This page was developed when we actually had a garden and I actually gardened, so you can read all about that below. Since July 2009 that is no longer true. We live on the 18th floor of a condo building and have no need for shovels and gardening gloves. Apparently I could actually join up with the volunteer group who maintains the lovely gardens around our condo, but that's not in the cards for me. I wasn't enjoying the activity in the last year or two that we had our house. Arthritis had set in and getting up and down was not only painful, it was slow. Took ages to do anything of any value, and it just wasn't fun anymore. I still loved to see things grow, but the journey was just not pleasurable. And when that happens, it's time to find another pasttime.

We do have a place in Newfoundland where we spend summers, and there is land around it that could be used for growing flowers or even veggies. But my arthritis is no better there than it was in Ottawa so we'll just have to hope that some interesting and colourful weeds take root in the garden and take care of themselves. So far so good. Lupins have taken up residence in the front yard along with a few other things whose names I am not familiar with. We did put tulips in and they provide colour to the yard in spring but unfortunately are usually gone by the time we arrive.

Will dig up some photos of what's happening in the Hillgrade yard so you can see.

Then

The before pictures at least show some of our tulips.

Gardening

Now

See below for this year's tulip display.

In summer 2001, we set out to do battle with the white grubs infesting our front lawn. While neighbours and other Ottawans lugged home gallons of pesticides, we bought $40 worth of nematodes. The white grubs must have been hiding when we applied the nematodes, because at the end of the summer we had as many white grubs as when we started.

In 2002, we bought more nematodes. Another $40. This time the grubs must have been carrying little umbrellas because again, the only beneficiaries of the application were the crows who were telling their friends about Elliotts All-You-Can-Eat White Grub al Fresco.

By Summer 2003, neighbours were crying into their diazinon and tearing their hair out. I had a better idea. Tear the turf out. If grubs eat grass, we'd starve the buggers.

To make a long story short and certainly less boring, our lawn has been transformed into a real garden. I still have to work on the original flower beds but the new part of the garden is doing fine. I'm adding plants from friends or when there's a sale at the garden centre. I've made a plant book with pictures of the garden and the names of each of the plants written in. Okay, so I'm a little fastidious (a more polite word than the one you're thinking).

Last fall, I added about 150 tulip and daffodil bulbs to the 100 or so that we already had and was rewarded with a glorious spring garden.

Tulips 2004