Today was the day we signed on the dotted line and sold our garden to its next caretakers. (We agreed to sell our home and barn too). We made the decision a year ago, recognizing that as much as we loved it here, it was taking us longer to look after the 5 acre property simply because as have have got older we need more tea breaks! Rather than wait until we had the decision forced upon us, we took a deep breath and agreed it was time. It sold immediately when we listed the first week of June. We wanted to move to a single story home within walking distance of Main Street in the same town (Duvall, WA) but needed it to be large enough for when family and friends visited plus have a workshop for Andy and a modest garden for me. When I gave this wish list to our realtor she blanched! There had only been three such properties sold in the past year – most ramblers were much too small for us and/or had nothing for Andy . So it was nothing short of a miracle that we found a suitable place to buy in less than two weeks. Not only that, it is just two doors away from our daughter and her family, it has a lake view, is remarkably private and it has a 35-foot-long in-ground swimming pool! I'm still pinching myself. (For those of you who don't know this from my newsletters, I'm a keen open water swimmer and typically swim 3-5 times a week).

What to Take?

The first question from every gardener is "What will you take with you?" In answering that I'm making myself my own client so that I make pragmatic choices rather than purely emotional ones. Since I know I'm not alone on this journey I thought I'd share my thoughts with you in case it helps others.

What is the sun and shade pattern? What about the soil?

I'm fortunate in that I know what our new garden looks like. In short – like it needs help! More importantly there is very little shade and the soil profile is expected to be very similar to here. That being the case there is little point in taking my favorite shade-loving perennials. Instead, I've given our daughter Katie some of my English bluebells, primroses and big leaf hardy geraniums for her garden knowing I can always visit them there. That brings me to sun loving plants. The conundrum is that I won't even get to design the garden until this winter as my initial focus will be the house interior, so taking over lots of  pots of perennials which them have to be hand watered through this summer may be a false economy at least of my time. Even digging them to pot them up puts the plant at risk in mid-summer. Plus, I have very little that is hard to replace with the possible exception of my Lynnhaven Carpet fleabane (Erigeron spp.) so I think I'll transplant a few of those rosettes and heel then into a corner somewhere as they are such a useful groundcover for hot, dry places. It certainly seems prudent to design our new garden to be drought tolerant rather than watering regularly so this would be a good addition and is hard to find in nurseries.

What about containers?

Again this had to be a pragmatic choice. Going from 5 acres to a 1/4 acre with a good portion of that being the pool and surround means I don't have the need for as many containers in the new garden. I began by considering the 'look' I wanted to eventually create both in the front entry sequence and in the back garden. Since the back garden contains the pool with turquoise and cobalt blue tiles it made sense to re-use my large orange and turquoise planters back there. They are gorgeous and will really add color to the grey concrete pool surround throughout the year The front garden is going to take some creativity to help redirect the eye away from the expansive parking and driveway to the front door. I remembered that when I needed to add some sort of trail marker to indicate the entrance of our woodland garden I used a large rustic blue-green urn so I think I will try to re-use it in a similar way at our new home. It's heavy – but that's what movers are for! While it is understandably a popular idea to have a planter by the front door, we have very little space to work with. It is our daughter who has potentially solved this one for me. We had passed her a tall rustic brown container with an oval shaped mouth when we moved to this house in 2009. The shape is almost triangular at the back so it fits well into a corner, which is how we used it on our previous porch. We are going to try it at our new home – and the rustic finish will tie into the tall urn. That means my various cube-shaped and contemporary pots are best left here for the new owners. They fit neither in shape, color nor style at the new place.

Art work? Furniture?

My gorgeous glass art in the turquoise pots will be coming with us. The color is perfect and it was a gift from my late Mum when we moved here. I'm not sure of its final placement yet although I have a few ideas brewing! We will leave the companion blue fountain for the new owners, however. Talking of fountains I do have the rustic teapot fountain, currently outside our little cabin. I've no idea where that might go but will take it as it can be repurposed as two free standing elements if I choose. I purchased the teapot as a fun gift to myself when I was working at Molbak's nursery over 20 years ago! We will take all the furniture with us as there is room for it and it has served us well. We purchased the teak dining set 25 years ago – just shows that buying quality pieces really is worth it!

Memories

One thing that can't be packed away in a box, nor left behind are the many wonderful memories we have of our time here. From our daughters wedding to garden workshops and video production. The four dogs who enjoyed romping through the meadow over the past 16 years and our granddaughter Anna, now 8 years old, who learned to count slugs under our weeping willow tree during Nana Camp in 2020. The sounds of hummingbirds, frogs and owls, the bobcat and cougar sightings, and the many deer who inspired me to write my latest book. The fragrance of honeysuckle on a warm summers morning and the candy-apple perfume of the katsura trees in fall. Crisp frost etching the peeling bark of the river birch trees and the blanket of stillness that descends after a snowfall. Our gardens and our lives evolve. There are seasons for both, and therein lies the beauty. I look forward to sharing our new garden adventures and this new season with you.