I love daisies in the lawn. J, my gardener/handyman, does not. And on this point, as with so many others where matters horticultural are concerned, I rather weakly give in to him. Staff, as we all know only too well, are not easily come by these days, in fact not since the War, and so, perforce, he, along with every cook and housemaid, must be accommodated.
Now, with these milder February days, J is once more engaged in lawn maintenance. In my view this is an expensive and unnecessary procedure; in his an essential aspect of the well cared for garden resulting in, as he never tires of telling me, the finest of swards.
I can see him now as I write, up and down, up and down, with the Allen 'Walkover' sprayer evenly and accurately applying a fine film of Moss Kill over the grass. Within the week this will be followed with a Weed and Feed, a treatment repeated each month, and at no little cost, until the autumn when some further wicked concoction will see us through the winter. No matter my protestations of the need to be 'green', 'organic', of 'global warming' and even of 'saving the earth', J is not to be diverted and so my dream of daisies, and daisy chains [to buttercups I dare not go], remains just that.
When it comes to lawn edges, that is an entirely different matter. At this point J and I are in complete agreement - an abhorrence of ragged, unkempt grass spilling over into the border. But here, dear Reader, please do recall I am in the heart of Maida Vale! No, a half moon edger, used sparingly, and a pair of well sharpened, long handled shears ensure that edges remain crisp and trim throughout the growing season.
But to return to flowers in the grass. At Highgrove, where HRH The Prince of Wales has, or certainly had, the most splendid of wild flower meadows, I am told, most reliably, that this is, or was, ploughed up and replanted each year. So much for that!
P.S. Today's image is of two parlour maids [doing precious little in my view] taken in London in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War.
146 comments:
Hahaha! I have this same photo on a greeting card, Edith. It's priceless. I do think daisies are the friendliest of flowers.
dear edith,
if we put weed and feed on our lawn, nothing would be left as it is mostly weeds that we keep green. your gardener would have a field day.
xo
janet
Oh Edith, I do not have a gardener but can sympathize with your battle of wills, re: daisies, being green, etc. I would be on your side if I were visiting you, and then it would be 2 to 1 but still I believe your gardener would prevail. Just yesterday I remarked to a friend who was late arriving at the pool where we exercise "your gardener was there, right? He is the boss, isn't he?"
You would like my lawn in the summer, full of daisies - but squint because there are a few dandylions and lots of clover in there too! I am absolutely with you on the edging issue - enhances the borders and transforms the overall look of the garden.
Dear Edith,
Your grass must look as tidy as a golf court! We have gardens on our allotment complex which have grass like yours. It looks immaculate, no moss, no daisies, no buttercups or dandelions. When walking to our garden, passing those gardens, we always stop to look at it and wonder. What do they do to the grass to get it the way it is. Now I know!
Grass like this has to suit you. Although I am a tidy person I love it when grass is just grass, daisies and buttercups included! It's much more romantic!!
Happy sunday!
Lieve groet, Madelief
Dear Edith,
I am afraid that your gardener would have a 'funny turn' if he caught a glimpse of our lawn !! Like you, I have a liking for the common daisy.....not so much for the dandelion or moss though. I have just told my husband of the regime that J is carrying out and he will be on the case ASAP. Please tell J that we are most grateful, even though those pretty little daisies will be no more.
.... and, I love that old photograph of the two parlour maids....they don't look too happy in their work, do they ?
Wishing you a lovely week Edith. XXXX
I,too, love flowers in the grass, but I'm my own tender of gardens, beds, and lawn so no chemicals intrude upon the vast array of dandelions. Once upon a time, I grew a flowery mead with corners of thyme, tiny bursts of star flowers and violets sprinkling the lawn, and an edging of ornamental strawberries called Pandas that bloom a darling pink. It was a place to picnic, lay in the flowered grass and dream, or serve afternoon tea. *deep sigh*
A beautiful lawn, green and very even is the highlight of any garden. I have seen people aerate their lawn with spikes, and spread sand and fertiliser... Another immaculate procedure, probably unnecessary to some... But the end product is an excellent lawn.
Edith I'll bet your lawn and gardens are something beautiful to behold!
Our neighbors had little daisies everywhere in their yard and they came over to ours. They seem to be getting replaced with dandelions and Bob is working hard to get rid of those now. I'd much rather have the daisies.
I have many ragged edges and don't like them but have learned to live with them because we've taken on more than we can take care of. Actually they were trimmed nicely but done with a quick fix since this place needed so much work and they have now rotted out. I guess we'll get back to them someday. But for now it's work work work keeping the flowers going and getting my gardens in shape. One day at a time.
I was once maid of honour at a Spring wedding where all the flowers were daisies. Bouquets and bouquets everywhere, even carried by the bride. Really, it was lovely. And a confession.... I actually adore moss! But how wonderful it is that Spring is getting ready to reappear!! We are all longing for flowers and green.
Happy Sunday!
