Not to diminish the suffering of the Lebanese and Israelis for this unwarranted and unneeded war, and hoping for the Security Council bringing out a solid cease fire resolution that both sides will respect, which I hope will be lasting and the destruction of Lebanon is mended, let me today concentrate on other more mundane things in life: like gardening!
The standard garden borders I have experienced in Bahrain are those 8-inch deep things, with maybe a couple of bushes, a frangipani or bougainvillea planted in it. Throw the hose in there and turn the water on and flood it for a few minutes. This actually works! The trees, shrubs and bushes grow healthily enough, but where’s the “picture” if you do that? Where is the cornucopia of colour and texture? Where is the seasonal change? Where is the picturesque setting? Borders can surely be more creative than just a gash in the ground with a few plants in it…
Well, that comes with passion and some experience too. A garden is not just a set design, at least not to me. It has got to change from time to time, but obviously not as frequent as how supermarkets like to confuse their customers by continuously changing their displays, but maybe one a season or even once a year would be great, and this is where the use of annuals come in. Just putting the current annuals in strategic places would change the whole feeling of a garden; however, that won’t change its spirit, those being the perennials and large trees.
Summer is always a challenging time, this year more than most I am more aware of the change, maybe because I am no more interested in gardening that I actually do notice change. It is only recently for instance that I have been brave enough to take the sheers or secateurs and chopped and shaped shrubs! I’m quite happy with this, this is a milestone for me in that I can confidently approach a Lantana bush and trim its virulent growth. The same goes for other bushes like it, but I was still hesitant to have a go at a frangipani.. but it has got to be done at some point too.
The borders. I am still looking for a good border. The ones I have designed with a lot of help from my part-time gardener are good enough as they’ve got the variation in shape, texture, colour and even scent, but looking at some pictures in the gardening books I have, and at some sites on the Internet leaves me with a sense of awe, and the push I require to actually attempt to make my borders better.
I have changed virtually everything since the initial landscaping of my little garden. Virtually the only thing that stood as is is the lawn, but everything else has changed. The first thing that I did change is expand the borders from the usual 8-12 inch affair to 1-1.5 meter deep arrangement and planted various perennials to form the spirit of those areas. I have everything from weird and wonderful cacti and succulents, through to the wonderful passion flower climber. I have intentionally designated areas within the borders to house the annuals with a view to take advantage of seasonal colours. In the past season I have planted quite a lot of petunias, snap dragons, and geraniums amongst othrers, while for summer, well, I’ve done what I can and other than lovely sunflowers, the celosias, cockscombs and zinnias I have grown from seed are all gone now, though when they were around until just a couple of weeks ago, they certainly added a nice colour and shape to the borders.
Unfortunately now all that remains are a few scraggly things. Everything is stressed, except, that is, for the frangipani which loves this horrible weather. They are going absolutely crazy! I had to trim quite a few branches off yesterday and just planted them in the outside (street) planters.
With everything going south, and as this horrible weather is about to end (we hope, it has been horrendously hot and humid) and the new “real” season starting hopefully by the end of September, what better time is there to prepare for it?
Well, this is exactly what I plan to do this Friday; I’ve got a couple of guys coming over hopefully in a few minutes to help me redo the complete drip system in the garden! I’ve bought 400 meters of pipe and 800 drip heads. I’m changing all the drip system to get rid of various blocked heads and to accommodate the new border layout for the new season. So you’ll excuse me for not being able to check in with you guys as frequently until this evening!
Have a wonderful and peaceful Friday my friends…
Thanks MoClippa for the link, you’re a star! MoClippa has good posts about the current conflict, and this comming from a young person who until very recently was studying and living in Beirut. Check him out.
Comments
Nice job, Mahmood, and I hope you have a peaceful Friday as well.
There is nothing that makes me happier than “digging in the dirt” as I tell my family. What a pleasure to see things grow and get enjoyment from the sheer beauty of nature. Nothing better.
I just read two books on lasagna gardening. My plants are pretty stressed too and I am thinking of changing gears when our ‘new’ season starts in September. It’s still pretty hot but I want to get started soon. I get a real kick from growing something from seed, seeing how it ends up being a big plant bearing fruit. Good luck with the changes in your yard, look forward to seeing more pictures.
Ingrid
Hi Mahmood, I just cant help but comment on your gardening posts, occupational hazard, I guess. Obviously, in my part of the world, we have some very different chalenges than in Bahrain. Our biggest worry is to make plants survive the long winters, but as were both dealing with sometimes harsh environments I might have a few tips that could help. I wonder what way your border is facing and if it gets a lot of sun, if that is the case having a white backdrop, like your wall, will radiate more sunshine on to the plants and increase the temprature. Having some climbers to cover the wall will minimize this effect and so would providing shade in the form of a tree nearby, preferably a type that isn’t too thirsty. This will also prevent moisture from evapurating as quickly. It is, however inevetable that a garden goes through periods of transition without much colour, and using some colourfull planters with annuals in the garden will give it some zing. Planters like this will also allow you to experiment with plants that requires different types of soil than what you have in the border. If they are not too heavy, they can be moved around according to where their “services” are needed. I don’t know that many plants which would thrive in Bahrain, but one beautiful plant that thrives in a hot and humid environment is the agapanthus, “africas blue lilly”. If you havent already tried it, itis worth a try.
Good luck with your work this weekend, I do think gardening is a celebration of the beauty of life, something which, in these horrible times, we need to be reminded of.
I love your gardening posts, Mahmood, they are always a high point on your blog. I am hoping to see more videos soon; we really enjoy those!
The container idea from K is a good one. I have a new idea; not sure how it will work, but thought I’d share the tip! K talks about gardening containers being “too heavy” which is always a problem. Why do we think we always need to fill them up with soil? This year I am trying a garden container which is large, but in order to make it lighter I have filled the bottom part of the container with a plastic pot turned upside down. Little flowers don’t have huge roots, after all! For the hottest part of the summer, it occurs to me that you could do that, put in sand, and some decorative cactus, then just fill in the holes in your garden where the flowers had died with pots filled with decorative cactus.
Also, consider a foray into some area where there are wild plants. If any look pretty, dig them up and use them in the garden. If something is growing without cultivation, chances are it’s well adapted to the climate and the soil.
I am thinking more time thinking about working with the shortcomings of climate, soil, etc. with plants best suited for conditions.
another vlog about the garden coming up today or tomorrow I hope. It’s nothing special, just something to test the new laptop with really. I promise to do a proper one soon.