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| This is our front flowerbed. It was formerly a mess of overgrown shrubs that my husband removed last year. |
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| This is the view from the street. Looks like any other flower bed. |
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| In this sun dappled bed we have rosemary , lilac and marigolds in the rear. In the front there is a perennial that I have forgotten what it is called next to dusty miller, a small butterfly plant, curly leaf parsley a small fennel plant and another dusty miller. |
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| The center of the bed has another lilac, bunching onions, sage and more fennel mixed in with marigolds, butterfly plant and more dusty miller. |
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| The end of the bed has aloe, rosemary, another butterfly plant, nasturtiums and Zaatar oregano.
This started with my husband coming in from the yard saying he was going to pull out the overgrown shrubbery and he thought we could turn it into a herb and vegetable bed. Last year we tried tomatoes and peppers as well as a few herbs and the only things that grew were the herbs. This year I took the low tech approach and sprinkled marigold seeds and planted the nasturtiums. The fennel self seeded from last year and the rosemary, onions and and aloe are the same plants we put in last year that came from the back garden. The oregano came from the mother plant also in the back garden The sage, dusty miller, lilac and butterfly plants came from Lowe's. This year we also added 4 bags of compost and 5 bags of mulch. The cost is still much less than replacing the shrubs with new shrubs and we get the bonus of herbs to use in the kitchen.
Since the homeowners association hasn't said anything I guess they haven't noticed...and that is a good thing!
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I would hate having a Homeowner's Association. In fact, so much that I would never knowingly move into one. It's enough that I have one neighbor who pointedly asks me what I'm going to do with this or that (usually some mess I haven't gotten around to cleaning up) or why I planted Crimson Clover in my front yard.
ReplyDeleteSeems like most of those plants you mentioned thrive in poor soil. Maybe that's why the tomatoes didn't do very well there. But personally I like things that can be pretty AND productive. There are some really pretty kale plants that would make nice border plants, too. Oh, and Amaranth in the background? Maybe some Roselle?
You have a very neat, well-manicured place there. Looks really nice. Hugs
Most of the areas around here have a homeowners association. This is Florida -sigh. When we bought the house I had no real concept of what the association could regulate. That and I had no idea I would even think of getting rid of most of the back lawn thanks to my "leftist political leanings." It is a constant work around.
ReplyDeleteThe soil here is terrible! It is mainly sand and it all began as construction fill. That is why everyone sticks with tropical landscape shrubs. If you want anything else to grow you have to amend the soil or fertilize profusely as it just drains off. I have some kale started in the back garden and when it gets larger I can move it out front. The amaranth is a good idea but I am allergic to it so I am going to have to pass on that. Roselle grows like crazy. I could use that in the back of the bed. The last time I grew it the bush was over 3 feet tall.