Location: Northwest Ohio
Hardiness Zone: 6b
Welcome to my 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!
If you'd like to get some context about my garden and goals and see the starting point of from this year, check out this post.
Let's start the week 2 update!
I Built a Tiny Pond!
After I saw this idea online I couldn't get it out of my head, and this week I finally had the time to make the idea come true.
First, I cleared the chosen area of visible weeds and moved the violets toward the edge. Then, I dug a hole deep enough to sink this heavy duty rubbermaid storage bin down so that the top was at about ground level.
Native Plant Haul
My friend and I visited Liv's Native Plant Nursery in Milan, Michigan. They had an amazing selection of native plants at very affordable prices. I brought home this whole tray and planted almost all of them around the pond, in hopes of creating a little native wildlife oasis. In this area I planted Heath Aster, Ohio Spiderwort, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Foxglove Beardtongue, Canada Wild rye, Early Goldenrod, and Common Milkweed. The picture below shows them before planting and still in their pots, because it is easier to tell where I placed them. I kept them close together in hopes of crowding out weeds as they grow!
Butterfly Milkweed
Of course on my native plant shopping spree I made sure to pick up some butterfly milkweed. From my research it seems that this plant prefers dry and well draining soil, and does not like to have wet roots. I planted one plant in the ground, and one in a pot with well draining potting mix and gravel. I'll keep track of which one seems to be happier. If the plant in the pot survives, I will eventually move it to a better prepared bed so that it has more room for its taproot to grow.
I placed them nearby another insect watering station that I added this week!
Coral Honeysuckle
Coral Honeysuckle is a native vining plant that creates bright red flowers that hummingbirds love! I planted it at the base of my second trellis, next to the climbing rose. It is still just a baby, but it seems to be staying strong after transplanting.
Miss Kim Lilac Tree
In the last week Miss Kim has gone into full bloom! The sweet floral scent is absolutely stunning, and I can sometimes even smell it on the breeze when I am sitting on the porch a little ways away. I'm so glad to see that this tree is thriving in its first spring at my house! As for the cuttings I took, none of them took root, and I abandoned them to use the pot for something else.
Catmint
The catmint is starting to show its very first purple blooms of the season. They are so full and bushy that you can't even tell I split some of them in half earlier this spring.
DIY Field Tile Bird Bath
Rocky approves.
Raised Beds & Containers
We got our first ripe strawberry, and are already beginning to see some marigold sprouts! And I caught a buzzy bee enjoying the flowers on the chives.
Hostas, Hydrangeas, & Brown Eyed Susans
All are looking about the same as last week, but I know that they are gearing up to spread and create some beautiful blooms later in the season.
Don Juan Climbing Rose
So far the trellising I worked hard on last week has held up wonderfully, and I can see that there are lots of buds being created! I tried Espoma Rose Tone Organic Fertilizer for the first time by mixing it in to the top inch of the soil. We have since gotten some heavy rains, so hopefully all those nutrients help to create big blooms soon.
Deck Project & Additional Touches
The space under our wooden deck has always been closed in with lattice. Weeds would then thrive under the deck, and reach through the lattice to drop their seeds in the sunny flower beds. This year, we have started ripping old pieces off the deck in slow progress toward refinishing it. Since I could now get under the deck, I covered the entire area in high quality weed block fabric. For now it is just held down by some bricks, but hopefully soon we can add a layer of gravel. While this will not keep weeds away completely, it will certainly keep the majority of them at bay in this area. Then, I added mulch to the flower beds and some creeping phlox around the edges, which makes the area look much tidier!
Yarrow & Rose Mallow
Neither of these plants were pictured in my previous post. You can see that the yarrow is getting ready to create flowers, and that the rose mallow is just beginning to poke up from the ground. I used to always think the rose mallow was an exotic hibiscus, but I learned this week that it may be native to my area, which is so exciting!
Beautiful Blooms
Iris, columbine, and dianthus are all blooming this week.
Thanks for reading!
Check back in to see how the garden grows and changes with the passing of each new week, season, and project.
