Love Grows Here
By Susanne Liebich
June 2026
I am so in love. In fact, every year, this love becomes deeper and more obsessive, sometimes even bringing tears to my eyes. Before you ponder that I am going off the deep end, know that this deep end will bring me to a state of pure bliss if I end up there. I am talking of my garden, the place where in late March, I start dreaming of planning, planting, digging and yes, obsessing. It’s interesting as I get older, I feel more connected, more protective and more grateful for this very special place in my life.
I always enjoyed the woods and plant life, so it was no surprise that thirty years ago, we purchased a house in Concord that had a nice acre of land with a good amount of forest, some grass, and some nice beds around the house for creative planting. I treasured the forest, as it provided us with privacy, shade and beauty, plus we didn’t have to do a thing to maintain it.
Well, the best laid plans….. Fifteen years ago, there was a sloping scrub pine on our neighbor’s property which decided it was going to fall into another tree on their property and then another tree on our property. This fallen tree then totaled our kids’ car which was parked in the driveway, damaged the driveway significantly, and tore down shingles from the roof of our garage. Both we and our neighbor came to the realization we needed to hire a crane and remove dozens of those precious trees that potentially threatened our houses and our lives. This tree apocalypse created barren areas and completely changed the tenor of our property. I hated it. My husband, who spent four years in landscaping during college summers promised I would love it even more once we landscaped it properly.
I couldn’t imagine…how could we improve on Mother Nature? I questioned, sulked despondently and doubted that I would ever feel the same.
That summer, we invited a landscape designer to walk around the property and give us ideas for recreating a beautiful lot, this time with plantings. We would hire a crew to plant the bigger trees, and my husband would plant the smaller trees and bushes. I would plant the perennials, the pots with annuals, and an herb garden.
It took quite some years, and we even had to remove more trees and move other plantings around. This is the thing about gardening…you can’t get too attached. You must be willing to plant, fail, move, experiment and let go. Light changes with the direction and the seasons, composition of soil differs even around a house. Some plants thrive better in different climate zones. It’s often a crapshoot.
But through the years of planting, creation and experimentation, we have created our garden of Eden. When I think of downsizing to a smaller house, the first thing that comes to mind is how long will it take for us to recreate what we have here, where we sit and relax, enjoy the flora and fauna, invite family and friends to join us for cookouts and spend nearly every warmish day outside for breakfast and dinner?
Last Saturday, I spent several hours planting a few cranesbill geraniums which will now thrive in the back side of our yard where last year, we removed one of two remaining huge oaks. The light is sufficient enough that they will provide a colorful perennial groundcover. I sat down and looked at my masterpiece next to a rustic ceramic birdbath I created last year. A hummingbird whizzed by my head, and nearby the purple blooms of the pulmonaria attracted a bumblebee which perched happily on a flower. I finished planting some scented geraniums, lemon verbena and mint in my herb garden with which I will dry and create teas. I placed a large citronella scented geranium on our deck which does an incredible job of deterring mosquitoes.
One of my friends recently said I was an “expert” gardener…I am not expert, but passionate. I never imagined myself falling in love this deeply with a hobby that makes my joints creak, my back hurt and my fingernails dirty. But it’s me and nature, in for the long haul. I don’t think this love affair will ever end….