Setting Up the Border Beds

Planting the border beds in the new yard has made a huge difference in the backyard refurbishment!

My dear husband had an appointment in Tupelo on Monday, so I went along and hit up Mid-South Nursery and Lowe’s for some plants, and a bunch of peat moss to add into the “clay loam” soil. I’m pleased with how much it lightened up the heavy soil! It’s late here for bedding plants, so it was slim picking, but I managed to get quite a few things, and, honestly, it filled up more space than I thought it would.

This is not my first (or second, or third, or fourth…) garden rodeo, so I know what works in my area and conditions, so that gives me some confidence. I only got a few things that are not “sure bets.” I also used cuttings and rootings from existing plants, like my ever increasing collection of catmint.

Using Seedlings, Rootings of my Own Plants

I planted the last of our basil seedlings – no, actually, I “encouraged” Emma to plant them. I hope they didn’t feel her disdain for all things gardening! She will be the first one to be glad when we have some so close to the house for pesto, though!

I also had Emma plant the window box liners with wave petunias, creeping jenny and some verbena. I’ve never had much luck with window boxes, but the house walls really needed some dressing up! I looked at the first pics from this project and saw how “bleh” the south side of the house looks! And I also worked yesterday on fixing up the back/kitchen door porch, which had gotten pretty junky over the years, since that’s where the dogs are fed, and is the entrance we use coming in from farm work.

I also transplanted more than a dozen seedlings of Italian parsley. It is not supposed to transplant well, and I’ve never tried, but these are less than 2-inch high seedlings thinned from the “big” garden by the barn and so far, they look great. The bachelor button seedlings don’t look as good…

I bought some Heuchera (coral bells), lantana, for the shadier side; some good old red salvia, some blue salvia “East Friesland”, and baptisia “Cherries Jubilee”. The limited selection helped keep me from buying all BLUE blooming plants, which I am wont to do more often than not! Also, I’ve refrained from putting in any hydrangeas in this particular bed, but that could change! I’m trying to keep to less than 48″ tall, to maintain line of sight from my beloved kitchen windows.

Next up: making and mounting the new window boxes!