Location: Northwest Ohio
Hardiness Zone: 6b
Welcome to my very first garden tour! I'll be using this blog series to keep a journal of how my garden and landscaping changes throughout the year. I have so many ideas and lots to learn, and I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you along the way!
For context, my husband and I have owned our home for 4 years. It sits on 5 acres of land, about half of which is rented out to the farmer who works the fields surrounding us. When we first bought our home, there were flower beds about 4 feet wide surrounding the entire house. The thistles and weeds grew to 5 feet tall, and no matter how deeply we dug, tilled, or pulled, they would come back with a vengeance. As the years progress, my vision of thriving veggie, cut flower, and native pollinator gardens continues to grow, and I am taking small steps each year to make the vision come true.
In 2025, we got much of the weed-filled flower beds under control by moving the edge of them inward toward the house and planting grass to fill in the yard. In most of the beds, we laid down heavy duty weed-block fabric and mulched with shredded mulch in some areas and sparkly white stone in others. This made maintenance of the landscaping much more manageable, and has set me up to work on more fun projects this year! This post will cover the starting point of my garden in early spring, and how things are looking about one week later.
So, without further ado, let's take a tour.
Miss Kim Lilac Tree
I planted this lilac tree in late spring last year, so it did not have the chance to bloom. I am excited to see that lots of blooms are getting ready to show this year! I want this lilac plant to stay in "tree form", so when it started to grow fresh sprigs at the bottom of the trunk, I clipped them off. Then, I dipped them in rooting hormone and planted them in a pot, hoping to propagate some roots for new plants soon.
Catmint
A large collection of catmint was already growing here when we bought our house. I absolutely love that it comes back full, bushy, and beautiful every year, with hardly any maintenance. I've split it a time or two already, and it continues to spread and take up space along the border of this area. The flowers are just starting to show as buds, but they will create a beautiful collection of purple by the end of summer.
DIY Field Tile Bird Bath
Our barn came with a collection of old field tiles, which are typically buried in a crop field to assist with drainage. A few were stood up vertically in the flower beds. I kept this one in its place and thrifted a terracotta saucer to place on top. After cleaning it up, adding a few rocks and filling with water, I've got a resting, bathing, and drinking place for birds and bees!
Thrifted Basket Bird Feeders
Speaking of the birds, one of my very dear friends gave me the amazing idea to use small baskets as hanging bird feeders! I thrifted these small baskets for $1 each, and hung them on hooks or posts that I already had in my yard. The birds love to sit on the edge (or just completely inside the basket) as they feast on sunflower seeds.
Raised Beds
Last year, we built these raised beds using discount "scratch and dent" decking material from Menards. It turned out to be cheaper than cedar and will not decompose, and most decking material such as Trex is composed of recycled materials. This year, I filled them with a layer of sticks and cardboard, followed by top soil, then gardening soil. Currently, one box contains strawberries and the other is planted with seeds for mini peppers, green beans, zucchini, spaghetti squash. Plus seeds for marigolds that were gifted to me last year!
Containers
I transferred chives (that come back year after year!) from a plastic pot to this a terracotta pot. I found the white metal bucket at a garage sale last year, and it is now filled with soil and more marigold seeds.
Hostas & Hydrangeas
These large white hydrangeas (I believe they are smooth hydrangeas) came with the house. This year to get them started I deadheaded all of the spent blooms and dried limbs from last fall. The hostas planted nearby love the shade that the large hydrangeas provide!
Don Juan Climbing Rose (Before & After Trellising)
I planted this rose near a trellis a couple of years ago, but did not keep up with trellising it. This year I cut back any dead branches and trellised what was left. I have no idea if I did this correctly, but I did my best to turn the main canes at 45-degree angles. There are lots of of buds along the lateral branches, so I hope to have plenty of blooms soon.
Brown Eyed Susan & Autumn Joy Sedum
Each of these plants are just cute bunches of green for now, but they will grow rapidly and get beautiful flowers throughout the year! It is always fun to see their starting point early in the season. Around the Brown Eyed Susans, I plan to clear the mulch and fabric and sow seeds for various flowers. In the sedum, I am at a bit of a loss for how to prevent the crabgrass.
Native Blooms
Perennial flax, iris, violets, and columbine are all native and blooming!
Thanks for reading!
Check back in to see how the garden grows and changes with the passing of each new week, season, and project.
