Progress toward Spring

There's nothing wrong with being so close to nature that your moods swing with the weather. Is there? I read in another blog I follow that it might not be healthy, but I think just the opposite. I love the outdoors and spring is one of my 3 favorite seasons. Winter is the only one I struggle to enjoy. Although occasionally it does provide glistening beauty that stops me in my rush to get on with life. Frozen mornings like this one last week is an example. Sparkling crystals hung everywhere as the sun rose and it looked like an ice garden :-)

The snow has nearly melted now bringing muddy tracks into the house and new birds in the garden. We have robins year-round, but this week
I saw my first robin in the yard picking through the wet leaves looking for, and finding, worms. With highs in the 40s we are still below normal, but that hasn't stopped the bulbs or the birds. The cardinals, chickadees, and titmice are calling loudly, determined to set up territories and begin nesting. In spite of the cold and mud being out in the yard is a treat for my ears.

This weekend I built a prototype for my benches that will be placed under the windows in the sunroom. My sunroom, which will be my haven next winter, is still in progress. But in a couple of weeks I should be able to begin moving plants into their new home. I'll need to have the benches ready to raise the smaller plants up to the light. Last week I found commercially built "light stands" that were pretty pricey and too tall for my purpose. So I came up with a plan that would fit perfectly and give me space for starting seeds next winter. This bench, including the trays and light bulbs for the fluorescent fixture cost a little less than $60 to build. It measures 22"H X 52"W X 12"D. The fixture uses 2 T-8 bulbs and can be adjusted to hang at different levels as seedlings grow. The wood will be stained and sealed to match the trim in the room, so it will eventually be a little prettier and water resistant.

As I wait for the construction to be completed and spring to officially arrive, I've been planning and gathering information like crazy. The Metropolitan Lawn and Garden show left me with information overload. My challenge right now is to focus on some realistic goals for my new garden. The area just outside the sunroom, the front yard, is just mud. I think that's where I'll start.

My first newsletter from the Water Garden Society gave me a great solution for the pond that will occupy the front yard. This issue had a large article about gravel bog filters. I had been trying to figure out how to make a more natural edge to my pond and how to configure the filter. This is the solution I've been looking for. Now I just have to decide what type of layout to use. The pond will be roughly dug by my builder. He has agreed to use the dirt from the pond to fill around the sunroom foundation rather than having new dirt brought in. Cross your fingers that the digging happens before the spring rain begins!

The pond should take up most of my time and energy this spring, but the rest of the year will allow time for observing what surprises are hiding in my sleepy new garden. I am already anxious to see what flowers will top the hundreds of bulbs I see sprouting in the overgrown garden spaces. Everything is in sore need of tending, trimming, dividing, and mulching. So I will probably have no need of new projects. But my list of native shrubs is growing and the hedge row at the back of my property looks in need of some serious attention. The road just beyond is clearly visible through the spindly Althea that has self seeded in the shade under the walnut, box elder, redbud, pines, and other shrubs. That may be a worthy effort before next winter.

I guess in spite of my distaste for the cold and uninviting winter, the time it gives me for dreaming about the fun I'll have outside is a gift. And the occasional beautiful sunrise is admittedly uplifting even for this seasonally sour gardener :-)

Winter drags on - Sunroom is a bright spot

After last weekend's busy household happenings this weekend has brought lots of time for happily pondering progress on my winter workspace. The sunroom now has a door, all it's windows, and insulation. And Jerry, my fabulously handy husband, hooked up the radiant heating system he installed in the floor.

Radiant heat feels very different from the forced air heat in the rest of the house. The thermostat that will run the pump for the hot water hasn't been connected yet, so last night Jerry connected the pump directly and let it run for about 4 hours to try it out. Before we turned it off for the night, the air temperature in the room rose from the low 40s to near 60 while the temperature on the concrete slab floor reached about 68. It felt very comfortable. That was rather amazing considering that same temperature might be a little chilly with forced air heat. The temperature shift in the room was slow, I believe, because the slab loses heat very slowly. My plants should thrive in the gentle warmth at their roots. Kudos to Jerry for coming up with the idea and for seeing it through :-)

I'm looking forward to moving into the new space soon, and so thoughts have turned to how to use the space efficiently. As you can see the windows are about 2 1/2 feet above the floor providing very little light to plants sitting under them. So I am designing narrow, movable benches on which plants can sit just below the window. They need to be low enough that the plants sitting on them will not further shade the floor yet high enough that the plants can capture a little sunlight. I think about 20 inches high will work well. On the underside of the bench will be a fluorescent light fixture to light an adjustable shelf. The electrician has installed outlets beneath each window so I'll have power. I hope to start plants under the benches next winter. I think 4 benches should be enough to span the two 9-foot windows and adequate space for several flats of seedlings. I've never had space for starting plants. Learning how to do it and tending the seedlings as they develop should provide some happy distraction while waiting for spring in the years to come.

For this year, I'll have to suffice with watching my sunroom develop. In spite of the fact that most of the work is not mine, I am enjoying the progress. It's a lot like watching a scrawny perennial planted in the fall sprout from the ground the next spring and become the beauty you hoped it would be. In fact, as I see this room grow into being it's almost exactly that same thankful, full-in-your-chest, wide-eyed feeling I get when I discover a plant is about to bloom - like I've discovered treasure. It's an odd, but welcome, feeling this time of year for a gardener.