How Does Your Garden Grow?

D & I started what I expected to be the annoying task of cleaning out the back garden beds a few weeks ago. We removed all the dead shrubs, got rid of the first couple inches of gross soil and added in healthy new organic soil. We started looking in books and online for ideas & inspiration only to realize we have no clue what we're doing.

A friend suggested we get in touch with Sheridan Nurseries and go for a landscape design consultation. I went last week and learned so much! For $50, you meet with a professional who studies your garden in terms of sun, soil, orientation and your needs as the gardener (um, low maintenance... and pretty?) and walk away with a whole lot of knowledge, a great gardening catalogue and a detailed drawing of your space complete with tree, shrub & flower suggestions.

We headed back to the nursery yesterday and started picking out our new trees and plants. It was exciting! It was fun to see them in person, decide if we liked them and if not, explore our other options. Some $450 later and a cramped ride home pinned in the passenger seat by a wrought iron trellis and Japanese maple, we were finally able to start working in the backyard. We didn't buy everything we needed but it was a great start. We got most of the things planted in the smaller bed and I'll be heading out back today while M naps to work on the bigger bed.

I'm shocked that I'm actually enjoying gardening. I think it's the weeding & clean up I dislike. Building from the ground up is fun! I can't wait to see how things grow and bloom as the season progresses. I'm taking pictures to document the changes as we move ahead so I will have to post them once we're closer to being finished.