i like.. awesome!!!

why is there mulch outside the edge????

put it back in.. otherwise.. the grass will be encouraged into it. and go under that lumber.. faster than you will ever believe..

a nice dead patch is perfect ...

grow the grass to perfection .. and it will make the dead zone disappear ... to the eye ...

it all looks dry as heck.. but my guess is.. that you ran for the camera.. the second the last shovel of mulch hit the bed.. lol ... insure a good deep drink.. to completely moisten the mulch.. and then the soil under ...

do we have any plan to go up the porch railings .. like clematis???

ken

I am not really sure why I put mulch in front of the timbers.....it just didn't look right to me having the grass right up to the edge for some reason, plus I was using the mulch to level the timbers too. The mulch we got supposedly is designed to break down at the end of the year and help condition the soil, which we need big time since the area has been nothing but a weed bed for the last 15 years.

I did in fact think about Clematis for the rails, but that might have to wait until next season. I have spent my limit on garden stuff this year, plus the garden center wants $12 just for some little twig of a Clematis plant. I figured the shrubs would give the Clematis the shade for the cool roots they need, even though these shrubs suck and are so scraggly looking. I would like to replace them with something that is tidier and can be easily shaped and controlled. It will probably take a good bit of work to rip these nasty shrubs out, as they have been there for a very long time.

the clem. was an idea for the future ...

i personally understand the budget thing..

now.. budget spent.. this is what to do for the rest of the summer.. and fall ...

start cleaning the area down to the left in the last pic .. to the end of the house..

BED DEVELOPMENT is FREE!!! ... and good exercise..

so that by next spring.. you are ready for a new budget ...

find some garden friends.. and ask for cast offs ... half of my garden.. was thru begging.. lol ... most gardeners.. end up good friends.. and pure enablers ...

and find the winter sowing forum.. and saving milk jugs.. and start growing some of your own stuff.. a pack of seeds for $2 can get you a lot more $10 plants ...

dont forget.. have fun

ken

Clematis do not need cool or shaded roots. It is an old myth. They need evenly moist soil, so a good layer of mulch will do this.
If you on a budget, keep your eye on Clematis forum posts - we try to list all current sales or deals there.

looks pretty good so far but I am questioning an area it is on lower right. needs to be cleaned up, I think there are some weeds in there you don't want I could be mistaken

Looks good. I still think you will eventually want some taller plants in the back but that will come with time.

Looks good - much better since you cleaned out and widened it, mulched etc. Good start!

You might want to put in some annuals for the summer and into fall, even something low just along the edge, just to fill it out and give some color for the season.

Dee

It's getting there and looking good. The only thing I'd do now is make sure you're watering adequately and get the mulch back behind the timbers. And work on clearing away the dead looking stuff on the right and left sides

Hint, hint. The OP says he's spent his gardening budget for the season so suggesting colorful annuals to fill in any bare spots - even the half dead "rag tag" looking left overs on sale in most places - isn't going to happen. That's to be respected. The OP got his gardening feet wet this year; next season he'll be on his way to being an old pro.

No disrespect meant.

But, that being said, a six-pack of annuals is about $2 - $2.50. Two six-packs (heck, even one) along the front edge of that bed could make a big difference for the next three months.

Dee

Great combo and the plants look nice and healthy. As they fill in, the area is going to look great.

What annuals would be good for along the front? This area gets full, searing hot sun most of the day.
I continue a little each night to clean the area.....before I started all this the center area was just tall weeds, and to the left and right there are scraggly bushes that really suck....I am not sure what kind they are, maybe Juniper? They have blue colored berries on them right now......but they are scraggly, browning in numerous spots, and just downright nasty looking in my opinion. That will be a project for another season.
Unfortunately I don't have a ton of time to garden each night....I get maybe 30-60 mins on any given night if I'm lucky. Most of that time I'm watering or yanking weeds.

At the risk of getting reprimanded again, lol, I'll suggest a few annuals, since you asked. :)

Marigolds would take the heat and sun well, and would be my first choice (some people think they are common and overused but I love them!). Dianthus would probably do well here too. Perhaps some petunias or alyssum - they would spill over the edge nicely, although not so sure they could take the heat as well.

If you can find them, portulaca would also be nice and could definitely take heat and sun. They are sometimes harder to find.

