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csziggy

(34,189 posts)
4. I'm just trying to get the flower beds in shape
Wed Mar 20, 2013, 04:45 AM
Mar 2013

Other than the front beds I never really got them properly planted after we finished the house. We have terraced beds on the east and south sides and the idiots that put them in didn't make them flat - they slope a lot. So when my knees were bad, there was no way I could climb around on them.

I transplanted the paperwhites and African irises I have been digging and dividing for thirty plus years, put in some day lilies and gladiolus, and some years stuck in a few annuals, but otherwise those beds have looked really bad for the last five years.

Last year with the knee replacements, no one did anything to the beds. By the time I was up to paying attention, the beggarweed was six feet tall. A friend came over and weed whacked everything down, just so I could see out the windows.

So far this year I've dug some of the ajuga that spread into the lawn and transplanted it into the bed that needed a ground cover, dug paperwhites out of the south bed and interplanted them in the ajuga. The paperwhites will die back soon and come up next winter for blooms in February.

The last two days I've been digging the Mexican petunias some idiot thought were a good idea and trying to weed the bed next to the bedroom. It's mostly got paperwhites that survived the petunias and beggarweed - I plan to transplant the daylilies the deer won't let thrive to see if they can make it there. I'm also digging my Louisiana iris from under the oak where the blackberries are taking over and adding to the same bed.

Once the daylilies are out of the south bed, I'm getting rid of the weeds there and planting hybrid lantana for blooms that will attract birds, bees and butterflies. Hopefully they will thrive and fill the bed enough to block the weeds.

Under the oak I may have to use chemicals to kill the blackberries and other weeds before I can plant anything. It's solid red clay and oak roots under the blackberries so if we can kill off the blackberries, I'll have to get a load of topsoil to bring the ground level back up. I'm hoping to get azaleas established under the tree for some spring color and evergreen foliage. Maybe some creeping lorepetalum for ground cover and kaleidescope abelia for contrast.

It's great to be able to dig again, though I am not quite ready to kneel down for planting - not sure if I can get back up. I've been managing an hour or two a day and I've getting a lot done. If I can keep this up, the beds around the house should look good in a few years.

After over a decade of bone on bone pain that kept me from using a shovel, I don't mind the hard work. It feels good!

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