There is an interestingly shaped bed surrounded by our driveway, walkways and deck. When we moved in, it held some Christmas ferns and boxwoods that were crowded up against the deck. I initially put my Japanese Maple tree in and moved the Christmas ferns to the front yard. This week, I felt inspired to kick this bed into shape. Luckily, the timing coincided with Pike’s red tag sale. I scored three “Frances Williams” hostas, three “Marvelous Marble” Heucheras, and an Origami Pink and White Columbine.
I started by breaking out my measuring tape. I always look at the mature size on the label to figure out my spacing. In this bed, I am wanting a full, overlapping, but not messy look, so I shaved a few inches off each projected size when I marked for my holes. Everything is tiny and very spread out right now, but if I can keep everything alive, it will look perfect when they are full grown. Check out my inspiration here, here, and here.
It took me three afternoons to get the five boxwoods pulled out and all of the new plants in the ground, which also included moving some Creeping Jenny (Goldi Lysimachia) from a planter for ground cover, a small fern that popped up in the front yard and the Bergenias I had brought from the old house in February. I still have some room in the back of the bed by the deck stairs, and I’m considering a small azalea for that spot. My inspiration for adding that to the mix came from here.
Now that the boxwoods are out, I can see that I should have planted the Japanese Maple a little further back in the bed for good symmetry, but they are so slow growing, that I figure I have time to shift it in the future if I feel so inclined. And yes, we need to install more railing and a permanent gate on the deck, of course that would require money and/or expertise that we do not currently possess, so the baby-gating stays for now.
Here is a before shot from April:
