Before and After

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I love a makeover story – garden, human or home – so here’s mine.
I have a small patch next to my driveway which I euphemistically call the “sun garden.” My front yard is mostly shady, but this spot gets more light. It’s been my nemesis for 6 years. It is in shade for much of the day but suffers from the blazing Georgia sun during the hottest hours of the afternoon. To make matters worse, solid rock, in some spots only 5 or 6 inches below the surface, runs through the whole space.
Originally, I’d planted it with Rudbeckia, which did great for a year. But because the plants couldn’t put deep enough roots down, many of them gradually died off. Since then it’s been a challenge finding plants that will work.
I finally gave up this year and decided to plant the shallow areas with annuals, and let the surviving perennials stay.
Here’s how the garden looked on March 28th of this year. Embarrassing. Covered with weeds and dead leaves, and overrun with St John’s wort that never flowered and looked horribly untidy. And a few pathetic needle palms in pots. You can’t see how bad it was from the photo. It depressed me every time I got out of my car and had to walk past it.

And here are some photos of how it looks today. Of course, I have to do some tidying up and the annuals have to grow and fill out, but overall it’s such an improvement! I’ve planted dahlias, zinnias, angelonia and a few others. I also transplanted some cannas from the back where they weren’t getting enough water or attention and moved them to this garden. The taller plants are Rudbeckia, white snakeroot and blue wood aster, and the mass of green in the corner is American argeratum, which is just beginning to bloom and will be covered with lovely lavender flowers soon. There are also Penstemons and 2 Liatris species.

• 28 May, 2012
• 5 likes

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