Volunteer lamb's ears and alyssum
These are a few rules I’ve adopted after 24 years of working on the same small urban garden. None of these are rocket science, or anything new, but they are things I only really grasped after making the same mistakes time and again.
NO invasives allowed! I’ve fallen for so many over the years, only to have to fight them off for a few years once I’d decided they were trouble, trouble, trouble. I’m sure what turns out to be a pest varies depending on where you are, but a few I’ve brought home and come to hate are red valerian, Mexican evening primrose, several ornamental grasses, especially wild oats and pink ribbon grass, and worst of all, ornamental strawberries. These are all charming plants that soon became a nuisance in my garden.
Ornamental strawberry went wild in my yard! Mom and I managed to get most of it out this spring.
On the other hand, I love other plants that could be called invasive: tiny blue forget-me-nots, alyssum, lamb’s ears, and Mexican feather grass, which has has such fashion sense, knowing just where to sprout to do its feathery accent thing.
Don’t buy plants on a whim without knowing where they’ll fit. I try to follow this one, I really do, but sometimes I just can’t resist bringing something beautiful home and then searching for a place to put it.
Don’t scrimp. Bargain plants are rarely bargains. I buy healthy plants at nurseries where I know they are properly cared for. This is a rule that I never break anymore.
Experiment, but don’t hesitate to change course when it isn’t working. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve tried things that turned out to be really bad ideas. The best (worst) example is the flagstone paving I had installed with big gaps to grow lots of pretty groundcovers. Even with weedcloth under it all, the gaps were soon full of weeds. My followup experiment for this one is working better. Now those gaps are filled with a mosaic of pebbles and colorful tiles.
It took a long time to fill all the gaps between flagstones, but it was worth it!
Yes to mulch, no to chemicals.
Compost, but don’t compost weeds. Beware of buying compost that might contain weed seeds. I’m still paying the price for that load of composted rabbit poop I bought 12 years ago.
I have to admit that the Mexican feather grass doesn’t always come up in the right place in my yard either, Marta. Just often enough to stay in my good graces. And it’s relatively easy to pull up.
Excellent rules. We are still pulling out Euphorbia Fens Ruby and california poppies. The Mexican Grass doesn’t have any sense in our yard. It is always coming up in the wrong places – at least it is easy to transplant.
I always love the work you did on filling in the flagstone.