~Ken Druse in The Natural Habitat Garden

 

Two years ago the University of Illinois Extension Service published a survey outlining the top ten reasons people garden. They are, in order, gardening for safe, healthy food, for exercise, for beauty, to learn, to make money, to meet people, to be creative, to show off skill, to fulfill emotional needs, and finally, to provide lasting memories.

What I found odd is that gardening for earth stewardship was not mentioned at all. At least three other serious Coventry gardeners besides myself have devoted some of their gardening space to natural habitat gardening. More and more, gardeners are becoming aware of the need for humans to give back to the earth by cultivating native plantings or by “ungardening” and letting nature take over a portion of their property.

The verb to garden implies that one must tame nature to perform a designated function. Our garden aesthetic has developed accordingly—we have learned to expect orderliness in a garden. Yet in survey after survey we rank “access to natural areas” the highest priority in our communities. Must “garden” and “natural area” be mutually exclusive?

Ken Druse offers many compelling reasons why we should rethink what makes a garden beautiful. Increasing habitat for wildlife means a more diverse community of songbirds and butterflies for us to enjoy. From a different ecological perspective, prevention of erosion, increased groundwater filtration, and decreased pollution in river systems from storm water runoff are a beautiful result of natural gardening. Opening our eyes to the natural beauty of wilderness may enable us to see ourselves nurturing a new kind of American garden, one in which we collaborate with nature rather than try to tame it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner is...?                                                      Photo by Linda Eastman

 

Does anyone have a surefire method for keeping grass out of the flower beds? I pretty much don’t bother with anything poisonous to the environment so herbicides are not on my list of possibilities. I’ve tried the plastic edging, the really good quality metal edging, and trenching a couple of times a year. Metal edging and trenching work the best but neither are grass proof. It does help if the person who mows the grass shoots the cuttings back into the lawn instead of the beds! And of course the final solution is to get down on hands and knees and pull out the offenders. Right now I’m trying to decide how to get the grass out of a mass of periwinkle under a maple tree. The darn grass blades are about 18” tall and probably their roots are tangled up below the soil with that fine mesh of maple roots and those of the periwinkle and that is why they won’t let go! Either that or the mosquitos are beneath the ground cover pulling on the other end! Well, it may take a while but I am determined to win the battle, if not the war.

 

 

 

 

 

 There are so many things to love about Coventry Gardens but springtime has to be near the top of almost everyone’s list. Finally, after the last snowfall has melted away and alternating sun and rain, cool nights and warmer days renew the dormant plants, our neighborhood is transformed into this incredible greenness of growing! It is sooo worth the wait! Take some time this month to notice how many greens there are in spring gardens and woods. They range from almost yellow to the silvery-blue greens of spruces. Dark and light, bright and dull greens, punctuated everywhere by the Easter egg colors of redbuds, dogwoods and forsythia. No season is so welcome or so full of promise as this green season. More images of the greening of Coventry...