Mother's Day 2009
Here’s our latest garden project – Team Olsen built a raised bed!! (Thank you Andy!!) We had a lot of fun doing it and are so pleased with the results.
Rhubarb in the back. Gladiolas, morning glories, moonflowers and others (?) to come.
My front entry pot. I haven't done combination plantings like this before...it was fun and I like the result!
Here’s where I need advice. If you look at both photos below, you’ll see my quandery. I’ve done a lot of work on the foundation plantings in front of our house. They were non-existent when we moved here. I’ve been able to transplant some plantings from other parts of the yard. I’ve used stones from around the yard to begin to edge it (although we’re going to go rock hunting to complete it – it’s pretty wimpy right now. And I hit a great clearance at Lowe’s last summer to add a lot of the boxwoods,evergreens and a couple more daylilies.
This spring, I did a little more transplanting, expanding the planting bed under the picture window and we bought a bush for the corner – a Juddi Viburnum. That bush will grow to six or eight feet tall, eventually. We’ll prune it to not get too wide. So, that still leaves a hole (or two) in the middle of the bed. What should I put there? If you look at the second photo, you’ll see there’s a smaller space on the other side of the step, where I’d like to put a second of whatever I plant, so they match. I’ve considered a knock-out rose bush. They’re blooming like crazy around here and are GORGEOUS. Roses scare me a little – I tried one last year and it did not survive. But they say the knock-out roses are really easy, so I might give it a try. Any advice or thoughts?
(Left to Right) Phlox, Juddi Viburnum bush, daylilies, sedum, boxwood, yellow evergreen thingy...What should go in that hole in the middle?
I want to put a matching planting in this hole on the other side of the front step.
That is such a nice photo of the two of you! I have no advice about gardening…i’m terrible at it. But I really admire all the work that you guys have done on the landscaping of your house. I hope the raised bed works well for you – are you planning to add more vegetables a la “Square Foot Gardening”?
I’ve never read about square foot gardening. I’ll have to look into that. We’ve got lots of veggies in our other beds, so for this year, the raised bed may be mostly flowers. We’ll see. I haven’t put my new tomato plants (from the farmers market) in the ground yet, so I am debating adding those to the raised bed instead of the ground plots. Where did you read about square foot gardening?
I’ve heard a lot of my green thumb friends talk about it and seen discussion of it on blogs/message boards around the web. My mother-in-law is currently trying it too in their backyard.
Here’s the website: http://www.squarefootgardening.com/