Same here--so I simply plant MORE stuff in places I think "need something" and blame the ratty overall appearance on the cats. Never mind that even the jet-powered Thomas T Monsterkitten doesn't really do much damage, he looks like he could destroy the universe when he's in bug-chasing toe-nibbling mode.

Lisa

Ripping everything out -- especially in mid-summer --probably isn't the answer. I prefer to make notes about what needs moving removing, etc., and then do it in the spring or fall. Maybe your garden needs a tuneup, or some cutting back. Have a look at the link for some ideas on getting through the mid-summer doldrums:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mid-summer garden tune-up

Do you some specimen shrubs or boxwood scattered about? That's what I find keeps the garden interesting during the lull.

I used to go crazy with design switcheroos until I decided that certain beds had certain themes... late, early, pastel, hot, white, etc. It keeps me focused and gives me a place to try things out. Its not perfect by any means, but it helps. My switcheroos are less frequent.

Also, annuals thrown in here and there especially around the patio, helps.

My "summer" bed is just now looking good with bee balm, heliopsis, milkweed, helenium, echinacea, gaillardia, red shrub roses, jackmanii clematis. I throw in a purple fountain grass, dahlias and cannas in pots and a few annuals for edging. That bed is quiet until July, but then keeps going til September. Hibiscus and butterfly bush coming later. A second flush of salvia May Night will help later too.

Yes, mxk3, I go through that phase several times a year when nothing in my gardens look "good" to me. It is a good thing that I am physically unable to do much about it and am too proud to ask for help to rip it all up when the rattiness occurs. A lot of that rattiness happens because I don't (in some cases) or can't (in other cases) do the advised deadheading or cutting back of things. Liatris, Echinaceas, Nepeta, Monarda, and many other plants may be looking ratty to me, but the bees, butterflies and birds are still getting a lot of enjoyment from them. I hate to take that from the creatures of the garden that are a big part of the enjoyment I get from all that work.

Definitely mine! I started a lot of stuff from seed so for the perennials it won't show until next year and the annuals later this season. The weeds are huge though :!.I'm trying to be patient. My husband thinks I'm taking over too much yard and it's hard to convince him otherwise when it all looks so bad.

I don't have problems with things looking ratty so much as "oops" moments. I like to garden for the birds so I let some stuff go on purpose. I suppose some folks might see that and say "ratty" but I know the birds say "YUM!" so I don't mind :)
An "oops" moment for instance: I have raised round bed in back with a pedestal in the middle that I plant around. This year I planted a ring of cosmos, with a ring of zinnias around that, and a ring of Victoria Blue salvia around that. The outside ring is dianthus, begonias, and some other annuals. Anyway, the zinnias were supposed to be shorter than the cosmos, however... Oops. So, you can only see the cosmos blossoms here and there through the zinnias, and you really can't see the lacey foliage at all. Oh well. I'm sure the pretty renaissance lady on the pedestal can see them from her vantage point :).

Like faerycat, my problem isn't so much "rattiness". It's sloppiness, lol. I just never seem to get around to doing the things that need to be done in spring. The weeding, mulching, transplanting, etc., that, when done early, helps lower the maintenance throughout the summer. So, since it's not done early, by this time, there are beds which I'm just getting around to, and man oh man, are they a mess! Which makes me lose motivation. Sometimes I just sit and stare at them, thinking about what needs to be done, and about what I didn't do, and how I should have done it - and there goes any time I had to actually do anything, lol!

But luckily for my own sanity, I can pick out the bright spots in these messes. I can appreciate the plants I planted on purpose, lol, in amongst the tallest weeds, or I can visually separate clashing colors from plants I meant to move because they didn't go well together, etc.

The way I look at it, if I didn't (and don't) have the time to organize and maintain things the way they are, I certainly don't have time to rip things out and start again!

:)
Dee

Yup. I have mainly natives and xeric perennials in my full sun front yard in Los Angeles. CA natives often go into summer dormancy and will die if overwatered. So after the spring blooms and the bulbs die back, my yard looks much browner and rattier than my neighbors' over-fertilized lawns, much to their dismay.

So my yard doesn't look much different than the natural areas surrounding L.A., but I've taken more and more to interspersing coreopsis and cosmos in between the perennials so there is something flowering before the second blooming period in Fall. The rattiness is a bit by design I guess and doesn't bother me aesthetically, but it bothers me to have my neighbors annoyed and complaining. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered ripping out the weedy old lawn and broke my back trying to loosen up this hardpan clay by tilling in organic matter.

Well, I don't have days when "everything" looks crappy, but I do have one little area that I just can't seem to get right! I've tried at least a dozen different perennials in the spot, but I'm still not happy with it. For instance, right now in this area I have salvia, foxglove, monkshood, and meadowrue...and they all flop! I can't stand floppiness. So next year, I am yanking all but the foxglove, and planting a rose, something rounded that won't flop! Wish me luck. LOL.

Something I do to keep my garden interesting through out the Season, is use pots of bright flowers that I can move around as needed. When the perennials in one spot stop blooming and that area looks boring, I'll pop in a pot or two of Wave Petunias or bright Zinnias. Verbena, Moss Roses, and Pansies work well in pots too. In fact, most of the annuals I buy end up in pots that get moved around my Gardens all Summer. Garden Art is another way to add interest when the flowers aren't at their best.
I refuse to let my Garden depress me. My flowers and Herbs are my refuge and I seek them out when I need stress relief!

Opps moments here also from time to time, like planting the burgundy folliaged amaranthus next to the castor beans of the near same color.

For the most part, I can't say my plantings ever much look crappy unless a nasty storm trashes things or we have a very dry or very wet summer ... oh, and then things never look pretty when that first hard frost hits and most of the tender plants are blackened and hanging limp.

Terry

It's not that the plants actually look cr*ppy - it's how I am perceiving things (read: my mood is cr*ppy). Like I said, it passes....

So far I haven't had time to rip and rearrange, and I do have a few new things that need planting so when I do get some free time, I'll get that done first and that will control the urge to go on a rampage.

What's driving me insane right now is that a few years ago, I carefully researched and planted roses with complimentary companion plants that will bloom at the same time. Well, the stupid japanese beetles stripped my roses bare, so all I have blooming in my beds are tons of blues, purples and yellows which don't really work with just each other. You'll see a patch of blues, no other colors, another patch of blues, a big swooping line of climbing purple, no other color, a line of yellows in front of no other colors, a big chunk of blues, no other colors, and some more blues and a punch of purple. It just looks stupid. OTOH, I recently saw a gorgeous garden of just blue hydrangea, conifers and hosta that looked incredible. If it's planned well, the blue garden can work. But in my beds, they just look uninspired.

Yep, I can relate.
My perennials look especially cruddy right now due to our intense summer heat.
The annuals don't look much better.
The tropicals grown as annuals are saving my sanity ... notably croton & ixora.
Those two look great right now.
I agree with schoolhouse of Ohio ... specimen shrubs scattered about help a great deal during this time of year.

Randy