WOW! WOW! WOW! What a difference a year makes. It all started with an idea that was nagging at me and would just not let me be. i did not like the horrible weed-filled front yard of my house. Every morning and every afternoon when I came home, all I saw was ugly weeds. I had tried weed killers, but they only lasted temporarily plus they are not the healthiest for your body.
I had to implement a better solution. After much thinking, planning, and talking about it. I came up wit ha design and a plan. Slowly I was going to employ a few hours a every weekend and I was going to transform any ugly, weed-filled front yard into a GARDEN AOSIS. When I started my plans, I ha dno idea that COVID was going to rear its ugly head and cause so much stress for so many of us. My plans of investing a few hours every weekend turn into many fours clearing out weeds. The result is my beautiful from yard GARDEN OASIS…that is not complete but looks much better.
My garden oasis looks amazing today but it took many many hours of planning and implementation. Today you see a variety of tulips, roses, daffodils, lilies, petunias in an assortment of colors, styles, textures, and sizes… a year ago you saw weeds, mud, a stack of bricks, dirt, and a great deal of frustration.
First..plan and design it..it doesn’t have to be perfect but definitely have a written plan.
Step 2: laid down stones after prepping the ground. I removed the weeds down to the roots. Then, I stomp the dirt with a FLATTENING tool. It was not easy but it made the ground as even as possible. The flattener is about 20-30 lbs. you can get it at any local hardware store. Then, in some areas, I placed plastic, sand, topsoil, and lastly the stepping stones.
When I started my yard design, I was trying to get rid of weeds, I did not want to have to mow (especially the hilly side of the yard), I wanted a walking path, and beautiful, aromatic flowers to accompany me through my walking path.
Once I had the stepping stones in place and my pavers outlining my sections to plant flowers and my walking path, it was time to PLANT.
I was looking forward to that so much. I could not wait until I had my roses, lilies, perennials, tulips planted. I could just imagine how beautiful it would all look.
I also played several miniature crepe myrtles to provide root stability to the ground, shade to plants, and because they are my favorite trees. The fun thing was that several of the roses and trees, I bought during the clearance sale at the store. Several of them were dying, and or did not have any tag identifying the color…so I was not going to know how well color-coordinated it was until the plants bloomed…they look GORGEOUS!!!
At the end of last year, to complete the cycle of transforming my front yard, I plated around 400 bulbs of tulips, daffodils, crocus, and other surprising flowers….this spring, the beautiful tulips have not disappointed at all. The front yard is beautiful with a blanket of purple, pink, red, orange, and white tulips interspersed with yellow daffodils.
The roses are budding and will be blooming soon. I can’t wait to have red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and white roses blooming! I love to make flower arrangements for my homes. It’s also an amazing feeling when my neighbors come over for a rose to give to a love one!