I am thinking I want to redo all of my beds and start over, except for a few things that are permanent like Crepe Myrtles and various bushes. I am in the process of raising some of my beds, but started thinking about redoing all of them. I just haven't achieved the look that I want. Is this crazy or what?
I will use the plants I have, but will move them around.
Maybe, I should initially concentrate on getting all of these beds raised and ready for fall planting. And, go from there. Sometimes I get so many ideas in my head that I get overwhelmed with it all. I get the plant crazies in the spring and buy, buy, buy and after that I prepare a place for it all. I think I'm doing it all backwards.
Any advice out there?
Is this crazy
Crazy,no. A glutton for punishment, maybe. I'm always moving things around, trying to improve my garden. Even this year I have an area in my sidewalk path that has filled in with light wispy plants and just down from it has much heavier looking plants, so I plan to exchange some of them to get the balance even again. Just make sure you don't have more plants out of the ground than you can easily plant. You don't want to get overwhelmed. Remember, this is supposed to be fun.
mao
Angie,
Laughing because you remind me of me. I am just a beginning gardener but have been "collecting" stuff (plants, potting soil, trellises, pots) for about three years and growing things in pots on my deck (or at least trying to). I had no "beds" and didn't have the strength (bad ticker) to dig and prepare them myself. This year I bit the bullet and hired a landscaping company to dig and prepare the beds ... that was all ... just dig and amend. I wanted to do all the planting, edging, mulching, etc. myself. I thought I knew what I wanted and just spent a whole week doing a shade bed and edging it with brick. Now I don't like it and want to try edging it with rock. That's more than 150 bricks, 20 bricks to a wheelbarrow load, a week's worth of work ... and now I want to change it? If you're crazy, then so am I!
I have since added more plants but this is the way it looks ... a little too "neat" for my liking.
Aww Judy, I like it. And, if you get plants that will fill in around the edge then you won't notice the brick. I'm going to try a borderless edging---we'll see.
I've been gardening for 12 years, and my plants are gypsies--here one year, over there next year. Most of my plants do not stay in one place for more than 2 years. The thing is, until you achieve the look you really want, you'll keep moving everything.
First you have to actually have a plan. Create themed gardens so you know what goes in which garden. If your gardens don't have a purpose, then you'll always feel like they're haphazard. So examine each area of your yard and decide its purpose. Perhaps that little spot under the big oak would make a great reading area. You could park a chair or lounger under it or maybe a hammock and use it for reading or naps. Fill it with butterfly-attracting and scented plants. Maybe a little private corner in the nook of your house would make a nice little meditation garden? Put in a fountain or pond, maybe a buddha, a bench or comfortable chair, some succulents or whatever you prefer to give you a serene, quiet, soothing spot.
Of course, no matter what we do, our gardens are always a work in progress and we will find it necessary to change something here and there occasionally. But once your gardens have purposes, they'll be more soothing and you'll be happier with them. Flip thru some garden magazines and scroll thru gardening websites and find designs you like, themes you like, and create something similar. Then your gypsy plants can settle down and do their job--to bring you comfort and inspiration.
Yes, a secret garden. A place to relax in solitude would be great.