Why I Oughta...

Back in the Fall of 2023, I planted three Ruby Muhly Grasses - Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'Undaunted' - at the edge of the boardwalk in our backyard .  They were a deal on the 'end of the season' sale at The Growing Place.  But, they were also a grass that I had read about/come across them and thought their 'cloud-like' seedheads are something I'd like to have in the garden.   They went in very late in the season, but came back just fine their first year.  Here they are in mid-August 2024 prior to putting on any seed-head growth .  They were snug in their bed that I have subsequently expanded a little bit (and should expand more this Fall).   By September that first year, they had some seedheads .  But...not the 'clouds' that these grasses are famous for, at least.   Fast-forward to now.  This is their third growing season and they seem to have established themselves.  I don't pay much attention to them in terms of watering/...

Over the past few growing seasons, I've become a coleus-as-bedding-plant believer.  I 'praised' it in Fall of 2024 .  And, called growing three Inferno Coleus at the corner of our patio a ' garden win ' at the end of the growing season (October) last year.  This year, I didn't plant any Inferno Coleus, which...in retrospect was a mistake.  I've been unhappy with the coleus up front, but I can't say the same about the coleus I planted in our backyard - in the same spot as Inferno last year.  This year, I planted three Talevera Moondust Coleus in that spot.  I found them at Wannemaker's and they jumped off the nursery table with their speckles of paint on the foliage.   If you go back to the planting post , you'll see that they're described this way by the grower: Sun-tolerant varieties maintain color and foliage patterns in both sun and shade conditions. These late-flowering selections are tidy, non-bolting plants in the garden. The plant tag...

This post is going up in mid-April, but I laid down this bed extension at the end of March.   This is the third bed that I've put down extensions this Spring - the most-recent one is the small Saratoga Ginkgo bed by the driveway .   Over the years, I've extended this bed out from right in front of the boxwoods to where it stands now.  In Fall of 2024, I added to the edge the first time using this same (lazy) method .  Last year, I planted 64 annual vinca as bedding plants and I'll do much the same this year .  But, with this newly extended area, that total will have to go up. Below is a photo showing the new extensions on each edge of the bed.  The southside bump-out is the largest part, where I added about a foot.  In the middle, I didn't add anything.  But, on the northside, down near the front steps, I've now connected this bed to the Saratoga Ginkgo bed.   Here are some in-process photos where I used a mix of cardboards and...

Two days ago, I posted the first part of a bed extension (lazy method) project in the front yard around the tiny Saratoga Ginkgo tree that is in an island between our driveway and front walk.  I started with the rough shape I wanted and mentioned that I usually expand these beds over multiple days due to having just enough material (Cardboard + municipal biosolids + composted manure) on hand to do a section-at-a-time.   Today, I'm sharing a few more updated photos showing the final shape of this newly, expanded bed.  With proper curves.  I wanted to add some true 'swooping' curves (curvilinear shape) and expanded out the bed by twelve inches in most of the bed and closer to two-feet at the main curve.   Note:  This post is going up in early April, but I laid these out on March 20th.  So, when it comes to that crucial component (time!), these will have 10 days in March, all of April and if I get to the first week of May (prior to planting), t...

Lazy bed extensions were listed as a "Fall Project" in my 2026 to-do list .  And, I need to do that.  But, I also wanted to use the time I had this Spring by knocking some of the bed extensions off my list while I could in March and April.  I've posted a few times already when I first extended and reshaped the front yard island bed .  Then, I did an initial expansion on the southside of the house in the cut flower foundation beds .   Today, I'm doing an initial expansion of the small corner bed that I call the "Saratoga Bed" because it features the tiny Saratoga Ginkgo tree along with some Little Henry Sweetspire Spirea shrubs .   By now, I've laid out the elements of my lazy bed extensions: 1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. Here, below, is the 'before' photo.  The bed needs more breathing room by extending things outward....

