Beginnings

I’ve already begun working on my landscaping project. I’ve taken one or two baby steps, but there is a long road ahead of me to travel. It probably will be a somewhat leisurely journey depending on my time, my energy, and my pocketbook. Having past experience transforming a boring yard into a riot of color, I know that it takes time … a lot of time. Below are photos of where things stand today. I do not have a plan for how often I will update my progress through photographs, but this blog will serve as a record of my successes and failures as I strive to create a property as lovely as the others in my neighborhood.

This small bed borders the left side of the house. I am not yet sure what I’ll put here. It gets full sun all day long, so perhaps I’ll start some zinnias from seed. They are easy to grow and very showy. Another possibility is million bells.

This is straggly backyard bed that needs work. I’m counting on the heirloom plant sale for things that will be happy here. A lady in Floyd has a hosta “farm” and I am going to visit her soon. I’ve been told that she has huge hostas for reasonable prices. I’d love to find the same type of hosta that I bought years ago for my old townhouse. It was a steal at the end of the season for fifty cents. I hacked it into eight pieces and each one grew to be huge. I dug up one of those and hacked it into eight pieces and gave it to my daughter, Jessica. They grew huge. Sadly, neither of us owns the property where these hostas continue to thrive.

This is another pitiful bed in the backyard, and I suspect that at one time it was lovely. My goal here is to add hostas and heucheras. However, I may find some shade-loving varieties at the Smithfield Plantation heirloom plant sale in early May.

The two photos above show the bed that runs along the side of the garage. By the time I decided to recreate this blog and take pictures, I had already planted quite a few perennials. But the bed still looks bare. I added some creeping jenny, which is slow growing, and Johnny jumpups, which spread quickly.

This scraggly mess is an overgrown mound of monkey grass. I finally dug out and swore off most of the monkey grass in my previous yard. This is coming out and will be replaced, initially, with oriental poppies, one of my favorite flowering plants. My helpful neighbor already has found a home for the monkey grass.

This plum tree is the only one in my front yard. It has pretty purple blooms on it, which are not visible in this picture. I will plant a variety of heucheras—also called coralbells—here.

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This is the front bed to the left of the entryway porch. It, too, has been tilled and a few perennials have been put in. Below are containers on my deck that I will fill with impatiens. I’m not sure yet which color or colors. Maybe I’ll do a variety … I’m just not sure.