Cutting a new garden bed outline using the old "watering hose" technique
I haven't done this in a long time! Yes, it's hokey and the arbiters of fine gardening would be aghast but it's quite fun to create a curvy outline of a garden bed using the good old water hose.
This side area along the fence faces south and gets full sun for most of the day so it seemed to me a waste to have a forlorn Weigela, some sort of lilac and and wild rose be the only plants here, besides the weeds.
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| Leaside new side garden bed installation before |
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| Leaside Toronto new side garden bed installation before |
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| Toronto Leaside new side garden bed installation before |
I suggested to my client, Gail, to create an outline using an edger, dig out all the weeds and plant "nicer" stuff. I wanted to hide the wooden board-on-board fence panels a little so I thought clematises on trellises (I like how that rhymes!) would work. And if you grow a few clematises (?), you should have a rose or two nearby and what could go well with roses in a hot and sunny spot? Lavender, of course!
To establish the curvy outline, I used the nearby watering hose. It took a few minutes to move and fiddle with the hose but when the moment was right, out came the edger. I just had to be careful not puncturing the hose!
Cutting through the weeds and many surface roots from the maple you see behind the fence was tedious but eventually the new bed was shaped and cleaned up, ready for fresh material.
Below are the "after" pictures showing the outline of the bed, some tiny new plants and a layer of mulch.
Here's what was planted:
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| Leaside new side garden bed installation after |
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| Leaside Toronto new side garden bed installation after |
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| Toronto Leaside new side garden bed installation after |
A few more perennials should be added but the framework is at least there.
So you see, often my plant "designs" originate from trying to solve a problem (in this case, reducing the severe look of the fence) while taking advantage of a positive from the site (full sun = more flower opportunities). And, of course, the client has to love the plants or, at least, not hate them.
Oh, by the way, I really don't know what happened to that poor Weigela....
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