Crop 204 Picture Newsletter by andyvancleve

VOL 06 NOVEMBER 20, 2008 3 Pictures. Click each one for a larger picture.

A Lilac Walk is two or more lines of mixed trees and shrubs designed around a walkway with an emphasis on lilacs. Back in the 1990 I designed this one using hundreds of lilacs, fruit trees and old roses. The lilacs were planted in masses no more than eighteen inches apart as rooted cuttings planted in a 6 inch raised bed of compost. Drip irrigation lines guarenteed that they wouldn't get to dry.

The path was outlined by the railroad ties we used as the border of each raised bed. These beds were massive up to twenty feet wide and a hundred fifty feet long. The path was barely six feet wide. Some parts of the path were under water in spring so you had to watch your step but it wasn't long before it drained away to be replaced with long luxurious grass that demanded mowing.

After the trees and shrubs started to seriously fill in some of the ties had sunk almost out of sight and yet just added to the fealing that you were in a secret garden. In May the season of bloom began with crabapple trees we had planted in groups of three or four, their stems around five feet apart but their foliage combining into massive displays overhead. On the ground many varieties of biennial multiplied to profusion combining with the weeds so it all looked intentional. Then the French lilacs bloomed followed a couple of weeks later by the Chinese and Canadian Lilacs. Old roses bloomed in June and sometimes July followed by brilliant masses of fruit.

This little garden is all but gone now. The owner wanted to train the plants to a habit they would not adhere to. Then after it was done it had the appearance of a badly sheared sheep and he began to rip and tear until it was gone and he convinced himself thats what he wanted all along. So my pictures are all that remain. How I wish you could have walked that walk and smelled the mingled essences.

We grow plants to sell at our plant sale. Read my notes on the zone hardiness numbers I use. Do we do mail order? Check my picture-newsletter Want to purchase? email me.