I've been working in the flowerbed this morning, which is a bigger job than it should be, since I'm removing the rocks that ring it, since you can't see the rocks anymore. I'll replace them, but only after I work out how I want to expand everything.
I took a picture this morning and made a bit of a diagram so everyone can see where I'm going with this: (Click on the picture and it will get bigger.)
The rug to kill the grass is 8' x 10', so that should help a bit with the scale of things. I have already moved the rug down one section this morning. That leaves me with no way to get the lawnmower between the garden and the sidewalk, since the straw is in the way, but oh well. That grass has to die anyway. I may just mulch it with a bale of straw and be done with it.
Here's the key: Red is the existing flowerbed, where I was weeding this morning. The trees in between the flowerbed and the straw are honey locusts that I didn't plant. They look nice, though, so I'm leaving them there for now.
The purple is the existing garden, save for the fact that I've slid the rug down a notch now, so it's a bit different. Essentially, I want the 'garden' to go all the way across to the sidewalk on the driveway side so I have no grass to mow there at all. Quite a bit of that will probably be just a wildflower mix to attract bees; I don't need anything fancy. And next year I'm going to have to divide my perennials, because they are going nuts. So I can add more around the mailbox area there as well. I may, if I end up with enough, plant hardy hibiscuses all across that part. But we'll see.
Blue is where I'd like the entire garden to spread eventually. Not necessarily this year; I'd like to get to the sidewalk on the driveway side this year, and combine the flowerbed and the garden where they will meet. I can do the back part by the spruce tree next year. And then, I can maybe toss the nasty rug!
Black, of course, is the forsythia and the grass-killing rug. The forsythia is a huge tree, and it bloomed quite nicely this year. The spruce is a huge tree too. But I can garden around both of them. Eventually, I would like the violets to take over under the forsythia. I don't mow under there anyway, so they're going strong. I also have buttercups there, and some spring daffodils.
The only other player in the game of garden is my big lilac bush. There are two other old lilacs hidden by the spruce tree, but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to just mulch that strip between the garden and the lilacs or what. But the purple lilac (the others are maroon) will be a nice part of the garden, I think. It will look nice once everything is blooming. And when I go to mow the grass, the only thing I'll have to mow is a strip on the other side of the spruce tree and in front there by the front sidewalk and the road.
I haven't decided what to do about the hill yet. I'm still trying to figure that one out.
I took a picture this morning and made a bit of a diagram so everyone can see where I'm going with this: (Click on the picture and it will get bigger.)
The rug to kill the grass is 8' x 10', so that should help a bit with the scale of things. I have already moved the rug down one section this morning. That leaves me with no way to get the lawnmower between the garden and the sidewalk, since the straw is in the way, but oh well. That grass has to die anyway. I may just mulch it with a bale of straw and be done with it.Here's the key: Red is the existing flowerbed, where I was weeding this morning. The trees in between the flowerbed and the straw are honey locusts that I didn't plant. They look nice, though, so I'm leaving them there for now.
The purple is the existing garden, save for the fact that I've slid the rug down a notch now, so it's a bit different. Essentially, I want the 'garden' to go all the way across to the sidewalk on the driveway side so I have no grass to mow there at all. Quite a bit of that will probably be just a wildflower mix to attract bees; I don't need anything fancy. And next year I'm going to have to divide my perennials, because they are going nuts. So I can add more around the mailbox area there as well. I may, if I end up with enough, plant hardy hibiscuses all across that part. But we'll see.
Blue is where I'd like the entire garden to spread eventually. Not necessarily this year; I'd like to get to the sidewalk on the driveway side this year, and combine the flowerbed and the garden where they will meet. I can do the back part by the spruce tree next year. And then, I can maybe toss the nasty rug!
Black, of course, is the forsythia and the grass-killing rug. The forsythia is a huge tree, and it bloomed quite nicely this year. The spruce is a huge tree too. But I can garden around both of them. Eventually, I would like the violets to take over under the forsythia. I don't mow under there anyway, so they're going strong. I also have buttercups there, and some spring daffodils.
The only other player in the game of garden is my big lilac bush. There are two other old lilacs hidden by the spruce tree, but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to just mulch that strip between the garden and the lilacs or what. But the purple lilac (the others are maroon) will be a nice part of the garden, I think. It will look nice once everything is blooming. And when I go to mow the grass, the only thing I'll have to mow is a strip on the other side of the spruce tree and in front there by the front sidewalk and the road.
I haven't decided what to do about the hill yet. I'm still trying to figure that one out.
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