The Garden (By Hans Louw)

During the removal from the old to the new quarters came quite something around the corner. We have two great woman (Jenne and Annemiek) who could nearly everybody mobilised.

Afcourse there are many more, but those are the so called silent types. So could i, retired gardner, also may pay my deuce. We were lucky some pieces of ground were left.

The task was to create a garden with a French look. The garden was wuthering and empty. At the start of mai 2004 we could begin. Luckely for us the municipality had egalised the soil.

Even before i could deliver my plans, Annemiek already organised four trees and a bunch of hedge-beeches, without mound but with leave. I have tried it, and due to the fact that the soil was still hard, wet and smelly, only one tree didn't survive. I did get a budget of 300 euro's to buy plants en shrubs. Along the edges of the fields are Lavender and low bushes.

The main point was to improve the soil and getting it covered the first year. Therefor we have sown Gourds, Sunflowers and Corn. At the end of the summer it was partytime for the sparrwos and the fazants.

In the fall of 2005 we got a lot of Beeches and Conifers. Most plants were casts-off and got a second life in our pétanque garden. I have never ever before created a garden in such a funny way. The advantage is that the garden has already a lot of volume. Via Ton v/d Oever we got five greyleaf Willows and from the pétanque association two Maples.

So after all, i accomplished to create a garden with all the plants from Schoonebeek and Erica.
The secret is: Don't put everything through each other, mind color, shape and flowering time.
It is the same as playing pétanque, once in a while you need a bit of luck.