Thankfully we bought the cart to go behind the lawn tractor last year when we put some rocks in the garden. Charlie loaded and loaded and loaded and dropped big piles of mulch all along the pathway in the back garden. I had some more weeding to do and lots of little baby plants emerging, so I didn't want mulch dropped into the garden bed directly.
The beds along the sides of the house just needed a little top dressing. The daffodils still have their foliage up in the garden, don't want to cut nor cover it. The Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko' is just about done blooming, just a few blossoms left. You can see that the yard slopes down toward the back of property.
The shed in the front yard shows the slope. Hopefully the shrubs will hide the cinder blocks in the next year or so.
Everything looks much better with a fresh layer of mulch doesn't it?
Part of this front garden got some edge dressing with the last of the mulch mountain. We also had to patch some areas of the grass where the dogs and the winter wet weather makes it so thin.
Most of the mulch went to the back. Thank goodness for the cart and tractor. Love the flagstone patio bordered by the Catmint, Rosemary and various goodies.
Looking back up to the house, you can make out the beds, now ready for this growing season. Now mulched the plants stand out and have a presence in the garden.
Lest you think I done with the mulching....there are still a dozen bales of pinestraw waiting, waiting since last year to be spread. ugh.
Once done, my gloves removed and my shoes taken off....I was in great need of a shower!!
Before showering I walked the yard and got some of these pictures and saw a new little friend.
He was on the wall by the side garden. I was worried about him falling off, it would be a three foot drop. It appears he has had a few bumps and bruises already, see the cut in his shell. Poor turtle. I moved him into the garden, under the Edgeworthia for him to forage.
One more exciting capture---
Mr. Gray Fox in my neighbor's driveway. I was walking the dogs and saw the fox. Lucky for me the dogs didn't see the fox and the fox didn't see the dogs.
Is your garden ready for the summer?
©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford.
words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.
Janet,
ReplyDelete10 yards is a lot to move and spread no question. I got 3 yards on my trailer for $25 this week at the landfill, thought it was going to pop the tires. Wore me out in two days spreading it. Still need another trailer full.
Randy, we could use more mulch...surprisingly there are still more areas. I am glad we got done what we did.
DeleteThat is a lot of work, well done you! I bet everything looks so much better. I often come in from the garden looking like that, with dirty arms and filthy socks. That picture of the fox is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAlison, you are right, it is so much better. We have seen the fox a lot lately.
DeleteA lot of work, but it really looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGreat to find a turtle!
Have a beautiful day!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Lea, thanks. Seems as though the turtles might be laying eggs, there are a lot of them out now.
DeleteTen cubic yards - that is a small mountain. I used to order mulch in bulk but it's hard to find a place to put it here among our 1/4 acre lots. I generally put it in the alley, where it can be a bit of an obstruction. Finally I went back to bagged mulch. As the beds filled in I put down less, though I keep making new plantings that need more! I will not get around to mulching until the beginning of June.
ReplyDeleteJason, yes, it was a small mountain. We can't have the mulch delivered on the road --so it is in the driveway ---correction it WAS in the driveway. :-)
DeleteGreat pics. Love looking at your garden beds and how they're situated to your house. The mulch looks really good.
ReplyDeleteNice pics of the turtle and a fox!
Victoria and Kim, thanks. My gardens are starting to fill in and really look like a complete garden.
DeleteAll dressed up and ready for the party to begin! Alas, I have many beds to weed, then mulch, before I sleep...well, truth be told I guess I'll need my sleep to accomplish it all. You have inspired me to get crackin'.
ReplyDeleteRicki, yes! Weeding is such a pain, though I am trying to stay up with it this year.
DeleteYou done good! Love the wildlife too, though just as soon you keep the fox. Looks like the lake is up. Have you been boating?
ReplyDeleteMarian, thanks! We enjoy the wildlife quite a bit. We have been out on the boat often...if the weather is good chances we are out on the lake.
DeleteMy garden is not really ready for the summer. But then again it depends which one I am talking about. Ha! Got myself in too deep. I really need to mulch the new garden at the land but then the wildflowers. It's a conundrum for me. Butterfly weed is about to bloom so who knows what else it out there. Your garden is really coming along wonderfully. Quite large too. Poor turtle. Rog ran over some box turtles with our tractor yesterday but they actually survived and moved on to safer places. Turtles are such good animals in the garden--foxes too! Great shot! Lucky you the dogs did not see it.
ReplyDeleteTina, You have been so busy with your new property....I understand that!! I am very glad the dogs didn't see the fox that day!
Delete10 cubic yards!! Color me impressed. Like Randy, I got three cubic yards one year and that left me pooped.
ReplyDeleteThis year I gave myself a headache by starting out with pine straw and switching midstream to pine bark. The bark is *incredibly* light which makes it much less work to spread, though it does blow and wash around a little.
