More of the ideas which could be implemented depend on the location and site where the garden is to be made. It would start with an elaborative measurement of the area so that it could be observed of what planting could be done. The soil should be examined to figure out what shrubs will be suitable for it to sustain and what will not be. A few other things such as the water providing system and the light arrangements should be considered as well.
There could be a need of certain changes in the garden which you want to design. The soil might not work out for some of the plants, the drainage system might not be as efficient, and there might be some issues with the length and the height of the plants also. These problems can happen once or twice a year. Make a note of all these things and make sure the garden designer you hire knows all these points as well.
A garden designer should help you with all the information of plants and flowers. This is the field he or she should be an expert because it is going to save you plenty of time and hardship. Your garden designer should tell you what flowers, pebbles or water themes would work out best with the location and lighting scheme.
You also need to make sure that the person you hire for the garden work has enough idea about places where gardening elements and tools are available at cheap or reasonable rates as it would save you cost sharing in buying any expensive material.
You can design your rock garden by following simple steps. First, determine the location and the site where you want it to be placed. Try a natural slope and direction where it should be exposed to the maximum light intensity. Secondly, decide what plants and shrubs you want to include in it. Think convenient. Plant those flowers and herbs which you know are available all time of the year and which would bloom and flourish giving your garden a refreshing look.
Go for the rock theme you want to put in your garden next. Decide separate places for various kinds of planting. If you love plants which need loads of sunlight, for instance, you would need to choose the spot where the sun shines the most or if you like shady grasses or flowers you would have to leave the lightless spots for them. It would be a good choice if you leave spot for both kinds of plants and flowers because it will be a great deal of work if you realize you want to experiment with shade loving plants after all the years you have been having the ones which require more sunlight.
You should also keep in mind about what paths and ways you want in your rock garden. They should be made at the very first spot instead of keeping them the last thing to be done after you have decided all the elements of the garden. You can also select small river rocks and pebbles to add up to the garden bed.
Lots of them are whimsical takes on the classics: enlarged florals & toile-like patterns (The design below is just perfection... It reminds me of a modern version of one of my Grandma's plates... Oh how I need it!)...
Anyway, you've got to check it out!! I am in love and cannot wait to use some of these for projects!!! This post was supposed to be written last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, but life throws you curve balls that interfere with plans. And that was precisely the point I was going to make. It's how we deal with those curve balls that matter.
I'm one of those -- an optimist, through and through. :) I can't help it. I think it stems from my teen years, which I've mentioned a bit on this blog. I had enough sad days then, and since then I just can't stand to be sad or depressed. It makes me physically uncomfortable, I hate it so much.
That's not to say I don't deal with the bad things in life -- I do. I realized a long time ago, when things are at the lowest, doing something, anything helps -- it gives you power and control back. So when things go bad, my control is to look at the good.
I was going to write about some trivial things in this post last week. Things like when the sitter cancels on your night out with friends or the hubby, and seeing that as a good turn of events -- looking at it as a chance to spend unexpected time with your children. And how many, many people in this world would do anything to have children to spend time with.
Or when the car breaks down and you can't get where you wanted to go -- I rationalize things like that by thinking it was probably best I didn't go. Would you call that fate? I just feel when something like that happens, I wasn't supposed to be in that car, at that time, on that road. I think there's a higher power at work and we often forget that, especially at the annoying times.
I was also going to talk about the more serious circumstances, like when I fell down half a flight of cement stairs a couple weeks ago -- holding my son. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. He hit his head, and I could barely walk afterwards. Within seconds he seemed fine, and after a trip to the ER, we found out he was indeed OK and my ankle (that was triple it's normal size) was only badly sprained.
I felt sorry for myself for about two seconds, and then I was overcome with thankfulness that it was just me that was hurt -- and it was just an ankle. How incredibly fortunate that my son was not hurt worse. The what ifs ran through my head and they were not good. So as I've hobbled around for the past two weeks, I've been reminding myself how thankful I am that that's all it was. I can handle with a sprained ankle any day of the week.
This is the way I deal, and it works for me. But my optimism was tested last week. We got news that my father-in-law was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer. I simply cannot put into words how I feel. I won't even try. For the first few hours after we found out, I could barely breath. It was like someone was sitting on my chest. Then, there were the tears, and tears. And tears. My heart is breaking for my husband. It's breaking for my stepdaughter, my sister-in-law, my nephews, for me. For my son.
And now, this bad, horrible news, has yet again taught me to see the good. It was confirmed today that his doctors think he has at least six months with us -- maybe even a year. My heart is heavy. I want to cry again and again. But I also can't help to think how fortunate are we to be able to spend this time with him over the next year. To do special things, take pictures, to create new memories.
For our son to get to know his Grandpa even better.
Every year my father-in-law cooks an authentic Mexican fiesta meal for us and our friends, usually in the fall. He obviously hasn't been feeling great, so we skipped it this year. But now, we're going to have the fiesta the week before Christmas. We will gather around him to cook our Mexican feast with him, and it will be something I'm sure none of us will ever forget. (And yes, it is as good as it sounds!)
I just can't focus on the bad. It's against my nature. I have to look to the good, and there will be much good that will come over the next year. I am sure of that.
If I can, I am asking a favor of all of you. I would really appreciate your prayers. For my father-in-law, that he feels as good as possible for as long as possible. And for my husband and his sister, that they feel comfort and peace right now. I really, really appreciate it. I am so thankful for all of you.
** I am reposting this in Live Writer since Blogger wasn’t picking it up for some reason. I apologize for the two posts!
