Renovating a garden bed may mean looking at why the bed failed to meet expectations.
Fall is a great time of year to renovate the garden. Taking advantage of the cooler weather, many gardeners become as enthusiastic about remaking garden beds in the autumn as they are about planting them in the spring.
The reasons for garden renovation vary. Sadly, yet understandably, some gardens are victims of planting mistakes made earlier in the season. Gardeners either lack the knowledge to plant things in the right spot or fail to follow instructions on the little tag that comes with a plant. That may explain why little shrubs that looked so cute in their containers at the garden center in April must be moved in September because they have outgrown their space.
Plant pushers
Other flowerbeds need renovation when they become too crowded. The plants we love because they are so hardy and prolific are the very ones that must be thinned every couple of years to keep them blooming vigorously. So, we dig them out and replant them elsewhere. We can always make a new bed or donate the perennials to friends and neighbors. The question then becomes -- How many times can irises be pawned off on friends before they, too, have more than a garden can hold?
We renovate flowerbeds to correct our mistakes or to relieve an overcrowded situation. But, let's face it, some beds must be reworked because they become, well, unattractive.
Plants, like other things in our society, tend to come in and out of fashion. Flowers we were drawn to several years ago or even last year sometimes lose their luster.
Or perhaps, it is more a matter of a plant that never really lived up to its expectations. Then again, maybe we are just ready to try something different.
Art in motion
My husband and I (OK, mostly my husband) are in the process of renovating two beds -- one in front and one in the back. The one in front yard was an idea that sounded good when we talked ourselves into building it only five months ago. It runs along the curb of the street and up the end of the driveway.
The original idea had been to mirror the small garden on the opposite side of the drive by the mailbox. That bed is filled with irises that are wonderful in May, mums that bloom in the fall and a daylily with beautiful blossoms in summer. Three red barberry bushes provide a handsome backdrop and a climbing blaze rose rises above the mailbox. Yet, this new garden is something else. Now that we have had the entire summer to look at it, we have decided we do not like it.
I suppose it just did not work out as we envisioned. For one, its shape is too boxy, too square. It is outlined with rocks like the other flowerbeds in our garden spot. Unlike the other beds, this one has no curves to it. Its lines are just too straight as it follows the drive and street. Plus, it just doesn't look good sitting where it is. It looks too artificial.
Creeping sun
Besides that, none of the plants is thriving. The bed is filled with hostas that burned in sun we didn't realize would reach them, begonias that got smaller instead of larger because the sprinkler didn't reach quite far enough and a few caladium that, thankfully, did grow, giving the garden its only color.
So, we decided not only to renovate our lackluster flowerbed but also to relocate it. After toying with a few shapes by dragging hoses around, we settled on one that pulls the garden away from the curb and curves it around a maple tree that stands just a few feet behind it.
Once the location and shape were decided, we (OK, he) dug out the hostas and relocated them to a shadier spot, moved the caladium to the bucket where they will wait to be stored until next year. The rocks were moved to form the new bed outlined by the garden hose.
Then, what remained of the old bed was tilled up. After the soil was loosened, my husband shoveled it a few feet over into the new location, added manure and peat moss to it and raked the space smooth. The clumps of soil that were too big and not easily chopped up were hauled to the compost pile. Then, the bed was covered with mulch to discourage weeds next spring.
What was left of the "old" bed was a flat area that was raked smooth, amended with a bit of composted manure and sprinkled with grass seed.
As far as the bed in the back, well, that will have to wait for another fall weekend when the muscles lose some of their soreness and we have a few more ideas about how best to approach the area.
-- Carol Boncella is education coordinator at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. You can send e-mail to her at gardenspot@ljworld.com.
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