One of my 2026 to-do items is to 'expand the beds in Fall'.  I say 'Fall' because of how I utilize what I call the "lazy method" of smothering out the turf with cardboard.  That means that in addition to materials like cardboard and municipal biosolids, I need time.  Time for the grass to die.  Time for the cardboard to breakdown.  And time for the biosolids to MELLOW OUT.   Last year, I missed the Fall window to do some bed extensions, so I started to do them this Spring.  The first one was a few weeks ago with the Island Bed taking on new edges .  I used cardboard, municipal biosolids and composted manure to create a blend that I'll plant up (and mulch) later this Spring.  In the sideyard, I want to do the same thing:  expand the beds along the foundation to be more proud of the house.  Last year, I planted out the Dahlias in late May/early June.  I like to have about six weeks of time between laying down these bed exten...

Yesterday I posted my annual to-do list of 25 items I'm aiming to tackle this growing season .  I'm starting off with an early win by taking-on Priority item #2 on the list one-day-in.  I've talked about how I've adopted what I call the 'lazy bed extension method' of using three factors:  1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. That 3rd factor (time) is why I'm going at this garden upgrade in March.   Here's what I wrote for #2: 2. Priority Project 2:  Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed .  But, use a ‘fewer curves’ approach to making a curvilinear shape . Last year, I planted Coleus (which was great) and Supertunias (which weren’t), so strike the right balance between colorful annuals (maybe mirror what I put in the front porch bed) along with some coleus for foliage. I also included further down the list at #12 a "Fall ...

Last week, I posted my first [Priority Project] for 2026 that focused on replacing the Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are being destroyed each year by the (dang) rabbits.  These [Priority Posts] help me begin to formulate my annual yard-and-garden to-do list.  I've found (over the years) that I NEED to prioritize some key projects and keep a running list of goals so I have focus and accountability.  Otherwise...I tend to wander and get distracted. Today is a look at Priority Project #2: Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed.   Starting earlier this year, I posted an exploration of how I could expand the front yard island bed and then , after thinking (or... because of WRITING ABOUT IT ), I changed my mind and reconsidered some aspects including the orientation and number of curves .  I initially was thinking about attacking the project by GROWING the bed from the sidewalk-backwards towards the house.  I say 'attack' because I know myself and...

Earlier in January, I posted an exploration of the expansion of my front yard "island bed " and talked about how I'd like to clean up the edges and expand the bed in a direction that will allow for even-more future bed expansion.  In that post, I suggested attacking from the sidewalk back to the house.  And, by expanding by going across the front of the yard along the sidewalk - connecting to the edge of the property line.   But, after staring at the bed every time I came/went on a walk, I have come to the realization: "The Defense is wrong." Well...at least *partially* wrong.   Since I put the Island Bed in back in 2024, I said I wanted to create three things: 1. A path. 2. A bern. 3. ...and some miegakure. My previous approach focused on the 'path'.  And, expanded a little bit of beds.   Here's how the beds looked last Spring when they were freshly mulched  below.  The lines, while clean, aren't what I want in terms of 'sweeping...

This Summer will mark seven (7) years since I planted and installed twelve (12) small Hicks Yews in the far back reach of our yard in a straight row spanning the width of our grass/yard.  Here's the post showing them in the ground for the first time when the needles were barely above the mulch .  That was mid-Summer 2019.   Seven years and this will be the eight growing season. Back then, I had a swoop-ing, undulating, but formally pruned hedge in mind .  That closely-clipped hedge was a product of YEARS of growth.   I watered them in the first year, but have mostly left them alone.  *Knock on Wood*.  I haven't lost one.  Yet.  Here they are in August of 2020 - one year after planting . Here the hedge is in November 2021 - four years ago . Here are some photos from December of 2022 showing the growth . And.. the Hicks Yews snuck into this post from Summer 2023 where I was talking about some ferns . Here's a post showing the gr...

Last week I posted a list of 'potential' sites to expand (and amend the soil) of various bed sites around the garden.  Some of these were/are small extensions (adding inches to the width/depth of the beds) and others are much larger (adding feet of width/depth).  I wrote up the list and posted it in January not JUST because of the Wintertime-induced garden-related cabin fever, but also because a key element of my 1 'lazy bed extension' method involves TIME.  Time to supress and kill the turf.  That's because my 'lazy bed extension' method doesn't require the removal of turf, instead I just smother it with cardboard and then top the cardboard with various materials (biosolids + compost + leaf litter + mulch). On that list were a few front yard locations including expanding the Magnolia bed (which is a tight circle currently), connecting the Oregon Green bed to the front porch bed (about four-feet of distance) and expanding the small (12" deep) bed ...