I've been working in the yard, all the livelong day!

So, last weekend we had a crazy idea (and by we I mean me) to work on the yard. We did it backwards, of course, because the further we got into it, the more we realized that, shoot, we might as well go all out and do it close to right... We started by getting a load of mulch to put over the achingly awful-looking parts of the bare dirt in our yard. From there, we decided to put down the weed prevention black fabric/plastic stuff, too. There was also a trip to the library to get some books about gardening with perennials and native plants. Then we decided we needed another load of mulch, and then another. And I had to make a trip to the nursery to get some new perennials. We are trying to get things that will grow and thrive and spread, thereby lessening the need for mulching the entire front yard in the future (which is pretty much what we got when we moved in to the house). And finally, we decided that if we really wanted the plants to grow and grow well, then we should amend the soil with some compost and spaghnum peat moss and till it all up. So, my wonderful husband rented the tiller and worked a thousand pounds of good stuff into out soil. Hopefully, it will all pay off! It already looks better!



This is the front bank, where the creeping phlox and catmint will hopefully spread and flow to cover all of the yucky-looking mulch.



Some of these are called "Stepables," which are groundcover specifically marketed as being plants that can withstand being walked on. We'd like to banish the grass (green weeds) eventually, if these do well.


This is one of my favorite areas. We have these lovely crepe myrtles giving plenty of shade for our bleeding hearts. There is also some hellebore growing here, but I'd like to move it and just have the bleeding hearts because I like them so much more.



The bad news in all of this is that 1) we are not done, and 2) the vegetable garden is in sad shape. Last week when I (finally) went back to thin out the various clumps of veggies, it was like trying to dig in concrete. Yep, the soil was that compacted. So, we're going to need to work on that on the next weekend...