All Dressed Up
All Dressed Up
Here is a little before and after for you~ I love before and afters. This is the island bed on April 29 of this year. I was wanting to edge it and top dress it with pretty bark mulch. Last year when I built this bed, the store where I buy my special bark mulch was out. So I was forced to use some of what I like and a whole bunch of really junky stuff from the big box store. This year I started stocking up on my favorite kind and tonight I used most of it. Time to reload!
I edged this whole bed and removed the sod layer to use as filler in another project I have going. It should compost down in that area and I did not want it here. Then I backfilled the area between the lawn and the rocks. I toted tons of this mulch from my garden shed to this bed and started top dressing the inside of the bed around all the plantings. Now it looks so pretty and clean. My edges are somewhat wobbly but they should straiten out soon, some parts the lawn were not as grown in from last years tilling of this area so I seeded those spots and it ought to look great soon.
I was thinking of planting some kind of specimen tree in this bed, maybe more than one. I really like dogwood trees but was not sure it would stay alive here. I need to do some research. I also love the American Redbud and with proper pruning it should not overpower this area. Another thing I thought would look nice would be a topiary style dwarf spruce. I do not have a formal garden but those trees are so fun and they dont grow too big for the space. One of my other project plans is to begin perimeter planting but that will require a massive bed outlining this entire yard. I need to finish all the other things we have in progress before I start that one. It will likely have to be one of the only things I have going when that one starts. I am so thankful to all the great folks who commented on how to do this. Even with all the gardening I have done, that is one thing I never knew how to do. Edging is a lot of work but the result is so worth it.
All Dressed Up
