Not Quite Done Yet....

I am feeling like I haven't quite finished ranting yet. I have some images of egregious errors of the sort I vented about two days ago.

Here Henry not only points out the offending, highly visible weed barrier but he passed judgement on it too. In this particular urban planting the caretakers have decided that grass is too high maintenance. So they insist on the old weed barrier/bark mulch treatment. Problem is that with every rain (which has been for the last 40 days and 40 nights here) the bark mulch is washed away in mini-ravines to expose the beauty of the black plastic. The irony is that about two feet away is a HUGE clump of crab grass that is basically giving the weed barrier the ol' "in your dreams, sucker" salute.

This the offending garden circle in Wagner Park. Take note of the concentric planting forming a bulls eye around a flowering crab. Now the source of my irritation isn't really evident from this photo.... why its just some sweet little marigolds doing their marigold job. What kind of meany would hold it against them? There is not another flowering plant in this WHOLE park. It is all beautifully trimmed junipers,arborvitae, laurels, rhododendrons and I think some pachysandra. It is calm, cool, green, and orderly. Annuals marching in formation have no business mixing it up with big shouldered evergreens. Certainly not if they are going to display their "hey, big boy" color scheme.

Ahhhh... the ubiquitous potentilla. And to both prove and disprove my former dig at them. These are not in front of a gas station, but they are in front of a strip mall. And to truly make the point of how and where these plants should be viewed... notice the rear view mirror on the left side of the photo. These should only be viewed from cars, preferably at 60mph.

Thinking Too Much Again

I have disappeared from the blogosphere because I figure if I don't have anything good to say than I may as well not say anything. But people ( her & her) have been wondering where I disappeared to. I have been digging up a new bed this weekend .... like I don't have enough to weed. It is about 17-18 feet long. I am guaranteeing that no one will ever buy this property..... one look at it and they will start tallying up the costs of a team of professional, full-time weeders.

My grass looks pretty awful here- how that is possible with all the rain we have been getting I will never know.

So I figure if people are asking I may as well give them something to read.

THINGS I HATE:
Potentilla- I have tried to like them but they are just plain ugly. The only place they belong is in front of a gas station. That dig is courtesy of the Renegade Gardener.

I hate weed barrier even though she says it is wonderful. It always ends up coming through the mulch to get chewed up by the lawn mower and dispensed hither & thither over your property.

I hate bark mulch. It chews up your cuticles terribly. And who ever thought of dying it orange? They should be shot along with the people who invented stone chip mulch- especially the white stuff.

I hate withering daffodil foliage, but I put up with it because I love daffodils. The minute I feel it has ripened enough I rip it out.

I hate circle gardens. They are for little old ladies. The landscapers who installed one in Wagner Park (Pretty Park) in Manchester, NH.... one of the nicest urban plantings ever.... should have their licenses revoked. Landscapers, indeed.

I hate edging that has been improperly installed. It should not be visible. The rolled edge should just pop above the surface of the soil making for easy mowing over it. It is not intended to create a little fence between your grass and your flowerbeds.

I hate double petunias. They invariably look like used Kleenex.

I hate it when people put little tiny flowers into huge pots. What are they- blind? Have they no sense of scale? Proportion?

I hate plastic flowers put into pots this time of year. Really now. Is it so hard to stick a few marigolds in? Isn't the point to add a little beauty to your life? Not another piece of cheaply made garbage.

Okay. Overlook my vitriol if I have offended you and chalk it up to some hormonal imbalance. If you agree- wonderful. I will know there are other cranky gardeners in the world.