building borders... of flowers, that is

Nasturtiums in last year's veggie garden

So far this year there hasn't been a whole lot of time for gardening. It's killing me. The raised vegetable beds are nearly empty except for a couple of old peppers from last spring and a couple of solitary onion/garlic plants. The beds keep calling me.

The front yard, on the other hand, is getting some attention. It's one of the things on my very long To Do list as I try to get everything spruced up for the graduation party. The Big Day is rapidly approaching and there is SO much to do. Besides designing and making invitations, ordering rentals and food, and deciding on and pre-recording music, there are so many little projects to be done around the house and yard.

Thought I'd share a couple of 'before' and 'after' pics of one area I've been working on. I call it the "office bed" because it's under the office window. This first pic was taken right before the house was painted in Fall, 2009.

November, 2009

And another from the same time frame (right after painting) and before I started working on the bed.

November, 2009 - after the house was painted

And then last summer, the work began. First, some pretty plants came home with me and waited for their permanent spots in the bed.

June 2010, plants in pots waiting to be transplated

 Then the job of amending the soil, which I don't enjoy much but it's gotta be done...

June, 2010 - bed finally reworked about a year ago

This is how the "office bed" was looking last summer.

July, 2010 - filled in with a few more shrubs

Fast forward to this month. I guess, this last pic isn't quite an 'after' pic since this is a work-in-progress, but it's certainly showing improvement.

May, 2011

Now, let's hope it fills in the way I'd like it to.