Transforming My Backyard Into a Secret Garden- Part 2

Ivylore
by Ivylore
Gardening is definitely a lesson in patience but also an opportunity to experience the creative process of making an idea or vision into a reality. When I decided to transform my grassy backyard into a secret garden I envisioned a peaceful retreat overflowing with beautiful flowers and plants.
I began the process by using "lasagna gardening" to cover all of the grass in the entire yard. On top of the grass went newspapers and cardboard followed by garden soil and then mulch. Now I had my "blank canvas."
For a bit I got a case of "writer's block" (or should I say "gardener's block!) and felt overwhelmed by what I was doing. Where to start? I had an entire backyard to fill. This post is documenting how my secret garden is developing. All the plants seem so tiny! I know that it is going to take a few years before it becomes the garden of my dreams, but I am enjoying it tremendously! Hope you will enjoy watching too. Let the gardening games begin :)
For a more detailed description of the entire process as well as how my secret garden looks now, please see my post at http://ivylore.hubpages.com/hub/creating-garden-magic Thanks so much for viewing!
My "blank canvas" after the grass was covered using "lasagna gardening" technique (newspaper/cardboard, soil, mulch)
First I had laid out the stones on the driveway to be able to see the shapes.
Created the first pathway
Put in a second pathway
Some of the first plantings- irises and others given to me by a friend
Irises blooming near entrance now
Had to dig through the newspaper, soil, etc. to plant some of the bigger plants. Could see the old grass decomposing and lots of worms hard at work- Yay!
Foxglove doing nicely- other perennials are too small yet, but starting to peep through the ground!
Created a little dry creek bed in another area near the house where water used to gather
Hostas doing well in shady area. Also set up the rain barrel which you can see a little bit of it in the right corner
Planted some morning glory and nasturtium vines at base of bird bath. Can't wait to see how they will look.
Put out some of my fairies and angels. Planted some snapdragons around them for some color while my perennials are growing in.
Swing and lounge chair set up in the back near the raised garden
Planted some "chocolate mint" along the base of the raised garden. Plant smells delicious but supposed to be very invasive, so planted them inside of plastic planters that I buried in the ground
"Chocolate mint" planted and already spreading!
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  • Mikky Mikky on Aug 04, 2016
    this is a great idea! I am about to the same.
  • Kat Rogers Kat Rogers on Oct 25, 2018

    Oh my gosh, I just £OVE ALL THE STATUES... I ADORE FAIRIES, TOO! I'm so jealous~ I absolutely MUST GET A HOUSE!🏡🐈×10🐕×5🌈🌳🌷🌹🍅🍓🍋💞

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