{The purple flowers are Anise Hyssop}
About a year and a half ago my friend Heather and her husband moved to a new property. When the HH and I stopped by for a visit last summer to check it out, I remember thinking at the time… How in the heck is she going to have a garden here?
The place was so heavily wooded and dark and buggy, that I just couldn’t see it.
Well, fast forward to this summer and holy cow man…. it looks like a totally different property!
Late last summer they had 6 huge trees taken down by a professional. Her husband cut down an additional 16 trees and since they don’t have a woodstove…
In late March of this year, Heather’s husband carved out a giant 30 foot long trench on the side of their property with his tractor in the spot where she knew she wanted to plant some garden beds.
They used the trees that were cut down last summer to help fill the trench and then used leaves, sticks, some topsoil they removed from other areas around the property and some compost to fill the voids.
The idea was that the logs would soak up any water and act like a sponge. And well, so far so good. Heather says there hasn’t been any flooding or fungal issues and so she thinks the whole set up is working really well.
And this is what that 30 foot long trench looks like now. Going from a dark and wooded property with barely any sunlight peeking through to a thriving open area with multiple gardens and a ton of sunlight has been as huge improvement.
Heather standing next to her patch of sweet Annie. She’s planning on making wreaths with it and selling them online.
Everything she planted is growing like mad!
When they were clearing the backyard they discovered an old rock wall…. So she turned it into a garden bed for her tomatoes.
She hangs bars of Irish Spring soap in her garden to keep the deer and other critters away. And so far so good! The creative gardening ideas don’t stop there though…
Heather’s latest project is training clematis plants onto arches to hid the giant propane tank in the back.
And the chicken yard. That’s new too.
They currently have 9 hens.
And she sells her extra eggs out front in her moveable egg cart. $4.00 a dozen.
She’s thinking about maybe branching out next summer and growing more flowers so she can expand her roadside offerings.
And homemade soap! Seriously, what’s a veggie-egg-flower stand without a few bars of homemade soap? 🙂
It’s amazing to me how much Heather and her husband have accomplished in such a short period of time and I’m already looking forward to my next visit, because seriously, what will she come up with next?
Keep Calm and Garden On.
Have a great day everyone,
~Mavis
Elle says
An awesome way to start a garden. I read up on it a few years ago.
This design is called a hugelkultur raised bed. Over time, the pile shrinks as the organic matter slowly decomposes. Every five years or so it is rebuilt.
Peg says
Growing clematis to hide a propane tank is brilliant!
Rebecca in MD says
Heather and her husband have accomplished a great deal in a short time. I also use Irish Spring soap in my garden to repel the deer and it is working well. Our house is surrounded by woods on all sides, so we have a LOT of deer. They also won’t be fond of Heather’s Anise Hyssop.
Mrs. C. says
Where did she get those arches???
Mavis Butterfield says
She said she bought 4 of these https://amzn.to/37Hn53G and cut them down to the size she needed, and then wedged them into the ground about 12″. Hope that helps.
Margo says
What a beautiful garden. Great job!
Nancy Sadewater says
Heather, what you have accomplished in such a short time is wonderful and beautiful.