WHAT MAKES MY YARD A GARDEN?

I had to start with this photo:

It has nothing to do with this post, but 1.) I love it; and 2.) Some people won't read a post that looks like it may be all text and no photos.  Stick with it folks, there will be more photos below.

__________________________________________________

Sometimes I call my collection of plants in the area around our house a garden and sometimes I call it a yard.  What's the difference?

I love dictionary.com.  Some of the many definitions that they list for yard:

1. The ground that immediately adjoins or surrounds a house, public building, or other structure.

2. An enclosed area outdoors, often paved and surrounded by or adjacent to a building; court.

3. An outdoor enclosure designed for the exercise of students, inmates, etc.: a prison yard.

4. An outdoor space surrounded by a group of buildings, as on a college campus.

9. A piece of ground set aside for cultivation; garden; field.

10. The winter pasture or browsing ground of moose and deer.

Okay, the moose and deer definition has nothing to do with the question at hand, but it made me laugh.

The first three definitions listed for garden:

1. A plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.

2. A piece of ground or other space, commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other public recreation area: a public garden.

3. A fertile and delightful spot or region.

I often feel as though my humble attempt at growing things on purpose doesn't deserve the lofty title of garden.  A garden requires planning, structure, and knowledge (all in short supply at my house).  But if you go strictly by the first definition for a garden, my collection of plants most certainly qualifies as a garden.  Notice they don't specify success in cultivation as a necessary component.

I've been experiencing some rather disheartening events in the garden (see how quickly I've adopted that term).  My sage appears to have powdery mildew:

Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to get rid of it?  Keep in mind this is an edible plant and I'd prefer not to ingest chemicals.

The cute little fern that I transplanted from the driveway has been eaten:

Heather's Garden is now without heather (the brown spot at the bottom center is all that remains of my beautiful plant):

The wildflower patch is sort of straggly at this point.  I'm not sure if I can deal with this much disorder for another year (though it does look better since I cut down the really tall non-blooming cosmos):

The spiders are taking over the vegetable garden:

Most of the annuals in the planter (especially the pentas) are dead or dying:

But for all the failures there are at least two successes.  Two of the cilantro seeds have sprouted:

And I'm amazed, but the basil that the june bugs were having so much fun eating is bouncing back:

Please do comment with suggestions for getting rid of the powdery mildew on the sage.  Or let me know I'm wrong and it's not powdery mildew and I don't need to worry about it!

Comments

[Mummer]

If I have to chose between inmates or deer, I'll take a moose! They're yummy!
On the subject of powdery mildew, I only know of non-edible chemicals to control it. Have you considered calling your local agricultural extension agent? or Van Wilgen's?
Wonder if a pot full of veggies growing in a large container counts as a garden? Planters are very popular here...

[layanee]

Heather: You do have a garden...most definitely! Next, a disclaimer as I do sell and promote Neem oil so do your own research and make your own decision before buying as I like to keep blogging separate from work. I have found that Neem oil does work on powdery mildew and it is organic and it can be sprayed on the plant the very day of harvest but, as I said, google it and do your own research. I won't even mention the brand that I sell. Safe and OMRI registered as an effective insecticide and fungicide. Oh, I love spider web pictures and the basil looks great! Are you having as much trouble with drought as I am?

[gina]

heather - i can totally relate to debating between yard vs garden. i do the same thing. i want to call it a garden but then I think "who am i kidding, this is a yard."

[Heather]

Mom - My herb garden is mostly in a large container, so sure, a veggie garden could be in a container. An old footed bathtub would be a cool -- do you get enough sun on the lanai to have one? I still can't believe your association bans vegetable gardens.

Layanee - If I can find some neem oil locally I will buy it. I just can't justify doubling the price with the shipping charges. If we do get together at Blithewold (I'm still in) maybe I could purchase some from you then. In the meantime, I found a solution on-line and tried it tonight. I'll detail in tomorrow's post. Ironically I had just said to VPH, "When was the last time we had rain?" (13 days ago), moments before you posted your comment. With the containers we would have been watering more than conventional in-ground gardeners, but it has been a long dry summer, which is actually okay with me since our landlord pays for the water and VPH had watering duty most of the time!

Gina - your garden is in the ground! And you have those lovely roses all around the perimeter. Just reject the doubt and call it a garden! I will say that having people over and hearing the lovely things that they said about what we had done made calling it a garden a little easier. So maybe you should have a party.