Let the Fun Begin

My favorite flower is a dandelion, because they are everywhere!

~ Garden art contest entry, age 9

We have moved. We found this garden, I mean house in March, and began moving in April. As gardeners, you know those months in late winter and early spring are crucial for getting ahead of the weed fight. And weeds did this garden space have.

So since April, as soon as it was prudent for me to get my hands in the dirt of the new grounds while the closing-of-a-house process hummed along, I have been doing weed patrol on our new-to-us 9000 sq ft corner lot. The front has a wraparound rockery that is taller than I am, sporting beautiful big boulders. The back yard is terraced with smaller rocks.

The quote above doesn’t reflect my feelings for dandelions, which were legion in number and already blooming in every part of this yard. Truly they were everywhere. When kept in check and not allowed to form seed heads, dandelion flowers provide healthy pollen and nectar for pollinators and leafy greens for people’s food source. But when allowed to spread in urban environments they are a nuisance weed.

As I was pulling dandelions, (and shrieking at those that had already turned to seed puffs) I was also discovering fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium), cleavers (Galium aparine), perennial pea (Lathyrus latifolius, which is on the Washington State Monitor list for noxious weeds), and a lot of turf grass that self-seeded in and amongst the perennials. Thankfully I have found no horsetail and only a few sprouts of English ivy.

The previous gardener put in some lovely perennial selections in the front rockery, which I will keep and perhaps divide or move to other parts of the garden. They also enjoyed self-seeding annuals like forget-me-not, Cosmos, Calendula and Nigella. 

I will keep the Calendula but reduce it to a lesser amount and collect the seeds to sow them where I want more, whereby controlling it’s spread.

I have grown Nigella before. It is also called "Love-in-a-Mist. It has a lovely flower  and the seed is used in some cultures for culinary purposes. You can control it's spread by cutting off the seed heads before they dry. If you want to save the seed for later sowing, allow them to dry on the plant naturally but remove them just as the little holes are opening on the top of the seed pod. 

Here (shown below) in the backyard terraces Nigella were allowed to self-sow and were rampant, thickly carpeting large areas with a mix of turf grass, dandelion, forget-me not and Nigella all tangling with Vinca Minor.

Out it all goes. While some gardens look lovely when annuals self-sow, they are a lot of work to keep contained and mostly look weedy to me, entangling themselves with surrounding plants. Not only that, Forget-me-not is one of those annuals that gets mildew as the plant dies down and looks ugly.

Back to the rockery in front (photo below). I will keep some of the Shasta Daisy and one or two of the Lemon Balm but cutting out quite a lot of both that have taken over and crowded out several other lovely hybrid varieties of Sage, Marjoram and Oregano. I have also pulled out Rumex which will self sow everywhere if given the chance. I will be adding in my favorites and many plant divisions I have taken from my previous garden. Yes, since the previous house is not yet listed for sale, I have been digging in my former garden but not so as to leave gaping holes. My old garden is so packed, I can easily remove favorite divisions without leaving a trace. 😊

Following posts will be the changes I make to edit this lovely garden and make it into my own. And yes, for those who know me and my methods, there will be lots of cardboard used. Good thing I have lots of packing boxes!

In bloom in my garden today: Dianthus, Veronica, Cuphea vermillionare, Hebe, rose, Shasta daisy, Calendula, Potentilla, Astrantia Major, Spirea

Author’s photos