We had a mess in our back yard with weeds and left over black dirt and gravel that covered up the perfect spot for my perennial grass garden. It is the bunch of dead plants and dirt and an old tarp right in front of the fence on the right. Since it's good to share here are close … [Read more...]
Garden in Mid April 2017: Weeds, Leaves and Flowers!
Tick tock, tick tock. Time is moving. Spring is advancing. Flowers are ready to bloom and I'm Not Ready! Last fall I decided to leave the debris and summer stalks in situ and deal with them in the spring. Well...now it's spring and I've got 3 garden beds full of stalks and leaves and spring … [Read more...]
This Year’s Haul: Windblown Garbage in the Trees
We are on a ridge and it gets pretty windy here. The wind swoops up garbage and debris from cross street just south of us and deposits it in the trees and along the fence. In spring 2016 I found someone's cashier check for rent, paper bags, drink cups and lots of other mail. This year the most … [Read more...]
Cleaning Up an Old Yard Mess – Perennial Grass to the Rescue!
When we put in our garden we got large deliveries of black dirt and gravel; unfortunately I forgot to put tarps down under either of these and we still have small piles of dirt and gravel out back. We also got extra edging pieces and I kept thinking we'd do something with them - and they are still … [Read more...]
Warm January Weather Melts the Snow and Shows the Mess
It's been unusually warm the last few days, 40s Wednesday - Friday, mid-50s today, 50 tomorrow, before we get back to our normal high 20s/low 30s. This is Michigan after all, and no matter what the groundhog sees on February 2, spring is at least a couple months away. The sun felt so good this … [Read more...]
4 Myths About Fall Clean Up
There are all sorts of myths about fall clean up. Myth #1. You feel so good when everything is done. Nope. I'm a bit sore and a little miffed I missed the Lions win to clean the garage. Myth #2. Everything looks so much better when it's done. Well, maybe. Some of it anyway. The garage … [Read more...]
Changes in the Garden – What Didn’t Work in 2016
This spring I changed one garden bed, moving peonies (aka attempting to move peony roots almost two feet square) and planting more summer-blooming gold/red perennials together in the now-open space. We purchased several plants both locally and mail order and I had high hopes they would thrive … [Read more...]
Volunteers In The Garden: The Good, The So-So And The Bad
Some of our annuals from last year volunteered seedlings this spring. Last summer's annual candytuft bloomed in blah colors, but the volunteers are blooming in pretty shades of purple and pink. I didn't need to plant the cosmos seeds we bought because my garden is full of seedlings. Our … [Read more...]
The Great June Pause: After Peonies and Before Daylilies
The garden book I found most helpful when I planted our first perennial garden recommended building around 5 main plants: peonies, daylilies, phlox, mums and I think iris. I got the book from the library - and it has been over 40 years! - so I don't remember for sure. It was either iris or … [Read more...]
Springtime Clean Up, Weed, Fertilize and Get Ready for Flowers!
It's spring time, busy time, garden time. I love it! I'm getting about 10 new perennials next week (read about them here) and need to make the garden ready for flower power. Main jobs: tidy up, weed, move a few plants to get color bursts and fertilize. Last fall I made a long list of all the … [Read more...]