I think I would start with the larger ones first and see how the dog does with those lol! He won't be able to trample them so easy until he learns to stay out of the bed.
The other thing is, if the bed is shadier on one side than the other I would plant the brugs that might want more afternoon shade etc in that spot and the more heat tolerant in a sunnier area.

Your birdhouse location sounds good. They like to be up high and away from people maybe by a tree or bush until they are more used to everything.

We have a disaster waiting to happen again this year with a bird. Last spring this little bird built a nest on the edge of our roof right under the clay spanish tiles. Since the roof slopes, the birds babies kept falling out. The kids even put a little card table over there with pillows on it to catch the babies and we kept sticking them back into the nest. Tried all kinds of other crazy things too but in the end most of those babies died.
Sooo now there is another batch of babies up there this year and I know whats gonna happen!

Congrats on both, just take it easy on the compost shoveling! Don't over do it!

Ok, thanks Lynette. One end of bed gets more sun than the other and after I limbed up the big tree in backyard yesterday it helped too. It only gets shade in the morning about 11 am when the sun passes behind the tree and then late in the afternoon after the sun goes over the house about 4 or pm during the summer. Well he brought the first load and we unloaded it and it filled up that bed so he said he will wait til later to go get the rest. I am aggravated since after I till this in and it rains on it a couple of times it will compact a good bit like my other bed did so I needed more for that bed some to put all around the trees and some for the new bed in the front of the house. Now he wants me to come to work. Grrrr. I know he is afraid I am doing to much and will end up flat on my back for a couple of weeks but I feel surpisingly good. I think it hurts me worse to sit in the office chair typing with the phone on my shoulder all day. I still can't lift anything heavy or dig in the hard ground but I have done pretty good with the shoveling and raking and everything else. Sore muscles feel good as long as its not muscles spasms and that kind of pain. I will leave the camera batteries charging and post some pics tonight. He wouldn't help me crank the tiller to use while he was gone, lol. I can hold it and guide it but its really hard to turn around once you get to the end. It wants to fall over sideways and its really heavy. I hope it doesn't rain til tomorrow.

Sounds good Kristy. Besides the birds feeling threatened, you dont want it too close to the house cuz they'll poop all over, lol. Last year a bird decided to build its nest in an eave by the front door, you'd be amazed how much bird poop can accumulate so fast, and I swear that thing was shootin it sideways,lol.
SJN, if you touch the babies with your bare hands, the mother will ignore it and not touch it, then it will def die. If you have some kind of scent cover up like hunters use, you can put that on the outside of some gloves, then pick up the baby. Will hide the human scent from the mother.
Kristy, we def dont want you over doing it. You dont want to be laid up right when all the fun is beginning!!

I love compost. I made a lasagna bed last year with all compost and the flowers were huge. That stuff is gold. Don't overdo it and end up immobile for the next few days!
Karyn

Before they arrive start with 4 asprins and a frosty beverage...LOL Congrats.. I guess you will have to keep the husband...
I have spent most of the morning out on the 4-wheeler looking for a first yr hefer about to calf...got one veggie bed ready to plant and the Tomatoes are going in today.. It is very overcast and they should have been in last week... BUT...that didn't happen...LOL Don't work to hard!!!I can't wait to see the pic's of your new beds!!
Kylie

EEK, I didn't think about the bird poop. Ok I will put it out a little further, lol. I made a bed last year with almost pure compost and only a 2 cubic foot of potting soil added to it and everything did very well. I will try to take it easy. I am just so ready to get all these plants in the ground I have been collecting all winter. I just realized my bottle brush tree is dead. I noticed the leaves turning grey but thought it was just what it did during the winter and I just broke a branch off and its dead. Then I saw the webs. I think spider mites killed it and have killed my hot lips salvia too. Boo hoo. What will kill those dang things besides systemic? Will soapy water do it? I noticed at the lake the other day spider webs just flying through the air and all of a sudden I have spider string things all over everything. I don't know if its some kind of flying spiders or spider mites and I am freaking out.

Dang it I forgot to charge the camera batteries again. Well I got the bed planted and I need about 10 more beds now for all my plants, lol. I feel like crying. I put 6 brugs in the bed. That is all I feel like there is room for to allow them spreading room and put in red hot poker plants, one african daisy, a dahlia, Some pretty purple flower spiderwort or something, some tall pink flowered thing, tuberoses, one lilly of the nile and it seems like a couple others but I can't remember right now. It was getting dark when we started planting and I am being ever so gentle about it and I look over and hubby is cramming things in hole and stepping on them. He tried to take the last thing away from me and said give me that and I yelled nooooo. He better not have killed any. He whacked my tuber rose into pieces while I had been carefully trying to divide them. I hope it still blooms. He chopped the largest bulb tuber thingy right in half, whaaaa. I didn't even put a dent in what I need to plant and I hurt all over. I had to work today and I discovered it is sitting in that hard a@@ chair at work and typing and talking all day is what makes me hurt so bad. I felt pretty good til then and was off the last 4 days. Even with all the yard work I didn't hurt til today. I have a cool firecracker fern plant that I wanted to put in the bed but read it was zone 9 plant so will have to put it in a pot. I think I will put it up on a pedestal thing so he flowers can hang over and the humming birds can eat them. I have one bloom on my candy corn vine too. Do any of you stake your brugs when you plant hem outside? Naughty Nick doesn't seem very stable and I didn't want to plant him deeper than he was in the pot.

