Flower Garden Makeover - From Weed Pit to A Beautiful Flower Bed
When we moved into our current home at the end of summer 2016, the list of garden projects was endless, and it still is, but lots of the projects have been checked off. I started this project the day we moved in. There were movers and boxes all over the inside of the house and I just couldn't deal. Plus, it was a lovely day and I really needed to stay out of the way. Good excuses, right?
This area runs along our driveway, so it is very visible from the street. I hated it from the moment I saw it on the realty listing photos and I hated it even more when I saw it in person. But, I knew I could make it beautiful.
This is a part of the bed that ran along side of our driveway. There were weeds, hosta (too much sun for hosta), weeds, ditch lilies, crocosmia and did I mention weeds.
I dug and dug. I wanted to get rid of everything and start with a blank slate. I have a confession to make, I pitched most of these plants. I had a huge pile at the end of our driveway and a few of the neighbors came and picked through it. I did keep a few of the hosta and moved them to the shade where they are very happy and thriving. I don't want to offend anyone, but I really dislike ditch lilies, unless they are in a ditch where they belong. And croscosmia, I just sort of like it, but it's crazy invasive here in zone 4. I'm still pulling lots of babies this year.
After I got everything dug out. I filled the massive holes in with bagged compost and then covered it with cardboard boxes (of which we had a plenty). On top of the boxes I spread out mulched up leaves and grass. It was left that way for the winter. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of this step. This is know as the "Lasagna Method." Overall, this method worked really well and I plan on doing it in some more areas of the yard this fall.
The following spring, my hubby tilled the entire bed bed. I then planted perennials, including: Becky Shasta Daisies, Royal Candle Veronica, Black-Eyed Susan, Autumn Joy Sedum, Karmina Geranium, South Seas Daylilies, Arizona Sun Gaillardia and Little Pleasures Daylilies. I then added in some annuals - Marigolds and Geraniums. I will be able to change the look by changing up the annuals every year.
The perennials really took off in this flower bed because of the compost that was added and the tilling in of the mulched leaves and grass clippings. I added in finishing touches like mulch and some fun garden decor pieces.
I'm very pleased with the way this garden makeover turned out and I love hearing the compliments from our neighbors. If you would like to see more pictures and more details of this flower garden makeover, you can check out the original post here.
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