My First Carolina Garden

In my previous post titled A Practical Portable Garden I sketched out my plan for a small garden in the frontyard of my rental house which looks  like this :

Note the one and only lonely rose which was too far gone to save.  In search of plants for my garden I visited the local garden center which happened to have perennials at half price.  I purchased two coneflowers, 3 Japanese bloodgrasses , 3  Lantanas and 2 huge Japanese Silvergrasses.    Two Knockout Roses were put in the clearance area and they did look like the last rose of summer so I took pity on them and for $3 and $6 each you can't go wrong.  With all the rain we've had and the good soil amendments I gave them they are well on their way to recovery.

  Two 'knockout' roses agood rain and soil.nd 1 carpet rose purchased at clearance.  The newly emerged roses are the result of  good rain and soil.  The lower right one has newly emerging buds.

The most important thing in planting a new garden is of course the soil.  I worked in some good compost , manure , peat moss and top soil and created a raised bed on top of the clay soil.

In the plan I incorporated the holly I purchased last year and kept in a container over winter.  Because I took advantage of the half price sale my total expenditures on the garden was a little over $250. .  I purchased a cedar raised bed at home depot  ( $35 ) and filled it with mums and salvia.

      I framed the entrance with the two Japanese Silvergrasses which stand out against the heavy red brick.

To the right of the stairs I placed the Christmas holly and next to that is the Japanese bloodgrass which will come into its own soon with some brilliant color.  I see tassles are already forming.  The cedar raised bed is to be used for seasonal annuals.

On the left of the entrance is the beginning of my rose garden.  I plan to purchase some small evergreen shrubs as background to add structure.

As the roses fill in I plan to add some annuals such as lamb's ear to compliment them.  Once all planting is done I will add a thick layer of shredded mulch to retain moisture and prevent soil compaction.

Here's the garden thus far.  Of course it's always a work in progress and the fun of planting a new garden is watching it grow and fill in.  In the words of that famous Chicago Cub fan  " Wait 'til next year ! "