My dream house

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:34 am

It would have a tiny footprint, just large enough to have room for friends around. A basement to hide my junk. With a friendly, sunny kitchen and one of those glass-surrounded laundry rooms where the garden seems to be constantly peeking in to see what I'm up to. And the birds come close, so used to my being there that they don't even startle at the sight of me. Right off that porch would be a huge knot-garden with all my herbs & veggies neatly contained in their raised beds- two or three kinds of sage, thyme and marjoram in the pathways, tomatoes in the corner beds, and rosemary flanking the three exits. A stone path would lead around either side to the front garden. The house is on a little hill, so the front garden gently slopes away toward the sunrise. It has lithodora flowing down over large rocks scattered on the hill (brought up from the river that flows past the bottom of the hill, this garden has completely stoneless soil!) and miniature fruit trees scattered around the edges- the soil is so good that they produce big healthy fruit every year. There are violets lining all the paths through this garden, and the paths are either bark or stones with Irish moss in between. Strong, healthy, aged lilacs give form to this garden, shading the house and the tiny, two-chair gazebo that is surrounded by ferns. There's a little firepit tucked away at the bottom of the slope, screened from the house by a giant oak and a scattering of rhododendrons. The pit is dug into the ground and lined with a stone mosaic set in concrete, just right for marshmallow toasting. The other bottom corner is a pond full of goldfish, in the same mosaic-pebble, and still watertight despite being build long ago. It even has a tiny island in the middle, with a glass-mosaic turtle perched on it. And weeping cherry trees scattered along the edge.
All three sides of the garden have arched gates going out- the bottom one with a forged-metal sunrise in the arch over it and honeysuckle in sunrise colors, the other two are wood with purple clematis over the northern one, and yellow climbing roses embracing the other. Outside the garden is a huge old sturdy barn, big enough for my old truck Daffodil, my riding mower, and all the tools in a rust-free environment. My painting studio is out back, and other than being heated and insulated, is identical to the one I have now. It's just a walk through the herb garden. The whole place is surrounded by a deep grove of oak trees around the outside. And of course, this house is in Camelot so it only rains at night and the sun shines every day!
There now, a nice bit of escapism as the rain comes down on my poor frost-damaged plants struggling to survive in the rocky ground!

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