This time it's not a craigslist posting.

I work downtown, and plan my commutes through the city to pass by my favorite gardens. One of these is a second narrow lot next to a townhouse, full of daffodils and allium in spring, followed by a parade of roses, peonies, bearded and siberian irises, liatris, achillea, anemone -- in short, a wonderfully balanced year-round display. The house was put up for sale a few months ago, and I wondered what would become of this lovely garden. Now I know.

Today while driving home I saw a guy with a shovel in this yard, digging up stuff and piling it into a trashbag. I immediately pulled over and suggested that he'd be better off posting on GardenWeb or Craigslist -- people would do his digging for him! So he agreed to let me post this.

I work downtown, and plan my commutes through the city to pass by my favorite gardens. One of these is a second narrow lot next to a townhouse, full of daffodils and allium in spring, followed by a parade of roses, peonies, bearded and siberian irises, liatris, achillea, anemone -- in short, a wonderfully balanced year-round display. The house was put up for sale a while ago, and I wondered what would become of this lovely garden. Now I know.

Today while driving home I saw a guy with a shovel in this yard, digging up stuff and piling it into a trashbag. I immediately pulled over and suggested that he'd be better off posting on GardenWeb or Craigslist -- people would do his digging for him! So he agreed to let me post this.

Mike is a really nice guy whose job keeps him on the road a lot, who is just overwhelmed by the demands of this complicated garden. Still, he wants to keep some of his garden if it can be done in a relatively low-maintenance form. We walked his yard, and we agreed that a two-foot border around this yard would be enough room for easy-care plants and not too much trouble. We started laying it out, reusing his favorites from the crowded beds. He also wants to save a bag of daffodils for his mother, who will be visiting at the end of the month. So Wednesday evening from about 6:30 to maybe 9:30 I'll be over there with a shovel, my mini-tiller and some labels, moving stuff from the middle of the yard into the new rim-bed and gathering up the remnants for rehoming -- and I expect there to be plenty! Anyone who wants to join me is welcome, and you are also welcome to contact him to make your own arrangements. He'd ideally like to be done digging by the weekend.

If Mike still wanted his yard stripped, I would not hesitate to post his address online, But since he DOES want to keep a garden, including choice stuff like the peonies and a huge rosemary bush (actually he wants *a* rosemary, but not the behemoth that's in the middle of his front bed -- got a smaller one? make him an offer and take home this giant!) I am just posting his email, and you can contact either of us to join in the Wednesday dig. Or you can make your own arrangements for another day/time.


You can reach Mike at michael_maguire at comcast.net , or me at ltitle2003 at yahoo.com.

LynnT