A New Crabapple Tree
My son has a tiny urban yard in downtown Denver, and for the past three years I have been helping him plant it up. It's been rewarding -- at first I helped him select a few plants that required no care, thinking he would have little interest in maintaining a landscape.
But he's really gotten into it, learning the names of all the shrubs we've planted for him, from spirea to viburnum, even caryopteris and deutzia, which he throws off in conversation with casual abandon. He knows what they need and how to care for them. He knows when to cut back, anticipates when each flowers, and bemoans winter damage. He is taking real pride in his small Denver garden.
Last weekend I was there and we planted a 'Prairifire' crabapple by his garage.
Actually he planted it. What a delight for an aging gardener like me to simply point to the spot and have a young, fit man dig the hole. I did help spread mulch and I did help him amend the soil, tote water and do some pruning, but he did all the heavy digging and lifting. What a treat.
It's been interesting to see him develop an interest in each plant, and it's also fascinating to see him develop a garden style. His style is very different from mine.
He likes a structured, symmetrical look, almost old European, with perfectly spaced plants that mirror each other, bordered by finely cut lawn edges. No plants can touch, he wants no jumble of interlacing branches or flowery blowsiness or things spilling over into the lawn. It's a masculine garden, very serene in its repetition and architectural framework. I like it. I can picture what it will become as it matures.
I got him a metal Zia sculpture for his blank fence, since he wanted his New Mexican Mom's signature on his garden to show my help in its creation.
I did feel ownership of his garden at first as we created it. But now, after three years and with his own very distinct design preferences emerging, it's really his design, not his Mom's.
There wasn't much to show in pictures as of early May when I was there -- it's still too early in Denver for much to have greened up yet; in fact snow was predicted for a few days after I left. But it was good working weather, cool and damp, and we cleaned up everything, moved a big butterfly bush and a juniper, and got the new crabapple planted, along with some other new things to fill in empty spots.
I won't be back up to see the latest plantings for a while, so he promises to send pictures and give me updates. I know this little city garden will be well tended. I know his outdoor space pleases him. And that pleases me.
But he's really gotten into it, learning the names of all the shrubs we've planted for him, from spirea to viburnum, even caryopteris and deutzia, which he throws off in conversation with casual abandon. He knows what they need and how to care for them. He knows when to cut back, anticipates when each flowers, and bemoans winter damage. He is taking real pride in his small Denver garden.
Last weekend I was there and we planted a 'Prairifire' crabapple by his garage.
Actually he planted it. What a delight for an aging gardener like me to simply point to the spot and have a young, fit man dig the hole. I did help spread mulch and I did help him amend the soil, tote water and do some pruning, but he did all the heavy digging and lifting. What a treat.
It's been interesting to see him develop an interest in each plant, and it's also fascinating to see him develop a garden style. His style is very different from mine.
He likes a structured, symmetrical look, almost old European, with perfectly spaced plants that mirror each other, bordered by finely cut lawn edges. No plants can touch, he wants no jumble of interlacing branches or flowery blowsiness or things spilling over into the lawn. It's a masculine garden, very serene in its repetition and architectural framework. I like it. I can picture what it will become as it matures.
I got him a metal Zia sculpture for his blank fence, since he wanted his New Mexican Mom's signature on his garden to show my help in its creation.
I did feel ownership of his garden at first as we created it. But now, after three years and with his own very distinct design preferences emerging, it's really his design, not his Mom's.
There wasn't much to show in pictures as of early May when I was there -- it's still too early in Denver for much to have greened up yet; in fact snow was predicted for a few days after I left. But it was good working weather, cool and damp, and we cleaned up everything, moved a big butterfly bush and a juniper, and got the new crabapple planted, along with some other new things to fill in empty spots.
I won't be back up to see the latest plantings for a while, so he promises to send pictures and give me updates. I know this little city garden will be well tended. I know his outdoor space pleases him. And that pleases me.
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