Dear Edith,
you must obey to keep your gardener, I can understand that. My views on moss and daisies in a lawn you know - and I adored the view of a huge, huge floodplain which was totally covered with dandelions. Which leads me to "The Rolling Stones" - 'I'm just sitting on a fence' - I think one of the servants does resemble extremely Mick Jagger. Oh, have to leave:
"You Rang, M'Lord?"
Edith - I think J would be quite upset at what goes on in my garden - I'm sure he keeps your lawn as beautiful as Alistair's. Luckily, I don't have a gardener so I can do as I please. In November, I planted crocus bulbs in my lawn - hope I don't regret it.
Dear Willow, Thank you for your comment. Great minds as they say....yes, I just loved this image!
Dear Janet, Thank you for your amusing comment which really made me laugh. I do think that J really loves tending the grass, so he would be more than happy to take on yours too...if I were to let him!!
Dear Terra, Thank you for your comment. Yes, the odds would have to be far better than two to one to win against J. Besides, goodness knows what he gets up to when I am out of the country!
Dear Belinda, Thank you for your comment. Yes, I am sure that I should love the look of your lawn.Wild flowers and crisp edges...perfect!!
Dear Madelief, Thank you for your comment. I agree that grass which includes self sown wild flowers is so much more romantic than my neat, emerald square. But, then again, I think that, overall, my personality is better suited to the manicured look!
Would that one's lawns were littered with daisies, as opposed to the dandelions, crab grass, and plantain that invidiously invade our lawns at Darlington. Reggie adores digging and pulling dandelions, a right of spring for him, and has (mostly) rid the property, at least the part of it in greatest proximity to the house, of such nasty little yellows. I find that the insertion of steel guards along the edge of the driveway allows for a crisp delineation between lawn and gravel, and was well worth the hideous expense involved to have installed.
Dear Jacqueline, Thank you for your comment. I am afraid to say that I have left out several other of J's steps of lawn maintenance for the sake of brevity in this posting. There is the lawn sand...the spiking.....the fertilising....the watering....... I could go on!!!
Dear Teresa, Thank you for your comment. Oh, to share afternoon tea with you on your 'flowery mead'......I should love it!
Dear Bangchik, Thank you for your comment. Yes, you are so right. The way to a perfect lawn is not an easy one, as J would be the first to say. Indeed, J reminds me of this often!!
Really funny! My gardener bosses me about as well, and I have to obey him. That's what life is all about... :)
Dear RG, Thank you for your comment. I am most interested in what you say here for my constant advice to anyone starting a garden is......not to take on any more than you can keep beautiful....I think that this helps to avoid disappointment in the long run.
Dear Pamela, Thank you for your comment. The Daisy bouquets at the wedding sound to have been absolutely delightful. Daisies are such cheery flowers that they always bring a smile to the face!!
Dear Britta, Thank you for your comment. Yes, I sometimes frighten myself at the thought of what I am prepared to do to keep J!! But then, there are so many other areas of the garden that we are in complete agreement over......and the grass is certainly ever green!!
I liked your battle of the daisy. Here I have landscapers, but no one for the lawn, and when those little imports, the dandelion show, they get to stay. My neighbor's lawn is a glow with dandelion and white daisy. I will take an photo this year. It is really pretty, but the lawn guy's nightmare. Not to mention all the neighbors who fight the battle.
Dear BAG, Thank you for your comment. Ah, freedom.....and a drift of Crocuses in the lawn...perfect!!
Dearest R, Thank you for your comment. Oh, the yellow perils of Dandelions.... J is in his element when digging deep to eradicate them from the otherwise unblemished sward!The steel edging does sound to be the 'final solution' to grass edging....but J, I am afraid, is not one to be persuaded into modern technology!
Dear Dona, Thank you for your comment. Yes, I suppose you are right. It is the natural order of things to be bullied by one's gardener!
Dear Donna, Thank you for your comment. Oh, the perils of living next door to non-gardeners. A topic of a posting in itself, I think!!
I will say I am in agreement with J, but I will also add that one day I was taking a walk and in the middle of an uninhabited area there was a gorgeous field of wild flowers. I will say that is was beautiful and a reminder that God is everywhere, and an artist. Oh and love the image:)
I love wildflower meadows! Unfortunately, one of the wildflowers that grows on my property is toxic to horses. Since I have horses, and you can't kill just one kind of wildflower selectively, they all had to go. The only flowers here are in the garden. Oh well.
Why not leaving daisies in peace? Do they really need harassment with non-organic products?! I'm sure mowing them once they have finished blooming should be satisfying enough for your famous "J"...
Your post is really accurate, there seem to be an increasing opposition between the one who stick to their convictions and the one who adapt to the urgent context...
Dear Carrie, Thank you for your commet. In Hungary, there are many areas of unspoilt wildflower meadows through which one can wander at will. I agree that it is a most magical sight.
Dear Shannon, Thank you for your comment. I do admire your looking after horses which must be such terrifically hard work. And yes, of course, their well-being must be paramount.
Dear Gabriel, Thank you for your comment. Although I am in complete agreement with you....J will have none of it. Beheading without digging out root and all is considered by J to be only a job half done!!
Oh what a shame - I love seeing daisies and buttercups in a lawn. The both bring back memories of childhood summers, making chains and generally amusing ourselves.
