Posted by grannybabble on May 25, 2000, at 11:01:59
In reply to Noa harry…, posted by Janice on May 23, 2000, at 21:06:00
> I always thought English gardens were those highly landscaped, trimmed, coiffed, unnaturally shaped ones, you know with the pointy conical bushes and trees, and angular mazes/labyrinths, etc.
>
> Now I'm not English but I'm pretty sure the wild looking gardens are called English gardens. I know these gardens you've described and they very well could be English too (I really don't know), but they aren't called an English garden. I don't know what these gardens are called.
>
HAPPIEST OF OUTCOMES; Everyone is right. The wild everything put in
together gardens are English cottage gardens or country gardens.
I guess the others are English formal gardens.
>
> harry - good point about the over 50 group not being as internet savy.
>
> Front yards are a compete waste in North America. No one sits in them, parks on them, grows gardens in them--they are a time consuming, make-work project. (well in my opinion)My front yard's not a waste! It's the recreation and toileting center
for all the neighborhood animals. I really don't mind though. My neighbor's
kittens have stripped all the baby spiders from my spider plants but watching
the great drama was worth it.
I call my backyard a wildlife garden and just mow paths through it. I grow lots
of native plants and whatever survives stays. I would like to do more but I try to
make the best of whatever energy I have. And I feel good about doing a little good
by providing shelter for some of the birds and small things that are being driven
out by development.
The frontyard is a different story. I try to keep it decent enough not to offend the
neighbors or at least not drive down their property values ;-) It''s a lot of work.
I have fantasies of taking out the grass and putting in low maintenance groundcover
but that's a BIG project.
grannybabble
poster:grannybabble
thread:34048
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000517/msgs/34595.html