• Another before and after kind of. June 29 - 11:44 pm [14]

The Asian bed pictured here is the work of my husband and I. We are putting in new beds in our back yard and would welcome any input or advise anyone is willing to share. Maggie will be posting other pictures of new beds soon so feel free to jump in and give us your thoughts!

I'm going to keep your beds all together under one topic Leann, so I'll post the new picies over there.

Nope, changed my mind afterall :-)
I'll start your new beds and big border here.

The first pic is from just TWO WEEKS ago..

The others were taken after planting SEVENTY new plants THIS WEEKEND !!!
Whew, I'm pooped just thinking about it!


I'm lusting after that cemented edging. Does Dan do that? Is there a cement base under them, or are they just mortared between the stone blocks?

What does the sign say and is who is that furry friend walking across the corner ?
Man your lawn sure perked up in a hurry! What is planted next to the arbor?

I'm no help - I've asked questions instead of offering advice But everything looks so lovely. Have you been stashing plants for these beds in pots, or are they all newbies? My patio is full of potted plants waiting to go into the bed by the new fence, but I'm schemeing others that will need serious shopping for, hurray

Gee Maggie....couldn't you think of anything to say about this project? LOL! The "before" was taken even before the grass greened up for summer.

As far as the edging goes...no, as much as he wanted to , Dan did not do this little project. He hired out the work in self defense. Personally, I think it had something to do with me being such a perfectionist he didn't want to deal with my critical eye! Even Dan knows his limitations.

A trench was dug, mortar poured, stones laid and then mortar between. All in an effort to keep the grass from our beds. I think we ended up using Arizona stone...we considered so many it made my head spin! It matches the brick on our house perfectly. The guys who did the work are wonderful, very young but very professional...and SO reasonable." I just told "Scott" what I had in mind and he drew the lines for the beds free hand and it was the perfect lay-out. He brought to life what I envisioned.

Under the arbor we planted New Wave Petunias in purple (should have gone with my first instinct - pink. But overall, a minor thing that can be redone next summer). I wanted to plant roses to climb but just can't make a decision as yet... which ususally means to me - do nothing!
I want to try to stick to pinks, purples and yellows though. "Unusual" speaks to me more than anything I think. I like it when people see the palnts and say, "I have never seen this before". That makes my day.

I have to admit, we did buy a lot of newbies... most all of which we found on sale, (I am quite the bargain hound I have to admit). Our Lowe's store seems to cull plants on Monday, after the weekend I guess, so we stop in Monday evenings and scarf up the bargains. Some, like the hostas, were planted in our front yard but due to the terrain didn't get to be seen in all their glory, so we moved them. Now, they are the star of the show. Dan loves that part too I might add....moving things over...and over...and over!

Many of our plants were "shared" though. Dan's Dad is moving and prior to selling his home, Dan has been digging up plants and bringing them home. Two weeks ago we looked like a garden surplus store just waiting for the beds to be finished.

We did the small bed with the sign last summer but had the border put in when the new one was done. We simply could not go a single eyar without flowers to admire. The sign reads "Come into my garden, My flowers want to meet you!" It is perfect for our garden.

We have an outdoor cat (Zippy the Pinhead), thus the concrete cats. One piece (the mother and baby) Dan hauled in his carry on luggage back from San Francisco! Does this guy love me or what!! Dan says if it weighs a lot - I love it. I guess that is true because I have been collecting concrete pieces for the garden for some time now. We feel like we spent 18 years collecting plants, concrete pieces, and more importantly, knowledge for our new home and garden. All of which we are trying to put to good use.

Well, I think you've certainly managed to put them all to good use Leann.

Friend Christy and I spent most of the day putting metal edging around the 'gonna be a kinda tiny Greek bed'. I kept thinking about your stone edging, the entire time :-)

I am interested to know what will be planted that imparts "Greek" to this new bed of yours. An olive tree and what else will be there? The curiosity is killing me! I can't wait to see what you do with the space.

And about the edging. I can't say enough about the decision. The best one I have made in a while. BUT...I also have to say, I like the tile work you did in the bed with the pear trees. The tiles give the area so much personality! Your creative genius at work again!

Ok Maggie...here is one for you. We spread mushroom compost. The last few days, on the surface of the ground there is this.."stuff" that looks like melted mushrooms. LOL...it really does! I know it must be some sort of fungal reaction from the compost but I didn't expect it at all. Have you experienced the same thing?

I'll post mc stuff on the mc thread.
CAC, here is L's new garden, that they just started this year. Amazing amount of accomplishment in such a short time. Too bad Dan's assistance isn't contagious ;-)

LeeAnn, your garden looks wonderful! I can't think of anything else to add ;)

Ok, thought of something...what roses are you considering, color or climbers? etc? How much sun does that bed get with the arch? I noticed you were saying pink, purple or yellows? Is that the color of the roses you are considering? If so I have a few ideas of roses which are easy. I need some type of bordering to go around my beds once I get the dimensions down, your garden looks perfect. Very impressive to get it done is such a short amount of time! Did they do the entire trench and then all the cement at once? Or sections at a time? Again, wonderful job!

Leann, you must have missed CAC's last post last June.

To everyone else, remember how amazed we all were with how much Leann and Dan had accomplished in one season. Wellll he didn't quit there. Look what he put in this fall...

the before...

the now...

taken as soon as the plants were installed.

I asked Leann to send pics of it next year too, to see the matured planting.

Awsome job guys! I know you will spend endless hours in your Eden with white noise music and wildlife entertainers. oxoxox

And here's an 05 update of Dan and Leann Colemans piece of Eden.

I could just sit there and daydream the day away!

Just two months later, look at how the water plants have filled in.

It takes a good eye to get them in with such a naturalized arrangement as this.

beautiful!