I must sleep on it for a night, or a month or two before planting a small area inside granite pavers just dug into the lawn. I understand that I am prone to jumping in with a barrel full of inspiration, but with a slight possibility of moving too fast. My wife is no help. She’s said there are too many plants for the past twenty years.

Yesterday, granite pavers were set into the sloped, mostly clover area of lawn that becomes quite slick when damp. At first I like it, but this seems a perfect, sunny spot for a shrub or small tree bordered by several flowering delights. The gravel that drains rainwater through this planting area would be widened a bit, and the worst of the thin patch of clover would be gone forever. Certainly you agree that this sounds like an excellent idea, and I should begin immediately.

Except. The angle’s not quite right. Adding a planting area will interrupt the path of mowers, and I’m not looking to add to the planting area just below the greenhouse. Plants here are intended to be viewed close up, so the bed must not be extended.

So, what to do? If I didn’t care a bit about what my wife thinks I’d add a narrow stone path along the current edge of the bed so I can easily get to the Korean Sweetheart tree and terrestrial orchids that are far too beautiful to be seen only from a distance. I could then extend the planting area by a little or a lot.

Yes, no, maybe someday. The right plant could make the decision easy, but that hasn’t hit me yet. I suspect it will, sooner than later, and this is often how the garden expands, by a little or a lot. Long term planning is a rarity, and I surprise myself that I’ve resisted the impulse to immediately dig out the thin lawn.