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When our sons were
young, a lawn was a
must. From the
kitchen window I
watched
their many hours of
running, playing and
wrestling. They are
grown and gone now
and so is the need
for a St. Augustine
lawn.
— Carol, HCMG
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Carol's Garden |
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Expanding a Long, Narrow Border Bed
When our sons were young, a
lawn was a must. From the kitchen window I
watched their many hours of running, playing
and wrestling. They are grown and gone now
and gone is the need for a St. Augustine lawn.
Why not make room for more
flowers?
In
August
2008
we
began
a
project
to
expand
the
perennial
bed
along
the
fence.
The
idea
was
to
eliminate
as
much
of
the
high-maintenance,
water-thirsty
St.
Augustine as possible.
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To begin the project, eight to ten thicknesses of newspaper (left photo) were weighed down with cedar mulch in the area of the expanded bed. The grass area to the left would become the walkway. Papers and mulch were left in place until the St. Augustine grass was dead and the newspaper had decayed. When the turning process began, we discovered Bermuda grass roots and rocks in such number as can be found only in the Hill Country.
We devised a sifter to
remove rocks – from
marble size to
boulder size. At two and
a half feet deep, we
decided there would be
no stopping point until
we said, "Enough!"
Compost, green sand and
turkey manure were added.
Then it was turned a final
time.  Christmas was coming — it was time to quit.
In early February work began on the pathway along the new bed. First, we dug up the grass and took the soil down about six inches. We were undecided about the pathway surface, so it was filled with shredded leaves and topped with cedar mulch. |
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Then a narrow
rock edging (seen in the
center of the photo above
right) was placed
along the front edge of
the new bed. The flat
rock edging along the
"old" bed (at left in
the photo) was left in
place to facilitate
working among the plants
in the expanded bed. In mid-March a few
volunteer centranthus
and
Phlox paniculata
‘Davidii’ were
transplanted from another
bed. |
Seeds of annual Larkspur and Cosmos had been dormant over the winter in the turned and amended soil of the new bed. It wasn't long before they filled large areas of the new bed, and I continued to transplant native and adapted plants from other beds.
I have since
added a variety of
lavenders, guara, both
purple and white duranta,
bluebeard, bottle brush,
ox-eye daisy, black-eyed Susan,
coneflower, bat-faced
cuphea, Mexican mint
marigold, daylilies,
and spider lily (Hymenocallis
speciosa). Many of these
were transplanted from
my other beds; some
given to me by my
mother; and some were
purchased from the HCMG
greenhouse project. The
front edging is softened
by planting low-growing,
spreading perennial
dianthus, purple heart,
and purple skullcap. |
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Early May
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Late August |
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Soaker hoses zig-zag
through the new bed, and
even with the
"exceptional" drought
and Stage 3 water
restrictions within the
city during the summer
of 2009, the transplants
settled in and seem
to be thriving. The
pathway surface is the
final phase of the
project — it's been only
a year since we started.
What's the hurry? |
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A Path Along the New Bed >>> |
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