So why Dead Trees and Fake Hermits, you're dying to know?
Because that's how it started over 12 years ago when Weezer and I read an article
written by Charles Elliott "The Transplanted Gardener" from the January
94 issue of the Horticulture Magazine. It was a tale of the strange
roots of the English landscape movement. ´Dead trees´ being natural
occurrences in natural settings, and ´Fake Hermits´ for those of us who
obsessively tend to our gardens, forsaking all other things…
although a bit extreme, most gardeners understand the
passion. I also think that dead trees represents the organic matter
that returns to the earth to nurture the growth and being of other
plants.
Weezer and I also had a habit of using interesting stumps and tree
roots as landscaping objects as William Kent did in Kensington Gardens.
Weezer even had a tree stump, still in the ground, that my husband
carved into a mushroom for her fairy garden.
And so the name stuck in our heads as Weezer and I developed our natural
landscapes and have a taste of English Gardening in our own landscape
designs. It seemed only natural for us to be ´Fake Hermits´ as we
have both quit the rat race to pursue our true passions in
gardening. A lot has changed since the reading of that article,
and we have both grown and learned so much more than when we started
out. Others gardens have inspired us and we have tried to share a
little of the wisdom we picked up along the way.
Weezer´s garden now…
Weezer's garden is ´anywhere she wants to plant stuff´… since moving to a restricted community where you can only plant within 3 feet of your house! So watch out because she will take up her gardening in your yard if she gets the urge! "Of course it's so much fun to share the plants I transplanted from my last yard and planting is part of the ´rites of Spring´! It´s fun to teach children the joy of digging holes and playing in the mud, and will continue to share my hobby as long as the lord is willing." Here is a short slide show …
My Garden in Avenbury, 2006
Herb gardening
Fake Hermit turned into an obsessive herb gardener growing herbs not
only for culinary reasons but using these wonderful plants for their
beauty in landscaping and learning the medicinal values of each
one. Her yard was perfect with 100‰ sun and one side is moist
with black rich pig farm soil and the other is dryer with a good
mixture of soil, sand and clay. She had to raise several of
her planting beds because of spring floods and in the ´too moist´ areas
for the herbs she loves so much. | Herb Gardening Page |
Shade gardening
Weezer had a totally different set of circumstances as she had to grow
in partial to 100‰ shade in wet conditions and clay soil to boot.
She diligently added truck loads of soil, manure, and leaf mold to
create raised beds for anything she has wanted to plant. You'd
never know this about that yard today, as she had performed what I
think is a small miracle. Her yard thrived with woodland plants
and she even built herself a 'potting shed' in the back with a garden
bench and table at it's side. Now you know where all the thoughts
of 'The Potting Shed' come from... cause as the heat of the day came
upon us, or I helped her plan the next move, we spent wonderful times
sitting out back at the potting shed brainstorming. In the
few spots that her yard got half a days sun she had transformed it into
a gorgeous herb, butterfly and hummingbird garden. The patience
of Job I tell you! Now she wishes she had that shade again.
In case you haven't figured it out yet… Weezer is my mentor, my
partner in gardening, my best friend… and she is my
mother. I can only hope that one day I can have such a wonderful
relationship with my own children and be the kind of Mother that mine
was and is to me. Thanks Mom!
