legacy

Oh, Lori, what a beautiful blog! So much i want to say, ask, etc., but, right now, I just want to read it over and over!

Lori, You're garden successor would be VERY fortunate indeed.

I spent years on my previous garden, with files of research on local wildlife/gardening. I had albums of pics. I showed them all to the new buyer, pics of all the butterflies sunning themselves on the deck, the 5 generations of bluetits we raised in our homemade boxes, the planting and the videos of us sitting at the outdoor table, with the butterflies flitting across it constantly to reach the buddleaii. and the bluetits sitting right above ouir heads. He was so enthusiastic, asked me to complete b4 sale. I did so. Within 6 months, it had all been ripped out! It was not 4 him.. Apart from the obvious destruction of what had become a lovely garden, and the pointless labour he gave me, i also feel very vexed by the fact that the adjoining field, which was a haven for all manner of wildlife (and from whence I drew my wildlife garden inspiration) is now fillled with 6 streets of houses, with no garden areas at all! I will, probably, never get over these 2 things!

I'm very sorry to hear this David. This is why I have never driven by my previous house.

I hope I'm fortunate, and find someone who will continue what I'm doing...but I must prepare myself for the possibility that the next owner will not care for all my labours...sad fact of life... you have my sympathy...so now go out into your garden and recharge.

Lori,
This is not only a super blog, but an emmotional one. Isnt it wonderful that with the advent of computer technology we can keep records of our human efforts such as this?. Only a priveledged few could keep records of their gardens way back in the past,- and only if they were fortunate to have photographs taken or drawings made of the garden.Im sure youve got masses of photographs- why not keep an album with an annotated text as well.We have done this if only to remind us of all the hard work and the tremendous changes that have happened to the garden in just a short time scale.
You have created a legacy for the future through your garden, and that is something very special. Thankyou for sharing this blog with us.
Love and best wishes,
Grenville.

Lori, I think the project is super! There are certainly people around like the misguided ones that destroyed David's oasis, but I believe the majority would love a legacy like yours to continue with. While everyone has their own personal likes and dislikes, any nature lover would respect what lives on their land, and hopefully do minimal damage in "tweaking" it to their personality. While I enjoy the suprise discovery of plants growing on my rented area, I would have loved a mapping and description to follow when I moved here; perhaps I would have made fewer mistakes in caring for the plants if I had knowledge of what they required.
My children often ask why I bother to create gardens in a rental; aside from the pleasure of having them, the idea of the next person enjoying them is also there. It's like giving a gift of pleasure to someone. We can only hope that it will be appreciated; if not, then surely they are the losers in the situation, not those who have given. I can think of nothing sadder than someone that for whom nature's beauty has no magic! What a life bereft that must be!

thankyou all..I worry that I've bitten off a whole mouthfull, but I'm giving it my best shot. I've just started but if you would like to look in let me know and I'll send you the address.

When I move - my plants are coming with me!!!!

Lori - you have created something beautiful and you are right to log it - even if it's just for reminiscing. I had a heartbreak like David's and I CANNOT go back past our old home in Kent. We left the side plot uncultivated as it was a proper bluebell wood with massed Bluebells, Wood Anemones, Primroses, Cowslips, Violets etc and a real delight in the spring. Now it has been built on.... need I say more? I didn't have a digital camera then but I have just a few precious photos to look at and remember the beauty...

Your log is a wonderful idea Lori, I think we should all do it. But, like Spritzhenry, I wouldn't recommend going past your old home. Our last front garden was really a showpiece for our nursery but now the house and garden are unrecognizable. The new owners are definitely not gardeners. All the beautiful climbers on the front of the house have been ripped off and the garden looks sad and neglected. It's so sad to see.

One of the features I like about this site is listing the plants in my garden, as it allows me to get things organized. I have always kept a journal and now record with the digital camera as well and find this most useful in remembering what grows where and when.

Years ago the house on one side of me was purchased by a real estate agent who moved in and quickly established a healthy garden by relocating plants from a previous client. Unfortunately he sold the property a couple of years later but asked me to take some of the plants before hand.The apartment building exchanged hands several times mainly with absentee landlords who truly let the property go. Today there is no trace of the garden as goats weed and other invaiders have taken it over. I am so thankful that I managed to rescue some of plants before hand. It is so sad to see a once beautiful garden face neglect and ruin.

I'm wondering if many of the folk who commented on this . blog will see this update... maybe, maybe not, but I thought that the sentiments expressed warranted a reprise... it is now 12 years later. We sold our city home and moved into our country cottage on Dec. 30th, 2010. The work that I had planned to do to make a "legacy" page for the next homeowner did not happen... as anyone who has moved house can tell you, your site of most concern shifts when the offer to purchase is accepted. I was working 18 hr. days of spit and polish in order to get the best possible price for our home... and the garden was only a part of it. I took heed of David's warning about the sellers vision of the property vs. the buyers intentions. We found out that the purchaser was a speculator from Montreal who was buying the house as an income property for her son. And after reading David's comments over I decided that the writing was on the wall. she intended to "flip" our house. She made us a reasonable offer and we were in the process of negotiating our purchase here; and in time...it all came together... We moved on the last day of the year..in the early winter...and I had to scramble through Oct. and Nov. to dig up plants I wanted and farm them out to my cousin to over-winter for me. What a schlepp that was! In the end, I left behind most of my treasures and had to completely remove the pond. Crazy... just crazy. but I had no alternative.
So my reason for writing this "update" is to stress to all one of the basic truths of real estate and that is: no one, no person or realtor, sees your garden as anything but a lot of work. I hadn't planned to remove the pond but my realtor said that a young family might think it a danger to their children... oh kay...that I can understand. It spurred me to accept the truth of some of the comments above... that my focus should always be on our next garden and it's needs and challenges not trying to perpetuate the last one. The coda: two years later, my OH and I went to visit a friend and we were told to take a drive by our old place... what a shock.. The fence I put up around the backyard is still standing, but the maple is totally gone from the front yard and it looked like every other house on the street...lots or green grass..a couple of shrubs... back to suburbia.