Flâneur Gardening

>I haven’t had a weekend in the garden in ages, it seems.

Well, all right; I did have two days up there a few weeks ago, but still. Winter is approaching, and I’m not getting anything done! (The non-hardy plants have been taken inside and the garden furniture moved unto the covered patio, so nothing will suffer, but still.)

While I sit in my tiny flat I can, though, make plans. Not as much fun as getting stuff done, but perhaps productive in its own way.

The most thrilling this is to plan for the kitchen garden. Not the planting – not yet – but the structure and the soil. Getting ready-made planting soil is not an option for reasons of both budget and transportation, so I’m giving lots of thought to the issue of creating the best possible soil from the means at hand. The base will be the local heavy soil, but if I mix it up with plenty of leaf mulch and however much of the compost heap that might be ready, I reckon I will be able to achieve a decent result.

I’m planning to skim the lawn where the raised beds will stand, putting the turf aside and then dig down a further foot, putting the soil to the side and then disposing of the turf at the bottom of the whole where it will have no chance of growing up through the bed. Then a thick layer of mulch and twigs to create a draining sub-soil for the first year (though it will subside fairly quickly) and then a 1½ foot deep top layer consisting of soil mixed with mulch and sand. When spring comes I might add a top coat of store-bought potting soil for sowing.

God, I look forward to getting up there again. A week and a half from now I’ll have Saturday and Sunday up there, and the kitchen garden will be the main project for that weekend if the weather is decent. If it pours down, plan B is a novel in a comfy chair in front of the fire unless I get around to going to a DIY shop and get some metal paint. Two of our garden chairs are black iron chairs that are in desperate need of a coat of paint, but first they will need to be sanded down so that could be a good project for a wet winter weekend some time. They’re black right now, but I’m thinking they might end up a dark-dark green, and there’s a round table (white and flaking) that might be given the same treatment and thus be made to match enough for them to make a nice intimate set of furniture for two for the courtyard.

Currently there’s a larger table for six in the courtyard, and it just seems like I always have to walk around it to get anywhere, so having a smaller set would give more space and perhaps also add to the sense of intimacy of the space. And there will be more space for the pots of plants to surround the seating area without crowding it.

What else is there? Well, there is the pruning of the apple and pear trees, the continuous project of digging out the Ambitious Border, the interior of the house that could do with a winter clean (in a holiday home you can’t seriously be expected to do a deep clean in spring when it starts being so appealing to be outside) and a heap of other stuff. I have lots of time to get all of this done, though, since March/April and spring is still a long way away. Sadly…

Still, even when I can’t be there, planning and dreaming is such a thrill. And of course, it’s somehow the greatest romantic thrill. (Well, almost… Gardening will never compete with a proposal or being near to your loved one, but working hard to have a personal haven with you beloved is still way up there on the list of romantic activities. I do this for me, yes, but even more for us.)