In 2013, my husband and I made the life-changing decision to transform our unfortunate patchy front lawn to a flagstone patio surrounded by trees, shrubs and perennials. A great deal of work, we'd never have survived the unending weeding, over the first few years, if not for the help of a dear friend with a strong back and unwavering spirit.
2014 found us incorporating a granite water feature in our increasingly inviting front yard garden oasis. Sitting on a comfortable two-seat bench, I find the sound of the trickling water very soothing; additionally, gold finches seem to enjoy the fountain as much as the bird bath we've also provided.
Over the winter, heading into 2015, we made a commitment to enhancing our front garden by embracing a more sustainable philosophy. That meant adding more native and pollinator friendly species, and employing better watering and mulching techniques. To that end, we've relied heavily on my sister's landscape design knowledge, and information gleaned from sustainability seminars, internet searches and garden tours.
2016 found our garden being added to the list of Hamilton's pollinator patches, a rest stop along the "pollinator highway" envisioned by the city and a collective of community organizations. We also received a "We're Feeding Pollinators" sign to proudly display in our garden, through the generosity of the Monarch Awards and the Pollinator Paradise programs.
The autumn of 2016 also found my generous friend once again assisting me, this time in the construction of a flagstone border wall along the street frontage of our urban garden. The finished product turned out better than I'd expected, and may one day provide habitat for burrowing insects.
More recently, we've decided to include the growing of vegetables and herbs within our pollinator patch, in our own version of the French style of potager or kitchen garden - It is our belief that a pollinator potager garden will be more inviting and useful to us, the humans who cultivate the land: As well, the additional pollinator friendly plantings may encourage more beneficial insects to visit.
We've been on a tremendously positive gardening journey that I hope to continue. With that in mind, I've decided to launch another blog in order to document our progress: It's my way of blending two of my recreational passions - writing and gardening.
And so, I invite you to take a look at my new blog, The Pollinator Potager Project. I hope you'll enjoy sharing our journey.
