Beautiful Garden

 

A Beautiful Garden

How does one create a beautiful garden pleasing to the eye? Well, pleasing is what you enjoy and love to see so beautiful gardens will vary between gardeners. A garden takes patience, time, hard work, a little knowledge of where to place a plant and some creativity. Gardens tend to be really forgiving and have the ability to help you learn from your time in them. That's part of the way I learned in addition to watching my Aunt Hazel and her love for her garden. It's also fun to share tips and plants with friends. It is truly an enjoyable experience.

Some simple things to do as you start to make your garden beautiful.

1. Don't be so quick to throw out what you already have.

 Established plants are tried and true! For starters they have resisted many types of pests that may be in your garden. Give them a chance and see how you like them.

2. Prepare soil properly. 

Lots of soils are hard and just need to be worked. Add a little water to the soil that you have started to dig and let set for several hours; when you go back you'll be able to prepare the soil more easily. Sometimes I will take a few days to prepare the soil. Add garden soil amendment if necessary. My mother-in-law would say, "The more plants you grow, the better the soil will be."

3. Make sure that you give your new little plants the proper amount of sun and water, especially the first few weeks.

4. Keep an eye on your new garden everyday, even if it is just a quick peek.

5. If you invest the time, your garden will reward you with its beauty.

Aunt Hazel would say, "If you spend two hours a day working in your garden, it will be beautiful." Then I would say, "You bet it would look good, if I had two hours to work in the garden a day." I now have more time to spend in my garden since my kids are grown, but most people don't have two hours a day to tend to the garden, but planning to spend 5 minutes in the garden might surprise you. I find that once I get out in the garden it has a way of keeping me there longer.

6. Just plant it and it will grow. 

It won't grow unless you get it in the ground. It's surprising how season by season the garden changes with all the new plants I put in year round.

Don't miss the before pictures further down.

Lush Established Garden

Lush established gardens take a few years to fully be seen and are at their best in later Spring, around May, depending on where you live. If you are a goal oriented person then spring is your time! I work towards this goal all the time but have come to love the process of caring for these plants in my garden. It is so much fun to watch and tend to the plants that I have in the garden and see the changes that occur. Spring brings speedy growth, so it is a time of lots of work with lots of enjoyment.

Here in this area of my garden I get to enjoy sun thriving plants.
All of the plants mentioned below are perennials.
Purple and pink Lantana which bloom throughout the season.
Reddish pink geraniums which I deadhead to keep them blooming.
White Marguerite Daisies are easy to grow and grace the garden beautifully. Check out my post from last year on the Marguerite Daisy.
Two yellow Euryops Daisy plants which do not have blooms in this picture. I trim these back once or twice a year so they will not become lanky.
Coreopsis plants that are just starting to bloom and bring an intense yellow/orange to the garden. Check out my post on Coreopsis.
Succulents that I use as filler for areas in between the plants until they have grown larger.

Pink and Purple Lantana

Lantana is a perennial and does well in full sun. It wonderfully blooms from spring through fall and goes a little dormant in the winter until new leaves enliven the plant in early spring.

Red Geraniums and Daisies

Here you can see that my red Geraniums are blooming profusely; so much so that now I need to trim them away from the fence. The white Marguerite Daisies create a nice pop in the midst of the Geraniums. The yellow Euryops Daisies in the foreground are an additional added beauty when in bloom.

View of Garden from My Sitting Area

In my sitting area I get to enjoy all my little plants that have grown into beauties - Succulents, Geraniums, Lantana, Marguerite Daisies, Yellow Euryops and Sweet Alyssum in the foreground.

Now I want to share with you what the garden looked like before it filled in with all these beautiful plants.

In the Beginning

As I began to work on this area, the plants looked lanky and sparse. I trimmed back the yellow Euryop Daisies and the red Geraniums in hopes that they might grow in more full. I also planted a few new Lantana and Marguerite plants and re-positioned the Succulents.

Preparing the Soil

In preparing the soil, I try to dig down as far as I can to give lots of room for my plant roots to grow, making sure I don't hit any sprinkler pipes or wires for lighting - Yikes! As I mentioned above, I may take a few days to work on the soil to get it in fine condition for my new additions.

Garden Planted

I love to use Succulents as a beautiful filler to give my newly planted garden a finished look until the new plants grow into their mature size. Succulents are easy to move and transplant into other areas and to use as accents as I have here.

Beauty in the Making

 Now a peek at Aunt Hazel's beautiful garden.

Aunt Hazel 

Aunt Hazel is here in her front garden by her light pink Pelargoniums - another of her favorites!

Having Fun in Aunt Hazel's Garden

Aunt Hazel's great nieces having fun in her garden getting ready to plant something. You can see here white Marguerite Daisies in the back, bright pink Pelargoniums to the sides and mini Chrysanthemum flowers on the front left.

I hope this post has encouraged you to continue to create and enjoy your beautiful garden.

🌺Linda