Garden Plannings #7: New Flower Bed

there’s always room for more.. so those trips to the garden centres are always dangerous!!

you are one busy man!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

If it’s not the stuff in the garden center on clearance, it’s the stuff inside.. They had some odd 12×12 slate tiles with a green to them on clearance that were special ordered. 5 for $8. There were around 25 or so?

I had to fight picking them up. Great deal, but will I ever get to using them.. Doubt it.

So how does the layout look? Alright? You can kinda see where a path is going to go from the concrete walk section to the gravel drive. Also going to have a stone or two go up to the spigot.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

looks good to me!

I bet you kick yourself for not picking up the slate!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Naaaa… I’ve really got no need for it.. Killer deal, but it’d just be one more thing to sit around.

I’ve already got a $350 solid surface counter that I picked up for $20 off in the corner. Was going to use it outside by the grill but (smacks head) I’m replacing the bathroom counter, which is longer, and will be using it instead.

Oh well.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

you never know.
I bought beading stuff a couple years ago and it’s been sitting here. And now—fairy doors need the beads and wires!! :) All coming in handy.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Good deals. A garden never seems to be full, especially if the price of plants is right. ;)

-- jroot

Deb, true, but I’m trying to get away from being a pack rat.. Grandfather was a pack rat.. Father was a pack rat.. and after trying to go through dads work shop to see what was around and being unable to fathom why he held onto some things, I’d greatly limited what I’m willing to hold onto.

Hmmm.. Brings to mind.. Anyone have a suggestion on what to do with a leaking 20 gallon compressor tank? It’s got a small pin hole in the bottom of it from sitting unused. Was thinking about having it brazed. It’s take a catastrophic failure on a weld seam to be dangerous so I figure a braze in the center of the tank should be OK for a while.

Anyway… I was digging around google images to see what some of the plants look like full grown so I can get a more complete image of the layout in my head.. Got to say, the Veronica ‘Alba’ is by far my fave speedwell now.. Very striking.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

nothing wrong with being a packrat.
I so enjoy going through the antique stores and see all the things from the past. If we didn’t have packrats we wouldn’t have our history.
And so I will pack like a rat till I can’t pack no more (and then I’ll build more storage) ... and I’ll be PROUD of it.. no matter how much I complain about junk lying all over the place :D :D :D :D

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I agree with you on that comment, MsDebbieP. I love the antiques as well. Often as not, one can find something neat for the garden there.

... or take advantage of someone else’s lack of knowledge. I once picked up a walking stick in Salem, Mass, after dickering for a while for $25.00 On it was a little place, barely legible, that read “Cut down by the RT HON W E GLADESTONE”. I guess the antique dealer didn’t recognize the name HONWEGLADESTONE, as it was barely legible. If one knew their English History, they would have realized that W. E. Gladestone was the prime minister of Britain. He and Benjamin Disraeli alternated at PM. I have been offered $1,200.00 for the cane. I have had a few other similar good finds.

-- jroot

Nice bargain hunting Scott.I just love this time of year for the plants you can find at the centers so cheap.I have a lot of plants to move around to other beds this fall and I want to plant a lot more things in my border garden.I just can’t disturb them yet because they are all blooming so nicely still.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

great story about the cane.
I wouldn’t have known but if I was selling something I would have done a little research first!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Perhaps.. But after going through all my grandparents stuff, and then turning around and having to go through a bunch of my dads a year later. I’m on “might be useful later” overload. ;)

Anyway.. Here’s some more pics.

I ran out of landscape fabric, so will need to pick up more.. Or maybe just get some cardboard tonight. I’m going to trench along it and lay down a line of the rocks I got from Freecycle. It will extend all along the driveway down to the basketball hoop and around the burning bush.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

You’ve been busy. Lookin’ good.

-- jroot

holy cats you’ve done a lot !!!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Errr… Not really.. I just rolled down some cloth and tossed 4 or 5 wheelbarrows of mulch down.

We did get 8 quarts of tomato juice as well as 11 quarts of apple sauce done today though.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

oh don’t talk about tomato juice :(
almost all of our tomatoes rotted on the vine, still “green”

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

So…. I shouldn’t talk about the canned tomatoes, salsa or anything else made via a tomato product?

lol… sorry to hear about your toms.. Our corn, carrots and cantaloupe did awful this year.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

Nice new garden…and I love the veronica alba too.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

I’d decided that I have way too few white flowers on the property, so will be expanding those.. Got to say, if all the blooms, white is the most striking to me.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

Well I know I am late to this thread (see what happens when you go away for a while), but have to say that is a mighty nice look bed Scott. Like how it winds from your concrete to the driveway. Looks good against that fence too.

And as for packrat … hubby and I are polar opposites with that and have been struggling with issues that relate to that for almost 34 years now. He keeps everything and I toss everything … I think if anyone were to watch us they might get a good laugh (I know our adult children have gotten a few over the years).

Anyway, great finds Scott and nice layout of the new flower bed!! :-)

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

Well, got more of the bed put together. I had some crappy plastic weed cloth laying around that I tripped over, so I grabbed it and used it to fill in the blank spots.

I’ve also got the bulk of the planting done, with the last bit to fill in being by the Burning Bush.

Once all the planting is done I’m going to start selecting stones and placing them along the edge. You can clearly see where the stones will go, as I’d mounded the mulch along the edge. They will be laid right along side the mound, then everything will be smoothed off.

I’m still debating on if I should keep the brick that go around the Burning Bush or get rid of them. That do you all think? I’ll be mulching under the bush regardless.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

Great looking bed Scott … really transformed that area. Stones will really set it off. Nice work …

And, guess if you are going to mulch around the Burning Bush, I would remove the bricks. Maybe use them elsewhere, at some point. But that is just me …

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

I agree with GramT.Brick around a bush in a rock garden? hmmmmm
Your garden is coming together great though Scott.Bet it will be an eye catcher next summer.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Thanks for the input.. I’ll pull the brick round out after I get the stone mortared in and just mulch all the way under the bush then.

Here’s some pics of the stones in place.. I used my trusty garden cart to haul them around in and selected several feet per load, laying them in the cart to ensure they fit well together.

The landscape fabric will stay in place and the mortar will be placed onto it so that weeds do not push up between the stones. Once everything is dry I’ll trim the excess away so that it’s not seen. I also plan on seeding some thyme all along the rock, as well as putting down some more crushed linestone for the driveway.

While I was taking pictures these two pretty yellow moths landed and posed for a bit.

In the background is an oddball concrete block made out of heavy aggregate. Never seen one before, so it’s been a part of the garden since we’d found it.

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

Man that just finishes off that bed … I really like the rocks!!!!! You have a great eye when it comes to landscaping. I do love all your different beds, and they are really nicely done and placed.

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b