I finally got a new camera, posts with photos again!
So after my shopping expedition on Friday, I replanted the first flower bed on Saturday. I did the South one, and will work my way around counter clockwise to the NW one. You can check out my plan for more info.
It was 2 hours worth of work:
- Step one: ripped out the bishop’s grass from the triangle spots below the planter where it meets the driveway & replanted those spots with a pink flowering yarrow.
- Step two: carefully dug out all the plants from the flower bed except one white mum (which was later pruned down). I divided the original 3 shastas into… well a bazillion shastas (actually 19) and put them in plastic totes etc.. for now until I’m ready to move them somewhere else and WeeWren picks hers up. Oleander and the other white mum are also in temporary containers at the moment.
- Step three: once the bed was emptied I hopped over to the fence side to try and rip out all of the grass growing below the planter on that side (under the fence and between the neighbor’s driveway. Very difficult, kept banging my hand against the planter and the fence. I resorted to pouring 3 kettle-fulls of boiling water over this strip to try and kill the damn grass. Next time I'm working outside and I see the neighbor I'm gonna ask her if I can sit in her driveway and try to get at it from there. Eventually I will either plant wooly thyme or seed alyssum here.
- Step four: tilled up the soil to about 9" deep. Then tilled in compost, poultry manure, bone meal, kelp meal, granular gypsum and just a touch of chelated iron (the oleander had a good bit of yellow) to about 4".
- Step five: transplanted all the planned plants except hollyhock. I wanted a purty peach variety Michigan Bulb has on their site, but no nursery has anything like it right now. I substituted a super blue delphinium I found instead.
- Step Six: clean-up. I HATE this step…. took about 10 trips back and forth between the tools, fertilizers, empty nursery containers and full totes of daisies. Not to mention the Felix catus that tried to trip me half a dozen times.
The white mum that was already here, pruned down.
A variegated perennial stonecrop
the blue delphinium (and neighbor's Canis lupus familiaris) from International Garden Center
annual stock to fill in space around the perennials that shall grow in
(pink to please mother *blah*)
my Echinacea double decker from Sunflower Farms
Lewis Flax I grew from seed in spring
the Buddleja from my feeding the Archie Jr's fiasco...
Gaura grown from seed, I hope this runt grows up quick!
There's a couple other plants I didn't get good picks of. A weird succulent and a pink mum plant.And the overall affect:
I think this garden bed is beautiful!! Well done. What have you been up to this winter (if you've had winter where you are!) and what are your garden plans for spring?
ReplyDeleteThanks! This bed has grown in very well, I'll try to get some update pics up. Unfortunately the echinacea didn't make it :( I think the early rain rotted it or something.
ReplyDeleteWell, this winter I finished replanting all the flower beds almost according to plan, helped dad 'adjust' some of his rose bushes, refitted my potting bench, got a new worm composting hut (affectionately called 'the townhouse') and I'm building a new planter box from pallet wood.
Wow, this was actually a productive winter!
For spring I mostly want to re-arrange my backyard containers and build more large planters. You are welcome to come check it all out at my new blog http://imakethingsigrowthings.wordpress.com/
That is where I will be doing my blogging now. I'll post a proper announcement here soon, thanks for the reminder!
I don't use manure in my garden. For fertilizing I rely on compost from my own bin, mulch from a county green program, Kellog and Jobe's organic fertilizers (which to be fair may contain chicken guano) and fish emulsion.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what to recommend for an organic manure option. You might check the E.B. Stone line of products. Or try contacting local garden centers and asking what they carry.
Hi I used this on Bok Choi that I am growing for the first time in containers.... they were looking great until something was attacking and making holes in the leaves all over the place! I grew 4 and ate one 2 weeks ago... Even though I planned on eating it in a week or two I sprayed it with this stuff.... the spray bottle label got damaged being left out in the rain could not read it....so I figured I better double check the internet to be sure its safe as it appears...and I am having a hard time finding information from Ortho for it.... What the Hell??? Now seeing what you wrote think I am going to have to chuck away the 3 remaining plants and I am so pissed off!!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't you have anything better to do than rant about this stuff?
ReplyDeleteWhat about prairie raised humans?
ReplyDeleteIt's about as good a use of my time as your interests are for you.
ReplyDeleteThose are pretty hard to find nowadays.
ReplyDelete