4 March: gardening with dogs

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

On the way out of Ilwaco, I admired the crocus and tulips in our volunteer garden at the Ilwaco Post Office.

Ilwaco post office

 

Before our job of the day, we had a somewhat ridiculous errand to run in Long Beach.  About a week ago, we saw a white bucket by one of the east parking lot gardens.  It had a label different from than any of ours but we had stopped our van and taken a look at it anyway, only to find it filled with dirty diapers.  We were both repulsed and squeamishly just left it there, since there was no handy garbage receptacle to bung it into.

Yesterday, a guy who bikes around town a lot saw us working at Jo’s and told us we had left a bucket, so we realized the city crew probably thought it was ours.  We meant to look for it on our way home and forgot.  This morning, it weighed heavily on my mind and we went up to Long Beach to retrieve it, dirty diapers, some kind of oily goo, sticky handle, and all.

After putting it in our trailer to throw out in our own wheelie bin at home (because we decidedly did not want to touch the contents while putting them into a city trashcan), we were off to our last spring clean up job of the season.  We are about a week ahead of last year in making our first visits to all of the gardens.  We just paused to deadhead some spent narcissi in front of the Home at the Beach gift shop and to dote on the gorgeous Tulip sylvestris blooming in the same planter.

Tulip sylvestris

Tulip sylvestris, one of my favourites, an early bloomer

We got some coffee at the Great Escape drive through.  Beth from the Anchorage Cottages was right behind us and asked when we were coming back there.  I was pleased to be able to tell her that Anchorage is on our schedule for tomorrow because…YAY!…this was to be the last big spring clean up day.

Casa Pacifica

We spent the rest of the workday at our only job that is not on the Peninsula.  (Well, Ilwaco is technically not on the Peninsula, either, but that’s another story.)  Casa Pacifica is east out of Seaview; it only takes 8 minutes to get there straight from our house.  Perhaps it is because it has no proximity to the bay or the ocean or the river that it seems so different a place than our other jobs.

We began by tidying up the big barrels by the workshop/garage that we pass on the way in.  How strange it was to find calibrachoa (million bells) blooming on March 4.

These trailing annuals  usually bloom around May, or April inside a warm greenhouse.

Last year, we did not get to this job till March 11th.

Across from the workshop, we’ve planted narcissi and a few tough trailing perennials on an almost vertical bank of heavy clay.

scrimmy grass at the cliff base; Allan cleaned it up

We did some limbing on a fallen tree that was blocking the view of some of our narcissi.

Next, we worked our way along the long entry drive pruning sword ferns and pulling the native blackberry along the edge.

before

before

The dogs were all watching from the top of the hill; they are such good dogs that they wouldn’t come all the way down to the workshop area.  When I was halfway up the hill, my good buddy Dusty and the shy Darcy came to see me.

my good friend Dusty with a stick, which I won’t throw yet as all he will want to do is play.

Oh how he wants me to throw that stick!

“Hi, Darcy, what a good girl; see, Dusty likes pets!”

my helpers; too bad Dusty won’t haul all the fallen branches away for us.

after: Clipping and pulling is all we have time for as there is much to do up in the garden.

Dusty waiting for us to come up the hill.

further up: I’m pleased someone hauled off some fallen branches that would have hidden this ring of narcissi. (The top of this tree broke off last year.)

more tree fall by the driveway

The main highway is just over that hill.  Owners Dan and Leanne bought the place from a satellite view, not realizing it is a noisy road.  My dog, Bertie Woofter, would have been right down that slope chasing cars.  The Casa Pacifica dogs, Spook, Darcy, and Dusty, are such good dogs that they stay on the property.  I would love to have a good dog like that.

Spook, still feeling shy and nervous at company

Spook, a remarkable 17 year old rescued Great Dane, finally let me pet her on our last work day in November 2014.  She remembered that we are friends now and no longer feared me, although it took a couple of hours before she came to me for pets.

Spook still pondering.

While I worked the flower barrels and the narrow beds next to the house, Allan cut back the big pampas grass and pruned the downside of a hydrangea on the lawn island.  (It pains me to work standing on a slope.)  I came in after him and pruned the hydrangea, ferns, and a buddleia that are on level ground.

the island before

after

after

before and after, Allan’s photos

While Allan went to the back of the house to prune ornamental grasses, ferns, hydrangeas and buddleias on the raised wall, I did the damp little corner by the office.

before and after; I hope the Darmera peltata will come back in this spot.  All the roof drainage seems to end up here.

The rock wall garden stretches in a gentle curve all along the back of the house.  Allan takes care of this part of the garden because it hurts me knee to climb up there.

before

before

before and after, Allan’s photo

after

after

The rock wall garden needs mulch; it would show the plants off better to have soil darker than the brown clay.  Any pile of mulch would have be dumped in the driveway and then wheelbarrowed past the house and up the far end of the slope.  I’ll be 60 in a couple of weeks and I just don’t feel up to such a strenuous job.  This is the year of house remodeling, so the garden is in sort of a holding pattern.  I hope we can find a solution to the mulch problem in the form of younger backs and knees by 2016.

a pale brown garden

I chop and drop some of the plant debris here to try to add some compost; great big pruned dry grasses are too messy so Allan hauled them further back out of sight.

The palette of shrubs does fairly well in the dry months of summer with little water.

A big kitchen extension is going to pop out here starting next week.

Darcy followed me around at a safe distance.

Dusty lived in hope.

Ribes sanguineum (pink flowering currant) by the garage (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo, flowering currant (one of the shrubs we have added)

After work, Dusty and I took a walk round while I applied some Sluggo.

with Darcy close behind… (Next time, I’ll put an edge on that garden bed.)

bird nest in the lawn island hydrangea

my good friend’s rapt attention

Finally, work was done and I threw the ball for Dusty.

playtime at last! (Darcy never gets the ball but she tries.)

The tennis ball is in the upper left corner! (Allan’s photo, of course)

Spook finally came for pets.  Dusty, jealous as usual, kept pushing her out of the way so Allan threw the ball some more and I got Spook to myself for a bit.

Spook and me, with Dusty pushing in

Spook, too old and stiff to play ball. I know the feeling.

O to be young and lively again.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Darcy always a little behind Dusty (Allan’s photo)

Dusty is tireless even though he has to run up a steep hill after every throw.

He knows how to sit politely while waiting for the throw.  Which is good because otherwise he knocks into me.

Such a good boy!

Allan’s photo

I love them! (Darcy almost let me pet her head, but not quite.)

my shadows. Darcy finally got close enough to sniff my hand but she still has not let me pet her.

Allan used the Map My Walk application because he was the one who went up the the rock garden slope and also hauled the debris from all areas off into the woods.  I find my mobility limited by the steep slopes in this landscape.

Map My Walk says Allan walked 5.57 miles and took 13,296 steps in 4.26 hours.  (You can see how close the highway actually is to the garden.)

We had time to drive home and relax for an hour before going to dinner.  It was hard to get back up after sitting down.  We joined Fred and Nancy Aust, owners of the Basket Case Greenhouse, for Burger Night (takes place every Wednesday off season) at The Depot Restaurant.

at the Depot: Allan’s photo

Fred and Nancy’s response when I said I needed a photo of them for the blog.

Back home, I admired the work board.  To the left of the empty “first visit” list is a list of projects.  Still, I do like the look of this:

all of the first visits, done!

Next: In honour of another delicious Depot dinner, a slideshow of the Depot garden in 2014.