Fall Planning

I'm now in full-fledged planning for my spring garden.  Yup, it's still in the upper 90s here in Oklahoma but I know fall is right around the corner and winter won't be far behind, which means, spring will be here before I know it.  It always happens so quickly and this year, I am going to be prepared!

This fall, I have a few things to accomplish.  First and foremost is building my raised garden beds.  I've got a lovely spot in the backyard earmarked for a large garden.  It gets the perfect amount of sunlight and my sprinkler system can be utilized to water it.  Unfortunately, my soil isn't really garden material.  It's mostly good ole Oklahoma clay.  That's the reason for the raised beds. 

I've taken a lot of inspiration from this garden.  I love how neat, efficient and organized it is.  No weeding and it looks beautiful.  I especially love the idea of the zinnias.  My mother always had them in her gardens too but to be honest, it was more for looks than bringing in the bees.  They are just so colorful and perky and they love the hot weather.   I will, however, paint my wood apple green (and maybe hot pink) to match my other containers and trim. 

The other project on my list is to finish the front yard.  As I showed you before, much to our neighbors chagrin, we've been killing the grass in our front yard for awhile.  This fall, I think they will finally approve of the change.  With the help of our yard man, Memo, and my friend Patti (she's a master gardener), we will be building several new large planters to match the ones already there.  These will be home to some new perennial bushes and flowers.  Under all those oak trees will be spring bulbs and some shade-loving plants.  Then, all that scraggly grass will be covered with layers of beautiful mulch.  I haven't quite decided exactly what it's going to be yet but I know it's going to look lovely.  To finish, we will be adding a nice border along the street and I will be painting my lamp post either hot pink or apple green to match the rest of the house.  I know, weird colors but it's really pretty with all the dark green we have going on.  It's going to be a lot of work but once it's finished, I think it's going to really add a lot of curb appeal.  It's also going to go a long way at building community aka, the neighbors won't be grumbling every time they walk outside. 

I'll take tons of photos and give plenty of updates so you can see our progress.