cut new edge between lawn and the front Welcome Garden - check!

I am slowly making my way through my spring gardening 'to-do' list... better late than never!  As I have said before, I am not a fan of black plastic lawn edging.  It looks yucky, it is a pain to install, and it doesn't even work that well!  Plus, for me, a gardener who is constantly changing her garden (read: removing more and more lawn to make more garden space), I rarely want would to commit to something permanent like that.  And finally, it is really not that much work to cut a clean edge once or twice a year (once if you're me, twice if you're a perfectionist) with a half-moon lawn edging tool. A sharp, fresh edge looks so much nicer than a strip of black plastic, in my opinion.

This garden is a work in progress, but right now you will see iris germanica, white shasta daisies, purple catmint and yellow-flowered sedum Kamtschaticum in bloom.  To see this garden at other times of the year, click here and scroll down.

Comments

[plantman]

Properly installed edging is not visible. Most people have it far too high. The instructions on the packages are basically wrong.

Renegade Gardener has it right:

http://www.renegadegardener.com/content/dontdothat2002.htm#7

[Calgary Garden Coach]

True. Thanks for reminding me of that excellent article! But that gets at my other argument about it being more work to install the plastic edging than to just use an edging tool a couple of times a year! And I still think the freshly cut edge looks good!
Do you have plastic edging and no problems with it?
Cheers,
Janice

[Jamie Keifer]

Wouldn't it be nice to wake up in the morning and sit by your stairs and look at these beautiful flowers? The small ninebark Coppertina is a good choice because it's attractive and adds a different color to the bunch of flowers and plants. Its foliage reddens as the season progresses. Different colors in your garden make it more interesting, and green must always be seen as part of it. I absolutely adore your garden!

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thank you Jamie, that is very kind of you! It's a bit of a hodge podge in places but I keep changes things to make it a little better each year and that's the fun of it. The front gets morning sun so it is an especially nice place to sit in the morning. And I really like Coppertina, too!
Cheers,
Janice

[Katy Eagles]

I understand why other gardeners can’t help but keep on extending their garden space. It’s because they never get tired, and they seem to never have enough of growing plants. Haha! My mom used to be like that. At first, my dad and I couldn’t get her, but upon seeing the results of her efforts, we just let her be. What mom wants, mom gets! At least, there’s something good in the endless planting - it beautifies the environment.

[Elizaveta Kramer]

“This garden is a work in progress”- Really? But it already looks wonderful to me! I wonder how beautiful it is now. Is it finished already? Having plants and flowers in your garden adds color to your surroundings, and it really looks great! I’m sure many people would adore that house for having such a lovely garden setting!

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thanks Katy and Elizaveta! I also like to think that I am adding a diverse selection of plants to support our wild bird and insect populations as well!
Cheers,
Janice