Being Creative with Flower Gardens

Another week went by and I was still sore from my fall. However, I was determined to get outside. I’m probably not giving myself enough time to fully heal, but I just can’t sit still all the time. I have to get out and do things … besides deadheading.

Sometimes my stints outside aren’t much. I might move a couple stones, set a paving stone for a step into the garden, or work a little at creating more of a tier in the north side lily garden.  I get new ideas on how I can enhance the yard.

Enhanced garden

One day I commented to my neighbor Andy how I wanted to build a retaining wall where the echinacea and rudbeckia are on the lowest part of the north side. I wasn’t sure how to fill the space between the two big boulders where water, soil, and mulch run off into the gully. The few retaining wall bricks I had didn’t quite fit the space.

A little while later he called me to come out. Oh, my God! He made it look amazing, and he filled it in with smaller rocks like the boulder garden out front. He even fixed up the two-lily garden by the walkway.

The stump garden and wet area cleared.
This little bit of digging and laying in dirt was all my body allowed.

On the last blog, I mentioned him using the string trimmer to clear weeds and messy growth along the edge of my property. I decided to make a new garden on the front side of the now clear stumps leaving the pretty tall ferns. The back side turns into mini pond when we get heavy rains. 

The area up to the stumps was mossy with roots which made it hard to dig. Stabbing straight down with the shovel to break ground and roots aggravated my sore ribs, but I pushed on to finish the area. I placed stones in a slight crescent shape as a suggestion for the new border. I wanted to make a slightly bigger area

The question was how to build a retaining wall in the back so this new garden can be leveled. (My intent is to level garden areas because it’s hard for me to work on slopes.) I mentioned to Andy about maybe cutting down the leftover stockade fence section to create a picket fence look in the back. He thought that was a great idea.

A quirky retaining wall with found items and more dirt to level.

He came back the next day after thinking it over. He didn’t think the stockade fence pieces would be sturdy enough. While I was working inside, he found leftover posts from the old deck and logs left behind when a couple of trees were cut down. He laid the posts horizontally to create a wall on one end, and at the other end, he stood the logs up vertically. He filled in the garden with soil, then called me to come out.

Wow, I was surprised! While the picket fence look would have been nice, what I like about this is that it’s quirky, like me. (Someone later said my gardens are whimsical.) What shows of the old wooden posts, I’ll paint purple to further enhance the quirky-whimsicalness. (Next year I’ll plan something for the top of the stumps … some kind of décor or potted plants.)

I’m so impressed by this year’s progress in the gardens and being able to pump water from the brook has kept everything green and lush.