After work on Friday we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some sodas for movie night. On our way in they had a whole bunch of flowers for sale, and then I realized: Wow, spring starts in a few days! We’ve had a snowy March (in fact, there is a tiny bit of snow still on our lawn), so the realization that it was time for flowers was surprising.
This afternoon I was outside today talking with Michael about our plans for the house I noticed that my perennials had started to come up, oh my! I haven’t even cleaned the leaves out of the flower beds yet!
So that’s what I spent about an hour doing. It’s in the 50s out, so nice for garden work. I started going through the plots with my gloved hands and some small garden tools, but for the bigger beds I took a normal lawn rake and got most of the junk out. The perennials are pretty tough, so being raked over doesn’t hurt them as long as I don’t get crazy about it.
After I had gotten those cleaned out I went to the side yard and started cleaning up there, but I was hot and thirsty, so I packed up my gardening tools for the day.
I have made a couple decisions about my garden this year.
First off, the vegetable garden that I spend so many weeks on last year is being scrapped. I don’t have nearly enough time for it anymore, and the yield for most of the veggies was pitiful.
Second, I still want to grow green beans. I think I’ll be growing them in one or two of the white, concrete flower beds.
Third, I want to make an attempt at filling out the rest of the flower beds with some flowers that I have to plant, not just bulbs. Since I let the whole thing run it’s course on it’s own last year I’m pretty familiar with what beds have bulbs and when.
Still, I think it’s a bit overwhelming. I bet one of the previous owners of the house did gardening for a hobby. 11 big flower beds near the driveway, a sea of hostas on the side of our house, and a whole enclosed garden plot lining the side of the house facing the street. Oh, and the huge veggie garden that I shrunk 80% to make my veggie garden for last year. We’ll see how it all goes.
It was great to get outside and work in the yard again, and it’s a great way to work off the pounds I always put on over winter.