Back After Long Absence

16 years ago

Hi fellow garden lovers!

After a long absence for a job abroad and a break from gardening, I am back in Raleigh and back to getting dirt under my nails. I hope to reconnect with old garden friends and make new ones.

My garden dates back to 2000 and is typical amended Piedmont clay. 10 years ago I used plenty of back breaking labor, amendments and permatill and created a total of 30 beds in the 1 acre lot we live on. It comprises a shady back yard with hellebores, dogwoods, hydrangeas, edgeworthia, daphne, and the usual suspects and a sunny Southeast facing front yard with mounded beds that have mixed plantings of trees, shrubs and perennials and a few choice bulbs. It's an informal garden, tending towards the plant collector type.

After being away for so long I find the garden is somewhat "tired" and in need of revamping. To this end I am working in compost and permatill this spring and planting in new things, removing or cutting back others. I look forward to exchanging plants with other gardeners in the area.

When I get my camera fixed I'll post a couple of pictures. In the meantime, happy Spring everyone!

RJ aka Ssfariofthemind

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Comments (4)

trianglejohn
16 years ago
You were missed!!! Glad you're back. We'll be having our Spring Swap sometime in mid May I believe, hope you can make it.

As far as your other post about Perlite - off the top of my head I would guess you would have to drive over to Smithfield to Coors Farm Supply to buy it in that quantity.
rootdiggernc
16 years ago
Hey RJ! Glad you're back, wondered where you'd gone! Hope to see you at the spring swap this year.
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dottie_in_charlotte
16 years ago
RJ, you certainly were missed! Nice to get you back in time to mess with the soil in soft temps and decent rains.
Dottie
safariofthemind
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi guys!

Glad to see you are still around. These last couple of years I have been working in Panama, near the canal zone, in a development project building affordable housing for locals. It's been exhausting and taken all my energy. During the absence my wife did what she could to maintain the yard with the kids and many things are still around: most of my bushes, trees and daffodils, many crinums, salvias, and even a Hesperaloe and sedums and irises. Overall things still look ok. The soil amended with permatill has fared remarkably well. The soil is low in organic matter but is still workable. So I got some aged turkey manure mixed with more permatill at 60/40 and am working it in as we speak. It should be very nice by summer.

Let me know when the swap is going to be. I have some cold hardy crinum, basjoo banana, salvia, iris, and other goodies to exchange. Still having to go back and forth to Panama but I'll try to be here for the exchange. It would help if we can set the date sometime soon so I can make my plane reservations accordingly.

My geocities website was taken down by geocities folding so I will have to set up a new one. Hopefully will post pictures next week.

RJ