Hey! I'm out of hibernation!! I usually check in here once a day, but there hadn't been much action...

I've heard M&D's is good, and that they give generously; I've never ordered from them myself. I'm waiting for my own orders from Hawkvalley Hem. Haven and Nova Scotia Daylilies. The spot in my wrap-around bed that they will be planted in is dug, but still needs to be backfilled and amended. The enormous (and I mean that with a capital "E"!!) pile of dirt has been laughing at me all winter. And I need to have it all done by the end of May. And I'm still working full time. Gah!

As for your own predicament....hmm. Personally, I would probably go with edged grass. My own bed is raised and the little wall is made out of field stone. I do like the way it looks, but it is REALLY annoying to either spray/paint the grass and weeds that grow up between the rocks (or in your case, bricks) all the summer long. And as long as the edged grass is maintained, I think it looks very tidy. I actually think that edged grass is a little more flexible of a "look"...it can look quite formal, or it can look pretty laid back. Bricks probably lean mainly towards more formal. I just think the edged grass takes far less upkeep.

I plant perennials between my daylilies..mainly because I'm too cheap and lazy to keep replacing my annuals. The only annuals I have are in hanging baskets and some pots on my deck. Plus, there are so many gorgeous perennials available. But, if you're not totally sure what you want, you could plant annuals for now to fill in your bed and make it look pretty right off the bat, so that you have the flexibility to change your mind later.

What is your process for digging a new bed? Is your soil pretty crummy? What amending do you have to do? Is it entirely your job, or do you get help? I love hearing from fellow garden slaves!

Hey, happy spring, Weeper!

I think you're right about the edged grass. I have a raised brick planter that's about 12 feet long and maybe about 5 feet deep in places. It's 4 bricks high. I mean the bigger stacking landscape bricks that you see everywhere these days, so it's over knee high. Now that you mention it, mowing around it is a pain in the butt. Edged grass it is for the new bed.

I don't have a system for a new bed. My other spots are either against the house, plunked in the ground at the end of the grass, or in cedar raised beds, or pots. I've never really prepared a "bed" before.

I'm hoping to cut out and get rid of the grass, as it's got quackgrass in it. Do you suppose turning the grass upside down would do, or would the weeds still manage to come up? I have 4 year old compost, and think I should get some manure and peat moss. I suppose topsoil should go in there, too. What do you think of my proposed "system"? Would you suggest a better way?

I just remembered I have 6 creeping Phlox that I bought last year and just plunked into the ground for the winter. Do you suppose those would go with daylilies? I've also been really hoping to get Veronica whitley (speedwell?) this year. You think?

Do you do all your gardening by yourself? I get help from time to time, but it's generally done without a smile, so I struggle myself for the most part. I enjoy it most of the time. I've become quite proficient when it comes to shovels and a wheelbarrow. Is that how you'll deal with your pile of dirt, or are you lucky enough to have a mini bobcat?

BTW Did you notice I didn't capitalize "whitley"? crazy_gardener taught me that. =:) Do you suppose she'll ever return?

Anyone else have any suggestions? Has anyone seen crazy_gardener on the other forums? I think there's others missing in action, too. Maybe it's too early....

Sharon's been mostly on Facebook, but i'm hoping she comes back here. I miss her posts, her knowledge and her humour! We've all learned a lot from her. Heck, we've all learned a lot from each other!

I live in SW Manitoba ...just a 1.5 hour drive from the Man/Sask border.

Daylilies, here in my yard, are interplanted with all kinds of other perennials.

In front of and between my daylilies I place various varieties of MDB and SDB irises, creeping veronica, creeping phlox, soapwort, lamiums, sempervivums, jovibarba, sedums, dianthus, ajuga, snow in summer, ranunculus, geranium, goatsbeard, campanulas, pulmonaria, heuchera, alliums, fescue, pasque flower and anything else that is low growing.

In between and behind them I place various varieties of SDB, BB, IB and TB irises as well as siberian irises, peonies, penstemon, monkshoods, potentillas, bleeding hearts, bergenia, lilies, heliopsis, hostas, poppies, balloon flowers, veronica, phlox, gaillardia, etc, etc, etc. I also plant roses, clematis and miniature spireas in the beds with the daylilies.