Obviously I don't know the size and layout of your garden, but maybe you could find a way to negotiate with J and perhaps have a small area of lawn where daisies and buttercups could grow.
Enjoyed reading about your battle of the lawn look! I'm not sure your lawn would live up to your fairy tale image even if J gave up his endeavors. Hopefully you can work some wildflowers into your flower beds - I love daisies, too!
Dear Bub, Thank you for your comment. Ah yes, those endless days of childhood summers...or so they appeared. My lawn is the size of a handkerchief so there is little room for negotiation!
Dear Chris, Thank you for your comment. I fear that you may be right. Perhaps it is best that I keep my romantic ideas in my head and leave the practicalities to J!!!
I agree, it's probably best to submit to the wisdom of your gardener, with the impeccable lawn being his pride and joy.
There's lots of green, open spaces in London to indulge in daisy spotting, and making daisy chains :)
The most beautiful displays of these yellow daisies, en masse over stretches of fields, I've seen in Central France. Truly spectacular!
Dear Mark and Gaz, Thank you for your comment. I only dare to write my objections privately in this weblog as I have no wish to upset J who is in a thousand different ways an excellent gardener. And, yes, you are right....there are parks for daisy hunting!!
It is indeed hard to get good help. I've always said that :) Edith, the blog and I thank you so much for your incredibly kind comment on our blogday...but I have to tell you...the pleasure has been all mine. You are one of a kind :)
Dearest Kerry, Thank you so much for your kind comment. Believe me, dearest Kerry, I can write a book on help or, as it usually is, hindrance around the house.....and, in the end, silence is the best policy. I often remark that my Mrs. N 'comes and does'..but what she does is anyone's guess. May your week bring you joy!
Dear Edith, Where to start, although you probably know what the gist of my comment will be. Your relationship with J reminds me so much of Beverly Nichols (I have read all his garden-related books) and his gardener, which is one of the most magically depicted relationships in literature (leading to much weeping on my part). That being said, I am of the if-it's-green-and-can-be-mowed, it's lawn. My lawn is gorgeous in early spring with dandelions, Quaker ladies, violets, veronica, wild strawberries, crocus, star of Bethlehem and any other little weedy flower that wants to grow there. I delay the first mowing just to enjoy them. There are no buttercups because I dig them out of the lawn and move them to the border with yellow archangel 'Herman's Pride' (clump-forming)---spectacular. If we are going to solve our environmental problems, we have to redefine what a lawn is (or get rid of it entirely) because dousing it with chemicals is not sustainable. We all know why, but did you know that commonly used lawn chemicals cause (not might cause but cause) cancer in dogs. And what about our children? I'll stop now and hope for more Beverly Nichols-like posts from you. Carolyn
Hi Edith,
I can totally relate to J, as we seem to be addicted to have a lovely lawn no matter how small it is. I have such a small grass area my husband says a hamster could take care of it.
But each year, we fertilize, use weed control, grub control, etc.
Eileen
Dear Edith,
I have buttercups in my lawn....and it's war.
We do not use chemicals as they are banned in our municipality...so weed and feed is not permitted.
The agreement on edges is like mine...but they get ragged in between clippings...
I so want a J in my patch!
Would you consider posting a picture of your garden?
Dear Carolyn, Thank you so much for your extensive comment. I think that I shall print off an edited version [minus the Beverley Nichols parts] of what you have written for J to add weight to my argument against the use of chemicals on the grass. I fear though it will fall on deaf ears.
As it happens I have just finished reading Bryan Connon's 'Beverley Nichols A Life' which paints him in a not altogether flatering light.
Dear Eileen, Thank you for your comment whch delighted me hugely. I loved your husband's thought that a 'hamster could look after your lawn'. I have no idea why my pocket handkerchief of a lawn takes up so much of J's time....
Dear Hostess, Thank you for your comment. I am sorry to disappoint you on two counts. First, I could not bear to part with J. And, secondly.....a photograph of the garden.....now, where would the mystery be?!!
Dear Edith,
As you know, I'm all for flowery swards, but J. is quite right: for Maida Vale a velvet lawn is de rigeur. I love the way great houses with striped lawns always seem to have the daisy Erigeron "Profusion" bursting from steps and paving.
Wildflower vs. weed: it’s a matter of perspective. The guy who does our lawn has to be organic but my decree. We only use poison on invasive trees and horrible brown tail moth (rash inducing.) Pesticide run off can hurt our native birds and lobsters especially in Maine.
I named a character in my WIP, NOT CRICKET, after daisies. Daisy is quite a common name for country girls and domestic servants – thought that was what your image was about. Let’s hear it for daisies! Sorry to be late to visit. I have been offline.
Well now that our lawn has been taken out once and for all I don't have to worry about weeds or edging, my two least favorite things about lawns. I imagine yours is beautiful. My husband tried for years to make ours pretty and no matter what the weeds and moles found their way back in. Maybe one day we'll have a bigger piece of property and have a lawn again, and I'd love daisies in it too.
