My New Project

No, it's not my Iris/Lily garden.  I haven't figured out where I am going to put that yet, so in the mean time, I have decided that I am going to work on another project that I have been planning for years - my shade garden.  I have a wonderful little shady spot in a little corner between my patio and garden shed.  Years ago, I marked out the area that I wanted to change from lawn to flower bed and that's all I've ever done with it.

Well, that's not entirely true.  I pulled out all the weeds, grass and little trees and worked up the soil with my garden claw that first year.  I quickly realized that the soil is not sufficient for any kind of gardening.  As soon as I figured out that I needed to buy numerous bags of soil and manure, I jumped head first into procrastination mode!  "I don't have the extra money for soil this week, so I'll wait."  

Henry didn't help my procrastination.  He got a bunch of stones from him mother and bricks from a chimney that was removed from his childhood home to build a path from the back deck to the drive way and a small flower bed between the path and dog run.  He piled them all in my shade garden area.  That just kicked the procrastination into high gear.  "I can't do anything with the shade garden until Henry does something with the stones and bricks."

Here we are years later and still no shade garden.  And I have decided that my excuses are silly and it is time to do something about this.  It could be a beautiful little shade garden and it is going to be.  Maybe not this year, but I am determined to get it ready to plant in the spring.  As you can see, the first step is clean up.  I pulled a bunch of weeds on the weekend.  Next, I need to find somewhere to pile the bricks and stones.  I am not waiting for us to build the path anymore, I am just going to find somewhere else to put them until we do.  Soil is no longer and excuse.  We have a truck and my grand parents have a seemingly endless supply of well composted manure.

 I am excited for this little project and hope that I really can get it going in time to plant in the spring.  I am eager to get my wagon wheel into the ground and get something growing on it.  I'm not sure what I am going to do with the wheel barrow.  I am contemplating having it as part of the garden but I really haven't decided.  Feel free to toss some ideas at me!  And the ladder is actually going to be a plant stand on the patio with potted plants on each rung.  But first it needs a paint job!  It is a little too blue!

Hopefully by this time next year I will be posting photos of my beautiful little shade garden full of hostas and other shade loving pretties!