posted
OK - I have a landscaping project I'd like to share - you might wanna' wait for the movie though, cause it's long. I will however, endeavour to entertain you with my stick gardening venture.
It began with a simple basic desire that humans have had since they walked on the planet. I wanted to 'do something' with sticks.
Sticks - so many of them. We had a bazillion small branches and sticks on the property we look after here on Indian Rd. My husband, who is the superintendent/manager of the property was in the habit of stashing them in piles against the fence. I suppose I had some idea that I might gather them and pack them up for the trash as I cultivated this scruffy piece of land that's always been allowed to grow wild.
A trip to Fergus, Ontario in April not only inspired me, but informed me that my wonderful wild muse wasn't alone in this.
When my daughter and I walked up town from our hotel in April, I saw the big country gardens in the residential area and noticed that everybody did something with their sticks. Not only were there wreathes, birdhouses, little fences for the garden beds, there were also pieces of garden furniture made entirely with sticks.
I wanted to do something with our sticks and when I returned home I continued with my gardening, promising myself I would find time to work with the sticks.
------------------
The thing is, I didn't know just what I could do with my sticks - I had no experience in doing this kind of thing. I had it in my mind that I could make shapes - a dog, a horse - or maybe some kind of little house for our cat Skitter, but I just couldn't get it going - the farthest I got was a little fumbling on the picnic table.
I got the sticks and string on there and tried to make it look like something - nothing happened.
continued . . .
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.142.117
posted
I put the few sticks I'd set aside for this purpose away and went on with my gardening. I still had one heck of a big lot to work with and I wanted to really make a difference. I wasn't looking for the Homes n' Garden kind of thing when the Blue Hat Society comes around pretending they invented you. I wanted to work with the lot and the wild stuff that grew there. Other than a few plants I bought to put in the two tree circles on the north island, I transplanted what most people call weeds.
We have a big pine on the north lot; it didn't look all that good this year - normally its boughs reached the ground and you could go in there, lie down, have a nap and nobody would be the wiser. This year the boughs only seemed to be coming down to head height - my head height, which isn't really all that tall. So I figured if I can't walk under it without it scratching my nose, then it's gotta' need trimming.
So I trimmed it and began creating a circle of bricks at the foot of this tree. I gathered my weeds and began to plant.
This went quite well, by the way. Most of the plants were things that were growing wild in the grass. I didn't add topsoil - just dug into what was there, planted my weeds and watered it.
As you can see by the red chair I spent a lot of time cogitating on my work.
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.142.117
posted
A couple of days into my job the idea of the stick circle began to form. The red chair paid off as a cogitating device, as you can see - it was a matter of poking sticks into the ground about 2 feet apart then laying larger sticks in between them.
That was on the 26th - two days after I started putting the weeds in. And eight days, I might mention, after I started that silly little stick sculpting experiment on the picnic table.
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.142.117
posted
As I was working on this fence, people were passing often - it's an apartment building, and naturally everyone was curious as to what I was up to. They'd seen me circle trees with bricks before, but this was a curiosity - what was that wild woman doing with those sticks? An Indian ritual? Nope . . . What are you going to put inside the circle? Sticks . . . Oh . . .
On June the first I completed my circle:
Everyone loved it!
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.142.117
posted
Over the course of the summer I dressed it up with pine branches . . .
Recently we placed patio stones around it - two at the front and two on each side. The back got treated to an arrangement of flat stones a few days ago.
My intentions? I plan to seed clover around it in the spring.
This stick circle is my favourite of all the projects I've done on the lot this summer. And to boot? Jeff no longer has to worry about where he's going to stash branches and sticks.
:-0
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.142.117
Jiffymouse
guest
posted
i really like that carly i think you have done lots of great things with the place.
Seeded: 12.77.200.110
posted
Thanks Jiffymouse - I've really enjoyed this summer.
I wrote this little spiel about the stick circle cause I want to kick-start myself into doing some actual writing. Just haven't been in the zone for it lately. Guess it's the plantlife that has captured me so I might as well write about them until I'm released.
* * * * When sorting seeds, do not whistle. Plants: 2784 | From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
| Seeded: 67.43.132.201
how amazing it is when you put time and effort into your creativity!! it looks soo good, and what a great way to adorn your tree. nature arts are my favorite..earth mother really is endless inspiration.
keep it up..and yes, keep writing
sidheblooms
* * * * HAPPINESS is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony. ~ Ghandi Plants: 88 | From: in the bush, canada | Registered: Sep 2004
| Seeded: 64.141.19.122
login | 
| 
| 
![[thumb]](graemlins/thumb.gif)
i really like that carly ![[flower]](graemlins/flower.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this garden