to overtake our back door.
I hope to harvest a few blueberries this year as well. While I would love to put in a small vegetable garden somewhere, I’ve decided that my container garden is enough for us. Last week I also set up my container garden in front of the house and my hummingbird garden directly outside the kitchen window.
Hummingbird Garden
Hopeful to see the hummingbirds return this year like last year
Container Garden
In between all of the gardening planning, digging, and planting, I spent a major amount of time last week watching a free 3-day online Photoshop class Photoshop Finishing Touches from CreativeLive) and participating in a 1-day class at the Minneapolis Photo Center. Both classes were fast-paced and exactly at a level that challenged me to keep up. I love classes like that. There is so much opportunity to continue to practice, learn, and grow afterwards.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
— Abraham Lincoln
What a rich mix the classes and gardening have been for me. Both provided more creative ideas than I know what to do with. And my brain feels like I could not stuff another new thing in it for at least several months. I now have ideas for the garden and ideas for Photoshop projects and learning that will fill many months of practice and refinement.
Every so often we need to take time to sharpen our saws like I did this week. Spending time in nature and learning something new help us to grow and express our voice more clearly.
Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have–you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.
— Stephen Covey
The joy of doing what I love in the garden and with my photography fills me with energy and light. There is always more to learn, new territory to explore, and more beauty just around the corner!
When was the last time you took time out to sharpen your saw in all four areas of your life—physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual? Maybe it’s time for some spiritual gardening and saw sharpening.
May you walk in beauty.
Re-edited one of my early photos from Hawaii, 2011
Magical Twilight – Pond behind our house last evening
Girls in the Trees
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