Spiral Gardens

Mid-winter tends to be a time of rest in the garden. However, after a recent trip to visit home in the northern hemisphere, I returned to Argentina with summer energy. My partner (an Aries sun sign and Gemini rising) is always full of creativity and had the idea to transform the entrance to our garden into a spiral landscape using the large stones we found in the area.

Previously, this area was overgrown with grass and invasive weeds. Every day we simply passed by this section between the front lawn and the fenced-in garden area without really enjoying it or thinking about it at all. As both of us had some extra time while our day job hours dwindled until spring we decided to take initiative to design some beauty & functionality into this formerly neglected area.

This project is still very much a work in progress. As you can see, the plants we have here are just starting to grow, and will do so slowly over the next cold months. We plan to fill these spirals with drought tolerant herbs like rosemary, oregano, ginkgo, and echinacea and plant seasonal crops in between the perennial plants.

Fortunately, this farm that we are caretakers of came with lots of ceramic and plastic pots hidden all around the place. Over the years we have collected them and decided to close up the bottoms to make mini-reservoirs of water to keep the soil in the spiral humid and provide water for our bird neighbors.

The large stones that make up the structure of the spirals were also here, arranged in what was once a terraced wall but had been covered by years of grass and soil.

As the final touch, we added a layer of green mulch to seal in the humidity as winter is quite dry here. This mulch came from a pond that we have here on the land that was overgrown with this aquatic plant. We kept a portion of the plant on the surface of the pond and used the rest to protect the soil here and in the compost pile.

Little projects like these bring me warmth and hope despite the overcast days that are predicted to come. Another couple of months of cold and then comes spring! And with the arrival of spring I anticipate that these spiral gardens will fill out with herbs, vegetables, and hopefully other surprises too.