Dear Edith: What a fun post! I don't have a gardener, but the husband and I sometimes disagree about lawn/garden care. I take care of most of the annuals/perennials/bushes and he's the tree guy. Good division of labor. Frustrating when we really have different opinions, though. ;)
Dearest Edith, This is a tough one. I would most likely not be able to go along with J's lawn procedure. I could only hope I would not lose him over the need to not douse poison into my little bit of earth. I imagine he might be somewhat like my former gardener and assistant Ed was, in stubbornly clinging to his ideas of how something must be done. After all the older gardeners are the experts. I would often have to tell Ed that I had to learn through my mistakes sometimes. I had to just take the leap into gardening my way. There is it seems a major difference between Ed and J, however. Ed would have given a lengthy lecture to anyone trying to put chemicals in the garden. I am sure there were many other differences too . . . for Ed was more than just a bit eccentric. A Harvard College dropout . . . Middlebury College Economics degree, then a breakdown saved by gardening. He was brilliant and somewhat of a Johnny Appleseed legend himself. It was not easy to stand up to him. I imagine J to be in his 70's . . . did you say once? I recall him being very agile. Ed was 70 when he came to work with me. I was the head gardener however, had already developed large gardens and my being thirty something at the time and rather green (compared to Ed) . . . if you know what I mean . . . must have pushed Ed's patience at times. Well I know it did, but I would not give in all of the time. He had an easier time with people who simply hired him to care for their gardens . . . they did not run the show. . . they were not gardeners themselves. J would throw up his hands and walk away most likely. I understand how hard it might be with cooks or gardeners who are in charge. It can be hard to challenge them but perhaps you might win out for those darling daisies someday and for your toes. I am rooting for you on this side of the pond. I too love daisies and even dandelions . . . when the lovely yellow flowers go by, I harvest the greens, which are more nutritious than spinach. Gosh, if J could see the carpets of Bishops Weed here . . . he might have a heart attack! Mind you I do not like the horrid plants . . . I did not invite them here either but I cannot shoo them away with any 'wicked concoction'. I do agree about the edging! What a difference it makes. Though I also like Monet's technique of spilling nasturtiums into a wide path. I do love the word 'sward'. As always a wonderful post in wit and wording.
There is a wildflower garden at the castle where I stay in Scotland. It was formerly the tennis court, so it's a neat rectangular box in perfect view from the library windows. I'm pretty sure it's never ploughed, and it repeats beautifully.
I too like daisies in the grass - they are especially pretty when they turn a pinkish tinge; bits of that a bits of perfectly mown lawn are an ideal combination, (in different areas) of a garden.
Dearest E,
Are you sure that J is not really Oldfield, that legendary gardener at BN's Merry Hall? They sound like they are cut from the same cloth. I do wish that J would be interested in taking a vacation in canada, I could supply him with a half acre lawn, that would keep him busy!
Dearest Isobel, Thank you for your comment. I can see what you mean about the perfect lawn..... pinstripes are the male dress code here so the lawn must match I suppose!
My favorite, in the lawn, is violets - swaths of purple and bits of very cool white in the fresh spring grass - HEAVEN! Here, in Vermont, more often than not, a lawn is mostly mown weeds with mingled with grass seed. I think that this is what happens when one is surrounded by meadows. It's a losing battle to try and weed.
Now, it seems like spring is beginning to come to the UK (although, I wonder where you are, at the moment=]). We still have several feet of snow and my shrubbery is quite buried. The clouds, however, today, are high - rain clouds - and, not the dark glowering frigid things that we've seen for months. There's HOPE!
Happy Valentine's day, by the way!=]
Love, Katy xo
Dear Sarah, Thank you for your comment. The only redeeming part of J's lawn treatment is that he is very sparing with the products he uses and always waits for perfect weather conditions.
Yes, I was aware of the term 'Daisies' for servant girls and thought that the title made an amusing pun. When will your WIP appear on the shelves of bookshops..... please do not let me miss it!
Dear Catherine, Thank you for your comment. How sensible you are to remove the grass and I am sure that your new borders will be lovely. Sometimes I am happy to have a green oasis in the centre of my garden but, at times, it just feels like a battleground!!
Dear Beth, Thank you for your comment. I think that your division of labour arrangement is a very good one. The problem for me is that not only does J do everything, he does it all so much better than I can. And so, there must be the truce....... uneasy as it is when it comes to the lawn!
Dearest Carol, Thank you so much for your extensive comment. I am absolutely full of admiration for the way in which you do things at Flower Hill Farm and the way you handled the [very tricky it seems to me] Ed. Of course, you are right in that I should stick to my guns. And, I am sure that if J were faced with the two of us, change would be certain. But, dearest Carol, J is younger than I am [in his late fifties], stronger than I am, more practical than I am, exceedingly well read when it comes to gardening practices, charming and persuasive....I am weak and so I give in. But, at one time, he used to fumigate the Alpine House - he does not do that any more. A small victory!!
Dear Columnist, Thank you for your comment. I am rather sad that so many great houses seem to have either dispensed with their tennis courts completely or had them tarmaced over. I love to see a well tended court and to hear the reassuring thud of tennis balls on grass.
