Sudbury Living - Spring 2008 - 25

n continued FRoM page 23 gar d e n i n g garden would be, where the patio would be, where the play area would be, etc. Try several arrangements until the best one is found. This step is where you decide how much space different activities and areas will need and where in the landscape they will be located. At this time, you will see how many things on your list you can actually fit into the landscape. Now, it’s time to decide exactly what shape the areas will have. If you noted flower beds with an oval shape to indicate where and how big they will be, at this point you decide how they will actually be shaped such as a kidneyshaped bed. This is a creative stage. Although you don’t select the plants yet, you should decide on the characteristics that the plants should have (size, flowering, colour, evergreen, etc.). It will be guided by the previous steps, as well as the style you have decided for the garden. After designing, you select the components that will be chosen to create the landscape. If, for example, in the first step you selected privacy, in step two it was decided what view needed to be blocked, the third step is the location of the privacy screen, in step four the size of the screen is determined (how tall, how wide) and in this step what the screen will be composed of will be decided. You may choose to plant a cedar hedge, or build a brick wall or espalier fence. Go through the rough plan, selecting which plants will be used, what surfacing materials, colours, etc. Cost is a factor to consider when selecting materials . You can choose young plants or established trees and shrubs. Once you have created this basic framework, a landscape plan should quickly materialize, and there will be fewer surprises later. SL It won’t be long now BY HERMINA HUBERT PHOTGRAPH BY JUDI KOSKI For avid “green thumbs,” March and April can be days of anticipation. We look out through the window where flower beds are usually visible and see dry stalks poking out. We can only remember the colours and textures and scents. We wait patiently, browsing through seed catalogues. However, it is an excellent time for planning any improvements to the yard. My need to rid the yard of weed-infested lawn (I do not use “poisons”) resulted in an array of ground Margaret atwood covers: low-growing plants such as creeping thyme and juniper. I am now planning and sketching the remainder of the front yard. Next to the sidewalk are the ground covers, then a curving perennial flower bed. Now I would like to add a stone pathway between the flower bed and house. This eliminates the lawn altogether, which in turn reduces the use of chemicals in the watershed (but that’s another story). The pathway will contain my collection of stones, glass, and broken crockery embedded in cement. It will meander from the front steps along the flower bed and end at perhaps a rustic bench beside the spruce tree. The sketches look good as I hope the finished product will. As I presume is the case with most gardeners, I revel in the anticipation of spring and try to be patient. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. Hermina Hubert is president of the Sudbury Horticultural Society. Name: FLOORS FIRST SURFACE DESIGN & D; Width: 24p0; Depth: 63.999al; Color: Black plus one; Ad Number: 1184672_FLO “Beautiful Floors & Staircases Begin with Us” &  1544 Lasalle Blvd. 1560 Lasalle Blvd., Sudbury w w w. s u d b u r y f l o o r s f i r s t . c o m (across from the Supermall) 560-4567 Spring 2008 Sudbury Living 25

Sudbury Living - Spring 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sudbury Living - Spring 2008