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Ok. This is IT. Time to make the Fall “TO DO” list for the garden. Lots of things to do — and this year I am going to try to move more plants to better spots. I know some of you do this all the time (Pam!) with success, so I’ve been inspired by your work and am going to try it. I have some holes to make and some holes to fill and a new bed to carve out.

(And then there is the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDing…the ENDLESS weeeeeeding!)

So I’ve taken some long shots of the garden areas so you get some perspective, and I’m gonna make my list right here before God and my fellow garden bloggers!

Here goes:

This is the bed by the front mailbox. I planned it and my son planted it for me sumemr before last . However, it’s gotten very overgrown because I was overzealous in my planning (I didn’t really make an official scaled landscape plan…that would have made too much sense!). So, some of the center plants – namely the Gold Lantana, are going to come out when they go dormant so there is more space in there. A few more plants – a salvia or a guara – may need to go as well.

This is the bed I dug up and planted last Fall. The right side is just peachy. The left side, $%*#^*s!

These little plants never took off and the deer munch on them and I think they are just too small in scale anyway. They were variegated expensive little specialty mega-nursery specimens from the BOX and I’ve learned my lesson! Maybe I will move them to the back when I pull out the giant viburnum. So, now I am thinking about some small evergreen shrubs here in the back for foundation plantings and some perennials in the front. Mexican oregano is topping my list right now for the front area. I did put the Cuphea there yesterday and somebody nibbled on one.
(Put chicken wire on shopping list!)

This end of the driveway bed struggles. It gets sun, but not enough to make the Lantana planted there happy. So, I need a sun-part-shade solution here. And deer proof. I’m thinking…I’m thinking…

I need a new crop of shade plants for the left side here and a few fillers on the right. Dappled light here and this is the deer path, so no hostas or toad lilies or such. The ferns are happy there, though, so I might just go looking for some other varieties to make it a fully ferned bed.
Now to the back yard. Here’s Dakota, helping us with our tour! This is the back left corner, where I let a landscaper talk me into some viburnum because I’d run out of ideas after planning most of the back yard. (Serves me right!) I HATE them. They are like big meatballs and they are boring. BUT, the dogs run a path into that corner to check out the deer beyond the fence, so I have to incorporate that into my planning. Smaller shrubs – maybe loropetalum for some nice color, and a river rock path into the corner so that it looks planned instead of just dog-bare! And some more perennials in a row on the front for summer color. I should look for thing the deer DO eat, since this bed is safe and there are so many things I can’t plant out front!
Here’s the close-up view — see the dog path? That isn’t going away!

And this is my new bed. I had guys dig it out early in the Spring and with the early heat I never got to it. So it need some cleaning up and some edging and I have Agaves and Sagos and things to go in it. And some Aloe pups from Pam at Digging, too. Don’t you love that big pot? It’s from Miguel’s imports on Burnet Rd.
And the rock path needs more plants as well. But it is filling in very nicely and I am tickled.
Did I mention that I am not tickled about the grass that’s coming up in the path? THAT is on the top of my list. (oh – and that’s my foot in the picture!)
And, then a greenhouse is going in that bare corner across from the veggie garden. We had one at the last house and when we moved and our daughter was 8 months old, a greenhouse was something I so didn’t have time for. But now she’s started Kindergarten and I am pining for one, so I’ve put it on my list.

So, who’s already taking bets I can’t get even 1/2 of this done? Anyone want the viburnum? They’re perfectly fine, and healthy, just not what I want there. Oh – and I have to divide GIANT Bi-color iris and would be oh-so-happy to share.

Whew. I’m tired already!