May Days

"The country ever has a lagging Spring,
Waiting for May to call its violets forth,
And June its roses--showers and sunshine bring,
Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth;
To put their foliage out, the woods are slack,
And one by one the singing-birds come back.

Within the city's bounds the time of flowers
Comes earlier. Let a mild and sunny day,
Such as full often, for a few bright hours,
Breathes through the sky of March the airs of May,
Shine on our roofs and chase the wintry gloom--
And lo! our borders glow with sudden bloom."
- William Cullen Bryant, Spring in Town, 1850

In Front of the Barn - A New Flower Bed

Last year W.J. and his brother built a mini barn or large shed. As you can see the paint job is a little dull. This year we are going to paint it barn red and white ..... hopefully he will start on it soon.

So of course a flower bed has to be done in front of it. The above picture I am edging the outline and going deep so grass doesn't creep into the bed.


I decided to lay newspaper on top of the grass where I won't be planting anything, it's much easier than digging the sod out and I don't like to use plastic or landscape fabric, as I'm always adding more plants later on. Ripping out the fabric later to make room for plants is a pain. Newspaper also helps the soil when it decomposes, it's like adding compost. Four or Five layers overlapping each other usually will do the job. Make sure you wet the paper as you go along, or it will fly away....

I also make sure I tuck it into the edge.



You can put mulch, top soil or both on top of the paper.


Here I laid out my plants. I planted 3 Hydrangea 'Annabelle' and double impatiens, red and white.



Finished and it looks great and no back breaking digging to remove the sod. I decided at the last minute to leave the corners open with mulch. It seems my kids and well... yes myself tend to walk through that way to get on the porch... I'm going to add a couple of round stepping stones in the corners.


A view from the porch looking out.