Good Stuff’s Tough To Do

Barry Diller, is the money behind the new Hudson River green space at Pier 55. Five years of planning and design was halted by a court order in March, 2017. However, Barry was never one to back down from a fight. Good results come from the right balance between hard work and strategy. Like gardening.

Mr. Diller’s full statement was: “Good stuff’s tough to do, and maybe it should be.” Ultimately, the new park will be a “shared space for innovative new arts, educational and community events.” Needless to say, Fall clean- up in a small CT garden is nowhere close to the scale of Pier 55. And yet. It too, is a process that warrants the right pace and resources over time. Any gardener knows this.

Pier 55- An artist’s rendering of the grand new public space on the Hudson River

The New Spruce Tree Is In!

You’ll notice, the garden looks chaotic. Blowing and raking leaves for pretty results is where I draw the line. Fall is a time for crazy ass work-an investment in future beautification.

You can’t hardly see it right now but come winter when all the leafy chaos is gone, the garden will be delightfully balanced. There are now four dwarf Alberta Spruce trees in residence as natural sentries. I love the feeling of order that work brings. Punishing labor does pay off.

Tough Mudder Transplant

The hill outside the kitchen window has been in need of attention for a long time. I decided to fill a bare spot next to a large tree with a young magnolia shrub planted elsewhere. It had grown too big and was crowding its neighbors. Last fall I cut its roots in anticipation for the move.

When I couldn’t stand looking at plywood any longer, I bought four new hosta plants and Larry helped me cart in some big rocks. Three wheelbarrows of dirt plus landscape paper created an alternate retaining wall in the hillside. Arrow bottom right shows where the transplanted lilies originated.

You can see the magnolia top left, just in front of the fence in the new location. We moved it from the far right of the hill across to the big tree. The transplanting process was maddeningly hard- the root ball oversize, so just digging it out of the hill onto a tarp and dragging it ten feet across to the new spot was almost too much. The threat of either the bush or ourselves (or both) falling down the hill was a constant worry until Larry helped get the shrub propped up with a piece of plywood-where it stayed for 24 hours. (See the inset lower left of the first stone propping up the plywood). The lower right arrow shows the area where I cleared out lilies to open space under the azaleas. Azaleas have spreading horizontal roots in need of room without plants growing on their heads.

Lilies transplanted to their new home.

Six weeks ago, I planted two new red lily plants on the formal garden approach, intending to immediately feather in some lilies I was weeding out of the azalea hill. Ha! That was 6-8 weeks ago. I’m happy to say the weeding has been done and the lilies are relocated.

Next step, winterizing the boxwoods and planting bulbs… I finally found winter covers for the growing boxwoods – this morning at 5 am… Two years of homemade burlap caps have done their time. I searched and searched- these seemed like the best buy for price and size. We’ll see.

A Great New Park For NYC- Coming Soon

An assist from Governor Cuomo resurrected the Diller Pier55 project in May 2018. 415 piles were installed to support the three-acre public park just north of Pier 54. It’s now scheduled to open in 2020. Great story.

Steve Perry, singer/songwriter, and leaded of the group Journey, has a new album out. Steve Perry’s journey is telling. Steve Perry’s song No More Crying is a message for everybody. If you think life is always the same, that the work of living ends when you get older guess again! A whole new set of challenges and rewards. Dig in!

Scarf “in-progress”

Creamsicle

Speaking of new things. I’m very excited a new scarf I’m working on. I love roses. Do you? Gift -giving season is fast approaching. The last scarf order date is Friday morning, November 16 to ensure delivery by Friday, December 21. Don’t wait! It takes four weeks to ensure I can get your scarf printed, sewn and shipped to you before December 24. If you have any questions, call or email me ASAP. (see below) Ordering early means yours will be first on the runway. Got questions?