Overhauling Flowerbeds

There is nothing quite so satisfying as a job that yields immediate results.  Overhauling the flowerbeds this year was on my "want" list.  Definitely not on the "needs" list although one could argue that it really needed to be done.  Fortunately ShopKo's Mother's Day Sale ad helped make the decision to do it a reality.  If it hadn't been for their super low prices it probably wouldn't have happened.  I am so happy it did!

Do you love before and afters?  I do!

I took a much different approach to gardening this year and I think, for me, this is definitely the way I'll proceed moving forward.  As I've shared before, I'm not a great gardener.  It is really a struggle for me, but something I hope to get better at.  So instead of trying to devour this elephant all in one sitting I decided it might work better if I just ate it one bite at a time.

After!  Huge difference!

I do pretty well if I can envision something in my head and then put it into practice.  I had an idea for my flowerpots, went to the store, picked out what was in my head and came home and made it happen.  I figured I could do that with my flowerbeds as well.  One bed at a time.

My mom gave me the rhubarb start and the plant next to it several years ago

The sedum and blue fescue I planted years ago too

The first one I tackled is located near our front gate.  I removed all the rocks, cleaned up any leftover debris from winter, pulled the weeds and then took a shovel and turned the soil around all of the existing plants.  Then I raked it smooth and planted the remaining impatiens leftover from the flowerpots and a dusty miller that had survived the winter and watered them well.  Then I iced the cake by spreading out a bag and a half of brown bark mulch that I'd picked up on sale at ShopKo (3/$9).  Amazing what mulch does to finish things off and make your plants stand out.  Lastly I arranged the rocks that were in the bed and then stood back to admire my work.  Total cost to overhaul this bed - $4.50!

Before - This one was a total disaster area!

The next morning I started on the middle flowerbed.  There is an apple tree in the middle of it so it tends to get a lot of shade.  My oldest had bought me 12 plants at Shopko (3 four packs for $4.97) and I selected ones that do well in partial shade.  I did the same as the first bed, removed the rocks, pulled the weeds and turned the soil.  I relocated a plant my mother had given me a start of years ago to the opposite side of the bed as it was growing too close to my daylilies.  Then I planted my daughter's flowers around the perimeter of the bed.  Next I topped it off with the remaining bag and a half of bark mulch and arranged some rocks for decoration.  I also relocated a little yard ornament to this bed as well.  Total cost to overhaul this bed - $4.50 ($9.47 if you include my daughter's gift)!

After - no comparison!!!

By this time I was getting super motivated and I was ready to tackle the big bed under the maple tree.  I also knew exactly what I wanted to put in there.  So back to Shopko I headed with a list and a plan to pick up six more bags of mulch ($18) and two hostas that were on sale ($6.97 each).  When I got home the girls were up and my oldest's boyfriend was here and offering to help.  Okay!

Before - words escape me...

We all got busy and cleared it out, pulled the weeds, grabbed shovels and started turning soil.  I found I still had quite a few plants in this bed that just needed to be relocated to better places.  We raked the soil, moved plants, planted the hostas, cleaned out the birdbath, and once we were satisfied with all of that we spread out all six bags of bark mulch.  Then we decorated with some of the rocks we'd removed and added back one of our yard ornaments.  We all agreed it looked amazing.  This bed was my most expensive overhaul, but I think it was well worth it - $31.94.

After - soooooo much better!

Next will be our pond area.  It is going to be a bit of a job, but other than to replace the pump that died last summer it shouldn't cost much.  I don't plan to add any new plants or mulch.  I do have a few extra plants I removed from the large flowerbed and have temporarily in pots that will get a new home.  Mostly it will be a lot of cleaning and some pruning of what is already there.  I'm excited about that and I'll let you all know how it goes.

This is what I get to look at now! 😆

When I look outside my kitchen window it sure makes a big difference.  I just love it!  Thank you ShopKo for having such a fabulous sale!  It truly made this an affordable project.  And a big THANK YOU to my girls and the boyfriend for lending a hand.