This week in the garden: garden projects I intend to accomplish this summer/fall.

Posted on May 30, 2019 by John Kevin Hickey

Well, I guess it’s that time of year again. Time for me to dream up new projects to improve the garden, then procrastinate all summer long until autumn arrives and put the whole thing on hold until next year.

This year is going to be different. I have five projects I want to accomplish this year: fill in the old vegetable garden with perennials and shrubs, improve the section next to the patio, divide the overgrown irises, fix the mailbox and remove the dying Serviceberry tree. I finished two of my projects this past weekend. Let’s get to them.

I spent several weeks finalizing plans and doing some comparison shopping. I purchased plants from such online retailers as High Country Gardens and Bluestone Perennials as well as from local nurseries Nick’s Garden Center and Tagawa Garden Nursery. Below is my plant stash.

Plants purchased for the garden remodel: Blue Mist Spirea, semi-dwarf Russian Sage, Agastache, Powis Castle sage, purple Miscanthus grass, Avalanche reed grass, Moonbeam coreopsis, May Night salvia, ornamental oregano and an assortment of asters.

In addition, I divided and transplanted several plants from elsewhere in the yard. I have a ton of Walker’s Low catmint and Moonshine yarrow that have spread from plants already in place, giving me a plethora of free plants to use. I also had a lavender plant that I had placed on the south side of the house years ago. It has been neglected for a long time because I rarely ever go to that part of the yard. So I decided to move it where it could be seen.

A lavender on the south side of the house (front yard) that was forgotten and neglected.
The lavender on its way to its new home.

Also, there were several Jupiter’s beards in less than ideal locations. Time to move them as well.

More free plants: these Jupiter’s Beard (centranthus ruber) plants underneath a dwarf Blue Spruce are being encroached upon by the spruce. Jupiter’s Beard is a sun loving plant and should find their new home more to their liking.

Now for the first project. The section next to the patio is actually in pretty good shape, but I felt is could use some improvements. My idea is to make this section a focal point in August and early September. I already have late bloomers such as Coneflowers and Goldenrods in place, but I think the Russian Sage, Agastache, lavender and oregano will give the area more “pop”.

BEFORE: next to the patio area. This is a very nice spot in late Spring, but tends to be “blah” in the later months. Note that the transplanted lavender (it’s the gray green plant at the bottom and to the right of the heart) is already in its new home.
AFTER: Ok, I know it doesn’t look a whole lot different, but trust me, it will look amazing later this summer. I hope. I will post updated pictures in August that should show some late summer sizzle.

Now to the old vegetable garden on the opposite side of the yard. I gave up on growing veggies because I was harvesting fewer and fewer of them each year. I suspect this was caused by the honeylocust tree that I planted in the middle of the yard to provide shade for the deck. The tree serves its purpose, but now it has grown so tall it prevents enough sun from reaching the veggies which reduced my crops. Plus veggie gardening is more time and resource consuming that flower gardening. So a few years ago I covered the whole thing with landscape fabric and mulch.

The problem was there was just too much empty space and it makes the garden look incomplete. I wouldn’t say it was an eyesore, but it certainly wasn’t anything to look at. Which was a peeve of mine, because this area is in view from the patio. See the pic below to see what I am talking about.

A “Standing Ovation” serviceberry tree anchors the middle of the new flower bed. Otherwise, it’s a whole lot of “meh”. Time to fill it up with some plants!

The majority of the plants I bought/transplanted went into this area. The focal point for this section will be in late spring and early summer.

Transplanted yarrow, Jupiter’s beard and catmints combined with the spirea, coreopsis, salvias, sages, ornamental grasses and asters (for a little late summer/early autumn color) that I purchased. Since these plants are late spring/early summer bloomers I don’t expect much in the way of fireworks this year. But come next year it should look awesome! See the pictures below for what the salvias and catmints look like in bloom.
  • Catmint
  • Salvia

So that is two projects for the year down, three more to go. The next project I need to tackle is dividing and thinning out some of the irises. I let them get out of control in one section of the garden, and they are choking out other plants. But I can’t divide them yet because they haven’t bloomed! Looks like a good project for June or July.

Irises on a rampage! Who knew that if you ignore them they try to take over the world?

So that’s what has been happening in my yard and garden. How about your yarden? Do you have any pictures or stories you would like share? If so, please send your pictures and details to MrVintageMan2@gmail.com.

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