Subject: SC - winter thoughts

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 18:29:21 -0500 Puck wrote:

>The Wonderdawg and I have decided (with Stoopid Cat's tentative
>concurrence) that there is just too much grass at Puck's Glen.  I mean
>lawn grass, before all you left coasters get too excited.
>It's ecologically unsound, a pain in the butt to mow and just plain ugly.

Oh man, you are so right on the mark!  Grass sux!  Up the flowery mead!

>So the Yaller Dawg and I are beginning to plan our garden.  I'm trying to
>find a reasonably priced copy of _The Medieval Garden_ or a similarly
titled
>book that I've seen before, but in the interim, what do the lists suggest?

For basic data on period gardens, I find GARDENING THROUGH THE AGES
by Penelope Hobhouse, Simon & Schuster, NY 1992 to give an excellent
overview of period gardening and garden plants.
For period structures and layout suggestions, I recommend CLASSIC GARDEN
DESIGN by Rosemary Verey, Random House, NY 1989.  This gives
how -tos on things like topiary, laying out knots, building a period turf
seat, pleached arbors and much more.  The author gives excellent period
references should you need to get back to the original data.
Since you describe the effect as a glen, I suggest further reading in THE
NATURALIST'S GARDEN by John Feltwell, Salem House, Topsfield MA, 1987.
This book has a smaller focus but is more specific on period gardening.  It
gives good details on period plants (including food plants), their time of
introduction and first uses as well as a very good section on herbalists and
period herbals.
If anyone is mainly using Culpepper, I suggest it be rolled up and put by
the porcelain altar where it at least would be useful.  Dover has a very
good basic Gerard and was able to  buy the full and complete reproduction
folio size by Dover at Pennsic this year.

>I have a few definite requirements already:
>Wine grapes in the front yard, as well as an herbal Celtic knot.  Still
>leaves a butt-ton of room in the front yahd. There is an area running
through >the back yahd which becomes a minor stream when it rains.  I'm
figuring some >fruit trees through there.

An essential text for development of  the kind of space you describe into a
productive yet glade/grove like place  is UNCOMMON FRUITS WORTHY OF
ATTENTION by Lee Reich, Addison Wesley, Reading MA 1991.  There are several
chapters on some very important period fruit trees and also good information
on bilberries, gooseberries, currants, and alpine and musk strawberries (the
period strawberries).

Herbal knots are very late Tudor (as you already know I am sure) but a whole
lot of what you see is Gertrude Jykell's interpretation.  If you really want
one, I suggest  reading the HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HERB GARDEN by Kay N.
Sanecki, Ward Lock, London, 1994 (PB).  I think with a moniker like Puck,
you should put in a Troy (truf maze) instead.

>I'd like to do hops on the back fence, but it is under shade.  Does anyone
>know if hops will do well in the shade?

Hops require at least 1/2 day of full sun and a lot of water (but good
drainage in the soil).  The best book I have ever found on hops is HOMEGROWN
HOPS  by
David R. Beech, Reveille Farm, 92984 River Road, Junction City OR 97448.
Published by the author in paperback.

>Do olive trees do well in the north (I think not, but anybody know for
sure?)?

Olive trees do not even do well in the SOUTH!   They are a climate zone 10,
so they grow in south CA, FL and TX (but really well only in CA because the
other two don't have the right kind of soils).  I suggest cornelian cherry
(cornus mas) as a substitute.  They are very similar in appearance and
tastes to olives but grow almost anywhere in the US (except where olives
would grow-figure it out.) There are several large old fruiting cornels in
Central Park in Manhatten.

>Must leave a little room for the beehives.

If you have in mind period skeps, you can probably forget it.  Almost every
state has strict laws against non-movable frame beekeeping.  This is because
of diseases and for infestation control;  non movable frames cannot be
adequately inspected.  There is a Shire booklet called BEE BOLES AND BEE
HOUSES that may give you some workable alternative under the laws of your
state.

>I hafta put a pond in so I can be absofriggenlutley sure Ras catches a fish
>next time he visits ;-).

If you have a running water source you can get by with a small pond.  If you
rely on runoff,  a pond will have to be a minimum size (fairly large) to
maintain a balenced ecosystem with edible fish.  Are you in New York or New
England?  I have not been onlist long enough to locate folks geographicaly.
If you are in the northern clime, ponds are going to have to be rather deep
to keep from freezing out solid.  Do you know if your soil type wiil hold
water or will you need a liner?

I hope some of this information will be of use to you.  If anyone has
gardening
questions, I shall endeavor to answer them as best I can.  (I am a mundane
landscape designer/ architect).

Akim
"No glory comes without pain" (This is especially true of gardens!)

Note: If Puck is offline with his new supercomputer installation, would
someone
forward this to him via another email destination?
Thanks,
 Akim

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