Garden Bed Makeover - Page 4
Finishing the make over and getting a before and after look with the cat's opinion, of course.'
As I dig over the bed I dislodge a brown eyed Susan. There are a few of them oround the garden beds, most of them self planted so I seldom have to do more than move one. It is a good thing they spread themselvds so easily as they tend to be liked by the deer that wander through the grounds. In the fall especially, I find that they keep their green longer than many other flowers and the deer seem to like them as salad along with forsythia.
As I look at these roots I see that the ground is dry around this bed and that it dearly needs some compost added. In the past few years it has been totally dug up to put in some plumbing and the topsoil and subsoil have undergone quite a mixing. On the other hand the roots look strong and able to take a transplanting well.
Once again there are some William and Mary for keeping. I look for a good root mass on most plants but I know from experience that this is plent for this particular plant to survive, other wise I might have discarded it. Take a look at the area around and if you have room for a questionably rooted plant, why not give it a go? If it works, great and if not it come from compost and to compost it can return.
Whisper has been a garden critic for over fifteen years now and is likely commenting on the transplanted Siberian Iris beside the William and Mary I have just put beside it while wondering why anyone would then soak such nice plants. It should not happen to a good cat, that is for sure.
A few hours of sweat equity and this bed is dug over. Now I have to question whether it was better to do it this way or to have dug out the wegilia first thing to save them and then dug the whole bed over, throwing out everything and putting in new plants. However, some of these are old friends and some have already been moved from elswhere as division was necessary and so on. Besides, I wanted to ensure that the lily of the valley and a couple of other things were realtively undisturbed. So I am glad I did it this way. Next year will be a year of observation and then gradually the bed will be developed over the years to come.
Transplants are in, the wegilia need to be pruned next spring, and a lot of compost is needed. The shovel and fork have done good work and the cart has carried several loads to the compost pile. Things are looking good in this corner and quite different from the start.