Raised Bed Garden Update 2022
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For our garden this year, we decided it was time to upgrade and add a charming garden picket fence with beautiful landscaping. From the day we started our garden, I had been daydreaming of a charming, cottage feel with a white picket fence. I envisioned huge fragrant flower with trailing flowers all down the fence. I also wanted flowers that were pollinators, because it is important to us to attract butterflies/bees/hummingbirds/ etc. to our garden. This was my inspiration and what I kept in mind as moved forward.
Where We Started: Basic to Charming
It is important to note, that like with anything in life, a good thing takes time. An elaborate fence with landscaping was not in the budget when we first started our raised garden beds. We spent the first couple of years really focusing on the functionality of our garden. We perfected our bed and invested in mulch to keep out the weeds each year. Once we had a good, solid system on how we operated our garden, we decided it was time to upgrade the fence and add a charming feel.
First Things First- The Picket Fence Upgrade
Our first order of business was taking down the old fence and replacing with the new. We went with 8- foot natural wood panels. Once we got the hang of putting it up, it went quickly. My son and I then spent a solid two days painting it all white! We added a gate made from one of the panels and then some hardware and we were good to go. My dreams were turning into reality! Next it was time to landscape the front of the fence.
Charming Landscaping
We started this process by using a garden tiller to break the ground and get it ready for planting. It took two sessions of tilling up the soil for the ground to be ready. Then we put down black landscaping paper to keep the weeds out. We used landscaping bricks (we had on hand) to edge out the perimeter and to keep the mulch within the boundary. It is important to note that when putting down the landscaping bricks, we dug out a small trench and used play-sand underneath, so the bricks would better stay in place. Once we finished all these things, we were ready for the fun part- adding our flowers!
Adding Our Flower Bushes
When choosing what flowers I wanted to plant, I thought about the vision of the charming garden picket fence landscaping I had from the beginning and kept in mind how I wanted it to look in 5-10 years from now. In my mind was beautiful fragrant flowers and flowers trailing along the fence. Being practical was important, so I wanted pollinating plants for the bees and butterflies. Lastly, I wanted to keep things symmetrical on each side of the garden fence gate. With all these things in mind, we headed to two of my favorite local garden nurseries in my area. Here are the flowers and plants I came home with:
Peony Plant:
Peony plants offer big, fluffy, fragrant flowers in many colors, shapes, and sizes. The one I chose has a very pale pink bloom! Peonies are perennials and are a very long-lived plant. They require full sun and usually bloom in April, May, or June. Ours actually boomed just a couple days after we planted them! They were beautiful and their fragrance was to die for.
Royal Gold Large Flowering Climber Rose:
Remember the trailing flower vision? These rose bushes were going to be the perfect statement piece! They prefer a sunny garden space, and do wonderful near arbors, fences, or even on a trellis. They offer a beautiful deep golden yellow bloom and green foliage when not in bloom. I cannot wait to watch these grow for years to come!
Red Butterfly ”Molly Bush”
We purchased this butterfly bush for two reasons. First, we already had a purple butterfly bush on the corner of our previous fence. We were able to keep it, so we needed another one for the other corner of the fence. Second, my boys are butterfly obsessed! We wanted to offer pollinator plants wherever we could to bring those butterflies in. This particular butterfly bush offers beautiful long flowers that are perfect for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. They are also very fragrant, which is something I was looking for in my landscaping choices! They need full to partial sun and make the perfect perennial border plant.
Lavender Bush:
This is one of the plants we chose to use for a filler! We needed something smaller that would pack a punch. Lavender was the perfect choice. It blooms a beautiful purple color and has a strong fragrant scent. They are very hardy and also attract pollinators to the garden! Win, win, win! It requires full sun and is great around a walkway or landscaping path.
Coreopsis Plant:
Coreopsis Plant– last but not least we chose the beautiful, low-maintenance, long-blooming, coreopsis plant! This plant is great to line a border, which is exactly what we were needing. The Coreopsis plant is a perennial and should bloom the second year after planting. They require full sun and can grow up to 2-4 foot tall. These will add a vibrant pop of color in front of the white fence and will also be perfect for attracting butterflies and bees!
Ta-Da!
I am beyond happy with the charming garden picket fence landscaping update. Obviously, like I stated in the beginning, a good thing always takes time. So, I have to keep in mind that my new baby flower bushes will only get bigger and better in the years to come. Hopefully in the next couple of months the grass will grow back next to the landscaping bricks as well. Also, me being the way that I am, I have more plans for the other perimeters of the fence, but for now- it is perfect! I will be sure to update this post with pictures to show the progression of the flower bushes by the end of the summer, and for years to come!
Products Used Linked Here:
(I purchased all of my plants from local nurseries that cannot be linked, but I will find similar options for you!)
Peony Plant
Question- Have you landscaped your garden area? Are you more of a flower or a shrub person? I would love to hear from you and glean from your ideas!
I enjoyed this post and all of the beautiful pictures, as well as the important information about each flower you added to your garden.. I hope to add some of these flowers to my home as well especially after learning from you what each plant requires. Thank you