My Garden (Finally) Looks Great!

When we built our home 10 years ago, I envisioned gorgeous wide beds filled with flowers gracing the front and sides of our house. I (of course) put in much larger beds than I could possibly maintain with the amount of time I had left after a full time job and family stuff. They’re huge. They were always overgrown and weed-filled. I cringed every time I looked at them. Since I have retired I have slowly been getting them into shape.

Gardening (particularly in the deep south) is a matter of trial and error. Most plant tags are designed for the middle of the country. Some plants that are tagged full sun, cannot stand full sun here in our hot and humid semi-tropical setting. Some plants that are tagged annuals are actually perennials here with our mild winters. Many plants are picky about the kind of soil, drainage, etc. A plant that loves one area, hates another, that sort of thing. No matter what the plant tag says, sometimes you just have to try it and see, and move the plant if its unhappy. I simply didn’t have time for that when I was working.

Over the last year and a half, I have moved all of the plants that weren’t working where they were, and brought in new plants. I thinned and gave away plants that were a little TOO enthusiastic and taking over the garden. I also installed a camellia garden, and then another when I ran out of space. I spent time in my vegetable garden, amending the soil and fertilizing and planting at the right times. The results are gratifying. Our satsuma and persimmon trees are bent over with the weight of their fruit. We have tons of sweet and spicy peppers from the garden, and even fall tomatoes- I have never managed that before! We have collard greens, turnips, and mustard greens, kale, and a few kinds of lettuce- all but the lettuce I grew from seed! The herb garden is flourishing and the green onions look great.

The camellia garden struggled a bit. It was a rough year for gardening. Despite the fact that we are on track to meet our yearly average of 67 inches of rain this year, there were two periods where we received no rain at all for more than 6 weeks. During the first one (when we were on vacation in Europe), the temperatures exceeded 100 degrees for more than a week. I wasn’t there to water, and a few camellias died. Camellias are very drought tolerant after they’re established, but these hadn’t been in the ground long enough. To make it worse, we had an armadillo this summer that I couldn’t get rid of. He kept digging my camellias up. Its hard to get the roots to grow when you have to put them back in the dirt every morning. The survivors look great though. Most of them are loaded with buds and will be gorgeous by Christmas.

The weeds in the new flowerbed got away from me in the summertime when it was too hot to weed. It was my fault- I didn’t kill the weeds well enough when I put the bed in. So I raked all of the mulch off, killed the weeds, put down a weed barrier and put the mulch back. It looks great now- maybe I can keep the weeds at bay next summer.

I have accomplished my goal of having blooming flowers every month of the year! I also managed to (mostly) honor my husband’s request of not creating more obstacles for mowing. Rather than putting camellias randomly around the yard, I created a huge bed near the barn which reduces mowing. I also carved some areas out of our woods and set the camellias among the trees. We weren’t mowing that anyway, and the camellias appreciate the shade.

I have enjoyed the heck out of the pine straw rake my husband bought me for my birthday last year. Its a mechanical rake that you pull behind the lawnmower. We live on 7 acres, which, when we bought it, was completely forested in pine trees. We cut enough trees down to build the house, and a few more so that if one fell it wouldn’t damage the house too much (because we have hurricanes). Still, we have a LOT of pine trees, and a lot of pine straw, which makes decent mulch.

The next project is the trellis my husband generously built for me when we moved into the house. I haven’t managed to get anything to grow on it successfully except blackberries. I’ve tried blackberries and muscadines, both of which I have decided were dumb ideas. Blackberries grow on the side of the road here. Why would I want to use valuable garden space for that? Also, they are aggressive and will NOT stay where I put them.

My neighbor at one point had planned on having a winery. She has more muscadines then she could ever use, and she lets me take whatever I want. Again, its a waste of space for me. What is my next attempt? After I kill those pesky blackberries, I’m going to try maypops- which are native passion fruit, and true passion fruit. I found a variety that should grow in my zone. I’m also going to try kiwifruit. I know, it sounds crazy. I’m always planting something crazy to see if I can make it grow. I also heard about a variety of squash that is resistant to vine borers- those pesky bugs that kill my squash every year. I ordered seeds. Not all of my gardening “experiments” are a success- I cannot grow avocados and even though artichokes grow in my zone, they find our humidity objectionable. The pomegranate and Paw Paw experiments are underway now.

I’m having a great time puttering in my yard. Every morning I walk through the garden with a cup of coffee, and survey the yard. I pick persimmons before the birds (or my dog) can get to them, and see what needs to be done next. I pick a bloom or two, and yank a few weeds. I watch the butterflies or hummingbirds, and start planning the next yard project.