A week in the Garden, 5/9-5/16
(Hello there, if you’re new here, this is me just sharing notes to myself to remember this first growing season in our new home and to give you, the dear reader, a sense of what a full season of planting/maintaining flower gardens looks like). A bit of stream of consciousness list form….
Completed planting the kitchen and herb garden - almost. There’s a hole left to fill that’s going to be filled with nice new ground cherry plant I purchased but haven’t put in yet, and in the meantime am working on teaching our puppy Duke that this space isn’t his digging playground. Fox urine continues to do the job of keeping bunnies away but not so much him.
No joke about the fox urine, this is the one I use
I also added a very janky stepping stone pad to keep killing back the Virginia Creeper vine that had overtaken this space prior the clean out and most likely still has roots lingering below. It’s definitely not a pro job, but it’ll do the trick.
thrifted raised bed, bricks left with the house, a few new pavers and voila - a functional perfectly imperfect space
In short, I’m practicing what I preach when it comes to gardening/landscaping: done is better than perfect. You can miss a whole possibly abundantly beautiful season by overthinking what to do with a space, and even if you’re planning on having a whole overhaul of said space in the future, it’s still worth making it special and full of plant life while you wait for the true professional upgrade. For sure we’ll be doing this entire space at some point - the patio is literally falling apart - but thanks to reclaimed materials, this space cost me less than $150 to create and the plants about $75. So, basically for the cost of a really nice dinner out, I’ve turned an overgrown space into a viable garden bed that will bring me joy (and food?- we’ll see) as we wait to invest the big bucks and bring in the hardscaping pros.
On the other side of the kitchen garden, the potted plant garden that used to be a scary ivy wall was completed this week, too. I added in some lavender and sedum to go along with the other perennials in the space (roses, trumpet creeper vine) and divided a couple of annual hanging baskets to plant into other pots which made an immediate impact. The other annuals were purchased as small starts, so they’ll make this garden area feel full while we wait for those to mature.
mismatched to some, but a collection of my favorite storied planters to me: a bucket bought with my late grandfather at a flea market one spring morning, a maple bucket from my sister in New York, a couple of pots that have been with us since our first married home together, a strawberry planter and vintage milk jugs that gifts from my mom……
As for the two little beds flanking the chicken coop, the got a new addition of a new-to-me plant I’m so happy to have discovered. Was thinking of adding in inkberry or boxwoods to help delineate the space, but they were feeling too large. And then along comes Germander, an evergreen herb that will not only do the job of what marking off some boundaries but will also keep pests away. I bought Germander Teucrium chamaedrys, a non spreading variety that grows 1-2 feet tall. Planting that and mulching space tonight, full update next week.
germander - isn’t it so glossy and beautiful?
In the cut flower garden, the phacelia cover crop was removed in preparation for a big dahlia tuber planting day this upcoming week. Flipping beds always feels a bit cumbersome but knowing that it will keep the garden looking full and happy through October makes the work worthwhile.
In general, this time of year can feel a bit like raising a young human or animal. The plants need constant watering and feeding and protection from the elements, but I just try to remember that in just a few short months, the effort should be rewarded with full and mature garden spaces where the focus can be more on just spending time with enjoying the plant’s company and less time working to keep them alive.
Until next week,
xxLindsey