New Garden Beds

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden, prepping the new beds and then, finally, planting them! This new bed right by the house has been especially successful. I planted perennials that I had dug up from my last place, some from the UW-Arboretum's Native Plant Sale, and others from the fabulous Flower Factory.* For comparison, see these "before" and "after" shots:

Before digging...

...after digging (but before cleaning up)!

I also planted along the front walk and front wall, where there had been either lawn, pampas grass, or old, overgrown perennials:

Tomatoes in a row near the top left; the rest are perennials

*Note: I have not been asked to promote nor do I receive any compensation for mentioning either The Flower Factory or the UW-Arboretum. I do so of own free will, simply because I love both of them and the plants they offer.

Digging new garden beds

Now that everything is grown in enough for me to know what I'm working with,  I'm ready to make the garden my own. That means, of course, digging new beds! This first bed, I dug with very little preparation. I kind of did it on a whim, eager to get my hands in some dirt. It worked out perfectly.

This looks like a perfect spot for a garden bed...

Juniper helps dig up sod (with a shovel as big as she is!)

That's more like it! Now all it needs is some plants.

Next up, along the front sidewalk wall. And this pampas grass has GOT to go. I am not looking forward to all that digging; it has extensive roots that will make it quite the chore. 

Unruly pampas grass.

We rented a tiller to dig the bed along the length of the front wall. To get rid of the pampas grass, I first cut it down with a weed whacker, and then Justin went over the stubble with the tiller. This dug up a lot of the root system, although I still had to go in with a shovel to complete the project. 

Justin tills new beds

See all that brown stuff in that overflowing wheelbarrow? That's ALL stubble and roots from the pampas grass. Phew! I think we got most of it. But any bits we missed will continue to sprout, so I will probably be pulling pampas grass all season. 

New bed along wall, and good riddance to pampas grass!

New bed along other side of wall, and another pile of pampas grass roots.