Natural Garden News from Grounded – July 20

Inside this edition of Natural Garden News

  • Slow down, see more, lose your mind
  • If you want a Grounded garden…
  • All about shoreline naturalization
  • New book helps us find local native plants
  • Are natural gardens always messy?
  • Today’s recommended reading
  • Today’s VIP (Very Important Plant)
  • This week down in Fenelon Falls
  • What a difference a month makes!
  • From the socials

I hope you enjoy the newsletter! If you have any questions or feedback, please reply to this email.

Simon Payn
Grounded

Email: hello@groundedgardens.ca
Web: groundedgardens.ca

Follow Grounded on the socials!

Slow down, see more, lose your mind

Sometimes I drive by the garden at Lucas House and think, “Look, there’s plants growing and a few flowers.”

Other times I wade right into the garden, maybe to do some weeding or to add plants, and think. “Wow, this place is crawling with life!”

It’s like seeing two different gardens. I guess it’s similar to looking through a microscope – there’s another world when we get close up.

Concept and reality

You know what I’m going to say next: we spend most of our days at high speed, seeing the world through a window. What’s out there gets reduced to a concept: garden, city, river, Foodland.

But when we stop and look, we see what that thing really is.

When I install a landscape, I give homeowners a handbook about that garden. The final part of the handbook asks them to stop still and get familiar with their landscape. I tell them that when they begin to notice what’s there, they will appreciate it more. They will, dare I say it, fall in love with it.

Seeing wonder

Have you ever noticed something beautiful and, for a moment, your thoughts stop? You’re entranced by it.

This happens on a daily basis when you stop still in your garden. It’s the kind of thing that makes your day, that you want to tell people about, and that you remember.

Why? Because for a brief moment you go out of your mind. You transcend thoughts and see what’s really there.

And the good news is, what’s there is pretty wonderful.

Simon

If you want a Grounded garden…

I’m now booking garden and shoreline installs for this fall and next spring.

If you’re interested in working with me, don’t wait until then. I use the summer to prepare your site and to work on plant lists and designs.

I’m happy to come out and look at your site for no charge and with no obligation. If we’re not a fit, we’ll depart as friends. Just click the button below.

To see some of my recent work, please look at this article.


All about shoreline naturalization

An in-depth look at shoreline naturalization for Haliburton County cottages: why it’s important and how to do it. Read more.

New book helps us find local native plants

A look inside a book about Kawartha Lakes flora, which is also helpful to us in Haliburton County. Read more.

Are natural gardens always messy?

For those of you new to this newsletter, here’s my article on the aesthetics of native plant gardens. Read more.

Today’s recommended reading

Back to the High Line: If my gardens and shorelines turn out anything like the High Line in New York, I’ll be happy. Here’s a super article, particularly on the deft touch used for management of this special landscape. Read more.

And you think I use a lot of plants… Sit back and sink into Ralph Bristow’s naturalistic garden in Australia, where 10,000 plants are very happy indeed. Read more.

Advice smorgasbord: Sometimes we need to hear it like it is. Here’s valuable advice about natural gardens from one of my mentors, Benjamin Vogt. Read more.

Get the free guide

I’ve updated my guide to natural gardens in Haliburton County and surrounding areas.

Now booking garden and shoreline installs

If you’d like me to come and look at your garden or shoreline, please fill out the inquiry form.

Today’s VIP (Very Important Plant)

If you’re following Grounded on Facebook or Instagram (if not, click on the links to follow!), you’ll have seen I’ve been posting information about native plants. I’ve spent a bunch of time putting together these information “cards”, which you can also see on my website here.

Today let’s look at Ostrich Fern

  • Common Name: Ostrich Fern
  • Scientific Name: Matteuccia struthiopteris
  • Layer: Groundcover
  • Light Conditions: Part-sun, Shade
  • Soil Conditions: Moist-drained, Moist
  • Bloom Colour: Green
  • Season of Interest: Spring, Summer, Fall
  • Suitable for: Lawn replacement, Shoreline
  • Description: A great groundcover for those hard-to-plant shadier areas. From its spring fiddleheads to large fronds that turn from green to brown, this fern has it all.

This week down in Fenelon Falls

I visited The Grove Theatre the other day. It’s an outdoor amphitheatre surrounded by cedars. (If you haven’t been, go… great atmosphere, excellent shows.)

At the entrance is a natural garden using native plants. Here are some pictures.

What a difference a month makes!

I paid a visit the other week to a garden. All this rain has led to great growing conditions, and I was pleased to see this installation taking off so quickly. Here’s some pictures. It will fill out more the rest of the summer, then even more next year.

Please share me!

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From the socials

Some pictures of one of my favourite naturalistic gardens on the internet. Click the image to see more.

Rufus says Hi!

And are we going for a walk yet?

Thank you for reading!

Simon

Email: hello@groundedgardens.ca
Web: groundedgardens.ca