Wow, you certainly got a lot done!! Hope you’re not feeling too sore tomorrow and the day after!

I put in a huge perennial border a handful of years ago, wraps around 3 sides of the house. I like a filled-in look so I planted...and planted...and planted, I purposely over-planted

==>> any before and after pix... pllllzzzzzz

ken

Wel hey, I am also doing a rose cull, including a coupla Austins I am a bit conflicted about. I have had mine for ages though and just really want to see something different...but mostly, they are hard to weed around, and under and occupy huge areas of...horribleness, from July onwards. Your decisions are much harder, I think. As for roses in pots...well, some people manage to get a good show but I am not one of them so if they are not in the ground, they are not for me.

Well done you, for getting started though - I find this is always the hardest thing and once underway, I can motor along.You can definitely feel like you have achieved something worthwhile - I don't envy you having to chop out the Annabelles...did you ever find a decent battery operated shearer? I had Kent Belle ages ago and got rid because they were just...clumsy. So many better campanulas, imo.

I understand removing the roses, mine left the garden at least a decade ago. My first concern was thorns and injuries to my small dogs. Second, I tired of the spraying and insect problems….I am now into easier care for this aging body. I like the ”full” look too…no need for mulch when the plants do it for you, so that is another chore I dont have to do.

I think your gardens look very nice!

Sherry

David Austin roses look great - in catalog photos. I've found that they need too much coddling to do their best, and I refuse to do more than mulch around them in winter, which usually causes at least modest dieback, and it takes awhile for them to get going again in spring here in central Kentucky. No idea why rugosas aren't available more around here. I have a 6 x 4 foot specimen of "Mrs. Anthony Waterer" which is tough as nails, flowers (fragrant) abundantly in early to mid spring and periodically thereafter.

mxk3, I am also redoing a small area along the back fence line. Not as extensive as yours. I am also wanting a “full look” but am fighting the urge to not over plant the area. It’s hard because it won’t mature for 3 years……you know, sleep, creep, leap. I find myself wanting to buy two of everything…. Lol

debra

rusty_blackhaw: I love rugosas! Have quite a few of them. Agree they are tough as nails, and have the added bonus of interesting winter appearance -- the thorny bark looks like some sort of Medieval torture device, it's pretty cool.

thx for the pix... the 'apparently' floating beck reminds me of swim platforms out at the lake when i was a kid... sans the redwood stain of course... and i presume the pic is a camera trick.. that its not floating in the middle of the garden..

ken

"...and i presume the pic is a camera trick.. that its not floating in the middle of the garden.."

I wish it would float away. Hopefully sometime during the remainder of my lifetime I'll have the funds rip that butt-ugly pink deck out and put in a proper patio. The greenery hides the ugliness of the color.

Here's what it really looks like, from the listing photo -- orange house, pink deck: