Gardening Begins!

O Boy! I am soooo excited. We are having wonderful weather, sunny and in the 70's all week. And yesterday my landscaper guys arrived to help me whip this place into shape. 

Here is a great before picture. Actually stuff has already been removed since we landed here in Sept. 2020, but we might as well look at what is current. A horrible 'lawn', but let's not be negative. It is going. But the good part is that the deck design has been fixed and we will have a deck that goes all the way from the left edge of the house to the garage, right over the sidewalk and will have those planters that I mentioned earlier this week. It will be made from Trex or some other brand name. Who knows, but what is important is NO maintenance. Since we have had decks like this previously, we are so happy about that. Once the deck is in, later this month, then real landscaping will be done. 

In the front of that yard we had a bunch of emerging peonies. Some are just buds while others are 8 inches tall already. Can't stay there, as I am sure major digging will have to be done to remove that Bermuda grass. So that was project #1 for my yard workers.

We have a bed on the southern side of the house which was full of the concrete-like clay and lots of climbing rose bushes, hydrangeas, day lilies and overgrown irises. I had the guys remove the climbers and a boat load of pavers, which in turn widened the bed, and then had 8 bags of composted manure dug in to lighten and nurish the bed. 

Then they transplanted 17 huge peonies from the front to this bed, spacing them a foot apart. Some have big buds on them so I expect to discover how many are red and how many are pink. I know I have at least one white one still in the ground, waiting for a space to be planted.

Peonies in place, ready to grow. Of course now that I have seen them here, and realize I have a place to put other things...I went shopping,  but it is still too early to buy additional plants.  This spot is in brutal sun most of the day so I am thinking coneflowers, and zinnia and of course my fave, nasturtiums. And if I can find a good bargain, lantana. Mulch comes next tho.

Those pavers under the porch had lined the edge of the bed and took up a lot of growing space. I suppose the previous gardener was sick of weeding and just shrunk the bed by placing them over the ground. The 'fence' is to keep the pups from escaping and as flimsy as it is, it works. They don't go under the porch anymore. 

 Remaining from my scorched earth plan is one pink rose, not a Knock Out, and really a nice bloomer which kept going til November last year. Then one big hydrangea, which Dave mistakenly cut down to the ground, but has big fat green buds coming up anyway, and one other hydrangea, maybe an Annabelle, we'll see. The clumps of daylilies are also up. I will add more, me thinks. 

At the driveway end of the this bed is a crape myrtle, which the workers gave a good haircut. It is pink and was truly overgrown, and now managable. In that curvy bed, besides the weeds are some pitiful old tulips which will not bloom as they were deprived of fertilizer over the years. Out! But some Asiatic lilies have broken through, and one wonderful Agapanthus is looking vigorous. You will note on the upper left, a pile of bags which are composted manure, and when my guys return they will bring this planting bed over to the turn around part of the driveway and I will have more of a sun filled bed to plant. I 'need' Baptisia, Black and Blue Salvia, specimen daylilies, and Superbells petunias. Maybe a miscanthus and if I am really lucky, some more Agapanthus. O my!

This is the Agapanthus

On the back porch I have a planter for my basil, right outside the kitchen. I got this at Walmart and it holds a full 1 cu ft. of potting soil. I already have the seeds, but will wait...eeeeow. Waiting is killing me!

Back to knitting.