ON BECOMING A GARDENER

Enjoy this memoir from Margaret Cooper. You are in for a real treat.

ON BECOMING A GARDENER


I grew up on a farm in Australia, in good farming land in the Murray Valley, up towards the Snowy River country.  My dad was an orchardist before he became a dairy farmer so we always had a great garden.  The property was called ‘Walnut Grove’ and over 20 old walnut trees were scattered around the sheds and dairy and the old original house.  Plus several gnarled and ancient figs.  On an acre of garden surrounding our new house was a shrubbery of rare trees, grape vines on their wires, a boundary line of almond trees, an orchard with logical rows of many varieties of peaches, plums, apples and pears.  Also a couple apricots and a quince tree.  And then there were the flowers, a spectacular collection of roses and dahlias and all the colourful annuals.  Not to forget the vegetables garden which flourished in the good soil amended by literally truckloads of aged cow manure. 



As if this weren’t enough, sometimes below the dairy there was an additional vegetable garden, and down beside the creek a half acre of watermelons and jam melons.  WE had so many melons we would sometimes throw them over the fence for the cows to munch. I remember one time when I was a little girl near the end of World War 2, soldiers in training camped along the creek and they stole melons from this paddock, besides eggs from the nests in the hay shed.  Except they took jam melons.  What a disappointment that must have been.



With this childhood, it was just natural that wherever I lived that there was a bit of land, I would plant a garden, flowers and vegetables.  However, until 1996 there were two problems. First, I was a teacher and by the time school got out at the end of June, the garden would be so overgrown and the weeds so big and strong that it took me nearly all summer just to get on top of that. Second, I had no awareness of the different needs of plants with regards to sunlight or soil type.  Back on Dad’s farm there was lots of sun and the soil was so fertile that anything seemed to grow wherever you planted it. So I planted many things in the wrong places and a lot of them did not thrive.



But something changed in 1996.  I retired and now I had TIME.  At this same time, into my mailbox came a Spring Garden Catalog.  And I GOT IT!  The catalog had sketches of suggested plantings for sunny spots, shaded spots, dry shade and damp shade, etc.  It suggested nice colour combinations too.  I got it.  I realized how to plant for location and colour and texture and plant shape and height.  I realized there was such a thing as garden design.  I ordered a selection of plants and my garden started to look more and more eye-catching.



That was 24 years ago.  I have learned a lot more since, particularly about soil types and fertilizers.  I am still learning valuable new lessons, especially with regards to growing vegetables.  I joined the Garden Club in 2002 and have always loved it and still learn from it. No matter how much you think you know already, you can always learn something new or be reminded of something that you had forgotten.  My original flower garden design, which looked just about perfect in 2004, gradually has become a mature garden (which just means old and often crowded and overgrown).  Some shrubs have actually had to be dug up and given to another good new home.  Perennials have been divided many times; some have helped new gardens to get going, and lots of them have been potted up for plant sales.  My husband teases me that now I have to dig up an existing plant to find a spot for the new ones I buy. But, really, I don’t buy many new plants any more: my garden truly is full. . . Except if I see an irresistible new hellebore or bleeding heart or fern.



Margaret Cooper