Not So Secret Garden

When we moved in, we realized pretty early on that we would like the landscaping in our yard to go a different direction. It was a bit slap-dash, especially the little welcoming garden at the end of the driveway.

So while Mom was here, we decided to make a quick project out of it. We started by pulling out all the weeds everything. Thankfully, in Lexington we have big outdoor bins that are picked up at our home that doesn't need bags, so we filled it up. We managed to get the whole thing cleaned out in under 30 minutes.

We then ran over to our Home Depot and grabbed a couple of plants that would be good for the winter.

We were ready to start!

We laid everything out first, to make sure the spacing was correct. We made sure to leave room for someone parked on the lower portion of the driveway to open their door and step out of the car. We also tried to make sure that the spacing looked correct from every angle since it was going to be seen from the sidewalk, house, and road.

We also set them up in layers so that they could really look landscaped. We chose the taller bushes because they reflected the tall light pole that is right behind them. We then chose the more squat evergreens because they added a shorter, medium layer. Then, the grassy ferns at the bottom are a nice ground-hugging level. The pansies are great for color and to fill in, but will also come back next year.

Then, we started planting. First, we dug a hole for the plant, then removed the plant from the pot. We then pulled the roots apart from the bottom just to break them up a bit. After they were placed in the hole, we filled the hole with water and let it soak in. Next, we moved dirt back around each plant and squashed it down to keep air out. We did this plant by plant until we finished.

The plants we included were ones that were pretty hardy for cold weather. We did this because our fall season is hitting pretty hard and we wanted to make sure that they would make it through our upcoming winter. My favorite are the little dwarf mugo pine evergreens. They are so cute with their little afros! All of the plants that we chose are full sun (These shots are in the evening, so it's in the shade, but you get the idea). Here are the tags if you've fallen in love and want to pick up any of these guys for your own garden!

It looks great! Now we just need to start tackling the plants closer to the house. That'll be a bit of a bigger job to say the least!

Are you tackling any end of season gardening projects? Let me know in the comments!