The Garden - a Work in Progress

This has been the first year in quite a few years
that I have felt well enough to work out in my garden,
so I have been taking advantage of that fact
and have been working to reclaim the garden
from the weeds.

This was the main garden before I got to work.

The butterfly bushes have been cut back to the ground.

A month later,
some weeds have been pulled and the garden is taking shape.
The edging still needs to be done
and the beds need to be re-mulched.

The garden by the new deck.


I neglected to take the before photo of this bed,
but it was a mess.
This bed now needs to be edged and mulched.



My husband decided that we should put in concrete edgers
so that I wouldn't have to re-edge the beds every year.

Work has started in the front beds.
Since this was my husband's idea,
he helped with this job.

We even got the Foodie Boyfriend to help with this project.





It already looks better.

With the addition of mulch, the look is complete.
Much better.

I like this a lot.

This is the next area to be edged with the concrete edgers.

The mailbox bed before spring-cleanup.

I leave the debris for the small animals,
birds, butterfly chrysalises
and praying mantis eggs to take shelter over the winter.



Part one of the cleanup is complete.


And the edgers are installed.


Another bed is finished.

All that is left to do here is to repaint the mailbox post.


Once again I forgot to take the before photos.
Today I cut down two half-dead Bridal Wreath Spirea.

The Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus Syriacus, was also trimmed.

Later I will edge this bed and add mulch.

Pincushion flower, or Scabiosa.

Columbine.

Miss Kim Lilac in bloom.

This is a late blooming lilac and doesn't get as large
as some of the old-fashioned lilacs.

If you see this rose pop up uninvited in your landscaping,
cut it down or dig it out immediately.

It is likely a multiflora rose and it is bad news.
Multiflora roses were introduced from Japan in 1886
as rootstock for cultivating roses and the rose was used
to control erosion and as a living fence as it grows in
dense colonies that are nearly impenetrable.

However, multiflora rose can quickly take over an area
and crowd out native plants.

Multiflora roses can be identified by the leaves,
which are divided into five to eleven leaflets.

Spider wort, or Tradescantia.

Foxglove, or Digitalis.
All parts of this plant are extremely poisonous.
Digitalis is used to make heart medicine.

Centaurea Montana.

I planted this last year,
but I haven't a clue what it is.

Looks like I have some homework to do.

Bearded iris.

That red plant still bothers me.
It is throwing off the entire color scheme.

I may end up moving it.

The azaleas are blooming.

These azaleas got lost behind the other shrubs.

My first rose of the season is blooming.

Lovely.

And still so much work yet to do.