Dearest D, Thank you for your comment. A holiday for J in Canada.... oh, dear me no! I know what you are up to and I shall have none of it.The lure of half an acre of grass would be temptation indeed for a man who loves nothing better than striving for the ultimate bowling green sward. Dearest D, you would turn his head and keep him for yourself...Jezebel!!
Dearest Katy, Thank you so much for your comment. A lawn where you are out in the most glorious countryside is quite a different matter...and how wonderful it is when it is a complete mixture of self-sown plants.
I am in London at the moment but shall soon return to my beloved Budapest for a few days. There is a sense that the weather is finally turning and spring is on its way.
Happy Valentine's Day to you and Tom.
Dear Edith,
I must confess that I am not a big fan of lawns or grass. I have slowly embarked on a mission to rid our property of all green grass. Daisies on the other hand, are always welcome.
Myra!! Edith Hope also likes daisies in her lawn, you will have to head south and live with her. Joking apart, she really has always gone on about daisies in the lawn, must be a girl thing. Sorry not with you there, well would you ever have guessed.(Bag) says J must keep the lawn like Alistairs, would that be mwa. Please don't think in spite of what I may say that I am totally environmentally unfriendly as I really do a lot in the garden to attract wildlife successfully.
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for your comment.I frequently ask myself [not J, of course,]why I have any grass at all. To quote Eileen's [Gatsby's Gardens] husband, "a hamster could look after the lawn" as there is so little. Perhaps 2012.....
Dear Alistair, Thank you so much for your comment. Clearly you and J would be in Seventh Heaven talking 'grass' and how to achieve the perfect lawn. It would appear from BAG that my Maida Vale sward and yours in Aberdeen have much in common. Well, I suppse that Myra and I could go somewhere for afternoon tea whilst you and J swapped insider secrets!!
I hope you can eventually re-educate your gardener, dear Edith. The golf course lawn is dreadfully hard on the ecology. He is employed by you, after all, not the other way around...and even a stubborn old dog can learn a useful new trick.
Mirabel Osler's fine book "A Gentle Plea for Chaos" may be able to change his mind. "In the Eye of the Garden" is another delight.
The parlor maids have been asked to pose--thus, the precious little they seem to be doing. They're probably grateful to have a minute not to be run off their feet. They don't look happy, that's for sure.
Speaking of gardens, do you know Katharine Mansfield's story "The Garden Party"? I remind myself that it's coming on spring, time for re-reading.
Good wishes,
Charlotte
Dear Charlotte, Thank you so much for your comment. In so many aspects, J is very well educated indeed. It would seem that the lawn is his blind spot.
MO is a friend of mine and I agree that both of the books that you mention are excellent. It is most interesting that MO does not have a blade of grass in her current garden...a very formal town garden.Times change!!
I shall seek out KM. 'The Garden Party' sounds like my cup of tea.
You must be delighted that your weather is warm enough to tackle lawn issues, dearest Edith. Believe me, you and Mr. Ho-Hum would get along just fine. He is a stickler for crisp edges with his half moon edger ... in fact, often know as a fanatic nitpicker! Agree, not only are the maids doing precious little, but look extremely glum ...
Oh dear, that sounds rather familiar. We are now living with my other half's parents, which is generally a wonderful and life-enhancing experience. However. My father-in-law's approach to lawn care matches J's. Not currently a problem, as I dug up the small patch of grass to make room for more plants and wildlife pond, but when we come to move, this will become an ISSUE! I totally agree that neat edges are a must, but daisies, buttercups, even moss, to me, enhance rather than detract, and I hate the thought of chemical intervention. We may require arbitration!
Dearest Joey, Thank you for your comment. I am pleased that Mr Ho Hum and I share a love of right-angled edges. I really do think that it sets the whole garden off and allows the borders to be more relaxed.
As for the housemaids.... glum indeed is the word. I rather naughtily thought that the taller one looked like a man in drag....but surely that could not be so?!!
Dear Janet, Thank you for your comment which made me smile. I usually reject any idea of a gender divide over certain topics, but I am beginning to change my mind on this as far as lawn maintenance is concerned. It rather does seem to be a 'man thing' that a lawn must be perfectly green, striped, clipped frequently and free of any weed. Yes, arbitration may be the only solution to the problem in your new house...I wonder if ACAS has ever dealt with this issue before?!!
Edith I would love J to come and do that maintenance on my front garden. I like to keep it daisy, moss and clover free. Unfortunately J would not like my back garden as I have decided that clover is now going to be allowed to spread. Lawn sand, a light scarify and then a good feed are always on the menu on my lawn come the month of March. I've just bought a new lawn edger as I prefer those to the electric lawn edgers/strimmers. My lawn edges have to be neat otherwise the garden just looks so untidy.
Dear Rosie, Thank you for your comment. Whenever I see photographs of the lawn in your front garden it always looks impeccable. But, the back garden sounds like a much more carefree approach and, no, I cannot see J going along with that....I could, though, happily!!
