Once again I have the honor of having my garden be part of the Garden of the Week series. My husband, Gary, and I live in middle Tennessee, just south of Nashville. I garden on heavy clay interspersed with limestone outcrops. The soil is sticky when wet and like cement when dry. I've spent the past 20 years adding organic matter whenever possible. We have almost 5 acres in what used to be a rural area but has been rapidly overcome by suburban sprawl. I am the sole gardener and have dug almost every bed by hand and planted most of the trees myself over the years. Gary calls himself my Yard Guy and does a great job keeping the grass mowed and trimmed. Occasionally he is allowed to use his chainsaw, but only under supervision!

Life and the garden have changed considerably since it was last featured. For one thing, I am older and stiffer and considerably less energetic than I was 8 or 10 years ago. Both myself and the garden have entered a season of allowing nature to take its course. We are both wilder and woolier than previously as I have less energy and inclination for maintenance!

Having said that, I was also honored to be on the National Convention tour this past June. I loved sharing my garden with so many friends, both old and new. We had a whirlwind couple of days as 500 or so folks trooped through the garden and seemed to enjoy themselves. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to share this space with so many.

I have been gradually transitioning my plantings to a lower maintenance model. This has included the addition of more shrubs, grasses and native perennials. I am actively encouraging the formation of wildlife habitat which includes everything from pollinating insects to deer and turkeys. not to mention a resident family of groundhogs. I am fortunate that the deer are more interested in the neighbor's corn and soybean crops than they are in my garden. However, there has been an increase in browse damage as a dry summer has restricted vegetation growth. Who knew groundhogs ate Japanese painted ferns? My daylilies still bring me joy and delight although many have been given away to appreciative homes as tree and shrub growth have shaded out the full sun beds. I won't be digging any new beds at this point as expansion is no longer an object.

Being an animal lover, I share my home with two fat and lazy cats and four parrots. (Never the twain do meet!) This includes two boisterous cockatiels and two African Grey parrots. One of the Greys is 36 years old and is a "special needs" bird, having no toes and only one and a half wings. They both whistle and talk quite a bit and can use language in context. When I pick up my car keys to leave one of them will pipe up with "gotta go to work!" and then tell me to "be good"! If one of them wants to take a bath he'll say "wanna go to water", a phrase he came up with all by himself. Living with these intelligent birds is like having a perpetual toddler with pliers on his face!

We are blessed to be stewards of this bit of land and are fully aware of the privilege we have in living here. The peace and joy of being in such a natural setting is a rare privilege and one we thoroughly appreciate.

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