Red Dirt Ramblings®

Firmly rooted in the Oklahoma soil

Downsizing my garden

Why I’m Downsizing My Garden: A Personal Journey

I’ve been planning on downsizing my garden piece-by-piece, bed-by-bed, for years. Why am I downsizing?

Putting together Vego garden containers. I love my containers because they make gardening easier.

This land and I have had a long and fruitful relationship.

I’ve been growing in this space for 36 years. If you give a plant nut 7.5 acres to grow, you’ll end up with an extensive garden, or maybe several gardens. I had great freedom, and I ran with it.

I presently have 1.5 acres under cultivation, and I need to downsize it to an acre or so. That’s still a lot of garden for one person and perhaps, a helper or two, to maintain. Then, there’s the meadow, which is about an acre as well.

Everyone’s favorite view of the back garden.

I can’t stand the thought of letting my garden become weedy and overgrown. It’s like when people stay in their homes for years, and slowly become consumed by their possessions. Frankly, the thought of all that dusty bric-à-brac makes me shudder.

It’s the same with gardens. How many times have you visited an older gardener who could no longer keep up with the maintenance? It’s just sad.

Below is the Instagram video where I discussed my decision to downsize. The overalls are from Duluth. They are the best and softest things I’ve worn in a while. I sent them into Insect Shield for permethrin bonding. My affiliate code for 15% off is DEENASHRDR. Affiliate codes help me pay for blog hosting which has become quite expensive over the years.

How did I know I needed to downsize?

I started gardening because I love it, but I haven’t loved the process for nearly four years. Shocking, but true. Between the ice storm in 2020 and the wildfire that swept my neighborhood in 2023, my love for my garden and my passion for gardening was waning. Getting Alpha-gal syndrome from a Lonestar tick bite was just the icing on a poop cake.

A poop cake as generated by AI. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Downsizing to reignite my passion for gardening.

I had to go back to the drawing board and ponder why I love gardening. Many people think I’m doing this because I’m sick. Actually, my physical health is better than it was three years ago. I lost about 87 pounds, and I’m stronger overall. I have a food allergy and Mast Cell Activation syndrome, but everyone has something.

My garden is rustic, but it still has good garden bones.
My garden is rustic, but it still has good garden bones. I don’t want those bones blurred by weeds.

To keep the garden moderately tidy, I worked from January through October almost daily. I don’t want to work as hard as I have the last 36 years.

Where to start downsizing?

I’m starting with the two beds that face the street. They are difficult to get to in spring and to maintain throughout the gardening season. Part of this is because I can’t see them from my house. Out of sight, out of mind, was never a truer statement.

Beds hat face the street
One this bed is removed, there will be a sidewalk running alongside the greenhouse. Don’t worry over the phlox. I have tons of it in the garden elsewhere.

Since Bill had two back surgeries and can’t run the tractor right now, I hired some help to remove these two beds. Before they start, I’ll move my pink muhly grass and plant it on either side of the arbor that’s the entrance to the back garden.

As for everything else in these beds, I think I’ll let these plants go. My garden helpers can take anything they want. I’m trying to say goodbye to some plants.

Pink muhly grass always reminds me of my friend, Faire, who turned me onto this pink confection.
Pink muhly grass always reminds me of my friend, Faire, who turned me onto this pink confection. It takes about three years to get established.
Maddie posing in front of the street bed. The pink grass is muhly grass.
Maddie posing in front of the street bed. The pink grass is muhly grass.
The beds facing the street were still full of leaves, and the grasses needed cutting, but this is after some of it was done.
The beds facing the street were still full of leaves, and the grasses needed cutting, but this is after some of it was done. This is where the pink muhly grass reigns supreme in late summer.
Salvia leucantha, Mexican bush sage, Hibiscus ‘Mahogany Splendor’ and pink muhly grass. I took this from a distance so you can see how large S. leucantha is.
My pink muhly grass.
Pink muhly grass in the snow.

It is difficult to say goodbye and let them go. Downsizing the garden isn’t easy.

The next step in downsizing.

I’m reducing the back garden to nearly its original design which came out of Kitchen Gardener magazine. In this Instagram video, I discussed how. I’m waiting for Luz to finish two jobs before he will get to mine, and that’s okay. I know those four long beds are going away, and it’s given me the impetus and freedom to work in other places.

I’m leaving the trees, and the two red crapemyrtles will frame behind the arbor. I will move one of the ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas to the no-man’s-land corner in the back garden.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' with its immature green blooms.Soon, they will be fluffy and white and full of insects.
When I eliminate the long beds, I’ll lose one of the hydrangeas. I’m going to move it to another corner of the garden.

By eliminating these five beds, we will remove approximately 3,500 square feet, which is about a tenth of an acre. That sounds like a lot, but I have so much more.

People change, and gardens do too.

For the first time in years, I don’t already feel behind. Bill is very sad about these changes, but I gently remind him change isn’t always bad.

Once I’m finished with this downsizing, I’m going to wait and see where to go from here. I’ll share more later as we dismantle these beds. As always, thanks for joining me.

zinnia plan

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Comments

  1. Mona Gabriel

    Dee,
    I’ve always loved following along with you and this downsizing is what I am doing too. I admire you and embrace your wisdom. This is an encouraging journey to be on with you..
    Do you remember which issue of Kitchen Gardener you used as a garden guideline? I have EVERY issue ..lol
    Love,
    Mona

    Reply

  2. Stacey Keeling

    Dee, I think I understand your thought process. No matter how much you dismantle, it’s going to be beautiful and you might enjoy it more without so much hanging over your head. We live on an acre and a half and when we moved here 7 years ago, I dreamed of landscaping the entire place. Little did I realize, we are on a rural co-op for water and they strictly limit our water usage. We are in north Texas and almost always in drought conditions. So…gardening dreams change a little. 🙂

    Reply

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