Goodness, if I had the choice between a lawn and moss I would choose the moss in a heartbeat! It's pretty and soft and there is no need to mow. And if there are any wildflowers that grow in moss out there they are welcome too. An enjoyable read Edith, until the next.
Dear Patty, Thank you for your comment. I do really like the idea of a Moss Garden.....perhaps rather Zen like.....monastic even...with just raked gravel as a contrast! I do not think that J would 'go' for this!
Oh Edith I could not do without the odd daisy here or there so you have my sympathies. However J. sounds very much like a man on a mission who will not be deviated so best to concur :)
Dear Anna, Thank you for your comment. How right you are...J is most definitely a man with a mission and a mower. And, to be crossed at one's peril!
I think in a country setting a lawn of wildflowers would be wonderful! It's all about context.
When I was a child we had clover growing throughout our lawn, and I have fond memories of making sweet-smelling clover chains, much like daisy chains. Now my lawn is all zoysia, and I keep it neatly edged with the half moon edger; it works great! But if I see a patch of clover in my garden amongst the other flowers and shrubs, I let it stay. Also most welcome are the violets, which don't grow in the lawn but are wonderful in the front and woodland gardens.
Ah the perfect lawn, looks wonderful but its not for me, all my time and energy goes first to the veg patch then too the borders then the hedges and shrubs, though II must concure, crisp edges a lawn do make.
Dear Deborah, Thank you for your comment. Yes, I agree, context is most significant when considering any form of planting scheme and a lawn is no exception. Wildflowers sneeking into borders add a wonderfully informal element when one is gardening in the countryside and look perfectly at home.
Dear James, Thank you for your comment. I am not surprised that your lawn is not a priority with so many other more pressing concerns in your garden. But yes, if you only do one thing with the lawn.....clip the edges.....it is surprising what a difference it makes to the whole garden.
Edith, I think I read that biography, but it doesn't change my opinion that he is an excellent garden writer. My comparison was meant to be a huge compliment to you.
Carolyn
Dear Carolyn, Welcome back. I do so agree with you about BN......highly fanciful, but very readable and enjoyable. As it happens I have a collection of all his garden books as first editions. And, thank you so much for the compliment, I was not offended in any way by your comment. Far from it!
Dear Edith, I'm with you on the daisies and on being green. But your J seems to be one of the legions of men who take lawns very very seriously. In my garden, the lawn is the province of my husband as well. And I'm grateful. And in England it's practically a question of honor, isn't it?
Barbara
Ontario has placed a ban on herbicides and insecticides on lawns. It's quite radical but it has forced many to think about more environmentally friendly options. I, too, agree about the importance of edging for lawns in enhancing the landscape.
Dear Barbara, Thank you for your comment. You have hit the nail on the head here, dear Barbara. Yes, a matter of honour. I really do think that this is how J views the whole business of lawn tending....stripes and all!!
Dear Paul, Thank you for your comment. Well, a national ban would certainly mean that J would have to change his ways!!
Dear Edith,
I sympathise with your battle. We used to have a landscape service that cut our lawn (and also ate my fruit, and picked my roses), but they had to go one day when they mistook my newly-planted ground cover for weeds and killed it all. Since then, my garden has become much more work (I do it mostly myself now) but also much more peaceful.
Dear Masha, Thank you for your comment which made me smile. Oh dear, the landscape service sounds to have been a dreadful experience. In J's defence I must say that he has many admirable qualities...only the lawn is our battleground!!
I too fancy daisies but never see them in the landscapes here in hot Houston, TX. I so agree with a nicely edged lawn. In fact I was out doing just that this a.m.
Cheers ~ Deb
I, like you, love to see daisies in the lawn. I don't much mind moss either, I love to watch the birds harvest it to line their nests to keep their broods safe and warm. I am not one for using chemicals, so I am sure your chap and me would soon part company!
I've been reading your blog a while now, on and off, and thought I would pop my head around the corner and say hello and how much I enjoy seeing the world from your perspective.
Zoë
To me, lawn is space to rest the eyes....and emerald is a nice color for a square patch
...J sounds like you've met your match kind of guy, Edith
Good evening Edith. Could you not convince J to plant you up a wild corner of a border somewhere to include daisies, cornflowers, poppies and all manner of other delights? If he won't accommodate that idea, then my only other suggestion would be to send him to me and I shall put him to work on my lawn.. after days of grubbing up daisies, and seemingly making no headway on eradicating them, he would be glad to get back to your lawn and I feel he would then happily leave your daisies be! The offer is there if you need it :)
Simon.
I like daisies and buttercups in the lawn too. Clover too!
that said, I don't have any lawn, so this feeling is mainly from my childhood where I wasn't the one who had to take care of the lawn.
Well, if it gives you any hope dear Edith, I was once a slave to weed-and-feed, and half moon edgers! My grandfather and father however would gasp if they could see us here. Not a manicured lawn, a lawn roller, or those lovely alternating light and dark lawn stripes after a close mowing, in sight. I followed their lead as a young gardener, but now, as they say, I march to the beat of my own drum. Alas though, we don't have wild daisies here, poppies, dandelions, and clover mostly. I do so miss those lovely golden yellow buttercups, probably because we don't have those either. As for my half moon edger, I don't miss it. I do still have it, perhaps for sentimental reasons, as a wildflower meadow doesn't really need one. It now sits in our workshop as a testament to previous gardens, but now rusted, and unloved.
