Today I cleaned up the font and side gardens, another 2-1/2 hours of work, mostly trying to figure out what is trying to kill my Nishiki willow, and pruning the winter die-back in the rhododendrons (here when we bought the place and probably planted when the house was built in 1982, by the size of them), clearing moldy leaves from the crowns of perennials, cutting back the perovskia (Russian sage … the scent is glorious!), weeding, and lightly pruning winter damage in the young lilacs, hollies, weeping crab and an old honeysuckle. Besides the plants shown below, pretty much all the sedums are visible above ground and the peonies are also starting to shoot.
I haven’t done anything in the yard yet, although my husband has already planted some seeds. I mostly focus on an herb garden, since we don’t have a big yard, but we do have raspberry bushes and a peach tree. Makes it hard to think about moving!
I know, Laurie, it is hard to love ’em and leave ’em, after getting to know the land and the plants so well. (Makes me think of the lyrics of that Elton John song for John Lennon, “Empty Garden.”) I am also a big fan of growing and using herbs.
I don’t know how big your yard is but you can plant 130 species (mostly edible) in 1/6 acres (7200 sq ft).There are books and online resources about growing a full diet (minus animals) on 1/10 acre. And these groovy people in Denver have rabbits, chickens and bees, plus plant food, on their 1/8 acre. Not suggesting this for you but putting it out there as possible for those who think it’s not.