There comes a time in every gardener's life when they've reached the point at which they will do anything to get their garden whipped into shape. I reached that point last weekend. The heinous weed situation in the pool gardens drove me to near madness.
I resorted to using RoundUp. I am not an advocate for such things, but folks, things are bad. It's a desperate time. I have crabgrass growing in every crack of every paver. And the weeds were so thick in many of the gardens that it looked like the previous owner installed a random granite edging in the lawn for giggles.
I spent a few days working my way around the edge of the pool gardens, picking out a weed every 6 inches or so, growing amongst the lovely bright green groundcover sedum. I had to find small bare spots to stand in so as to not smash the sedum. You know you are desperate when you are fully aware that there is a large black snake curled up underneath a rock, and you decide to stand on that rock anyway so that you can reach the last weed.
My parents came over this weekend and helped Eric and I knock out quite a few garden chores. We hand- and chainsaw-pruned trees. We mulched. We weeded. And my mom carefully pulled rock after rock out of the edging, removed old crabgrass, and placed the rocks back with only the prettiest rocks on top. Dad climbed into the waterfall, and used the shopvac to clear out at least a year's worth of debris.
Amidst the cleanup, I found time to scurry off with my parents and grab some more plants. Home Depot had selected baskets for $4.88, so I got three. One got planted in a pot, one shedded its hanger and now sits on top of another pot, and the other adorns my new shepherd's hook in the front, opposite a bird feeder.
I also purchased a very large, healthy looking Pinky Winky hydrangea at Lowe's, and three Atlanta Full House daylilies from Wine Country Gardens (WCG). I am already the proud owner of one of these daylilies. It was my first daylily purchase there nearly 12 years ago. I dug up that daylily from my first house and it has been with me to every house since. The flower is lemon yellow with a chartreuse throat, and nearly the size of my hand with fingers outspread. Stunning. It's one of the daylilies in the WCG fields that you can see from a distance and know you need to own.
The knockout roses are in full bloom and living up to their name. I have the cotton candy pink variety as well as the original dark pink. There are also some carpet roses and some Jackson & Perkins yellow and pink shrub roses.
Yesterday, I realized the sedum groundcover around the pool garden may be a bloomer. Most sedums bloom, but as I process this, I realize the entire surrounding may very well turn into a sea of color. This could be one of the most brilliant seasonal displays I've ever seen, if this particular variety of sedum puts on a good show. Stay tuned.
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