I have been so neglectful. Somehow I haven't been here since before I knew that we were moving (again) and since we have moved. Its all happened within about a year, but come on, a year andmy little blog attempt sits idle the whole time.
New town (western MI), new yard, new ideas. Sort of new ideas. We moved here mid June so, of course, my garden is pretty sparse. There was a large raised bed area of mostly day lillies and speedwort, which seems to be invasive. I think it is like the walking onion where its heavy seed pods just flop over and create more plants next door. Anyway, there is a ton of this really heavily rooted grass so editing and adding hasn't been so successful. The grass takes over, the plants don't seem to do so well. Part of the problem is flea beetles or ants eating the leaves off most of the perennials...another big problem could be that I'm planting perennials in the middle of the summer. Also, the stupid amount of rain. And lastly, and maybe most importantly, this dirt is like 80% sand. I have NEVER had to do sand. I was delighted at first to not have a heavy clay, back breaking clay to try to amend and drain and everything. Now its sand. Water disappears (which I guess is good with all the rain), but I'm sure any nutrients are gone, too. And I'm pretty sure the plants have a hard time standing up with their roots just flowing back and forth in their beds.
So, I've been concentrating on building up bushes, etc, and will probably do some overwintering stuff. I have the compost going, but the rain barrel is sitting out about 2 feet from the downspout that I haven't yet cut. I think I'll just throw that back in the garage.
I have bought cheap stuff at Menards, just to make me feel kind of pro active. I have mainly bought stuff that I have not had in previous gardens (as I said to a friend on the phone the other day "Fuck sedum, I've had enough sedum to last a lifetime"). So, there is a "low gro" sumac bush that promises to be great fall color, a dwarf pussy willow which has moved twice already, a willow bush (I think its called Chinese Willow) set right next to the downspout extension off our deck (that is some really nice looking foliage!) and a sweetspire that promises to smell great someday.
I'll post some pictures soon.