Perennial Gardening 101

It was a big time gardening weekend! I cleaned out the backyard NE corner of almost all plants and roto-tilled in some garden mulch. Then, MK and I picked out some new plants (~10) and we replanted some we wanted to keep. This shot doesn't have great definition, but you can see the potential for this corner - color and spacing! We also got some new plants for MK's "Hill" outside her office window. We're going to put in 72 tulips in the back, most going into said corner.
In addition, we decided to do our perennial magic on Chris' and Devon's rental, per their request. Invoice to follow at our consulting rates.

Scroll down and see the "before" pics first. A real mess, to say the least!! This is a east facing garden with good south sun and the perennials, most of which came from our garden, will do real well. We brought in a half yd of treated mulch and top soil, then roto-tilled that in. Laid some sod where needed, too. They did the rock border from stones around the yard. They are going to get 6 or 8 batches of tulips this week and we'll help get those in. Should be a killer, come spring. Notice the figure lurking behing the tree. Hmmm, a Devon sighting??

Just who is that hulking beast watering the new plants? "Monk, get that bubbler closer to the plants!" Damn, just can't get good help these days.

Before my aggressive clippers went to work. That (ugly) tree is a volunteer, trash, tree but it provides nice privacy for the porch area. Luckily, the new next door neighbor had a dump truck available for us to toss the big pile of cuttings in. (Into which we tossed--?)

A mess, eh? Cute little house, though.

Now, the big challenge will be for Devon and Monk to keep the dogs out of the new garden. New smells, fresh dirt, steer manure in the mulch - delectable treats for Pepper and Waylon!