Areas that have always been a struggle for me when it comes to gardening are patience and planning. For years, I made a feeble attempt at weeding and planting, but never took the time to learn about the plants themselves or how to make weed control and maintenance easier. So, I’ll be planting shrubs, annuals, and perennials in exactly the wrong places. The plants that would eventually become huge were in front of other plants that were low, creeping ground covers, and the plants were in the wrong soil, the wrong light, and I didn’t even bother to water or prune them. When what seemed decent after working on it looked terrible within a few weeks or months, I would shrug my shoulders in resignation. Well, I’m not good at gardening. I’m a little older now, wiser, more patient, and willing to take the time to be a beginner, do some research, and try to learn from failures. I’m also willing to play the gardening long game. I try to be less concerned with what a space looks like immediately and more concerned with how it will look in a few years.
Well, I put a lot of time and work into a large garden against the fence last spring, and after just one year, I can see that hard work paying off. Here’s what it looked like in early spring before the climbing hydrangeas on the fence bloomed and before I started working on the weed and rock-filled bed to the left.
Here’s what this spring looks like…
We will be replacing the fence in the next 2-3 weeks and I can’t wait! The existing fence has a worn charm, but a strong breeze will topple it, so it has become a safety hazard. I’ll weed around the fence and a picket will fall on me! We had to make patches out of string, wire, zip ties, and scraps of board. It’s a miracle that Sebastian didn’t escape through one of the wide openings, but then again, he’ll stay put when the entrance is partially blocked by a piece of cardboard. It’s not that adventurous. Anyway, the fence will be a DIY project, but we are using existing 4×4 posts since they are in good shape and sturdy, so we don’t expect it to be too difficult once we start rolling. Naturally, I will share the process.
Here’s a close-up of how this corner garden bed looked when I was just starting out. My mom and I weeded it once and the weeds came back within weeks. I knew I had to do something to really control this area. Having to weed a large area like this every few weeks would be a chore I’m afraid and this area will never look pretty. When I started rooting a little more, I realized that about half of the bed was filled with river rocks. It wasn’t an entirely rock bed, but there was a lot of it, making it difficult to dig or think about planting. I’m sure the rocks were there for drainage, but I decided to dig up what I could, move it to the rock bed between the pool and the house, and reclaim that area for farming. I also like to plant bright hydrangea bushes that will fill the corner and drink plenty of water.
I spent almost every evening sitting on that bed, digging, clearing, moving rocks, and weeding for weeks. I never had the patience to do this project in my 20s! I learned to enjoy myself in the evenings, listening to music, singing, and doing simple yet repetitive tasks. I knew the work would pay off and make the pool and yard more fun to use and beautiful to look at.
While weeding, I kept coming across a very stubborn creeper and realized it must be a ground cover that had been intentionally planted there. It’s become so full of weeds and overgrown, so you can’t see it anymore. I started carefully working around it so I could keep it.
I place some layers of newspaper and mulch around the ground cover to act as a weed suppressant long enough to give the ground cover a chance to grow and spread. I also planted liriope (Big Blue Liriope Muscari) borders along the yard.
This is what that area looks like now! Can you believe how successful this ground cover is?! I’m not 100% sure what this ground cover is, but my phone identifies it as euonymus fortunei. However, it does not flower, so I’m not sure if this is accurate. Whatever it is, it is very happy and makes controlling other weeds easier. It also looks beautiful, filling that corner with lush green leaves.
Our pool pump was back behind the bushes, so I placed a few concrete sandstones I found buried in other areas of the yard to maintain a small path. There is a small brick road to get to from the other side, so this isn’t too important, but I think it looks charming.
We had five large hemlock trees surrounding the pool, which was nice for shade and privacy, but one of them was dead, and two others were dying, and they were making a mess of the pool. We consulted with an arborist and he said they were sick and needed to be removed, so we removed them last summer. I miss the shade, but I don’t miss the chaos!
I think cutting those trees down also contributed to the ground cover growing well now that it has more light and less competition.
I planted some arborvitae along the fence late last summer in hopes that they would grow and provide a beautiful screen in a few years.
I lost two of the little ones over the winter, so I’ll have to replace them. They are supposed to be a fast-growing hedge, but they have remained very elegant so far. They may not have achieved their growth spurt yet this year.
The bright hydrangeas look very good this year and have grown a lot. I’m excited to see them fill this corner in a few years. I added an obelisk I built a few weeks ago to support a beautiful fall plant that was creeping along the ground. You can see those details here.
I have been working to identify all the plants along this hedge as there are so many competing climbers. The fence is mostly covered in climbing hydrangeas, which is very pretty and I love them. On top of that, there’s sweet autumn jasmine, which I’m trying to control, and bittersweet nightshades. I pull the bittersweet on my side of the fence and cut it to the part that falls off. Of course, like many things I’ve discovered in this arena, they are invasive and aggressive and can take over an area. It is also toxic to pets if ingested. Since most of it comes from my neighbor’s yard, I’ll have to do my best to keep it out of my side.
Although I love sweet fall jasmine, it is more aggressive here in Maryland than it was in Minnesota. There are volunteers crawling through the bushes all over the yard so I need to go around and dig them up to keep things under control. After Bishop’s Weed, though, the clematis are a piece of cake and I don’t mind a little maintenance so I can put them in my garden. It looks so stunning hanging over the fence in late summer.
This corner is currently very green, so I’m thinking of breaking it up with different plants, maybe some pots, and maybe something like a fountain! I’m still thinking of ideas to try.
I have more work to do and then I’ll share some wider shots of the pool, patio, and backyard. It’s really coming, though…
