For one reason or the other, few gardeners will be around a single garden for three decades. Staying put for so long is no accomplishment, but there is a benefit in witnessing Japanese maples grow into middle age, to budget a modest expenditure each year that grows to fill a property so that no part feels incomplete. A purple leafed European beech, that grew agonizingly slow for years, finally takes hold, and one day the gardener looks up and admires that it now towers over the house.
Many plants reach a mature size quickly, and the gardener sees some that come and go. Deer have whittled a hundred hosta varieties to half that number, but the gardener’s failings are responsible for many more losses. A lack of care, of preparation, or planning has imperiled too many treasures, and over a period the gardener learns what will grow (or not) given his soil, sun exposure, and quality of care. The result, I suspect, is a happier balance than in a younger garden, and certainly the gardener’s disposition is improved as maturing trees and shrubs cover more ground and ease his maintenance.
The garden is ever changing, as a Katsura and other trees shade areas that were once mostly sunny, and roots spread to sap moisture. Some changes cannot be explained, so a corner of the property becomes soggier by the year, finally killing long established witch hazel and holly. The now swampy area must be recreated as a bog garden, and while starting over is painful, there are new plants to discover, and cherish.
The garden (and the gardener) weathers natural catastrophes, wind and hail, ice, and snow that break branches, or fell a favored Seven Son tree. Damage can be done in severe cold or mild winters, and also through summer droughts, though injuries are most often far less serious than the gardener first presumes. Several long time favorites have been lost, but the gardener plants a Red horsechesnut after much consideration, and after a few years the sting is nearly forgotten.
The gardener learns that native does not mean low maintenance, or resistance to pests and diseases. Many are treasured, but a few require regular attention to ward off hungry deer. For years, dogwoods have been plagued by leaf spotting and cankers, but optimism returns each year in April with a fresh set of blooms. A dogwood labeled as pink, but flowering white, was bothersome for a decade, but the flurry of spring blooms slowly erased the disappointment.
Flowers of magnolias are occasionally damaged by late freezes, and the gardener who will be around for a short period is severely discouraged, but this injury is only occasional, and often after the trees have flowered for ten days. If the blooms are short lived this year, they might not suffer again for five, and in twenty of thirty years this has not been a worry.
The gardener’s interest never wanes. While appearing to be overflowing by mid spring, there are small gaps in the garden to be filled. For the gardener who must collect one of everything that captures his fancy, somehow a space is found for each new acquisition, though no room is to be found to expand the Japanese maple collection, so these must now be kept in containers on the patios. The challenge, as the completion of the third decade nears, is to eliminate maintenance, an absurdly impossible goal, but one that seems within reach as low growing shrubs and perennials are shoehorned to cover every open space.
The gardener learns the rhythm of the property, when labor must be accomplished, and when there is time to enjoy. As weeds are crowded out by maturing trees and shrubs, the period required to maintain this garden grows shorter, and time to enjoy becomes longer. Certainly, this is a benefit of three decades in one place.
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 
Aw… but a fresh canvas is so hopeful! Having been a quasi gardener forever, and only diving in last year.. the joys of learning and discovering is a gift almost every day. I’m only 29 years behind ya but eventually will get there! Thanks for your example and all the lovely photo’s you share.
The move into this house was such a disaster, I said never again, but now it is the garden that ties me to the house.
Actually have been with our garden for 25 years now so are not so far behind. You are right things do fail and this sometimes means significant change. Last year a large pond developed a link which became a significant project to sort out and in the last storm we lost a substantial part of a tree. However, that is just gardening and we love it.
This summer the wall that retains the lower end of the koi pond must be rebuilt, though it is possible this could slip until next year. Perhaps a whack with the sledge will keep the wall standing for another year. Small projects are much easier to get around to.
On my wish list: this stream and stone paths that wind through the garden.
Working on my 12th year gardening in place, with lots of space left in this .40 acre woodland lot. You are a great inspiration.
Best to ya!
I’ve run out of space to plant Japanese maples, but after the fifth pond was constructed my wife put a halt to more.
Great post, Dave. Poetic. And the garden looks amazing. I started my (much smaller) garden only 7 years ago, and now looking forward to getting to three decades.
For three years after starting the garden I was anxious and fertilized at every opportunity. After the third year I was satisfied that the minimum had been reached. Since, no fertilizing, but lots of additions, plants, paths, patios, and ponds until the twentieth year. Ten and twenty years are significant points for the garden as trees mature, but at thirty it’s the gardener who has grown old.
I think there’s a massive benefit in gardening in the same place for a long time.
I hope to be around a lot longer, preferably in the garden.
Just beautiful! Starting year 25 in my garden … so true about the perspective that time brings! And we inherited a garden that was already 40+ years old. Humility becomes any gardener …
With unusual weather that more often seems the norm, you understand how much there is still to learn.
Dave, you’re constantly encouraging me and give me so much hope about this two-year-old garden. I agonize over it because it is so sparse and when I lose a large transplanted Japanese maple as I am about to, it is quite painful.
I adore Japanese maples and have a half an acre of lawn which they should occupy. Unfortunately, my neighbors would be upset at my blocking their view of our lake. Having moved so frequently, unlike you, from state to state I’ve had to walk away from my beloved gardens . Thank you for providing beautiful photographs that I can enjoy and very interesting banter. Your practical knowledge and approach to gardening is refreshing.
PS:you were correct about my peonies. They withstood the freeze and dusting of snow and are charging up rapidly with these few warm days. Let’s hope this Irish weather does not continue or they will drown in the clay for certain.
The English gardener.
I once completed the transplant of a large Japanese maple that had overgrown its spot by hooking a rope to my car and jerking it out of the ground. Now, it threatens to overgrow its new location bedside the driveway. I tell my wife we can park on the road.
blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid !important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } Hope this gets to you. A great article. Each picture is stunning. Thank you.
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