The weather has been nice, so I’ve been working in the garden.
I spent about 3 hours pulling grass and weeds today. And an hour or so yesterday. And maybe an hour (one tub’s worth at least) on Monday.
This is what I’m dealing with. Weeds, grass, dry compacted ground, a mess.
That’s weed-grass growing up inside paid-for grass… It’s a real challenge. I think this plant is going to get dug up and moved. I’m hoping I can disentangle the weed grass in the process. I love the pale lime color of the paid-for grass.
Cleared ground! Small victories. This was 3-4 hours of work right here. I need to plant some big vigorous plants in this area. It’s right in the middle front part of the garden and it just looks sad. It’s a very exposed dry area and the lavenders I planted haven’t taken off yet. I need to put out the soaker hoses too. And the wooly thyme ground cover is cute, but just doesn’t work in this spot. None of my ground covers worked very well. I think they’ll do better in the side yard. (Another thing to add to the to-do list).
My teeny tiny miniature dwarf lilac is just starting to bloom. I want to get some full sized lilacs for another part of the yard too.
I’ve got a lot of work still to do… the problems get worse closer to the fence… the grass creeps into my yard from next door. The flax is doing well, but the grass is growing up through it and is impossible to pull. The Dusty Miller plant isn’t looking too good. I should work on this area next, but I’d prefer to weed the other side of the yard which is more visible from the street. I like the payoff of being able to see my progress when I come up to the house. That’s part of why this area looks so bad – I keep neglecting it.
Luckily the garden is looking rather lovely, at least in parts. Everything is green, blue and purple right now, and the bees are back and happily buzzing. I love seeing the variety of bees that come into Beetopia – bees unlike any I’ve seen before, as well as lots of fat bumbles that have taken over from the ailing honeybees.
It seems that I’ve never shared my favorite bee photo on this blog – the shot I got of a sweat bee on echinacea. It’s one of my favorite photos ever.
I only ever saw this bee one time. I took a bunch of pictures of it and found out what it was called on the Internet.
Here’s what some of the best parts of the garden look like. They’re actually more spectacular in person – the blue flowers (Grace Ward Lithodora, I believe) are cascading all down both sides of the stairs and the rosemary is massive and the phlox is gorgeous. The Spanish lavender is massive too. Close up everything is looking a little worse for wear, but the overall effect is quite stunning.
I got this rhododendron a couple of years ago. It blooms several weeks earlier than my pink ones. I think it’s going to be gorgeous when it gets a bit bigger. It’s quite lovely now. I’m looking forward to it concealing the concrete massiveness of the porch wall.
I’ve still got so much to do. So many more weeds and grass patches to pull. I need to add compost (I think), lay out the soaker hoses, and mulch everything. I have several plants I’d like to move, but I need to dig out some more lawn to make space, and then I need to figure out which things to move first to make space for the other things. I need to make some lists and plans. And I need to buy some more plants!
The rain is returning tomorrow so it might be a while before I get back into the yard. I know I should throw on a jacket and keep working no matter what the weather, but I doubt that’s going to happen. I’m a fair weather gardener!
Oh well, progress…
Thanks for stopping by!
Jo:)
adventures in the here now 