A wish became reality

last year

I've been wanting to have the lower walkout area completed where the stone walls are and my front garden bed expanded. The last couple of days the landscapers were here doing the work in the heat and humidty.

Here is the garden expansion. They used a sod cutter to remove all the grass, edged the area and put down mushroom compost with a finish of mulch. My plants are rejoicing they will have more space. No movement of plants till late August and hopefully much cooler temps. They even weeded the garden beds. I'll mulch my existing beds once the weather cools and plant relocations happen.

The completed gravel pathways down by the walkout stone walls. They removed grass, weeded the existing beds, put river rock near all the drain outlet lines,mulched, edged everything and set up the gravel pathways so they would meet the existing steps. The gravel is lighter but once we have a couple of rain events it will match the existing stone that was orignally there.

Waiting for the lawn mowing service to come today and get the lawn done now. Suppose to have thunderstorms this afternoon and then we will be in for a cool down.

Julia

Featured Answer

jrb451

last year

That's going to look really nice.

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Comments (14)

Brad KY 6b
last year
Wow, that is wonderful Julia!! Everything looks so perfect! Mushroom compost is great stuff; I have a friend in northern PA who uses it and everything grows like crazy!

Brad
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Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
last year
Whoever you hired did a really good job for you. What potential. So do you already have the plants on hand you wish to add? All daylilies or a mix? And, if you can, tell me what the tall leafy plant is across from the spruce (?) in the 2nd and 3rd photos. Nice foliage......Maryl
Julia WV (7a)
Original Author
last year
Thanks all for the comments. We had a severe thunderstorm blow through late this afternoon. Glad to have the rain.

Brad: The landscaper recommended the mustroom compost.Glad to hear it does good for other people.

Maryl: The leafy planting is crocosmias (Lucifer) that is across from the small pine tree. I will be keeping the front garden mixed. I already have a list of a couple of daylilies I want to get and have a small purchase of iris coming in September. Not sure what I'll do with the walkout stone wall area. I'll definitely use this landscaper again when the need arises.

Julia
sherrygirl zone5 N il
last year
What a wonderful space you have now. I cant wait to see what it looks like next season. Have fun planning and planting!

Sherry
lilykate7a
last year
Another almost blank canvas to work with! What fun! This looks great and I know your garden artistry will make it beautiful!!
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
last year
Julia: Thanks for the information on the Crocosmia. I planted some in ground this spring (Peach Melba) and was surprised when rabbits came and ate one to the ground and about half way on the other one. Have rabbits ever bothered yours in spring?........Maryl
Julia WV (7a)
Original Author
last year
Maryl: No. Deer and rabbits have not touched mine and I have plenty of those critters here. Perhaps you had some other animal? I do not spray the plant and I have huge clumps of them along my back patio too but this year after blooming the leaves got scorched from the heat so I had to cut them all back sooner than I wanted to.

Julia
Nancy Graham
last year
Wow, already looking so great, Julia. I am so excited for you! And I have used mushroom compost some this year. Plants have done better, but we had more rain than normal so hard to say for sure it is due to compost. I have several friends who think it is the best.
shive
last year
This looks fantastic! You have so much more planting room now! I can't wait to see how you fill all that space. The gravel pathways are attractive. As for mushroom compost, two daylily hybridizers in the South had disastrous results with it. That's what put Luddy Lambertson out of business, since after using it he lost all of his lined-out intros and seedlings. William Marchant also lost all of his lined-out seedlings after using it. I haven't heard any problems using it in the North though.

Debra
Nancy Watson
last year
Oh how nice! It will be great to see what you do with this wonderful space.

Nancy
mantis__oh
last year
Mushroom compost is good after it has decomposed some more. It is too hot to put directly on plants.

You really have a lot of space to work with. Looks great! You may need to think about deer prevention though.
Julia WV (7a)
Original Author
last year
mantis: I've been letting the compost sit with the mulch on top for now. But I first need to test some areas to see what the ease of planting will be.

The only alternative for deer prevention is elimination. Soon it will be time for the bucks to shed the "velvet" from their antlers and I need to get the young trees with wire cages around them. You would think with all the woods I have around us they would do that on larger trees.

Julia
organic_kitten
last year
That is so nice, Julia and will just add to the beauty of your garden which is so lovely already.

kay