Killing grass organically | Mom in the Garden

in the beginning…

I love gardening. What a surprise, huh? I really look forward to the different seasons and watching as everything changes. Every year it is all new again, even though of course it is not new at all. It is even more fun when adding new plants to beds and seeing how they grow, change, and add to the atmosphere of the garden!

further along in spring…

It is fun to make new flower beds. Hmmm, I think I have to re-phrase that. It is fun to plant new plants and shrubs in a new flower bed! The making of a new bed is actually a good bit of work! I don’t use chemicals, so the first step involves covering the grass with newspapers, then covering with cardboard and then stones on top to hold down the cardboard.

Raspberry Ice Fusion Hyacinth adding some color to the bed

I don’t have a picture from the very start of this bed, but I’m sure you probably have a “lovely” picture in your head of what that would look like. A few months later, after the grass is dead, I (read: me and/or anyone I can get to help with this job) have to fork up the grass and turn it over. After the soil is left to dry, the dead grassy bits are easy enough to shake free of soil and add to the compost heap. Then the soil is forked over again to make sure there isn’t any stubborn grass!

spring time

Have you gathered the gist? It is a lot of work. But I think it is worth the work to avoid using chemicals. This bed has been named “Cormac’s Garden” because my son Cormac spent quite a lot of time forking over the soil.

The lilacs’ flowers and leaves are adding a bit of life to the bed, and a new hellebore (‘SP Frilly Isabelle’) was planted.

The hyacinth were added this past fall. I really liked the two different shades of pink which were offset with white.

bright colors for the start of spring (Raspberry Ice Fusion hyacinth)

a deeper color pink (my favorite)

My son is 17 and jokes that all of the beds should be called ‘Cormac’s garden’ as he is often roped into helping out. Let’s just stick with this one for now…

columbine blooming in May

The bed has: hosta, bearded iris, hellebore, Dutch Iris, columbine, lilac

The bed has: hosta, bearded iris, hellebore, Siberian Iris, columbine, lilac

I added one more lilac shrub this year, to the 3 already there. Yeah, I went a bit lilac crazy, but I love their scent!

Syringa vulgaris ‘Andenken an Ludwig Spath’ (my favorite!)

Iris & ‘Charles Joly’ Lilac

I planted some Siberian Iris last year. They apparently are quite happy in this soil because they look spectacular this year (says she quite humbly!).

Siberian iris

I have those same iris in another part of the garden and they don’t look half as nice as these here. Amazing how different the soil composition can be even in the same yard.

a single allium of three which were planted…

It has been fun watching the bed fill out. I liked how it started with shades of pink, and is now filled with different shades of purple. I’ll have to think about what colors to add for the fall. Oh, and I am at it again! I decided that the bed isn’t wide enough!

Hosta at the front, and a look at what it looks like while I kill the grass to widen the bed.

here we go again!

Having something new to look forward to in the following season is the best part of gardening! Don’t you think?

Here’s to new beginnings!

In peace,
Dana

Wild-flower garden.

I have a wild-flower garden. It certainly isn’t a typical wild-flower garden. Mainly that’s because its location is in the middle of my front yard. Yeah, I know, that is weird. I really enjoyed the flowers, but not the wild garden look! I had just prepared this center bed and was still figuring out what to plant in it when a friend asked me if I’d like some wild-flower seeds. It was as simple as that! I thought I’d give it a go for a season and see how it looked.

Lots of poppies in my wild-flower garden.

Orange wild poppy.

Some of the flowers have been so pretty! I love the orange wild poppies.

Orange wild poppies.

For a season it has been fun seeing what would grow and bloom. There were a couple of cute surprises!

A single red flower.

Beautiful blue cornflower.

Lovely yellow.

A bit of a mess!

So the above photo is really what the wild-flower garden tends to look like: A mess! I do like my poppies and daisies by the back of my wall. They certainly are anything but neat and tidy. But they are at the back! I’m afraid this garden is too central to be so messy for me.