dianaschnuth

When we moved into our house over six months ago, I had grand dreams of outdoor gardens and flowering nooks and crannies everywhere. I fantasized about a back garden that would make all who saw it envious of my mad gardening skillz. Back in early May, when I first began this undertaking, I had said:

I have planned: lavender, hydrangea, coral roses, yellow roses, ground cover in front of said roses, a rose of sharon, forsythia, catmint, more lavender, and butterfly bush. In front there, on the curve where there’s still a bit of dirt with no plants, that’s where the herbs go. Three varieties of basil, parsley, catnip, creeping thyme, coriander/cilantro, and whatever else tickles my fancy.

Alas, the only plants still thriving from my $100 Gardenland shopping spree (which did not include all of the above) are an out-of-control basil plant that’s nearly knee-high, three double impatiens, and my rosebush. The lavender’s trying to die on me, the cilantro and sage are long gone, as are the dwarf hydrangeas, and the pearlwort has shriveled into little brown flowerless carpets. No, this is not the onset of Autumn—this is my utter neglect and my poor landscape planning.

I feel like our back yard is some bizarre cross between a blank canvas and a complex logic problem. Now that I know where things grow and where they don’t, I have a better idea of what could go where. Instead of planting a giant flower garden by the house, under the heavy shade of the maple tree, perhaps some packed gravel and a picnic table would go better. Maybe some small flowering ground cover would go well by the back door, where that almost-back-step courtesy slab sits. You know, the I-don’t-have-a-back-porch square of concrete? Next to that thing, on either side. And perhaps a good place for a flower garden would be in the corner where we just planted grass—but just around the corner there, in a little curve, instead of a giant block of flowery insanity.

As for the front, under the overhang of our tri-level house, God only knows what will finally live there. Something that can stand drought and shade (since I frequently forget to water my outdoor plants). The impatiens did fairly well; but they’re only annuals, and I have a problem with buying the same damn plants every year.

First, though, maybe we ought to think about de-thatching and fertilizing and weeding and overseeding our lawn. It needs some serious work. Then we can build from there.

This evening, at the behest of Sheryl, I went for a walk around the ‘hood. Not a particularly brisk walk—probably 2? mph or so—but I made sure to flex my toes and get my marching muscles going. Stayed out walking for half an hour, and upon my return home, didn’t want to go back inside yet (as usual). So, I weeded and watered my front flowerbed. Then I watered the back (with my watering can, as we only have one hose, and it’s currently attached to the spigot out front).

Upon noting the sorry state of my outdoor plants, I have decided that I need to take walks more often, for the sake of my poor plants.

And now for something completely different: I have coughed my throat raw today. Ow.

And finally: wonder why I think popular music today sucks? Turn up the speakers and widen the stereo spread for a little experiment.

Well, we’ve finally started planting. I’ve documented the weekend’s progress in the Gardening section of the.details, along with more pics. As I spent $40+ on plants, Aaron spent $50, and we both spent our weekend afternoons on the project(s), it would be keen if you’d check it out.

I’ll give you more updates on the garden as I get more stuff in it… or as stuff either blooms or dies. 🙂

Want to see what almost $100 and several hours of yardwork will accomplish?

On Saturday, Aaron gave me my anniversary present of a $50 gift certificate to Gardenland. Yay! So, off we went on a plant shopping spree. First, though, we stopped at Lowe’s and picked up the flowers you see here (left).

The white flowers are Double Impatiens—they’re an annual, which means they’ll only live for this year, but I may try my hand at collecting their seeds and replanting them next year.

The pink flowers are Dwarf Hydrangeas, and those are perennials. They ain’t goin’ nowhere (unless I kill them).

The green patches of ground cover are Pearlwort. Although you can’t really tell yet, they have tiny white flowers that sprout from the green growth. I’d like to get some more of these and actually cover the entire area around the flowers (where there’s currently only dirt).

We planted these on Saturday afternoon, before the rain hit. We also trimmed down the shrubs in the right of the picture from being the size of small trees to being large bushes.

On Sunday, we tackled the rest of the planting. Actually, I tackled the back garden while Aaron hacked down the overgrown tree-bush next to the garage.

After preparing the flowerbed (which I did rather hastily, IMO, in a fashion that would probably make most gardeners and landscapers cringe), I planted the first round of herbs purchased at Gardenland on Saturday. Top row left to right are Lavender and two Sage plants. Bottom row left to right are two Coriander / Cilantro plants and a Sweet Basil. Yes, the plants are supposed to spread and get quite a bit larger, so don’t worry. I’m hoping to put some more herbs in as I get the money to buy them: more varieties of Basil, some Catnip, some Mint, Parsley, Oregano, Creeping Thyme, etc, etc.

I also planted the rosebush we got on Saturday at Gardenland (see right). It’s a Brandy, and will eventually have blooms of an interesting pinkish-coralish hue. It looks a little sad in this picture, but it’ll get more grand soon. Hopefully.

While I was at it, I decided today would be a good time to attempt to transplant the shrubs growing in the teeny patch of dirt next to our back door. One of them was thorny, like it could be a rosebush, and the other had some attractive small purple flowers. So, I dug them up and put them into some now-vacant containers (see left). Hopefully they’ll grow and thrive and I’ll be able to plant them alongside my other plants in the garden.

Overall, I feel like this weekend was particularly productive. I hope our work pays off, and that I can get some more herbs and shrubs to plant this season.

This is a plan of my new garden.

The Better Homes and Gardens website kicks ass—they have this nifty Flash application that’s kind of like the Tony Hawk Pro Skater park building feature, but with gardens. That’s how I put this loverly design together.

This depicts my back yard, by the way. From left to right, I have planned: lavender, hydrangea, coral roses, yellow roses, ground cover in front of said roses, a rose of sharon, forsythia, catmint, more lavender, and butterfly bush. In front there, on the curve where there’s still a bit of dirt with no plants, that’s where the herbs go. Three varieties of basil, parsley, catnip, creeping thyme, coriander/cilantro, and whatever else tickles my fancy.

I’ll provide photos when I have some stuff planted. Until then, wish me luck… I hope I haven’t bitten off more than my little first-time-homeowner self can chew.