A good way to form a plan is to conduct a SWOT analysis. This is as true of your landscape as it is of your career. A few weeks ago I started the SWOT analysis on my garden. As it would happen, I wrote about the last two items first, making it a TOWS analysis.
Today I am sharing the second half of my analysis, the weaknesses and strengths of my garden, and I have to admit that this portion is much harder to figure out.
Weaknesses of my Garden:
I am not positive on what qualifies as a weakness in the garden, but I think poor soil quality would. We had our soil tested earlier this season and it is slightly acidic (not too bad, we do have lots of pine trees) and hasn't been tilled or amended in ages...possibly ever.
picture of soil here
Another possible weakness is that we are downhill from the road, so we have to plan carefully so that we don't create standing water or lead a creek to our front door.
Strengths of my Garden:
The strengths may be something that only we can see, like a parent seeing the potential in their child. One strenght is the large established trees- they provide shade throughout the summer, give our garden an extablished look, and provide a buffer between us and the road.
pic of trees here
Another strength is the smallness of our garden area- because we are furnishing a small space we can spend more on plants and shrubs that we really love, it won't take as many to fill the garden.
With the established trees on the North side, the house on the South side, driveway and walkway to the East and property line at the West- the future lawn is about the size of a large bedroom, the courtyard is the size of a small bedroom, and the swing area is the size of a foyer. Very easy to work- especially since I have learned to view each of these areas as seperate areas for planning instead of just a vague area "out front."
pics of future lawn area here
Courtyard as approached from walkway
Swing area from inside courtyard
No smooth segue, but in other news-
We have added a Weeping Holly to the corner of our house, near the swing. The name is really gross, but the description is hauntingly appealing.
Ilex vomitoria, Weeping Youpon Holly, makes a distinct, irregular, weeping form with its upright crooked trunks and slender, curved pendulous branches.
pic of weeping holly here
The weeping holly is evergreen and has red berries on it. I am already picturing blue birds coming to the garden this winter. We want to plant low shrubs under the double window on the front of hte house, so I measured out their future spots before planting the holly.
Lots of plans...lots of dreams...
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