She also wove in birdhouses, fountains,
and other rustic objects that she and Jim
found while traveling. “I didn’t want a
garden that looks new I like the moss-
covered, antique-looking, imperfect
things that suggest age,” she says.
The garden has become all that
Melinda hoped for, but the project is
never complete. “Gardening never stops
teaching you things. Maybe that’s why it
never gets boring to me. I continue to
try to improve my garden, and it also
evolves on its own,” she says. “Some
things die, others get bigger, and I
inevitably fall in love with something at
a nursery, drag it home, and
try
to find a
space for it. It’s such a stress reliever.
I just concentrate on my plants, and I
can’t worry about other stresses while
I’m puttering around in the garden.”
For buying information see page 232.
Melinda and Jim,/eft,
enjoy the garden with
their dogs Zoot and
Dinsdale. Birdhouses,
right,
old brick, and a
wall fountain,
opposite,
enrich the atmosphere.
“Jim commented that
coming home to our
garden was like a mini
vacation, and we’ve
decided to work
toward that feel,”
Melinda says. Boxwood
and roses,
above,
are
typical cottage plants.
152
JUNE 2008 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