I have mostly shade and so I use a lot of impatients, coleus, and begonias, and am not too familiar with how many full sun annuals actually perform in hot full sun. So not sure what else to recommend. Hope this was helpful, and honestly, I did not mean to show a lack of respect for your budget. I was just thinking how you could add some color for the season and what I would do if this were my bed.

Debbie

Thanks Debbie! I might pick something up if I see them at a good price.....besides money, I am just kind of getting burned out on planting anything more right now this year. With the early extreme heat and drought we are having, I am just trying to focus on keeping the things I have bought thriving and established. These are certainly ideas for next year though since I would be able to focus on cheaper annuals since the more expensive perennials have already been put in now.

Looking good!

Ditto what Ken says about saving milk jugs and similar for winter sowing. Newbie packs are usually offered for postage in the winter sowing forum starting about December or January, the right time for winter sowing. These will be the right kind of seeds to winter sow and you can get lots of flowers next spring for almost nothing. A newbie flower pack last year had 20 kinds of flowers & extra postage for a newbie veggie pack that had 10 kinds of veggies. Small packs of each variety, I think, and all donated by other forum members. Annuals and perennials probably, depends what donors mail in, just trade what you do not want. Come follow the forum next winter if you are interested and get lots of instructions. Good luck!

See Trudi's website for info: www.wintersown.org
Gardenweb winter sowing forum for next winter

I like it a lot, especially the NON-row layout! Good size, manageable plot for getting started. And the porch, oh my, I hope you don't develop an addiction to potted plants. If I'm reading the shadows right, it faces south? Not that I'm trying to enable any addictions, I never do that.

If the grass under the mulch (which looks like really great stuff, btw) is dead, maybe move the timber instead of trying to move the mulch? If the grass is dead and you move the mulch, it's probably going to be something else besides grass that moves into that spot. My Dad used to do that with the weed-wacker in OH and that naked edge always filled up with yellow clover (Oxalis stricta) which throws seeds away from itself, and definitely into the beds. It's easy to trim against a smooth edge like that, same height as the rest of the lawn. There's also the option of partially burying the timber so it's low enough to run the mower tire on it so there's no trimming required.

Whichever way you like, I underscore Ken's comment about having the border timber firmly on the ground with no mulch under it.

perfectly correct, south facing porch. My co-worker just gave me some Lamb's Ear today. I am thinking about using that as my final plant for right now in the front left/right corners.

Could also cut edge of garden with a shovel to discourage the grass from coming back through. Remove a small section of the sod as you cut it away. Do a GW search you'll find out how others do it along with pics. I've seen it before here.

The wood is just decoration and doesn't stop the grass, but it looks good to define your new garden area.

If you have inclination you can save seeds from your new plants. More info on other GW forums, too.

Great start to gardening and I wish you the best summer and fall of enjoying your flowers! You'll be so excited in spring when you see new growth. Plus next year they won't need as much TLC because they'll be established. Beginnings are full of hope and promise. Good work!

:o) Corrine

The wood is just decoration and doesn't stop the grass.

I respectfully disagree, based on many years of experience in different states, with different grasses. When I lived in OH, I had "nice" grass, non-rhizomatous, mostly, like it looks like bgaviator has. Bricks or timbers laying on the ground will stop about 95% of the grass permanently, especially when the bed is well mulched such as this. Wherever there's a low spot, or seam between pieces, the grass may creep under/through. Easy to fix in a few minutes about every-other month. As the timber settles, it will sink a bit and then it's even less of a problem, something to check maybe once in the spring, once in the fall.

Even here, with a yard of St. Augustine or Bermuda or whatever type of vine-grass this is in my yard in AL, with Bahia invading that, something like this timber is enough of a barrier to easily achieve control. Agree it's not a type of border that is completely certain, but certainly worth doing, especially compared to the effort and expense required for a completely reliable border.

I prefer this type of border because it's easy to pick up the timber and definitely remove any invading grass by the roots. I spend very little time on out-of-bounds grass.

Often grass is let to make seeds before it's mowed, then not enough care is taken to direct the outflow away from the bed, or it drops in the bed before mowing. When the seeds sprout, the border gets blamed for not doing its' job.

Looking good! Your Gaillardia survived after all :)
Hope you continue to share your progress with us. Being somewhat of a newbie myself, I love to watch ALL gardens grow...So much to learn ;)