Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The New Garden

Besides taking a long trail walk last Friday, I also dug and planted a new garden. The two, combined, were a little too much for me, and I paid for it on Saturday at the track. But, I was really proud of myself, when the garden was finished.

Before I started, at about 8 AM.



Because this garden is right by the road, the dirt there was compacted, and full of road debris and salt. I thought it would be best to take that stuff right out and add new dirt. Here's what it looked like after I had all of the sod out. Let me tell you, that was hard work!



For the new dirt, I mixed two parts of topsoil with one part of composted cow manure. That should give the new plants plenty of encouragement to grow. It looked pretty good, after I got that new dirt in.



By then it was around noon, and it was HOT. I didn't want to put new plants in during that heat, and have the sun shine down on them all afternoon, so I left the gardening for a while, and went to Whiting Road to take my walk. It was a lovely walk, which I chronicled yesterday.




After supper, I went back out and did my planting. I had some of the plants from the Amish Nursery to put in there. I did suffer one disappointment, however. The False Spiraea was supposed to be the eye catcher in this planting. However, it was a big plant and when I started to dig a deep hole for it, no more than a couple of inches down, I hit stone and gravel from when they widened the road, and put the sewer in. I couldn't put the Spiraea there. So, I changed my plans. The Goatsbeard will eventually grow around three or four feet high, so I put that on one side, and I put a young Butterfly Bush on the other. In between, I put the English Daisies. I filled in, in front of those with some Sundrops and some blue flowers that I don't know the name of.




The sundrops always crack me up when I plant them. That year, you can't get them to stand up straight, and they wilt if you look at them crosseyed. But, the following year, there they are, straight and tall, and many more than what you had planted the year before. That's my kind of flower.

So, now comes the settling in period, and the growing period. This is another garden that will, hopefully, look much better next year. I think I did good!

9 comments:

Tina said...

You did fantastic!

Roses and Lilacs said...

Don't the tiny new plants look small and fragile for the first few weeks. Then they start to grow like crazy and fill in.

My mailbox is on the county road a mile from my house. Since the roadside seldom gets mowed I haven't bothered to plant anything around my box.
marnie

Sharon said...

Looking good! Aren't you glad you don't have a Jill around? ;-)

We don't have anything around our mailbox, except for tall grass that we never seem to weed eat. I would like flowers, but imagine they would run amuck from lack of care when it gets hot. The hoses don't reach that far. I have considered some plastic ones from Hobby Lobby, but probably would just be another target for the drunks to throw beer bottles at. :(

AJ-OAKS said...

Wow, you did a great job. It is going to look so beautiful when everything grows and starts blooming. The envy of the beighborhood!

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

oh you know I'm Goggling Goatsbeard right now! Looks great around there.

IsobelleGoLightly said...

Our goatsbeard is blooming now. We like that plant. It goes down to nothing in the winter months and comes back bigger and better every year! Of course it has a great name! Great work on the new garden, Auntie Louise!

Sandra said...

It already looks beautiful! Grow little plants, grow!

Terry said...

It will be lovely! I hope you post a photo when they grow, grow, grow!

Inger said...

Thanks for checking back in with me. Yes, I continue to get better. Walked down the road this morning with Princess, off leash. You did a great job here. And how lovely your walks are. You know I have no clue what to blog about now that I can't get around. Today, it was rattlesnakes, go figure!! -- inger