Lil's New Garden

A recent post of mine is eligible to win a ticket to a blog conference in Asheville North Carolina. Will you do me a favor and vote for me, @racheltayse? Thanks!!

Back in the spring we dedicated one raised bed to Lillian for her own garden. She loved the idea and made an adorable sign to mark it as hers.

And then we started arguing. Despite planning to grow peas, carrots, strawberries and other edibles, Lil soon changed her mind and wanted to grow flowers. I had built the soil in the raised bed for two years with the intention of growing food there. Food trumps flowers any day in my book.

We compromised throughout the summer until the garden was a disfunctional mish-mash of marigolds, carrots, and more.

I finally had a breakthrough when looking at our tree yard (the area between the sidewalk and street): why not let Lil establish a garden there?

So in the last two weeks, we turned soil, spread sand, installed pavers (lifted from my parents backyard), planted perennials and a few annuals, mulched, and watered. I sneaked in several edibles including the peach trees that were already there, blueberries lining the walk, and several herbs. Other plants are valuable attractors of pollinators like bees and butterflies. I promised Lil is that every plant has beautiful flowers.

Still to come is a remade sign. The original one was less waterproof than we thought and we want to make something more permanent.

With the help of a lot of discount plants, the project cost an affordable $52. (Now is a GREAT time to search garden centers for clearance perennials.) Here’s the breakdown:

6 24×24 paving stones: free from my parents
5 bags leveling sand: $20
4 blueberries: free, moved from another bed
2 butterfly bush: $12
2 yarrow: $2
2 echinacea: $2
2 mums: $4
4 thyme: free from clintonville coop
3 extra large bags mulch: $12

As for the old garden bed? It is going to be remade into a cold frame for the winter!

This post linked to Simple Lives Thursday.