I’ve made a few posts here since joining this comm, but I think only one has been about my own garden. The reason for this is really very simple: it looks horrible. The Rudbeckia is not nearly as happy as it was this spring. My Sweet Williams seem to be moving on to the next grand adventure. The roses are Not Happy At All. To top it all off, I can’t get the peonies to bloom no matter what I do. The only bright spot of my main flower bed is that the day lilies and periwinkles are happy. But really, it doesn’t take much to make *those* happy.
Likely culprits:
- It could be that the Rudbeckias just don’t like my soil. I have a very dense, heavy soil that packs very easily. I do work quite a bit of compost into the garden every year and it does help to keep the soil from packing too much. I got them as seedling transplants from my mom’s garden where her soil is mostly sand. Hers seem to be incredibly happy. It could be that my soil Ph is not something they thrive in. As I’ve never tested my soil and don’t know which these plants perfer, I can’t say for certain if this is a problem.
- Sweet William is pretty much a biennial around here. I’ve had most of them going on three years now so that problem is pretty straight-forward.
- My poor roses. *weeps* I know the problem there. The bed they’re in is right next to the house. I don’t have rain gutters. The bed floods every time we get more than a sprinkle of rain. I can verify the saying that roses don’t like wet feet – at all. I’m constantly fighting mold and blight on the poor things.
- The peonies…I’m at a loss. I know they take a few years to bloom, but I’ve had them for four years. Mom bought one from the same grower at the same time I did and she got her first blooms two years ago. I thought at first that I had them planted too deep so I raised them up as far as I dared. This year I got one tiny bud that never got bigger than a green pea. The plants themselves get all big and leafy and Do Nothing But Remain Green Blobs.
Other concerns/issues
- The area just in front of my porch is a low spot and water tends to gather there when we have a lot of rain.
- There are two tree stumps at the end of my driveway. (Some fool planted two pine trees right under the power lines well before we bought the house. First the road crews took the tops out of them more than once, then we had a very heavy freezing rain about eight years ago that pretty much ruined the trees. I had them cut down about three years ago.) Since removing the stumps would definitely tear up the driveway and possibly damage the roots of other nearby trees, the stumps need to be either hidden or beautified somehow.
This image is not exactly to scale, but it’s very close considering I made it using PowerPoint and Paint. The shaded-in areas are things that are already existing. Unshaded areas are part of The Plan. Click the image for a larger view. 
The Plan
- Daylilies and irises will be planted around the tree stumps. (Yay! Both ordered today. Daylilies will be shipped immediately; irises in September) Daffodils will probably be added for early spring color. I’ll also probably go with garden mums for late-season color. Definitely going for very low maintenance plants once they’re established. I know the irises and daylilies will need to be divided every few years, but I don’t mind that.
- An area has been mapped out to extend the garden out away from the house. The roses will be moved to part of this area to get them away from the eaves of the house. They’ll probably take up more area than is shown in the image because Mom is tired of "messing with" hers and plans to give them to me. Between the two of us, we’ve got close to 20 rose bushes. She’ll likely keep a few of those she has, but the majority will be coming to me. Heaps of compost will be added to help loosen the soil and I’ll probably add some sand to help with drainage for when we have heavy rains.
- The herb garden will also be extended. My older son hates flowers but enjoys growing peppers and herbs. He’ll like having a little more room.
- The area between the roses and herbs will have sand added to it to level out the low spot. It’ll then be covered in landscape fabric and 12" pavers. (I can already feel my back aching.) This will allow my younger son more room for his container garden. LOL As it is now, they’re taking over the front steps of the porch.
- Just like Mom is tired of messing with her roses, I’m tired of messing with the peonies. They’re outta here, or will be before next spring. Mom has agreed to adopt them. I’m sure they’ll all be very happy together. *crosses fingers*
- More research is needed on the Rudbeckia issue. Suggestions are more than welcome.
- The Sweet William will be replaced next spring. I love Sweet William; they’re just so happy with their mounds of flowers.
- Moving the roses and removing the peonies will leave some pretty major gaps in the existing flower bed. Since expanding things is going to take a major chunk out of my gardening budget, I’ll most likely fill in the gaps with annuals this season. Zinnias will probably play a major role in this as they’re very low maintenance and I can forsee a lot of my time next season making sure the roses settle in well and that the remaining Rudbeckias don’t pass to the afterlife.
- I lay this portion of The Plan entirely at the feet of destroyah_des, who happily accepts all responsibility. As this part of The Plan is not shown on the image, you’ll just have to use your imagination. I haven’t worked out all of the details, but I must have an arbor big enough to grow some gourds on. If I do go through with this part of The Plan, it’ll be put to the south of the house, off the bottom, left edge of the image.
- For now, black plastic is covering the area planned for the expansion to kill off the grass, roots and all. After we’ve had first frost, I’ll remove the plastic from the area where the roses will be moved to. It’ll need to be tilled and the compost and sand added this winter so that the roses can be moved before they start new growth next spring. LOL I’ve tried moving roses after they begin spring growth; they just don’t like it. I’ve also got to get quite a bit of compost and sand purchased before the lawn and garden centers stop stocking it for the season. No, I don’t have a compost bin/heap. *hangs head in shame*
So there you have it. Comments, suggestions and questions on any of this are more than welcome. I’ll try to get pictures up as things progress.
Good Lord, could I possibly add any other tags to this?