Does Brug likes steer manure ? I put steer manure at to base of my roses, and they get huge, but I'm afraid to apply to the brugs.

I hope so. I added 80 lbs of it to the bed but I tilled it all in together so its not all in one spot. The composted manure I bought I was not very happy with though. It looked like mud. I know if you put compost in a bucket and add water and let it brew, strain it then spray the "tea on brugs they like it.

yuck!!!!;)

Lol, it stinks too but the plants like it. They also like fish emulsion.

Ya'll just come on over..LOL I have plenty of composted cow manure. It shouldn't stink tho.. Hong I use it on everything.. The only thing I have found that doesn't like it is EE's not sure why.. but they hated it..
Kristy sounds like you worked your butt off...Now get those batteries charged so we can see some pics... I feel so guilty between you and Karma.. I have so much to catch up on and I am still having trouble gettin er done..
Kylie

Kylie, thats why I felt like crying. I felt like I got so much done and looked around and everything else still looks terrible. I need about a week off work and a crew of strong backs to do what I need to get done. I did leave the batteries charging lol. The regular compost tea stinks not the composted cow manure. I am almost ashamed to post pics the plants looked so sad this morning. Especially the ones John stepped on to firm them in. They are in shock but will look great soon I hope.

Chena, what is EE? I feed the brug fish emulsion once a month and I use miracle one a week on the brug; although, mine does not look as good as everybody on this forum.

She means Elephant Ears. We also use epsom salts to green them up but don't feel bad. Mine don't look as good as most people on here either, lol. Here are the pics. It is hard to resist planting more in there but I am worried about overplanting since I haven't grown a lot of the things before that I put in there and don't know how big they will get. I still have to mulch and get my bird house up.

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Kristy

You're working to hard! Slow down a little! Your back - remember? I have to admit though - great looking brug bed! :)

Mike

Pretty brick house and nice big flower bed. You will have so much this summer.

Kristy, I have purple spiderwort..has cute lil flowers. Prob gets about 1'-1.5' tall. Multiplies every year, but not invasively fast.
Brug bed looks good. I am so jealous your wearing a tee & shorts?!?!?!?!?! Supposed to be 70 here tomorrow, 60 today. But I am way too white to be sportin shorts, lmao.
Your post is exactly why I do things alone..my way is the only way for me. Kristy you should know by now, the only way to have things done properly is to do them yourself. When anyone says they want to help me, I always say no. They think I'm mean cuz they cant help, so be it. I gave the kids their own areas last year to garden in and take care of. Plus then if anything is screwed up you dont have to be mad at anyone, cuz ya did it yourself.

That's gonna be so pretty when it's all done, I can't wait to see!
Daniella

Lol, there is so much I still can't do by myself and I get so mad at my husband because he rushes everything and I would rather do it right the first time. I tried to go buy one of those pitch fork looking things to double dig after tilling and he said I didn't need to then when we went to dig the whole to put the pond in we hit hard clay and I made him go dig it out with the shovel, lol. The whole reason I wanted raised beds is so I can plant own stuff, lol. It doesn't look like much now but all those plants in there have to grow up. I wanted to put some trellis on the back wall for vines but he thinks they will get in my brugs what do you all think?

Kristy

He's correct! I had the purple hyacinth bean vines planted next to my 'Dr. Seuss' & spent the entire summer cutting it back - as it kept wanting to wrap arond the poor guy! lol! If you use vining plants on a trellis - most likely you'll have to do the same thing, cut, snip, & cut all summer long. :)

Mike

Ok, thanks. I'll put he vines someplace else. Maybe in pots along the fence so I can weedeat without hitting the stems. I have to find out what my neighbor down the street has growing. Her whole chain link fence is covered with some kind of orange flowers that are just solid. Its so pretty and she has a climbing pink rose that covers the street side of the fence.

Kristy

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it! :) Maybe if you put the trellis far enough behind the brugs - you wouldn't have a problem. I just happened to have put the hyacinth vine too close to the brug - without thinking ahead. lol!

Mike

I will have to look and see if there is room. Maybe I can find a more mannerly vine, lol. I planted the brugs a little ways from the wall but not sure if it is far enough.

Kristy everything is looking great!! I grew an Aristolchia right next to to an Iochroma and had no problem. I left it in the pot and put 3 6' pieces of rebar in the ground like a teepee. They are a vigorus vine but mostly just climbed on itself..
I can't wait to see your new beds fill out ...
Kylie

Kristy! You have been a busy little bee, love your flower bed everything is looking great.
Rigo

I had to go look it up, lol. Dutchman's pipe? I think I have some seeds for that. I just had a friend stop by and give me about 7 really long pieces of rebar so I think I will make some teepees out of them for some of my pots. Thanks for the idea. I plants a few salvias this morning before work and we are having some nice light rain which is just what I needed. I can't wait til everything grows up. Thanks Rigo. I still have to do one just as big in the front, lol.