For the third time in so many years, I pulled all the weeds out of my front garden. A whole afternoon in the sun, pulling up creeping charlie, dandelions, and grass into big Hefty yard bags to be brought to the Ramsey County compost place. And for the third time, I vowed to plant something, anything, in those beds lest they become overgrown with weeds once again.
Last fall, I decided I didn't want any of the remnants left behind from prior owners of my home. The primary flower present was the iris, which I don't care for because of the short bloom time and just plain ugly blossoms. So I dug them up, bulbs and all, and left the bed to freeze over the winter, full intentions to plant something in the spring. Spring came and went, and because I just could not decide what I liked, I put landscaping fabric down to keep weeds away while I made up my mind. But I failed to take landscape fabric 101 and did not put near enough stakes in, and alas the weeds persisted right though and an even bigger mess ensued.
Turns out, I'm damn good at growing weeds. I don't necessarily mind the labor of pulling them out, just would like to pull them out to allow something else to grow. I considered planting some bulbs, but after taking many long walks around the neighborhood and studying yards belonging to others, I have decided I love the more native look. I'm going to go for some sort of black eyed Susan, purple cone flower kind of mess. I read in the newspaper's garden section that fall is an OK time to plant these, if they are low on blossoms and high on stems and roots. Not to mention, plants go on sale this time of year and I can get them for much cheaper than in the spring. So we'll see. I am lucky enough to have beds already cut, all I need to do is biff up the soil and make it pretty, so what the hell.
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