The Side Garden Bed

There is something very satisfying about being able to look at something objectively {a garden in this case} and saying this would look SO MUCH better if only….

I love to garden, there’s no doubt about it. When we were house hunting and saw this place I knew instantly that landscaping, lots and lots of landscaping, would totally change the look. 

I love new {to me} houses. And I especially love new {to me} gardens. But most of all I adore seeing a place and knowing I can make it better. And then doing just that.

I’ve only been back from my trip for a few days, but already we’ve managed to get the first coat of stain on the fence plus plant the side garden bed AND the area in front of the picket fence {that faces the street} with boxwoods.

The days have been long, but we both know that we’ve only got 4-6 weeks until the cold weather sets in. And who knows when the ground will freeze, right? 

It’s sort of been crazy around here, and I suspect it won’t stop until the end of October. But that’s okay. 4-6 weeks I keep telling myself, 4-6 weeks. By then we should have a couch {we ordered one!} to sit down and finally be able to RELAX.

Oh won’t that be nice!  I am very much looking forward to winter this year {and I suspect the HH is too} but in the meantime, there is still SO MUCH to get done.

But hey, check out the new side garden bed!!! It’s finished! Normally I would have bought smaller plants, but the local garden center was having a clearance sale and I was able to score some good deals so I just went for the “instant perennial garden” look. 🙂 

I love how it turned out!

The side garden bed is actually much larger than it looks {I’ll have to go measure it} and I love that I was able to squeeze SO many of my favorite plants in there {and a few new ones}.

French lavender.

Mums. Okay, so mums are not one of my favorite plants… But it was that or ornamental cabbage for fall and the HH doesn’t like ornamental cabbage so I went for a splash of color instead. 😉

Ornamental onions.

Anise hyssop. {This is a new plant for me. I really like the smell of it and although it’s a bit wet in the photo because I had just watered the garden, the bees really seem to love it}.

White coneflowers.

Hot pink coneflowers.

Pinky/purple hibiscus.

Autumn joy sedum. And of course, my favorite limelight hydrangeas.

I wanted to make sure I had my perennial flowers planted in the front before my fall bulb order arrived. I figured that way, I’d only have one more garden chore {out front} to do before the ground freezes. 

Once spring/summer rolls around next year, the only thing I’ll need to do out front is add in a few annuals here and there. 

My big project next summer will  be installing a backyard garden. I may not be able to plant a religious family style garden at the new place, but with a little creativity, I think I’ll be able to grow quite a few vegetables.

The side garden bed out front is done. Yee-Ha! 

~Mavis