It’s exactly what it looks like: A recently mulched garden bed with very few plants in it.
I’m sharing it with you to show you that things don’t always go as planned and sometimes you just have to do what you can.
When I decided last year to reclaim this little corner from the naturalized area that takes up a good portion of our property, I knew I was being optimistic. I honestly do not have time to adequately maintain all the garden beds I’ve created over the years. (This is what happens when Midwestern gardeners get bored in winter: We design new gardens that we don’t have time for.) We planted a couple hundred pink daffodils in it last fall and in spring it looked very nice. The plan after that was to direct sow a bunch of seeds and let it go a little wild.
And then the rabbits came. Every seedling that managed to come up despite a fair bit of neglect on my part was promptly nibbled down. In the end, even the Icelandic poppies that I had nurtured since February were mowed down. I saw one bloom and the rabbits even ate that so I don’t even have any seeds to show for it.
As is the case in these reclaimed areas (which are far more difficult to turn into a garden than an area that used to be lawn), the weeds started moving in. I knew that all my hard work (not to mention a yard of topsoil I bought last year) would quickly be undone if I didn’t act quickly.
So last weekend I edged the bed (still my favorite way of improving any garden space), weeded it thoroughly and heavily mulched it with chips from trees we had cut down in spring. Sidenote: Finding a place for the arborist to put those wood chips instead of having them hauled away was the best thing we’ve ever done. All year I’ve had a ready supply of really good wood chips for free.
It looks pretty ridiculous, to be honest, but I’ve saved it for this year and over winter I can develop a new plan for this area. If I do some moving and dividing of plants in fall I’ll be able to plant there as well.
It’s not what I had envisioned, but not every garden is a success right off the bat. In fact, few of them are. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right.
What would you like to know?
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