Yarmouth Street Garden . 2 | Garden Gates

---

Continued from Yarmouth Street Garden . 1

Here we are standing on the stoop. You'll notice that the completed excavation has uncovered a second ledge below the one which we could see a section of before we began. There's no fighting this fact, so somehow it will have to be incorporated into the design.

At this point I surveyed the garden and did at 1/2" scale sketch (reduced here) using EazyDraw, software for Mac OSX. The overall dimensions are 8'6" wide and 11' deep into the far left corner, the bowfront curves out to about 8' from the front fence. I've sketched in some of the features that we know we want - the planter, birdbath (which we're recycling) and a bench (to be built or purchased).

To work with the ledges, I think we'll build a stone wall along the line of the top ledge resting on the one below. This will make a raised bed which could then be filled with either stones, to form a rock garden, or soil from the excavation which could be planted with a shallow-rooted ground cover such as lamium or ivy.

The large ceramic planter will fill in the left rear corner between the stoop and the bowfront. This will be planted out with something tall since the stoop is very high, and hopefully a plant with year-around interest. To the right is the bird bath, removed from its pedestal and raised up on some stones, next to the water spigot.

To suggest what this might look like I laid out some stones that were on hand and added some cobblestones to show the path to the bench.

Sketch in hand, we're ready to select some stone. The place for stone in Boston is the T.H. McVey Stone Company near the Arsenal Mall, at 662 Arsenal Street, in Watertown. They're old school and don't have a website, but the phone is (617) 923-8866 and they're very pleasant to deal with. Plus they'll deliver once you've selected what you want.

McVey has every sort of landscaping and architectural stone all arranged in piles or on pallets in their huge yard near the banks of the Charles. They also have a really good selection of cobblestones, which are hard to find nowadays, and interesting boulders. It's like going to a museum of stone.

Image ... Yarmouth Street garden.

To be continued.

Yarmouth Street Garden . 1 | Garden Gates

---

Yarmouth Street is a quiet side street lined with Victorian bowfront brick houses fronted by small gardens tucked between what may be the tallest stoops in the South End, the despair of all postmen. We've been hired to design and build one of these gardens by a client who has been enjoying a garden we did around the corner on Carleton Street. Above is a frontal view of the existing space as seen from the curb.

This is a before view from the left corner of the space as seen from the sidewalk. At the right rear of the image you'll notice a small door under the stoop. This is the way that many South Enders enter their homes which are often now configured with an open plan kitchen - living space opening out onto a garden or deck in the back of the building. The garden will create a strong first impression and set the tone for entering the house.


Here's another before view, this from the right, standing in the narrow walkway that leads to the door under the stoop. At the rear of the image, between the window and the fence, you'll notice a slab of concrete at the base of the brick wall pitching down toward the yard. It's certainly not an original part of the house. My guess is that this was added to divert water away from the house to prevent flooding in the basement. The slab is in need of some repair and part of the garden's design will be determined by the need to maintain the flow of water away from the foundation.

Here, in another before view, we're standing by the door under the stoop looking through the gate into into the garden toward Yarmouth Street. This angle clearly reveals the current miscellaneous mess (nice fence though). We'll be starting over from scratch. But with a great space - and that's what counts.

Image ... Yarmouth Street garden. Before views: front, left, right, back.

Article continues here.

Starting from Seed . 2 | Garden Gates

---

TEXT

cotyledon, seed leaf

Starting from Seed . 1 | Garden Gates

---

The seed catalogs, like late presents packed with promises, begin arriving soon after Christmas then, as winter finally surrenders to spring, the garden season gets under way. One of the gardener's many pleasant seasonal rituals, the first of the new year, is indoor seed starting.

Some seeds are started indoors for later transplanting out into the garden as seedlings or young plants. This technique allows the cultivation of the boys of summer, the warm weather lovers - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. - in the northerly latitudes. It's also useful for getting a jump on the growing season with many of the plants that prefer cooler temperatures - lettuces, kale and mustard for example. Some plants can be treated either way, others dislike transplanting and must be direct seeded or sown directly into the outdoor garden beds they will grow in. Spinach, peas, beets and beans are among these finicky vegetables.

Image ... Jimmy with Tomatoes. By Lois Johnson. They look like Mortgage Lifters for sure. Fenway Victory Gardens, Boston.

Mushrooms in Roofscape's Garden

---

The mushrooms I photographed above appear from time to time in Roofscape's garden in the Fenway. They are quite magical and mysterious. Somehow, I'd never bothered to ID them, but always enjoyed their elusive appearances.

Peter, our mushroom (and bee) man had never seen them and didn't recognize them from the photo. But he went online, googled translucent mushroom, and in seconds found photos, a description and an (tentative) ID ... Coprinus lagopus.

A few days ago I noticed some of these on a pile of wood-chips in the woods between Farnborough North and Frimley stations. I also noticed that they seemed to change form between the mornings and the afternoons. I have tentatively identified them as Coprinus lagopus, a type of ink-cap mushroom.

In the mornings their stems are straight (up to 12cm long) and their caps neat little inverted translucent grey umbrellas (up to 5cm across), as shown above. By the late afternoon, the stems have drooped and the caps are ragged, shrivelled and blackened, as shown below. However, by the afternoon, the next day's mushrooms are already thrusting their heads up.

Tristram Brelstaff, Reading, UK. Photo: Stephen Bastide.

Square Foot Gardening Tips for December | Garden Girl TV . 1

---

Mel Bartholomew and Patti Moreno talk about eco friendly gifts from and for the garden! From Pine Cone bird feeders to decorating your garden for the holidays!