I posted last week about my flagstone border, but here’s a more complete update on the state of our back yard. After planting some fountain grasses and junipers in April, my next wave of plantings were all given to me by family.
My grandma gave me some variegated hostas…
and a small variegated iris. The leaves are kind of droopy, but I’m crossing my fingers it will pull through.
And Dan’s mom dug up some of her ferns.
All low-maintenance plants, thank goodness, though I may have to water the iris once in a while. And they all should spread and get much bigger throughout the years.
I also transplanted some of my lamb’s ear from our front landscaping. (They are still recovering from the move.) I love these plants; the leaves are super soft like velvet and they grow like crazy.
Everything is still looking scrawny, though. Even the fountain grasses and juniper I planted more than a month ago hardly look any bigger.
Well, except for this funny little cattail on one of them.
Primarily, I planted things in big blocks for maximum impact. Honestly, I don’t really know what I’m doing here. Let’s hope it doesn’t look like garbage when it fills in. It’s kind of hard to tell what things are from far away, so here’s a labeled photo.
- Blue Rug Juniper
- Lamb’s ear
- Old rotting tree stump
- Ferns
- Daylilies (already in this spot, more off photo to the right)
- Variegated hostas
- Variegated iris
- Purple fountain grasses
I’m telling myself that this year everything is going to look a bit low and thin, but next year… next year is the year when everything’s going to be big and bushy and beautiful. I hope.
Despite all the progress, there is still more to do. We still have a rotting tree stump to contend with. I’ve been avoiding planting anything too close to it, so things look a bit empty in the middle of the bed. Eventually, if we are able to remove enough of the roots, I would love to be able to plant an ornamental tree of some kind. Maybe even an apple tree. Wouldn’t that be fun?
And the back left corner of the yard needs serious help.
We have been slowly chipping away at this old raised garden bed that we affectionately refer to as “the graves.” With all the junk I’ve been digging out of the ground, we are in need of fill dirt, so it’s lucky we have some!
(That’s our neighbor’s shed, so I try to leave it out of the photos, but it’s a nice frame of reference.)
For now I will be taking a brief pause from planting to work on other things. There is still a lot of work to do (including a lot of weed pulling), but I want to see how things fill in before I plant anything else.
I am a Master Gardener of 36 yrs so have a bit of experience and a few suggestions. First, most important is the soil. Even if it means digging up your treasures and storing them in the shade in plastic grocery bags with drainage holes punched in them, Amen the soil as advised by your local county extension agent. At the minimum, add lots of compost and dig it in, About 18 inches deep, but only when the soil is dry enough to form a clump in your hand that crumbles when you tap it with your thumb. That is the only time to work the soil.
When replanting, I would shield the view of your neighbors shed with some evergreens, then start your garden just after those shrubs. Replant your perennials After that. Or plant shrubs along all the Fenceline to screen your property from your neighbors. The garden can be brought forward from the shrubbery. Defining the outside edge of the garden with a sharp edged tool such as an edger, will Add a lot. You can use a warm hose to create the line you want for your garden Edge. Following the line, push down on the edger to cut the soil and then push away from you to create a small Ditch. If you wish. You can Line the outside of the ditch with rocks.
Mulch all the Empty spaces in the garden with composted mulch or plain compost or dried leaves. Keep the mulch away from the base of the plants. This will help prevent weeds from growing, and those that do will be easily pulled. It will also continue to improve the soil.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment! This post is a few years old, but we still have a lot of work to do back there!