Forced Garden Makeover (edit: Zach's Garden Pictures)

There are times I really hate living in a condo. The condo board has the right to decide what I can put in my garden. They can tell me what to do, but I can't do anything to defend myself against their bullying. The current board is full of selfish, unreasonable idiots who let the power go to their head. A neighbor they don't like has something, suddenly, rules change. In this case, no more pots in the garden.

I used to use a lot of pots. There were logical reasons for that. But, you can't let logic get in the way of trying to force a neighbor from getting rid of something you pettily don't want to compromise on. Let me be clear. I don't live near any of the board members. I'm not their target, just one of many innocent victims.

I use pots for the following reasons:

1. They are moveable so the landscapers can do anything they want to do without trampling and damaging my flowers. This happens every year when my bulb sprouts are out

2. More flowers fit in the space that way

The reason I was given for the change is vague. "They want things more uniform". Nothing can be uniform just by the way the grounds are set up.  My Mom is the owner and she talked to the building manager. He explained that "the board wants it to look more like other garden condos".

She had a nice comment on that "the gardens make it more homey. People who live there like that. I don't see why you want to change that." When she explained to him about how I felt targeted he replied with this:

"Oh no! She's not being targeted. A lot of people will have to make this change. We have a lot of people who grow tomatoes in pots and things like that".

I don't grow edibles. The bi-laws state that you can only plant things that improve the appearance of the property. I only plant flowering shrubs, perennial flowers, and annual flowers. I can understand wanting to specify that edibles don't improve the appearance of the property. But, then it would be more obvious that a board member is targeting their neighbor. Only about three people grow edibles in the entire place.

It's the management company's responsibility to do basics like plant in empty spaces and grass seed. A few years ago they tried that. They planted dead shrubs in a drought and didn't water. They are in the process starting last year of removing those shrubs. There is a large percentage of the grass with holes in it. They put down seeds in the heat of summer, and don't water. That makes the problem worse. What they really need is sod then water.

Their second goal is to get us gardeners to do their job for them. They want us to plant permanent plants. Filling the spaces so they don't have to. I played that game and like my new layout. I'll post an update in the fall when we plant daffodil bulbs.


                                                                    Azalea

                                        Stella D'Oro Daylily     Stella D'Oro Daylily

                       Stella D'Oro Daylily     Stella D'Oro Daylily     Stella D'Oro Daylily

Marigold    Marigold    Marigold   Marigold    Marigold     Marigold      Marigold   Marigold

The pots by the stairs will remain whether they like it or not. I have complied with everything else they asked but I will not be a hostage. They aren't doing their jobs. Those pots stay until we have almost completely hole-free green growing grass. By next year it most likely won't be a problem anyway.

Zach is very upset about his pots having to go to Grandma and Pop's house. Plants are just now trickling into nurseries. His decorations will have to go to the garage. That's where mine had to go. He'll have the below layout

Forsythia                                                                                                Azalea
                   Hosta        Hosta        Hosta        Hosta        Hosta             Annuals


                     



These are some perennials I have planted in the past. I'm planting a new daylily and have planted Daisies in there too.

Hostas and more Stella D'Oro Daylilies planted a few years ago

Tiger Daylily and Daisies

Daisies, Stella D'Oro Daylilies and Angel Daylilies. The pot with the tree is from winter. It's going to my parent's house today

More Daisies, an Angel Daylily and a Stella D'Oro Daylily

In the front is my Walker's Low Catmint and the back is Autumn Joy Sedum. Their bloom times are great. I recommend the pairing.



"Pardon Me" Daylily. In mid to late summer it will bloom red

Yesterday I spent four hours battling with rocks and roots big enough to need my hand saw to get the Daylilies and Marigolds planted in my garden. I am bruised and sore. In all, planting took 7 hours and that's before we get the daffodil bulbs. To be fair, Zach added an hour but it was worth it.

My frustration isn't really about the garden makeover. It's petty to nitpick over flowerpots. My anger and frustration is bigger than that. I know we will never have a house of our own. I try to make this condo nice so that won't be as painful as it used to be. God has his reasons for not wanting us to ever have a house. But, stuff like that makes it harder to be okay with never having a house of our own. How can God expect me to be okay with never getting something I've always wanted if I am not able to make my current home FEEL like my home?

It appears when it comes to this garden makeover, God has a plan too. On Tuesday the presidents of the SCA in our school asked me to chair the committee for the school's sensory garden. I didn't volunteer for it this year so I'm still learning about it but I agreed.