Personally, as Jason says, my goal is to fill in the beds so much with groundcovers and perennials that they don't need much mulch, but I think I'll always want some spaces for annuals, so I'll always need to mulch in those places.
Congrats on a job well done!
Aaron, thanks. Like I said to Randy, there are more spots that could use mulch...but that will be another time. Groundcovers are great...though if you need to mulch around them it gets harder to not bury them.
DeleteLOL! I look just like that when I mulch. It is a back breaking job but everything always looks so good after new mulch is put down. Your gardens have come a long way Janet and they are looking so lovely. I love that shot with the banking and the bench. Such a sweet place to set and just look around and take the lake and everything in.
ReplyDeleteLona, we live IN the garden don't we? I enjoy all the seating areas in the garden....especially while I am working.
DeleteLots of the same around here...mulch...pine straw...mulch...pine straw. Sit, relax, enjoy.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, time to get the mulch down before the heat kicks in!!
DeleteJanet! You've been busy! If I had that screen porch and the stone patio near the lake, I would never get any work done. You have such nice variations in topography at your place. Is the front flat or sloping?
ReplyDeleteDJ, yes we have been busy. Glad it is done now. The front is sloping as well. Feel like a mountain goat walking on the slopes.
DeleteJust beautiful, Janet! Good work! What a perfect piece of property you have...all sorts of microclimates and niches to work with, not to mention space. I agree with DJ about the porch and patio.
ReplyDeleteDaricia, thanks. Yes, lots of micro climates. When it is nice we sit outside a good amount, especially in the morning.
DeleteYou certainly were one busy lady--and we mustn't forget Charlie's help! But everything looks so lovely covered with mulch, and all that hard work will pay off through the rest of the summer.
ReplyDeleteWe spied a fox trotting through our field last night, too, not too far from the barn. I was so glad Sophie didn't see it, or she would have been after it in a flash.
Rose, yes, Charlie did a lot bringing it back and spreading in the magnolia garden. It does look a lot better with the mulch spread.
DeleteOh my Janet my garden is no where near ready...it needs desperate weeding and mulching but that won't get done until June and only partially until I have more time in the fall...your beds are wonderful mulched.
ReplyDeleteDonna @GEV, I did a lot of weeding before and during the mulch spreading. With the rains we have had I am glad the mulch was down --- helped with the erosion.
DeleteHi Janet, I always feel better when my beds are all mulched. Then I know I can keep the weeds at bay. Flowerbeds always look better when the are nicely mulched too. You're well ahead of me. I am still working on the flowerbeds both in the front and back of the house. Have a terrific weekend!
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I am much happier to show my garden when it is mulched that is for sure!!
DeleteLooks wonderful, but I know how much work it is to cover so much garden. I mulched the garden and then the cool temps stayed and stayed...and my flowers grew and grew more than in any year...so, the mulch is barely visible!
ReplyDeleteFreda, there is a lot of ground to cover....each year I am getting more and more mulched and planted. Hoping with the rain and mulch there will be a full garden this summer.
DeleteA beautiful place, wonderful photographs, gardens are magic places:) Greetings
ReplyDeleteZielona, thank you so much.
DeleteIs anything quite as satisfying as admiring a thickly mulched border? Hard work but so rewarding. Your garden has developed so beautifully, I look forward to seeing your "through the years" posts.
ReplyDeleteJanet, how true! The through the years post is coming soon!
DeleteHow'd you get my socks?
ReplyDeleteLes, yours and every other gardener's! :D
DeleteWhen I saw the first photo I did a double-take because it looked exactly like the view from our family's Hartwell lakehouse we sold a few years back. Wish we'd had a garden like that, there (so, so pretty -- great job!) I hear you on the mulch, I can't wait until we get our driveway back. Right now it is a mountain of wood chips.
ReplyDeleteEliza, how funny it looks like your place at Hartwell. Much of the backyard is woodland...so ferns and oakleaf hydrangeas and azaleas fill a good bit of it.
DeleteMulch does wonders for a garden! I lost count of how many bags I spread this spring but more then I would have liked to as it is a back paining job for me :-( But the results make it all worth the pains. I go with bags verses bulk as I can handle the bags better then shoveling with bulk. I love my mower wagon as it comes in handy for many projects. I have spread 20 bales of pine straw thus far. I have a few more areas to spread the needles before that job is over. But must wait for a nest of Cardinals to depart the area. Geesh, the animals rule us here at our Oasis in the woods :-) Poor turtle, when I see a damaged animal my mind wonders with what could have happen to them...
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, it does do wonders!! I think for some of the other spots I will do some bags of mulch.
DeleteThose carts are brilliant aren't they? One came with our house when we bought it and I've thanked my lucky stars many times since. Excellent for carting mulch and compost or moving rocks.
ReplyDeleteMarguerite, boy if we didn't have that cart we would still be hauling mulch down the hill!! What a great item for the garden!!
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