It seems that as my gardens mature the number one chore I wind up doing is reworking and editing gardens. I think reworking gardens is sometimes harder than making new gardens. At least with new gardens you don't have to struggle with removing perennials and deciding where to put the excess ones. I have such a hard time editing because I hate to get rid of plants. It is like they are old buddies so I keep them around for sentimental reasons. Not too smart. I am getting better at editing with practice and I've been getting a lot of practice lately.The above garden is my Front Sidewalk garden and is in a prominent spot right out front. As such, it is generally one of the first gardens visitors will see when they visit Tiger Gardens. I want it to be a showstopper and to always be in bloom and dress right dress as we used to say in the Army. There really wasn't much wrong with this garden but it did need some attention-editing and cleaning up. I had some 'Homestead' verbena that had literally taken over. That is normally a good thing except that the verbena had died in some sections and rooted in others and was everywhere and smothering other plants. I also had some red hot pokers in this garden that never earned their keep. Out they came! I solved the dilemma of what to do with the verbena and red hots by potting them up for the Montgomery County Master Gardener sale, scheduled for May 15th. I will also take some some to the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap in May providing everything goes as planned.
After the red hots and verbena were removed I consolidated some daylilies, phlox, sedum, and veronica then dressed the whole bed with a good layer of compost. And you know what? Editing this bed by reworking it and removing plants was a really good thing for me. I don't miss the plants at all and think the whole bed is improved. Time to move on to other beds and perhaps even editing the house....in the garden....
Any editing and reworking in your garden?
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In the Garden
I like that phrase, do ya think my kids will allow me to "edit" them? Cute garden.
ReplyDeleteTina girl this is SPOOKY ! No .. not Halloween Spooky although there are less than 200 days until Halloween !!
ReplyDeleteI just EDITED my front garden and you could NOT be MORE RIGHT about it being harder than a new garden .. I too did the "toss out" with weaker not so great plants .. now I have a sizable selection of hydrangea in the front to have a WOW factor along with the better beauties that shine on their own.
It was darn hard work but I'm hoping it will be total eye candy ?
I wish I could come to one of your sales girl !!
Joy
Oh, I like to "edit." I have a very small gardening space though, so it's not too hard for me. And doesn't spring give you that desire..I always want to re-do in spring.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend Tina!
Way to donate your extras! I that your
ReplyDeleteold buddies" get new homes. That's the perfect solution!
Sounds like a great plan and I'm looking forward to your bloom photos of the reworked garden.
ReplyDeleteI did a major rework last fall. I think 80 per cent of my outer garden has been rearranged! Seriously. Lots of work.
Hooray for MG plant sales....the perfect place for those rearranged plants.
ReplyDeleteI think reworking garden beds is more fun than rearranging furniture!!
Your front bed looks great.
Good morning all! It is another glorious day in Tennessee. Good thing most planting is done so I can clean the house-got ya!
ReplyDeleteJoy, The one thing you can be sure of in blogging is we have similarities and that is awesome!
Linda, The feeling of a good rework is so great. You too have a super weekend!
Lzyjo, It helps knowing the plants will have a home-elsewhere. May 15th is the sale and plant tour. I have tickets if you like-let me know.
Cameron, Having seen your beautiful garden I know you were one busy lady! I bet it is simply stunning-rivaling Monet's for sure.
Janet, MG plant sales are a life saver. You should see my back walkway-tons of homeless plants. You were just kidding about reworking gardens being fun? Right?? I'm thinking rearranging furniture-no thanks:) Relief when it is done.
Gotta go-everyone enjoy this day!
All the time! All the time!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the many things I like about gardening--if you're not happy with the results, change them! I've been thinking about re-doing my front garden, too, the first one I ever planted. That was back when I didn't pay too much attention to how big the perennials would eventually become:) But it will have to wait until I've finished the new flowerbed I dug up--I'm transplanting most of my daylilies there so that they can get the attention they deserve. Maybe once they're all in bloom I'll decide I don't like them all together, but that will give me something to do next year, right?:)
ReplyDeleteGood Morning everyone and still beautiful here in GA as well Tina! I am eating up this wonderful stuff while playing in the garden....
ReplyDeleteI have been reworking the rock garden the past week. I moved some stuff around but did not have to remove anything. I have added more little gardens here and there so have never finished one garden before starting another. Then the heat sets in and I stop planting. One day they will all be full and then I will have to Edit them but for now, I keep adding more and more a little at a time....
Everyone have a great weekend!
How funny - I had to "edit" some of my verbena too- I only planted it last year in my herb garden and it's already taking over. One of these days I'll get around to dividing some daylilies too. I'd say this is definitely a show-stopper, Tina.
ReplyDeleteI like reworking the garden. I did it last fall. Now, that the snow has finally melted, I'm anxiously awaiting it to grow to see how it turned out.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way when it comes to dividing and removing plants. Can't bring myself to throw them in the compost. Right not I'm removing three bushel basket sized clumps of Siberian Iris. Took me an hour to dig and divide the first clump (root systems like swamp grass:) Called every gardener I knew and nobody wanted any. So what to do now. Guess it will take another several hours to divide and pot up 50 individual pots to donate to the Khlem Arboretum plant sale in May?
