BEFORE
It may not look like it needs work. But we are transforming a bed, to bare bones, for planting an assortment of new flowering perennials. Our homeowner has asked us to make the selections. Along with all her flowering planters it’s going to look fresher and very much like a true flowers garden. Minus all the Creeping Ivy and Vinca Vines. And we are resetting all the brick borders and laying newspaper on the bank, covering it with topsoil to prevent more weed from returning. And we will mulch well.
And the bed with the large bark chips we are taking them out, because she wants to make it a Pansy bed. So we need some new garden soil and an assortment of Pansies and finally a topper of fresh shredded hardwood bark mulch. This bed is a tribute to her Mom who loved Pansies.and directly behind them us the yellow rose bush we planted during the summer, also for her Mom
And we are also going to help reset newly purchased stair and border lighting upon completion.
It’s probably about a 6 to 8 hour project. We’ll see. Stay tuned for a final completion video.
Todays we took a photo collection of areas needing our magic.
(REVISED) – Fri – 9/23 – 6:15 pm
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Today we finished clearing the bed of Ivy and Vinca vines. We dug up the three spider grasses. We transplanted the largest to the other bed where there were five in a row. We had a gap at the end of the row, so we planted it there to fill this gap. The other two were pretty straggly so we tossed.
Early in the summer we dug up four Day Lily’s and have transplanted them in a row….as the new bed border between our bed and the back side of the property.
We have leveled the bed, started creating a deep outer edge along the side, and next we will reset a few of the uneven bricks on the side near the gravel/stone slab path. We have gone to the nursery and purchased 7 bags of top soil to amend the beds as they are mostly VA clay. Not great for planting. And we will add some organic gardening soil as well. We also purchased eight (8) bags of mulch with the assistance of our student helper. And while there….we both took all the large chip mulch out of the sloped bed. It’s rough, too large and hard to plant in, so it was best to dispose of it. Now, we can plant the Pansy bed that our homeowner so wants.
The wind at 25 mph today with a shady yard was a bit of a challenge. All in all it was a super beautiful day. And we feel like when we return next Tuesday we will be able to accomplish quite a lot.
So far, we have six (6) hours in this project. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s definitely coming along.
“Contessa”’ says…..,it’s all good.
(REVISION #2) – Tues – 9/27 – 6:02 pm
The following photos and Video are part of todays Revision #2. We cut bank the Vinca Vine up at the top of the sloped bed. We then placed thick newspaper down on the slope and covered them with seven (7) bags of Top Soil. We then added four (4) bags of Bumper Crop Garden Soil to the lower bed where the Pansies are going to be planted. We purchase ten (10) – one (1) quart containers of Pansies, our clients Mom’s favorite. And we arranged new Perennial plants in the large “cleared” bed awaiting our clients approval. We made the pick and she loves what we selected. She has asked us to purchase two more of the Shasta Daisy plants.
Thursday we will plant all the new plants and finally we have purchased six (6), three (3) cu ft bags of hardwood shredded bark mulch and will lay it all to complete the look.
The new perennial plants are:
1 – Echinacea Wicked (burgundy)
1 – Guara, Rose Jane
1 – Laucenthemium, White Lion
1 – Perovskila, Denim n Lace
in addition our client has four planters that we made for her mid-summer. We will plant the White Mum in the new bed. The other plants are annuals and our first frost will take them, but they have done well and her urge to have flowers this summer was fulfilled. So nice switching to perennials to give her plants that last and plants that will show themselves again next spring. It’s fun and she can even add a couple more things in the spring. We think there will be room.
IN PROCESS
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Please do stay tuned for our final completion video.
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REVISION #3 – THURS – 9/29 – 5:55 pm
Much progress today. Both beds populated with plants. Mulch placed on the sloped bed and the new Pansy bed . Looking good.
In the larger bed we planted up our new Perennials and tomorrow we will return to finalize Phase 1 of this project. As if tonight we have completed sixteen (16)hours on this project. Fresh garden soil will be added to the bed and each plant will be surrounded with this great organic soil. Finally mulch all. We are creating an edge on this bed and finally we will “tame” the creeping vines that could potentially crawl into our newly created bed. Our strategy is to train the vines to grow the other direction towards the woodland back of the property
PHOTOS AND VIDEO – attached
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It’s been hard work, but very satisfying to create a flower garden for a non-gardener who has wanted this garden to show tribute to her smother who passed away suddenly two months ago. We hope….in a small way….we helped our young professional homeowner realize her dream….in honor of her Mom.
“‘Contessa” says…. It’s a God blessing!
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(REVISION) #4 – Fri – 9/30 – 6:32 pm
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Today we completed this project, Phase 1. It’s been fun and rewarding. Our client sent us a message this afternoon.
“Penny, you did an absolutely excellent job. I’m so happy with it, and it definitely brightens my day every time I see it. It makes me think of my Mom. Thank you so much….for everything and all your great work. ‘Jj’
REVISION #5 – Wed – 10/5 – 5:41 pm
PFX had been going to provide a permanent fix for the walking path adjacent to our clients new bed. Low and behold, the next day after we completed our work, they came and began the project. We do think our work promoted this update, as we have worked for this client for two years and it’s been talked about since then.
We are so glad for the neighbors and our client, because this is a heavily traveled pass-through for lots of neighbors. It’s coming along. We just stopped.by….Bravo!
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