This last weekend was an historic occasion. I finally finally finally finished working on the front garden, a project we started when we moved in last January.
This is how long the garden has taken us…
Aside from pruning all the trees and bushes (which hadn’t been cut back in about 5 years), we also had to completely excavate the garden beds, which were so choked with weeds that they presented a solid wall of greenery. In the process we discovered gardenias and rose bushes they we didn’t even know existed! I can’t believe they stayed alive with no sun light.
All of that was pretty fun, but the part that has taken the longest has been turning over the soil in the garden beds, covering it with newspaper, and topping with tanbark, as I described in this post. In addition, I installed edging around the garden beds.
Hopefully this will significantly cut down on weeds, and in the meantime, it has certainly made the garden look much nicer!
♦♦♦
8 Steps to Great Garden Beds
- Get on top of your pruning. Give a general tidy up when things get out of control mid-spring, and do a proper cut back in late autumn. Some plants, like roses, thrive when they are pruned all the way back.
- Install edging around your beds for a neat look. Use something durable like plastic if you want to be able to use the whipper-snipper right up to the edge. Otherwise, be creative – I’ve seen beds edged with ceramic tiles, wine bottles, you name it. To install, dig a small trench, put in the edging, and pack tightly with dirt.
- Weed, weed, weed. Weeds never stop, and go especially crazy in spring. When pulling them out, make sure to get right to the tap root, or they will just regrow.
- Lay down paper (some people prefer plastic sheets) and cover with your desired medium (tanbark, compost, etc) to create a polished look that will also slow down weed growth a bit.
- Weed some more. Seriously, they never stop!
Project Cost
- Garden edging – $47.97 per 10m
- Tanbark – $7.95 per 25 litres
Enjoy the company of whatever critters you see around. Don’t follow my example of killing all the spiders that appear.
I can do that! 
It looks so good, you have done a wonderful job !!
Thanks :) I’m looking at tiles for your garden now :D ;)
Tamy you have such a pretty house and garden. Great photos. :)
Thanks Linny :) we love it and are very lucky to be here.
Wow! Good job! Gardening always takes a lot of time but knowing the transformation your garden has gone through it looks amazing! For maintenance you will need to get out there ever few weeks. Grass goes crazy in the warm months and does nothing in winter. Now you just need to enjoy it :)
Thanks :) I’ve already noticed new weeds growing, they never stop!!!! Oh well…