by Becky Lane

Created on: August 24, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2008

PHILOSOPHICAL SCHISMS

I read recently of a writer who had gradually scaled back on her gardens, due to advancing age, increased writing demands, time spent at their second home in New Mexico, and due to the ravages that flood and drought had wrought upon their property. Bit by bit, the various sections of her garden have reverted to the native plants and grasses from whence they were wrestled, and she is now quite content with her "wild garden."

I have had a nagging cloud of guilt hanging over me, ever since we bought this place in the Texas Hill Country. Because of my background in landscaping, people keep wondering when I am finally going to "get to work." While I was still living in Houston, I could make excuses about the drought and not having a way to keep things watered, but that doesn't fly, now that I'm here full-time. The truth is, I've become attached to my field of grasses that ripples in the wind, the clumps of cedar that provide the deer with shady resting places, the patches of lavender verbena that are popping up unbidden, the native Texas Mountain Laurel that smells like grape bubblegum when it blooms, the cactus paddles, and the yuccas that have all just sent up exotic looking bloom stalks in unison.

My interests have broadened since I first became obsessed with gardening, and my body is twelve years older (and suffered a good bit of abuse while employed at the nursery). If my tiny suburban plot in Houston sucked up hours of my time each day, and had me soaking away my aches and pains in the whirlpool each evening, what might this four acres demand of me? Gradually I have concluded that most of the property should stay just as it is, and that I should confine my gardening efforts to a few containers and raised beds up close to the house. The trick will be to convince my husband of this.

This is not the only philosophical schism that has arisen here. The biggie involves deer. To feed, or not to feed, that is the question. City folk who move out here just love seeing the deer wander across their yards at dawn and dusk each day. To encourage that, they often set up those mechanized feeders that drop corn out at certain times each day. That way you get hordes of deer coming through like clockwork. Hubby is just dying for one of those! Old-timers are rabid in their conviction that it's a very bad idea. They will give you a long list of the reasons why, but the one that grabbed my attention was the claim that if you encourage deer to come into your yard

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