The layout of our garden and the birth of Pipke: they both took place approximately around the same time. In fact: we can't imagine ourselves our garden without Pipke.
Our garden is her little world although, she has experienced the great big world !
Yes, once she lived a whole month in the woodland, she has tasted freedom and it was a real adventure for her and us! (I will tell you that story later. In fact, that's a part of her story that I have not told in Jen's blog.)
Since then our garden has changed and evolved enormously.
You can see how it started on this picture at the end of October 1994 when the parents and ancestors of Pipke came to visit us.
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and this is the view from my living room window now!
If you want to see how it grew in the mean time then I invite you to watch the photo album
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Click on the link to view *Our garden Pipke's little world August 2009.
*Sorry this link is no longer available!
This shows the result of 14,5 years labor. We constructed the fence and our garden path ourselves. We also laid out the lawn with grass mats* and we even built our little pavilion (or garden house) ourselves, I was my husbands assistant bricklayer.
I sat on my knees in cement to lay and to flatten the screed of the gardenhouse while my husband prepared the specie with the mill.
Believe me this was hard work but, I did it with much pleasure.
I can tell you, during those 14,5 years, every year... there went something wrong with the vegetation. In fact it has always been (and still is) a struggle against plant diseases and insects and that's not easy without the use of insecticides. Here in Belgium they use insecticides for everything, we stand even on the top on that level (we overuse insecticides). But ... we don't use them, it's not good for the environment and of course also for the most important thing: Pipke's health!
I sat on my knees in cement to lay and to flatten the screed of the gardenhouse while my husband prepared the specie with the mill.
Believe me this was hard work but, I did it with much pleasure.
I can tell you, during those 14,5 years, every year... there went something wrong with the vegetation. In fact it has always been (and still is) a struggle against plant diseases and insects and that's not easy without the use of insecticides. Here in Belgium they use insecticides for everything, we stand even on the top on that level (we overuse insecticides). But ... we don't use them, it's not good for the environment and of course also for the most important thing: Pipke's health!
Have you seen her pen? Since the end of last January she wants to go there no longer, she wants to stay in her dogs nest beside our back door. Therefore we made a special cubby-hole (or veranda) for her with a warmth lamp on that spot so that she can stay warm and dry. Of course this is not an ideal situation, but as you can see on this picture taken on August 8, 2009, the situation of her feathers is even at this moment very poor and they are also not at all water proof.
Now her pen and her little pond are a very empty place and when we go there, we have always such mixed feelings.
Once ... she jumped in and out that pond with so much joy, she even dived in that little pool of water. Now ... she's so helpless! She only wants to go there “together” with us because she can't get out her pond without help.
Now she's a real “old little lady” and therefore we pamper her as well as we can and we try to make the best of it.
I am still working on her story, there is so much to tell about her. I had to shift and insert the text already many times because I forgot something.
I want this to become a really "good" post!
Anyhow: This was only a general overview, I will go more in detail in an other post about the works we did and the problems we had (and still have) in our garden. I will give you also more details about the plant varieties.
We tried to make our garden not “too artificial”, but I find this not so easy. In fact ... gardening is a kind of manipulation of nature and some people can make beautiful creations by doing that. Of course it depends also a little on the environment where you live if you can keep your garden natural or not. Here in my region we have a kind of moorland soil and that's not an easy soil for gardening but we try to make the best of it.
I like to finish this post with a picture (taken on August 6, 2009) of the most beautiful thing in our garden, the thing that makes our garden and our life "complete"... our living "ornament":
PIPKE
PIPKE
I hope that you've enjoyed the walk in Pipke's little world!
Till next time.
PS: *I don't know if this is the correct translation or description, maybe “sod” is a better word in this case.
Fran,
ReplyDeleteHow very beautiful! You and your husband have done so much work!! Pipke has a wonderful world in which to live and so much love bestowed upon her-what a lucky duck she is. :)
I am very impressed--the before picture and what you have now are like two different worlds!
What is red hanging from the tree over your head? It is so pretty.
Thanks for sharing Fran!
The red things which are hanging above my head are Rowan berries from the Rowan tree Jeannie.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very common tree here in Belgium, in Dutch it's called: lijsterbes. The thrush (in Dutch a: lijster) and also the blackbird are very keen on the berries.
On the before picture, If you look at the left in the background you see the laurel tree (very small at that time) that has been cut down not so long ago. You can assume how tall it became after14,5 years.
Yes, Pipke is a very lucky duck!:)
If I had not found her she would not have lived. Our vet even says if we had not treated her so well, she would have died already 10 years ago (then she became ill for the first time). As you know we do everything for her!
Thanks for visiting my garden Jeannie:):)