Landscape designer, Jenn Nawada takes an overgrown flower bed and transforms it into a beautiful garden. Jenn demonstrates how to clean up a garden by pruning, dividing, and defining the edges.
Without spending too much extra money, Jenn shows you how to expand your garden while blending it in with an already established landscape.
Steps for Expanding a Garden:
Plan out the space. Decide on if you would like to expand your flower bed to fit the landscape better. Jenn uses spray paint to determine where she wants the border of the new garden. Spray paint is not necessary, a hose or a rope could also be used as a guide.
Remove all weeds.
Jenn digs up some of the plants she wants to move to reorganize the garden. In this case, the perennials were overgrown so Jenn had to cut them back to about 4 inches tall. This will make it much easier to move and divide. Cutting the plants back means you will lose the bloom for the year but they’ll grow back the next year. Even if you don’t plan on moving the plant it will be easier to see the garden space if you cut them back.
Define the space. Using the guidelines set out earlier, add some edging. You can choose from all different types of materials and styles, like plastic or metal. In this segment, Jenn chose cobblestones.
Dig a trench for the cobblestones. Since this garden was not a high trafficked area, like a walkway or driveway, placing the cobblestones directly in the dirt is sufficient. Otherwise, cement would be needed so the blocks won’t wiggle around.
Place the stones within the trench, using a mallet to compact them down into the soil. Use a straight blade to create a straight line on the back edge. Once the cobblestones are all lined up it is time to backfill with soil.
Now it’s time to add compost. Adding a layer of compost will give the old and new plants the nutrients needed to keep them healthy and thriving. When the plants are added back in the compost will be turned over and integrated into the garden.
Stage the plants. Using the old plants that were dug up and divided, and the new plants, determine how you would like to organize your garden. Keeping in mind to keep space around each plant so it will not be overcrowded in the future.
Ensure your plants are native to your area. Do research to make sure you are buying plants that will thrive not only in your region but the location of the garden based on the light conditions. Do not plant a sun plant where it will receive too much shade and vice versa.
What You Need:
To redefine and expand the garden area, Jenn lined the garden bed with gray cobblestones. These were sourced by Plymouth Quarries.
Most of the plants Jenn used in the garden were already existing and just needed to be divided up. However, Jenn did select a few additional plants to add some color and textures to the garden, including tickseed, echinacea purpurea, garden phlox, coreopsis, and heather, which she got at Mahoney’s Garden Center.
The other materials Jenn used to expand the garden, including shovels and mulch, can be found at home centers and nurseries.
Remove debris: Start by removing dead leaves, weeds, and any other debris that has accumulated in your garden beds over the summer. A good rake and a pair of gardening gloves will be your best friends during this process. Prune and trim: Trim overgrown shrubs and bushes, and cut back any dead or damaged branches.
Using a mirror on the rear boundary is a great trick to make the garden feel bigger. It is important to have flowers, shrubs and trees reflecting in the mirror and use plants such as climbers or tall grasses to disguise the edges, too.
In the fall, spread a thick blanket of chopped leaves, grass clippings, or straw over the freshly weeded garden to prevent weeds from emerging during the winter and early spring months. The following spring, these materials can be incorporated into the soil by tilling or hand digging.
If you want a fully prepped garden space in just a day, this method is definitely your best bet. Begin by watering the area thoroughly to soften the soil. Working in rows, use an edger or spade to score and break up the lawn throughout the area. Use a flat shovel to remove the grass.
First, concentrate on basic pruning needs. Remove all dead branches and wood down to the live growth. Next, to determine what pruning your particular plants needs have going forward, the internet is a great resource. There are two basic types of rejuvenation pruning techniques- hard pruning and gradual pruning.
Eventually, all gardeners with raised beds discover they need to refresh their soil to keep it productive. The easiest way to do this is an annual top dressing with a few inches of compost or rich topsoil.
Maximize space by staggering your plants so that mature plants are spaced on a diagonal from neighboring plants. We plant using the closest recommended spacing. To grow two different crops next to each other, you take the recommended spacing for each crop, add them together and divide by two.
Introduction: My name is Kelle Weber, I am a magnificent, enchanting, fair, joyous, light, determined, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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