Hi Edith,
This was a lovely and funny post. I must admit to being blesed with a mindset that like lawns in all their varieties. With or without daisied, or swathes of crocus breaking up the green expanse, and wild flower meadows....just gorgeous. At The Old Vicarage garden in East Ruston, they have a meadow where just red poppies, blue cornflower and something yellow that I can't remember, but most effective.
Dear Deb,Thank you for your comment. J would definitely approve of your morning activity with the lawn edgers. It does make a big impact on the rest of the garden I feel, where one can afford to be a little more relaxed.
Dear Zoe, Thank you for your comment. Oh what a lovely picture you create for me with the birds building their nests from the lawn moss. I wonder if this story will make J think again......no, I doubt it!He has a heart of gold but it is very difficult to melt!!
Thank you so much for 'looking in' as that has enabled me to find you!
Dear Suz, Thank you for your comment. I agree that it is very important to have open,restful space in a garden and a green lawn is a good way of achieving just that. Yes, J and I could well be described as the 'clash of the Titans'!!!
Dear Simon, Thank you for your amusing comment and for becoming my latest Follower. I am very wary of sending J to anyone, including you, dear Simon, for I rather feel that once all his qualities and expertise are known you will steal him from me!!
Dear Jess, Thank you for your comment and for becoming a Follower. Ah yes, those wonderful days of childhood when all one had to do was enjoy the garden rather than have to take any responsibility for it. How sensible not to have any grass!
Dear Clare, Thank you so much for your comment. You are very much an individual and what you are creating at CVF is indeed unique and very beautiful. Your wildflower meadows sound, and I am sure are, absolutely lovely. A perfect example of harmony with Nature! But as for rusty tools in the tool shed.....J would have a fit!!!
Dear Gary, Thank you for your comment. A lawn for all situations...yes, I think that the context is really what is important. I have never been to East Ruston but have read about it and would very much like to visit one day. I am certain that it would hold much of interest for me.
Our grass here is all shades of green, yellow n brown at this juncture, after a severe winter. We get a lot of clover and weeds which is usu removed by day laborers manually. Tiresome Job! I love the idea of the grass looking like GOLF GREENS... but alas, its just not possible in our garden here at home because of the water clogging during the rains :( Enjoyed reading your post. Have a lot of catching up to do ard here...
Dear Radhika, Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, I am sure that your weather conditions make the task of producing perfect lawns very difficult indeed. Perhaps I need to send J to you as a real challenge!!
Dear Edith,
I do agree with you about lawn care. I love daisies in my lawn, but the edges has to be neat and tidy.
All the best.
Ingrid
Dear Ingrid, Thank you for your comment. I am pleased that you like Daisies too...such happy, cheerful flowers I think!
Dear Edith, I have always loved daisies in the lawn, since I was but a little girl falling in love with flowers in my mother's garden. Who is it that determines that a lawn must be green? Surely a lawns best purpose is to provide a lovely green backdrop for those tiny little blooms that fill our hearts with delight. Perhaps you should tell your gardener that.
Interesting, I also love daisies, but my husband does not.
Thank you for your comment - Aconite Parties seem an appropriate way to celebreate spring!
Regards
Elke
Fabulous blog, I'm really pleased to have found you. I hope you don't mind, but I'm adding you to my blog roll as I'm really interested in your posts. Lovely narrative- made my morning.
Tony Jones @ Chesters Grove
http://chestersgrove.blogspot.com/
Edith,
I am sure your frustration is great but your writing style had me chuckling as I read each paragraph. Life as any go story must have a strong antagonist as a foil for our beloved heroine and so the story of the lives and times at Maida Vale continues. – G
I don't have a lawn but I do have a couple daisies now! they are quite lovely
Dear Carolyn, Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately there is no discussion with J regarding the lawn. He feels that he knows best and, so, an emerald square of velvet is what the goal must be!
Dear Elke, Thank you for your comment. Yes, I am beginning to think that there is a female/ male divide over the issues of daisies and lawns. An area in which, for me at least, rights for women have yet to be won!
Oh yes, an Aconite party would be such fun to celebrate your tiny 'Winterlings'...how I love that name!!
Dear Tony, Thank you for your kind and generous comment and for becoming my latest Follower. I am pleased that my posting has brought some cheer on a rather bleak day!
I am so pleased that you have left a comment since that has enabled me to find you and your very impressive Garden Centre.
I am so ple
Dearest G, Thank you for your comment. How lovely to hear from you as you always bring a smile to my face with your witty remarks.
Perhaps my journal should be renamed.....the Saga of Edith Hope ......the tale of a gentlewoman and her errant gardener!!
Dear Fer, Thank you for your comment. I am so pleased that you have made space for daisies in your tiny garden. They are such pretty and cheery flowers! A lawn can easily be lived without!!