My flowerbeds are also solely perennials. My annuals are in planters on the deck, oak barrels and in wheelbarrows, and are also used to edge the vegetable garden.

I don't have bricks around my flowerbeds but am thinking of getting some to use as a flat edge around each bed for the lawnmover wheels to run on. I tried the edged grass and didn't like the upkeep I had to do with it. So, most of my beds are either edged with a deep black rounded topped lawnedging or have a 1' or so area surrounding them that I spray the grass back with roundup about twice a summer.

I personally would use roundup to kill your grass as I have tried the digging out and turning upside down method and the grass still grows.

Enjoy planning your bed. If you plant something in the bed and it gets too tall or you don't like something about that particular perennial, where you placed it, you can always move it to another place.

Brenda

I agree with Brenda about using roundup on the grass...with quack-grass especially, it'll just keep on growing, even if it is upside down and half buried! I think I recall you not being a fan of chemicals...if you don't really kill all the grass though, you'll have to put up with yanking up quack grass for...forever.

There are all sorts of perennials that I interplant with my daylilies, but some of my fav combinations are: lilies (the daylily foliage hides their "caterpillar" like stem/leaves), liatris, veronica, phlox(so yes, I think that'll look great!), roses, iris....actually, come to think of it, I have almost all the stuff that Brenda has mixed in with mine!! Except that all my bleeding hearts/hostas/other shade plants are on the north side of the house, where I don't grow any daylilies.

The amended depth of my finished beds is 24", which is probably overkill. My husband uses a pick-ax to break up our rock hard clay soil, and he shovels it out into a big pile. So thank GOODNESS he does that part of it, because it takes me forever and a day when I do it. The rest of the work I do myself: Break up the clay clods with a hoe, mix a bunch of peat moss into it (at least 30% of my "dirt" is peat moss), then shovel it back into the bed. If I could afford it, I would also mix in a ton of vermiculite to help improve the drainage. The I top dress with old manure. If you can get ahold of topsoil, that would be great. I don't really have any I can use around my farm. So yep, all the garden work has to be done with pick-ax, hoe, shovel, and wheelbarrow(which I use for moving rocks around). I don't enjoy that kind of work at ALL. I'm totally into puttering, not shoveling! ;) But at least once it is done, you have good soil to start with.

Oh, and I like Brenda's idea of a mower running strip thingy for the edge of your bed. That way you don't have to drag the one side of the mower into the edge of your bed so that you can get all the grass. Whichever works!

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. BTW I didn't mean to exclude anyone not from Saskatchewan. I should have put Canadian Zone 2-3 or something instead.

Marcia, next time you see crazy_gardener on facebook, can you tell her we'd like her back?

Weeper, you're funny saying you're too cheap and lazy for annuals. I'm too indecisive for perennials, ha, ha. I'm trying to change that, though. Oh, and the reason I don't get much help, is I like to do things "right now" when I'm in the mood and can't stand to wait for help to be at home. I think I need a newer fancier wheelbarrow though.

Valleyrimgirl, do you think bricks would need to be placed flat and then a row inside and against them to keep the soil from "going overboard" ? I think maybe I'd need the edging you install with 10" spikes to keep everything in. That way I could mow without being overly careful. Using edging sheers drives me nuts. Hmmm. See, I'm indecisive because I was convinced I'd do the edged grass, but upkeep might discourage me.

All you guys have some wonderful suggestions for plants. I went to the greenhouse today to look around. There were 6 people working there, and then me! =:) I bought 2 Calgary Carpet junipers. They'd look nice with daylilies, too, wouldn't they??

Oh, and I got a yard of 1/2 & 1/2 topsoil/manure delivered today. It's funny how happy poo and dirt can make me =:) Now I need peat moss. And maybe a money tree. The greenhouse didn't have them in stock yet.....

I've mentioned it a couple of times. Gil came back and so did Pudge, and others. Hopefully Sharon will be back too.