Pat Welsh’s Garden

Question from Cat:
I was wondering if you ever open your garden up for viewing. I would love to see it. I live in Trabuco Canyon, California and am an avid So Calif gardener. I travel to Great Dixter every year to take their gardenning symposiums and learn their techniques first hand. I would also like to buy a signed copy of your gardening journal.

Answer from Pat:
Thank you so much for this enquiry. About seven years ago my insurance company informed me that they would need to greatly increase my homeowners insurance if I continued to open my garden to tours and visits from the public. That put an end to visits to my garden from members of the public. Now my garden is back to being what it was always meant to be in the first place: A happy outdoor space for my own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of family and friends. The time felt exactly right. There are many great gardens out there, far better ones than mine now is. It is time for younger folks to take over.

Since making that decision, I’ve been simplifying my garden and making it easier care and more drought-resistant. I got rid of all my tubs and containers or most of them, pulled out all overly-thirsty plants, covered the spaces with mulch, replaced some with natives, added new potted arrangements of succulents, and installed a huge succulent bank next to the drive. It hardly ever gets watered. I’m now saving about one hundred dollars on every water bill. I’m also trying to resist temptations that arise sometimes to add more plants. The main additions today are fun things for my great-grandchildren, like potted “fairy gardens” and a projected “dinosaur garden”. We already have a “pirate garden” and may make a hobbit house or two. Wandering paths and flights of steps I made of sacks of concrete, hardened under the hose, already create fun places for my beloved great-grandson Archer to run around on. But I have to tell you I simply adore all four of them: Archer, Anushka, Fable, and Jade.

Here are some photos of my garden taken last Easter by my granddaughter Rebecca Woolf.
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2010/04/garden.html

She has posted some other ones also: Click on this link to a photo of the very simple “fairy garden” I made with the help of my friend Denise.
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2009/11/treasured.html

Regarding Great Dixter, Christopher Lloyd and I were friends. He visited my garden years ago. I visited him with my granddaughter Rachel Woolf when she was 13 years old and I took her on a trip to Spain, Scotland, and England. Christo gave me the room in which he was born. Rachel had been in another room but after going to bed, crept in to join me, even though Christo had said very decisively “My house is NOT haunted!” (We didn’t say it was, but you know he was a character.) So while we were there we both slept in the bed in which Christo had been born. That whole long weekend was a great experience and we drank a lot of very good champagne. This photo was taken by a lovely visitor to the garden during one of our afternoon walks around the garden. (Please say hi to Fergus.)