Gardens Before and After
I have been gardening for 37 years on a harbor of the Long Island Sound in Asharoken, NY (Zone 7a). The soil is sandy and needs constant amending with organic soil amendments, compost, and mulch. Pesticides are avoided, but I use herbicides sporadically to eliminate tenacious weeds! I have a multitude of themed garden beds in all degrees of sun and shade.
This full sun garden was overgrown with a noxious weed, Houttuynia cordata (Chameleon Plant), that has roots that go down 10” and form horizontal mats as well (similar to Gooseneck Loosestrife). I dug up all the valuable plants from this bed and bare rooted them as I planned to reuse them in the landscape. Then, I removed the top layer of soil and I pulled out any remaining roots of Houttuynia. Every piece of root left behind would grow a new plant! Finally, I added fresh topsoil and compost.
Finally, it was time to plant! I have an American Daylily Society National Display Garden, so all of my daylily plants are labeled with metal garden markers so that garden visitors will easily be able to see the name, hybridizer and introduction date of the daylily. Many of my other plants are also labeled with less noticeable metal labels.
The plants in this bed have changed over time due to attrition, deer foraging and coastal flooding.
"Mom's Garden" (A garden dedicated to my mother)
"Spider /UF Daylily Bed"
(A garden featuring spider and unusual form daylilies)
Gardening is a work of a lifetime: you never finish.
~ Oscar de la Renta
~ Oscar de la Renta