Saturday, March 6, 2010

Nekkid Dirt

Journaling:

Today was gloriously warm & sunny, so Hubby & I worked in the front yard all day.

I cleaned out the flower beds and he raked up the last of the leaves. Now we have a bunch of nekkid dirt that makes me uneasy, but there's lots of work to do before we can mulch. I have a glorious garden planned in my head, lots of changes to make, cowpoo to till, and trips to the nursery.

Hope springs eternal in the heart of a gardener that *this* year will be better than the last, and *next* year will be even better than that.


Garden Analysis: I think the male Mexican fern made it through the winter. It still has a frond of green on it. Found little purple nubs where the hosta are poking up. Lost all the mums except for two; can't say that I'm too disappointed.

Gave up on half the dianthus and pulled them up. They were scraggly looking last year. The rest will get moved to the canna bed as a border. No periwinkles in the canna bed this year I've decided. I'm tired of them even though they are great performers.

The main part of the garden (the middle bulge) is in the deep shade until 11:00 am, then get scorched by full sun until 1:00 pm, then goes back into deep shade again. It's a little too sunny for shade-loving plants, and not sunny enough for sun-loving plants.

Every year I go to the nursery hoping there will be some new, colorful shade-loving plants. Every year I am disappointed. I'm so tired of impatiens and begonias but they're the only plants that seem to like it in there.

Sigh. I need some miracle plants.

3 comments:

Karen Blados said...

Nice sketch! I want to rip out the four overgrown bushes in our front bed, but no plan beyond that. I'd like something with multiple levels ... I never remember where my perennials are and end up planting annuals on top. And I'd love to include a forsythia. I suppose I should start thinking about what I want to do, huh?

Speck said...

Yep, now is the time to start thinking about gardening. I like thinking about it and dreaming about it moreso than actually doing it. I'm bad about not watering and the poor plants suffer so. I feel bad for them but do I water? NO! I need hardy, kill-proof stuff.

To keep track of where my perennials live I staked them on either side with bits of metal mini-blind slats I dug from the neighbor's trashcan. They are easily cut with regular scissors. They've been there for four years now and are just a little bent from having been raked over but that's it. They work so much better than plastic or wooden plant tags.

Br. Jonathan said...

I grew a basil plant on my balcony last year and it didn't die. It was pretty cool.