Dear Edith,
Last summer I set to with my half-moon edger...and made a complete hash of it!!! This year will be the year of the perfect lawn edge, I am determined to see it through!!!
Sarahx
Dear Sarah, Thank you for your comment. Make sure that the half moon edger is really sharp and then long handled shears used little and often are the best way to have really crisp edges. If you cut often enough, there is then no need to pick up the cut grass, it will just disappear.
Hi Edith
I have no lawn to speak of, I just get Old Mr FF to mow the wedds. As long as it looks green I don't mind!
I would like a gardener. You are lucky x
Dear FF, Thank you for your comment. J has been with me for more years than I can remember now and, yes, I have no idea how I should manage without him.
hi edith, comprimise is an important part of living, but a very painful necessity in the case of daisies in the grass. cheers, cm
Dear Catmint, Thank you so much for your very salutary comment. Life is, as you point out and one rapidly discovers, a whole series of compromises of which daisies in the grass are seldom the most important.
Oh dear! I feel J is never going to see the virtue of the alternative approach, unless you can convince him that it is not a lawn but a wildflower meadow - that is, a different concept altogether, as opposed to the two in one!
I could never call my grass a 'lawn' - it contains white clover, speedwell, cowslips, primroses, hawkbit, plantains, bindweed and ground elder, as well as daisies, moss and grass! Whatever would J say to that?!
I'm just signing up so I can follow your lovely blog more regularly.
Dear Mag, Thank you so much for your comment. Your grass sounds delightful - a wonderful mixture of native wild plants and flowers which must contribute to a complete tapestry of colour and texture. But how J would loathe it - a parks and gardens man at heart!!
Dear Edith, maybe the answer is to reach a middle ground and let J have his way with a certain amount of lawn while the rest is given over to daises and buttercups? Of course this doesn't resolve the issue of wanting to adpot an entirely green approach to gardening, but it may be a start.
Jason.
Dear Jason, Thank you for your comment. I do agree that this could be the perfect compromise. Unfortunately, however, the lawn is the size of a handkerchief......!!!
Dear Edith,
I agree, neat edges make whatever is within look intentional; some folks I know put neat brick borders or small fences around their wildflower patches so the neighbors don't object.
Besides killing daisies, I fear J may be harming his own health by handling so many toxic chemicals. Since I have come to appreciate J through your essays, that causes me concern.
Dear Adrian, Thank you for your comment. Yes, that is certainly a new way of looking at things...J's own health. Perhaps I shall try approaching him from that standpoint!!
I do not like lawn work! I hired a gardener about 35 years ago and I hope I can afford him until I die :-)
~Ron
******
Dear Ron, Thank you for your comment. I agree that lawn work is so very tedious, but J loves it. How wonderful to have kept your gardener for 35 years. I know that I should be lost without J.
Dear Edith, Sitting in the grass making a daisy chain ... lovely memories. We don't have wild daisies here, so I fear my grandchildren do not know what I am talking about.
If your lawns were as extensive as mine I would really condemn J's actions, but I don't think he can harm the 'overall' environment too much in such a small area. Not that you can call my lawns by such an elegant name, as my husband just mows the weeds.
Sorry for the late response, but I just returned from yet another spell in the cardiac unit ... third time this year. Your posting and all the comments have made me feel much better. P x
Dear Edith
Stopping by to say a quick, hello!
Of lawns: I have no experience, although I enjoy seeing tiny daisies appearing in a scattered array amongst a grassy swathe.
Today I awake tired from working on garden projects that I love being engaged in despite the amount of energy expended. If only the two parlor maids were at my beck and call.....
Dear Alice, Thank you so much for taking the time to pop in! I really do not think that those two parlour maids look good for anything......let alone a hard day's work. But, how exciting to have so many garden projects on the go!
Dear Pamela, Thank you so much for your comment. As you say, with my pocket handkerchief of a lawn, it really does not matter too much what J does with it!!
I am so distressed to hear of your having to spend time in a cardiac unit. Where matters of one's health are concerned, everything else is of little significance. I do so hope that you are feeling better. Do please take the greatest of care!
Dear Edith
Oh that I lived nearer and if allowed to tend the lawn, you would indeed have daisy chains. The sweet daisy is my only flower here at the moment, popping is cheerful resiliant face up right in the face of adversity. I'm sure one or two cheeky fellows will pop their heads up, let's hope he's not looking!
Fay
Thanks for your tips, Edith. I will have another go soon. I think the problem was sadly not my tools but my enthusiasm!! It got the better of me!!
Sarahx
Dear Fay, Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, I agree, daisies are indeed such cheerful flowers and do seem to withstand all manner of adversities. As for J looking the other way......oh, dear me no....J is the all-seeing and all-knowing [according to him, at least]!!
Dear Sarah, Welcome back. You have such a lot to do that I am not at all surprised that the garden is not always a priority. It is demanding work.....and so is looking after small children I am sure!!
So in agreement on the lawn edges and the daisies although pretty just crowd out the grass. My view anyhow!
Dear Barbara, Thank you for your comment. Well, that is certainly J's view on the matter......and J always has the last say where the garden is concerned!
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