Shed Building Plans

 

Here is the island bed with things growing very well. I planted all of this in the heat of the summer last year when the bed was new. I just could not wait until fall. I lost very few things and everything else is doing well. I finally did cut back the huge daisies that were falling over and that really opened it up. I will use some kind of grow rings or supports next year. You can even see my chicken house in the background. I love that thing. The pretty red door is open to try and cool it off this morning.

 

Same bed from a different angle. I am only going to plant a few things into this bed this year because I want to see how the spacing is in year two before I add anything else. I know I planted some things too close at the onset. That should be easy to remedy before this bed is too full.

 

Here is one more shot from the corner of the boomerang shape. I still want to add a decorative small tree in this corner to anchor it a little but I can do that at any time. Maybe in the fall.

 

I am just loving this bee balm this year. It is so pretty even if it is 3 feet taller than the instructions said it would be. I have about six of these in several colors and one is a scarlet double. I like it too but it did not photograph well this morning. Not enough coffee yet.

 

This is a different bed that lines the edge of the raised bed garden. I edged it and top dressed it with new bark mulch. I love that stuff. I have one bed left to do and then all of the finished beds are done for the year. Better late than never. I think that edging everything really makes it look clean and tidy. I love clean and tidy, even if my plantings are a mess. My lupine got powdery mildew this year and I ended up chopping it off to try and keep it from spreading.  This area might be getting too much water being right next to a raised bed veggie garden. I am off to work on the butterfly garden bed and then I will be done until someone (Doyle) get the skid-steer over here to put more dirt in my newest bed in progress.

 

Then, because I can never wait to do things at the appropriate time, I started planting it. I found that a lot of mail order catalog companies also sell on Ebay under a different name for a lot less. A lot less. I also found that lots of people with big gardens also will sell their divisions on Ebay for pennies on the dollar. I started ordering and planting in the heat of the summer. I figured that if I could get 75% of it to come back this year I was golden. 

 

I would say Mission Accomplished. I think I lost a few things. A Honeycomb Butterfly Bush, which blooms yellow and I am sorry about that. A rose bush and a few others. I planted so many things I will have to consult my planting map to be sure of what did not make it. I had put all the hoses away in the fall and then it dried out long before it ever got wet again, I am pretty sure most of the casualties were my fault. I just know I have some holes where there is nothing and I will plant these from seed.  I planted more shrubby type things in the middle of the bed and tried to graduate the sizes to the edges all the way around. As soon as the rain lets up for a minute I will head out and edge this bed with the technique you all suggested. I have already done this to several other beds and it looks very nice. Wish I had known this sooner. Live and learn!

 

But I thought, after those are done, why not add another island bed in the open area in the middle that doesnt have anything but lawn? I am trying to eat up lawn, after all. Flower beds hold water longer than lawn does.

 

So my design phase always consists of the longest garden hose I own. I like to play with the shape for a few days before doing anything drastic. And since one of these days I am going to get the rest of my dirt dumped over the fence, now is the perfect time to build another one right near it. Yes, my husband shakes his head at me and gracefully keeps his mouth shut. I have no idea how he has such restraint.

 

You can see the outline of the new bed in progress behind the outline of the hose. I thought taller plantings in the middle of the island bed would tie in nicely to the taller plantings I plan for the back edge of the new bed behind it.