The "before" shot – hopefully this plot of land will look a lot happier with vegetable and herb gardens along with some perennials.
If I wanted to make clay pinch pots I’d be in luck — unfortunately, I’m hoping to grow an herb garden in our clay-like soil. Actually, it’s an herb garden that I’ve been dreaming about for almost two years, and this is the season where dreams will meet reality. And after one day of turning and composting the soil, it’s not looking too promising.
It all started a couple of years ago when my husband and I had wrapped up the major projects inside our house (new kitchen, updated bathroom, new hardwood floors on the main level, crown molding, painting, etc.). Our first exterior project was tearing down our ugly one car garage and replacing it with a two car masterpiece. The project took all summer, and it enthralled my husband. I was just biding my time until I could finally get in the garden.
And that day has come. But I’ve had way too much time to plan. I’ve read magazines, blogs and books. I’ve taken a class at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I’ve planned my entire backyard (which is basically a mud pit right now) by looking through plant sale catalogs.
This is the future home of the herb garden.
I’ve done some gardening in the beds that came with the house and noticed the soil was a bit clay-like, but I didn’t take into account that these beds had better soil than the rest of the yard because they’ve been worked for so long. The beds I’m digging up – like the one for the herb garden – are going to be brutal. Luckily we’re planning on building raised beds for our vegetable garden. But I have a feeling that I might have bit off more than I can chew with the herb and perennial gardens. Hopefully compost will help. Time will tell.
For now I’ll focus on what is growing…
I love how sedum looks at the beginning of the season – it makes me think of a cabbage patch.
I've started some Wandering Jew vines in a hanging basket to go outdoors (in about a month or so), and it's doing so well, I think I'll start another basket.