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Tina, I had a nice chuckle with your post. My husband is prone to tell family and friends when they visit the garden that an area is not complete unless it has been redone at least 3 times. I prefer your brilliant term of "editing"! From now on I'll tell him, "I'm going to edit this flower bed" and delight in his smile. Have a wonderful weekend. Diana
ReplyDeleteI did alot of reworking and revising in past years but none so far this season. Sometimes I find it exciting to see if things turn out the way I imagined they would... :) Can't wait to see how this area evolves over the next year or so.
ReplyDeleteMoving plants or furniture is all hard work but the plants are more fun because of dreaming, hoping and anticipating that it will be better and better because it was made all that from one's own hands and hard work.
ReplyDeleteHope all have a good weekend. We will be on the road for the south on Sunday morning and let us all keep our fingers crossed for Christy getting out of Iraq as the planes are all backed up due to the ash clouds.
I have been editing and reworking in the garden as well as the house. We are getting ready to have a yard sale. I am tired of having so much stuff!! Carla
ReplyDeleteThose plant swaps are great for your edited plants. I've edited a few things that just didn't work with the other things in the area. My hubby likes things all tangled together. So sometimes, I just let the plants decide who stays and who goes.
ReplyDeleteHow I wish I had the time to edit and re-work any of my garden beds. The best I can do right now is keep the blackberries at bay. Lucky for me the chickens keep the slugs and snails down. I'm looking forward to having this summer off so I can get out there and do some editing! Love your post!
ReplyDeleteEditing the garden sure is more fun than reworking a closet! I moved some of my Knockouts last fall, and boy was that a challenge. Those things have a massive root system. I thought that I had killed them as they lost most of their leaves and didn't show much progress for a while. Now they are leafed out and blooming, looking healthier than ever in their new locations. For some of my perennials, I underestimate just how big they will get and often end up dividing them or moving them entirely to a new bed. And then there are the mistakes, the things I should never have succumbed to at the nursery, like the Mexican petunia. I am so mad at myself over that one, and watching it sprout up all over my front porch bed makes me want to just pull my hair out along with the plants. There is no getting rid of the stuff once it gets established. It just loves this climate.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true that reworking is much more difficult than starting fresh. I've had times where I wanted to dig every single plant out in a bed and completely start over, so far I haven't gone that far. Your bed looks great all freshened up! I'm working on the bed near our driveway. I've always done the bare minimum there, but this year it's my area to edit.
ReplyDeleteI need to do some work in my garden that is for sure!!
ReplyDeleteI need to do some deleting of stuff. Yeah...you go girl! I love a re-vamped garden...it does a garden good.
ReplyDeletereworking and editing -- I thought that was just gardening! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
ReplyDeleteIt's past my bedtime, so I'm not going to get the other comments read, like I'd like to. I am doing a lot of editing, and have given away lots of sackfuls of plants. I have moved things around to where I want them. Some plants, I even just moved a few inches from where they were, because I wanted a little more room for what was next to them.
Things are looking great your way. Happy spring!
I feel you! Keep up the great work though.. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteFor the good of the garden it is better.... but my greed just does not let me edit any... I always feel the need of it, than letting them go.... Even just trimming them kills me sometimes.... I feel Oh!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAsh....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)
Your re-worked garden looks wonderful Tina - I should pin it up somewhere to motivate myself as I'm terrible at editing! I've a camellia that has failed to thrive for about nine years now and I'm still telling myself it will take off one day!
ReplyDeleteEditing is one of those things I'm always reluctant to do, and then once I've done it, I'm so glad I did. I have recently started gardening in the neighbors' garden so I have a place for those extra plants I don't have a spot for.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one Tina. I need to rework the shady front entrance, and just can't bear to throw out perfectly good plants! My 3 purple palace heucheras are perfectly healthy, but they are too dark and gets lost there in the shade. And the row of seven hostas bore me silly in their narrow little strip. But what else can fit there? I wish I could think of a shade lover that grows up, but stays very narrow.
ReplyDeleteThis is Corner Garden Sue. I had to post as anonymous because I'm not signed in on Safari, and can't remember my password.
ReplyDeleteI did a bunch more editing today. I found some things that were crowded and filled in spots where I had taken out plants that had spread more than I wanted them to. So far, I have found people to give the plants to.
I have a question for whoever knows. I guess I should ask it on my blog, but since we're on the subject, I'll ask here first. I dug out most of the aster, I think New England, that was growing on either side of the front sidewalk, and growing over it, even though I cut it back from time to time. For the last few years, the leaves on the lower stems have turned dark and shriveled. It's not real noticeable, but I know it's a disease. I left a small clump of each because my husband did not want me to dig them all out. I'd like to give the dug out clumps away, but don't want to if they will get the disease once infected. I tried to look it up on the internet, but couldn't find the answer.
I love editing but hate the fact that I don't have enough time to get it all done immediately. Nice work on the bed - I'm sure it'd be awesome when in full bloom. Daylilies! Wow! All the best for your future projects! Have a great day!
ReplyDelete