New old garden

I pulled everything out of this garden (see previous postings) and now have it replanted with lots of new things. I kept deer munching prevention in mind, trying to use plants that deer don't like at the borders and in front of plants that deer like. I planted alliums near the tall garden phlox and the lilies.

This garden used to be just one long bed, 36 feet by 6 feet. I made it wider by a foot or so, and also added a leg to one end and moved a young crabapple tree in. That makes it easier to mow, as well as adding more space for planting.

I have put earlier blooming plants in the center, and later blooming plants towards the corners. I grouped like plants together, and am hoping for large blocks of color that can be seen from the deck. I added some rare new peonies - can't wait to see this garden come to life next spring! There is still room for more plants and I want to add some stepping stones in a semi-circle in the center.

Finishing up

I'm calling this area finished. I've got my secondary path to the vegetable garden lined in rocks, added a few boulders (their purpose is not only to look nice, but also to prevent me from cutting through our cable lines.), and planted a few things, with more to be added in the spring. Oh, and this will get mulched in the spring, too!

New peony

My plans were to do some final clean up in the gardens this weekend - but I bought a few more plants, so I guess I will be planting! One of the treasures I found was a Takara itoh peony, which is going to go in the front garden.

Plants from this garden

This is a prairie smoke plant - newly planted last fall. It blooms really early!!

Time to redesign this garden

Pain relief

Gardening can be hard on the body! While I enjoy the workout I get when gardening, sometimes I overdo it. My right knee has been aching, so I tried Salonpas pain relief patches. They feel warm and really do relieve the pain.

Path finished!

Finally finished the path next to the retaining wall!  We hauled in 3 small (Ford Ranger) loads of class 5 gravel to fill it in.  I chose gravel because there is an incline and mulch would have probably washed down the hill.

Now, to connect this bed to the existing landscaping.  The black hose shows where the edge of the bed will be.  There is a secondary path that leads to a gate in the fence around the vegetable garden, edged in rock.  I moved some irises that were in a bad spot (blocking the sprinkler head) and planted a couple of peonies that a neighbor gave me.  I have some other pressing projects, so this probably won't be fully planted before winter.

My mantra these days is - get plants in ground!!

The weather is gorgeous for early October, so I plan to take advantage and plant, plant, plant! (When I'm not work, work, working!)

 

Minnesota mums

Love these Minnesota-hardy mums!!

Grasses

 Silver Feather grass adds some nice fall color to the garden, as do the Autumn Joy Sedums in the picture below.