Blank Slate

The new backyard garden beds are finally complete!  I posted a couple months ago about the progress that was made throughout the early summer.  Not much was done mid-summer due to the heat and busy schedules.  Then, while I was away in South Africa, our landscaping friend completed most of the work of tearing out the weeds that had grown during the summer and filling the beds with soil and compost, as well as adding the gravel path and my husband completed the rest when he returned from South Africa.  And now, they are finally finished and ready for planting!  Now the question is, what do I plant???  I have SEVEN new and pretty large beds, which means I have the opportunity to plant a lot of plants I've never tried before.  I have quite a few ideas of what I want, but I also want to leave some room to grow and have the ability to plant other plants as I come across them in the coming years.  Having all these new beds is so exciting!

Here are my new beds:

Shade Tree Bed -Angle 1

Shade Tree Bed - Angel 2

I envision a lot of shade-loving flowering perennials in these beds, including American Beautyberry and Turks cap.

Deck Bed

This will mostly be the herb garden, with a few flowers thrown in.

Wide view of a few of the new beds

These beds will have a variety of perennials, bulbs and annuals.  I want to attract birds and butterflies and also want some good cutting flowers in these beds.

Neighbor Fenceline Bed

I'm planning to plant a couple fruit trees in the new beds, and definitely want a pomegranate to plant in this bed where the old tree used to be.

Other direction of the neighbor fenceline bed

I see a row of hedge roses here, maybe with a couple evergreen shrubs in the mix to keep some color in the winter.

Front Fenceline Bed

Deer resistant shrubs and perennials will be placed here.  All I know is that I definitely want a butterfly bush here.

All the new opportunities are so exciting...and a little overwhelming.  I get nervous about planting certain plants in the wrong spot or not liking the design it creates once the plants fill out.  But, that's the fun thing about gardening, you can always change it later and try something new.